ACCJ Event Planning Guide
1. Getting Started
A. Speaker Selection
Committee leaders should research the speaker and/ or ask for recommendations from committee members or any outside party.
The committee chair has full discretion over speaker selection and can accept or reject any speaker on any reasonable grounds.
As a general rule, a Committee Leader of the hosting Committee should not be the speaker to avoid conflicts of interest. Exceptions to this rule may be granted by the Committee Excellence Advisory Council, upon request in advance of promotion of the event.
Best practices:
Diverse Representation - An event should not have multiple speakers from the same company to avoid overrepresentation. This ensures a variety of perspectives and insights.
Rotating Speakers - Avoid inviting the same speaker more than once within a year across all chapters to maintain diverse viewpoints and fresh content.
B. Contacting Speakers
The designated committee leader is responsible for working with the speaker to ensure that the topic is appropriate and of interest to the committee members.
The committee leader should:
Review the ACCJ Speaker Internal Protocol
Send ACCJ Speaker Guidelines to the speaker(s) to the speaker during the planning stage of the event.
Discuss the speaker’s availability and possible dates for the presentation.
Diplomatically let the speaker know about the ACCJ’s position on self-promotion and paying honorariums. The ACCJ does not permit either.
Discuss the presentation topic and request the title of the presentation and a synopsis of the presentation for inclusion in the event flyer.
Agree on the key topics that the speaker will address.
Discuss AV requirements.
Get sufficient biographical information to introduce the speaker.
Confirm the general order of the program with the speaker.
Provide the Committee Coordinator with as much information as possible.
C. Self-Promotion
The speaker must avoid engaging in self-promotion during the presentation at any event or meeting.
D. Honorari
As a non-profit organization, the ACCJ does not pay honoraria to guest speakers.
All ACCJ guest speakers will be presented with an “ACCJ Certificate of Appreciation,” which is prepared by the Committee Coordinator and given to the MC on the day of the event for presentation at the conclusion of the program.
E. Key Roles and Responsibilities
Here is a chart of key roles and responsibilities that you will see at an ACCJ event. (NOTE: ACCJ members performing any of the roles below are unable to bring along a guest for free.)
F. Flow of the Event
The most common format for ACCJ events is the single speaker event. Here is a sample Order of Program for a standard luncheon speaker event:
12:00–12:15: Networking
12:15–12:20: Welcome by MC
12:20–12:50: Lunch
12:50–13:00: Introduction of Speaker by MC
13:00–13:30: Speaker Presentation
13:30–13:50: Question and Answer Session
13:50–14:00: Closing Remarks by MC
The Committee Coordinator will provide the committee chair with an electronic copy of the Order of Program for the event beforehand.
G. Presentation Deck
If the speaker will use a PowerPoint presentation, this should be sent to the Committee Coordinator several days in advance.
Please confirm with the speaker whether a copy of the PowerPoint may be provided to attendees.
2. Event Scheduling
Allow 45 to 60 days between the initial contact and the date of the program for adequate time to promote the event and secure an appropriate venue.
Choosing a date will require close coordination with the Committee Coordinator who will check venue availability. With over 500 events per year, the ACCJ often has more than one event per day.
Please work with the Committee Coordinator to ensure your event does not conflict with other ACCJ events.
3. Venues
All events must be planned to run in the black financially, and venue selection is a critical component in adequate budgeting.
The ACCJ uses several venues where we have established rates and a system to produce quality events efficiently. If you are interested in working with new venues, please discuss other venues with the Committee Coordinator before making arrangements.
Only ACCJ staff can make agreements with venues. This includes checking availability, making reservations, negotiating prices and services, etc.
4. Event Pricing
All events must be planned to run in the black financially. Attendance fees must be budgeted and approved by the ACCJ office.
Any surplus is returned to the ACCJ; it is not reserved for the committee that hosted the event.
“Admin fee waiver” will apply to all ACCJ events with hard costs of 6,000 yen or less per person. Admin fee of 1,400 yen will only apply to:
Attendance fees for events with hard costs of over 6,000 yen per person
All non-member guests
Event pricing may include the following:
Food and beverage costs for speaker(s) + complimentary speaker guest(s)
Food and beverages
Room rental costs
AV equipment costs
Service charge from venue
Consumption tax charge
Interpretation fee (if applicable)
Admin fee (if applicable)
Technology fee (if applicable)
Surcharge is applied to non-member attendance fees:
¥1,000 for events at the ACCJ office
¥2,000 for events at external venues
To view the current event pricing structure for virtual and hybrid events, please click here.
5. Simultaneous Interpretation
If you are interested in providing simultaneous interpretation at the event, please consult the Committee Coordinator regarding arrangements and possible costs that will incur.
The ACCJ has Simultaneous Interpretation Fund. This allows for the Chamber to fund one simultaneous translation event a month (average cost is between ¥400,000 to ¥450,000 for a 2 hour event). The request for use of the fund requires a formal application process. Selection Criteria include:
Primary speaker is a Japanese speaker and unable to deliver remarks in English;
Event must demonstrate a clear benefit to ACCJ members; and
The primary speaker or speakers must focus on a topic/offer information or a perspective, where a high-quality English speaker is not available in Japan.
The request for usage of the Simultaneous Interpretation Fund may not always be approved.
To review the manual on how to use Webex Simultaneous Interpretation option, please click here.
6. Event Attendance
The Committee Coordinator monitors event sign-ups and will notify the committee chair if the sign-ups are significantly lower or higher than expected. In either case, the venue may need to be changed, or, in the case of low sign-ups, the event may need to be cancelled.
If the number of sign-ups is lower than expected, cancellation charges may incur depending on the venue’s cancellation policy.
A. Attendance Lists
The Committee Coordinator will provide an electronic copy of the attendance list to the committee leaders prior to the event.
Committee leaders must treat this information as strictly confidential in accordance with the ACCJ Privacy Policy and the Personal Information Protection Law, ensuring that it is used only for purposes of the ACCJ event in question and is promptly destroyed after the event. Please do not share externally, including the speaker.
Committee leaders are encouraged to review the list prior to the event to improve their own ability to interact with participants at the event and enhance the member experience.
B. Non-Member Guests
Members may register and accompany non-member guests to events.
Non-member guests cannot register or attend events without a hosting member present.
Guests’ attendance fees will be billed to the ACCJ member’s account.
Payment at the door is not accepted.
C. Speaker Guests
When a speaker wishes to bring a guest to the event, please consult the Committee Coordinator before the event registration deadline.
As a general rule, for single speaker events, an external speaker or moderator may invite one guest at no charge. For full details, please review chart under section: E. Key Roles and Responsibilities.
Panel speakers are permitted to bring a guest, but their attendance fee will need to be discussed with the Committee Coordinator. In most cases, due to financial constraints, the ACCJ is not able to subsidize attendance fees for speaker guests at panel discussions. The ACCJ can send the speaker guest an online invoice to be paid before the event deadline.
