Saskatchewan Public Event Research Assistant

Title

Virtual Assistant Needed – Research Saskatchewan Public Events, Community Groups & Organizations

Job Description

We are looking for a detail-oriented Virtual Assistant to build a large prospect database for a Saskatchewan-based event company.

The project involves researching communities throughout Saskatchewan, Canada, including small towns, villages, rural municipalities, First Nations communities, and cities, and identifying organizations that host, organize, sponsor, fund, coordinate, or participate in public events.

We are not only looking for municipalities or recreation departments.

We want to find any organization that is involved in public-facing events of any kind.

Examples include:

Community associations
Recreation boards and departments
Municipalities and RMs
First Nations and Métis organizations
Agricultural societies
Fair and rodeo committees
Festival committees
Chambers of Commerce
Tourism organizations
Regional parks
Community halls
Libraries
Schools and School Community Councils
Daycares and family organizations
Sports associations
Service clubs such as Lions, Kinsmen, Rotary, Elks, Legions, etc.
Churches that host public events
Cultural and multicultural organizations
Nonprofits and charities
Farmers markets
Event venues
Business associations
Local companies that host community or customer events
Any other organization regularly involved in public events
Types of Events to Research

Examples include:

Festivals
Fairs
Rodeos
Canada Day celebrations
Community days
Family days
Children's events
Fundraisers
Markets
Concerts
Parades
Sports tournaments
Cultural celebrations
Powwows
Trade shows
Car shows
Agricultural events
Holiday events
Summer programming
Grand openings
Customer appreciation events
Employee or community appreciation events
Charity events
Outdoor events
Public celebrations
Community picnics
Street dances
Recreation programs
Any other public event
Research Method

You will research each Saskatchewan community using Google, Facebook, municipal websites, organization websites, event calendars, social media pages, and other public sources.

Searches should include combinations such as:

[Community Name] events
[Community Name] community events
[Community Name] recreation
[Community Name] festival
[Community Name] fair
[Community Name] rodeo
[Community Name] agricultural society
[Community Name] community association
[Community Name] Lions Club
[Community Name] tourism
[Community Name] Canada Day
[Community Name] family events
[Community Name] public events
[Community Name] summer events

For small communities, Facebook is often one of the most important research sources.

Important Research Rule

Do not stop after finding one organization in a community.

One small town may have:

A town office
Recreation board
Agricultural society
Lions Club
Minor sports association
Festival committee
Community hall board
Library
School council
Chamber of Commerce
Regional park
Tourism committee

Each should be treated as a separate potential prospect.

When you find an event, also research:

Who organized it
Who sponsored it
Which organization funded it
Where it was held
Which committee operated it
Which municipality was involved

One event may lead to several potential contacts.

Information Required

For each prospect, collect as much of the following information as possible:

Organization name
Community
Organization type
Contact person's name
Contact person's position/title
Mailing address
City/Town
Province
Postal code
Email address
Phone number
Website
Facebook page
Event name, if applicable
Approximate event date or month
Notes about the organization or event
Source URL where the information was found

Mailing addresses are particularly important because this database will be used for direct-mail marketing.

Quality Expectations

We are looking for accurate research, not just a large list of generic town offices.

The ideal freelancer will:

Research deeply
Look beyond the first Google result
Use Facebook and social media when appropriate
Find smaller volunteer groups and committees
Avoid duplicate organizations
Verify contact information where possible
Clearly document the source of each lead
Be comfortable researching small Canadian communities
Geographic Scope

The goal is to eventually cover most of Saskatchewan, not just the Regina area.

This includes:

Cities
Towns
Villages
Resort villages
Rural municipalities
First Nations communities
Smaller rural communities
Deliverable

A clean spreadsheet containing all researched prospects and contact information.