Sketch Ambassador Guide
Welcome to the Sketch Community
Our passion for design goes beyond pixels. Every year, our diverse and vibrant community of designers, developers, and creatives attend Sketch events to make real-life connections, share knowledge, and inspire each other to learn more about design. These meetups happen all over the world, and are organized by a group of motivated and passionate Sketch Ambassadors just like you.
Not yet a Sketch Ambassador? Apply here.
We know getting started can be a little overwhelming, so we created this guide to help make the process a little easier. Please take the time to read through this documentation thoroughly before setting up your group and refer to it often when creating and managing events. If you have a question and can’t find the answer here, please get in touch.
Our Values
The decisions we make around the Sketch Community are derived from the things we value most. Read Our Values.
Building your Community
You’ll want to use a service to manage your events and make it easy for guests to RSVP. You are free to choose the service that makes the most sense for your community. If you’re not sure what to use, we recommend either meetup.com (paid) or eventbrite.com (free). Once you’ve created an account, the guidelines and templates featured here will help you build your group page and first event.
Values
Welcome Everyone
Welcome newcomers, special guests, and friends the same way — say hi! If someone seems uncomfortable, try starting a conversation to learn more about them and thank them for attending. Encourage diversity and leave any bias at the door. If you’re trying to expand your group, try looking outside of your own communities and into others that might benefit from the conversation around Sketch and design.
Everybody loves food and drink. A bite to eat (or a drink) can really help attendees feel comfortable and ready to participate. It’s a good talking point and can help attendees feel valued too. We recommend reaching out to a local sponsor (more on that below) to see if they can help with this but you could also consider charging an entry fee for your meetup, to cover costs — if you have any questions about this, just get in touch.
Encourage Participation
You don’t want to organize an event on your own, and you shouldn’t have to! Seek out volunteers to help before, during, and after the meetup. It will lessen your workload, and help your volunteers feel more deeply rooted in the community. Don’t forget to recognize your volunteers for their hard work!
Communicate Often
Encourage participation before, during, and after a meetup to keep the excitement high and boost attendance! This can include: incorporating mini-presentations from attendees, hosting Q/A sessions with guests, and facilitating roundtable discussions. Look for opportunities to engage and encourage your community outside of regular events.
When you communicate, be empathetic and professional. Remember that you’re acting as an Ambassador for the Sketch brand.
Be Consistent
Whether you plan on hosting events monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly, maintaining a consistent meetup schedule helps attendees to plan ahead and invite others. Remember to announce meetups at least three weeks ahead of time and send a follow-up reminder the week of the event.
Please be respectful of your attendees by starting on time. If your event is going to run late, let your attendees know and tell them it’s okay to leave if they need to!
Treat Others Well
It’s important to have a good time but it’s just as important to be respectful of your attendees and make sure they are respectful of each other. Please read our house rules and share them with attendees before your events.
Seek Local Support
Many local businesses set aside resources every year to fund local efforts. Whether you need snacks or a venue, start by reaching out to your neighbors. Don’t limit your search to only design related businesses, instead look for businesses that have a large presence in the local community or that support other local initiatives. All it takes is a friendly email to engage with these potential sponsors.
Show Appreciation
If your event is successful it’s probably because of the contribution of a multitude of people, so say thank you! To your sponsors, volunteers and attendees — let them know you appreciate them and that their help has contributed to the success of the meetup.
Document What Happens
Make sure to capture great memories — take lots of pictures, record videos, and tag us on social media like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. We love to share, and even the shakiest videos can be rolled into a fun compilation to show off your great events! You can use blog posts, videos, and pictures to show off the atmosphere and flavour of your events. Plus, we share all the awesome events happening around the world in our regular Community Roundup blog posts!
Be Present
Once the event starts, allow yourself to learn alongside — and be part of — your own community. It’s easy to let the stress of organising get the better of you so make sure to take a few minutes to breathe and get into the spirit of proceedings. Others will look to you to set the tone, so bring the enthusiasm you want to see in everyone else. And don’t forget to have fun!