Involve students in the planning stage of your event. The main aim of the evening is to encourage communication between young people, teachers and parents, so it is logical that young people provide input. Consider involving students in:

• being on the organising committee
• preparing an agenda
• designing and delivering invitations
• suggesting and inviting guest speakers
• organising a media release
• making posters
• role-plays and dramatic improvisation
• student panels to answer questions
• catering requirements
• running group sessions
• explaining their experiences of alcohol education in the classroom
• demonstrating pouring standard drinks
• photographing and recording the evening.

Plan to get a GP along. Your school may already have a relationship with a local GP or a good place to find one is your local Division of General Practice.  Divisions of General Practice are local networks of GPs all over Australia.  You can find out which Division is in your local area by visiting the Divisions Drectory on Australian Divisions of General Practice website http://www. agpn.com.au/site/index.cfm?module=DIVISION and clicking on the map of your State or Territory. 

Alternatively you can visit the Department of Health and Ageing website www.health.gov.au to find a list of Divisions of General Practice by postcode.  You can even use our GP letter template to contact the Division in the same area as your school directly.

Briefing materials providing background on the aims and objectives of Alcohol Information Nights are also available for GPs and are located on the Resources page of this site.

Plan to get parents along. Why not try some of the ideas below to encourage parent participation in your ‘Alcohol Information Night’.

• Host a dinner or "mocktail" party as part of the evening.
• Send personalised invitations in envelopes rather than home with students. Ask for RSVPs.
• Pre-publicise the evening with snippets in the school newsletter before sending the invitation.
• Involve students in a performance on the night so that parents come to watch their child and end up being involved.
• You may consider translating materials into other languages spoken in your school community and consider using interpreters on the night.
• Use the parents' network to draw in other parents.
• Advertise the night through local media, including some brief background on the issue of alcohol misuse.
• Make the evening different - something unique will grab people's attention!