Designing Public Affairs Events That Work

Public affairs events with parliamentarian and policymaker attendance succeed when they are shaped around the reality of crowded diaries and limited attention.

Whether it’s larger events, such as roundtables and conferences, or smaller one-to-ones, here is how you should approach these important engagements.

Assume That Time is a Luxury 

If you’re looking for parliamentary engagement, for medium to large events, often Public Affairs teams turn to the standard format of conferences or roundtables. 

Although these certainly play a role and are valuable, don’t ignore the power of a drop-in. Ultimately, busy MPs and peers rarely have the luxury of long, fixed commitments. Keep interactions short and well-briefed. Provide clear asks up front. Make it easy for parliamentarians to step in, get what they need, and move on without ceremony.

In practice, at Clarity’s ISPA Parliament and Internet Conference 2025, we paired the conference with an early‑morning drop‑ins in parliament. This unlocked participation from those who couldn’t stay for the full event. It can be more valuable for them and their office to briefly pop in and speak directly to stakeholders before leaving with actionable context. There will be risks, as you don’t know who exactly will turn up. But more often than not, we have found this works and allows for more creativity. Are there mascots they can pose with or signs? Are there patients, people with lived experience, or constituents they can chat to?

If you decide to run a roundtable, don’t be offended if a parliamentarian randomly ups sticks and leaves 10 minutes in. This is to be expected. This is where serving food can help entice them to stay -  we find that breakfast events tend to work best, as there is less competition with other events unlike the evening. But sometimes this won’t be enough, and you should be prepared for that. This is also why it’s even more important to distil your messaging concisely. 

When it comes to one-to-ones, don’t waste time by spending half of the meeting explaining who you are, and what your organisation is. Consider compiling a one page briefing in short, and send it to the MP or peer in advance. Their staffer will thank you, and this allows you to get right to the point in the meeting. 

Consider Creative Formats

If you do have a panel, or a speech, think about creative ways to deliver your message. Policy and public affairs doesn’t have to be boring to be taken seriously.

Integrate interactivity, whether it be through live polling or moderated Q&A tools. This allows for parallel ways to take part and contribute, drawing in those who have insights to share but may feel uncomfortable speaking up. It also helps keep people’s attention and engagement. On top of this, it can produce real-time data (from sentiment checks, to post-session feedback) that can then feed directly into policy briefs and follow-up materials.

Or think about how you can bring out the best of what your organization stands for. Is there a practical demonstration you can do? 

Curate Constructive Disagreement

Panels are compelling when they provide food for thought. Consensus may feel comfortable as an event organiser, but it’s not engaging for an audience.

Curate line‑ups with genuinely different perspectives and brief them that if they are  to disagree, they are to do so constructively (and respectfully!). A strong and well-prepared chair should help with this.

This may seem obvious, but it is an easy pitfall for a public affairs professional to fall into.

Plan for the Unknown

Events are unpredictable, no matter how much you try to predict.

Even the most well-planned programmes will meet surprises. Whether it’s technical issues, to classic Westminster diary-shifting, you should be aware and prepared (even just mentally!) that things may not go according to plan.

Consider Plan Bs in advance. Stand-ins and remote participation are options, for example. 

But the most important thing is staying calm and ensuring there is strong internal communications amongst event organisers. 

Don’t underestimate prepping the entire internal delivery team ahead of the event, even if they feel event management isn’t their role. Brief your team how you would brief your clients. Make sure everyone knows who is the point of contact for any issues that arise. Write up a schedule, confirm roles and responsibilities, and do a runthrough at least the day before. Do another one before the event begins. Keep a group chat going and make sure everyone has their phone on them throughout the event. It may seem overkill, but it instils confidence for when things go awry.

This approach meant that at Parliament and Internet Conference drop-outs were dealt with behind the scenes digitally, and most attendees never noticed. 

Don't Forget the Basics

Communicate, communicate, communicate.

At the end of the day, this is the key to running any successful event.

We’ve touched on the importance of internal communication. But stakeholders should also know exactly where they are going, when they need to be there, and what they can expect. They might want to know who else is going, or what they need to wear. They need to know this as far in advance as possible, and have relatively frequent reminders.  This is crucial for policymakers and parliamentarians, who again have tight schedules, but in the case of events in the Palace, for speakers who are not familiar with navigating the quirks and intricacies of navigating parliament, this is absolutely vital. 

They need to know exactly how security works and when to show an invite. Telling them which room the event is in isn’t enough - they need to know exactly how to get there.

Don’t forget to follow up as well. Your engagement doesn’t end with the event. 

Need more support?

If you would rather you didn’t have to deal with managing a public affairs event yourself, that’s where Clarity can help.

Speak with our team to find out how we can support your public affairs goals.