Set Up Your Expo Workspace

Begin with a parent page named something like Careers Expo 2027. Every aspect of the event will reside inside the parent page; therefore, it’s easy to share with coworkers and duplicate for future years.

Within the parent page, establish four databases:

• Exhibitors - every organization invited to exhibit with details (i.e., name, contact information) and a status.

• Tasks - tasks to complete with owners and deadlines.

• Venue and tech - rooms, tables, electricity, etc.

• Student sign-ups - classes scheduled per session time.

Relate the databases using relation properties. A task, such as “send parking map,” can relate to the exhibitors affected by that task; thus, at a quick glance, you can determine what each exhibitor requires.

Build an Exhibitor Database That Does the Work

The exhibitor database is the core of the expo. Establish a status property for each exhibitor listing options: Invited, confirmed, declined, needs additional information. Create fields for the point of contact, e-mail address, size of the booth/stall, power requirements, and a short description of what each exhibitor plans to display.

Considerations for establishing the description field are important. Students receive far more value from a booth when they understand what to inquire about. Therefore, record the exact courses and/or positions represented by each exhibitor.

For example, if a training provider lists a Certificate IV in Electrical – Instrumentation along with various apprenticeship programs, students interested in automation and industrial systems may find a legitimate reason to visit the booth.

Identify who should participate beyond colleges/universities and companies/employers. School leavers have practical concerns/questions too. There should be a variety of organizations participating to answer these questions:

• Colleges/universities, TAFEs, other training providers

• Local businesses/apprenticeship programs

• Defense forces/public service recruitment agencies

• Accommodating/student support services

• Housing for students (commonly missing)

Students begin to worry about where they will stay prior to accepting a college offer. Invite a representative from a student housing company so students have somewhere to go regarding pricing/costs, contracts and what actually occurs upon leaving home.

Establish several different views for your database. A board view arranged by status will monitor responses. A table view filtering based on confirmed attendees will assist with the layout of your hall. Finally, organize your database by size so that you can effectively arrange the booths when setting up the hall.

Plan the Timeline With a Task Board

Begin working backward from the day of the career fair. At least 10 weeks are required for a typical high school career fair; however, many popular exhibitors fill their schedules even earlier than that.

List each activity as a task in your task database along with a deadline for completion, an assigned task owner and phase. A possible timeline would include:

1. Week 10: Book venue/hall, reserve date/schedule save-the-date emails

2. Week 8: Send official invitations/exhibitor forms

3. Week 5: Confirm exhibitors/draft floor plan

4. Week 3: Open student registration/brief staff

5. Week 1: Distribute final details/print signage/test equipment

Utilize a timeline/calendar view to enable your entire team to see what is upcoming. Each employee will also have a filtered “my tasks” view showing only their responsibilities — reducing reminders via email.

Sort Out the Venue and Tech Early

The venue and technology database prevent minor issues from becoming disaster-level issues on expo-day. Record every area you plan on utilizing, as well as the number and type of tables/chairs contained within those spaces, where electrical outlets are located and who possesses the keys.

On the exhibitor sign-up form ask exhibitors about their technological needs — copy the answers to this database. Many exhibitors will bring laptops/screens/virtual reality headsets. Others will require credit card payment processing for merchandise or streaming video coverage for students unable to physically attend.

All of that relies on your school having sufficient bandwidth. Verify with your IT department whether there exists sufficient Wi-Fi within the hall to accommodate multiple devices simultaneously. If your school runs on an nbn business plan, verify whether exhibitors can be placed onto a separate guest network so as to ensure simultaneous access to both demonstrations and student traffic does not negatively impact performance.

Add a check-list property to each room. During the set-up walk-through the day prior, a staff member can then mark-off items such as power/WiFi/signage/furniture.

Manage Student Sign-Ups and Session Times

A successful careers expo typically keeps crowds manageable throughout the day. Divide the day into sessions and assign classes/year levels to each respective session, thereby providing exhibitors with continuous traffic rather than an overwhelming crowd.

Notion provides a form that links directly to your sign-up database making it effortless for teachers to register their class into a given session — plus allows you to track how many students are registered into each session allowing you to identify crowded sessions prior to them occurring.

Prior to the expo, distribute a preparatory page to students asking them to browse through the list of exhibitors and select three booths they wish to visit — and write two questions for each selected booth. Students who come prepared with questions tend to engage in better conversation and depart with more valuable knowledge.

Follow Up After the Expo

Once the last exhibitor leaves, you’re not finished. Within a couple of days after the expo, send thank-you notes with an associated short feedback form — store the responses in your Exhibitor database so that you’ll remember who to invite again next year.

Polling students is also beneficial. Ask them what was most helpful at the booths they visited, what else they’d like to learn about and were they satisfied with the session scheduling? Store these results in a “Lesson Learned” page internal to your workspace.

Additionally, sharing a summary with your exhibitors aids in demonstrating the success of the event. Provide them data on attendance numbers, what year level groups visited — as well as what topics students inquired about most often. Those exhibitors that perceive their involvement in the event as being worthwhile will be significantly more likely to agree when you extend an invitation for next year.

When you begin planning next year’s expo — duplicate the entire workspace, update the dates/statuses — and retain all exhibitor contact information. Much of your effort from this year should carry over into next year.

Ready for Expo Day

A careers expo has many components involved — but it doesn’t necessarily need to exist in your inbox. When planning a school careers expo in Notion — all aspects (exhibitors/tasks/rooms/sign-ups) exist within one cohesive workspace — and all members of your team can observe completed versus outstanding tasks.

Begin with creating your Exhibitor database — followed by building out your schedule/timeline — then continue expanding from there. By the time you open the doors of the hall — you will be able to focus on assisting students vs. managing your spreadsheet.