How to Request an Event

Digital.gov strives to make every event a valuable experience for the attendees and the event host. Digital.gov events are intended to be for the government by the government and are aimed at serving our communities of practice. If you are interested in hosting an event with Digital.gov support, please follow three steps below.

If you have any other questions, feel free to contact us at DigitalGov@gsa.gov.

Step 1: Check Our Requirements

We have a few considerations for our events to remain compliant with federal laws, ethical and equal in our approach, as well as inclusive in our events to reach broader audiences. We ask that you take a quick look through our list of requirements and related web pages below, so you’re aware of our limitations and keep your event in compliance.

Digital.gov Requirements

• Relevant We want to keep our content relevant to our readers and community members, so any event must have some connection to:
  • Our vision and mission
  • Our communities
  • Our editorial content calendar
• Federal Employee Hosts. The host must be a federal government employee. We do not accept requests from private entities.
• We Are Not Here to Sell. Digital.gov does not promote fee-based solutions, do pricing comparisons of various tools, conduct demonstrations of products or services, or other events that relate to selling products or services. For acquisition-related events, please contact GSA’s Office of Customer and Stakeholder Engagement (CASE).

Additional Requirements

• Authority to Present. All presenters must comply with their organization’s requirements for publishing and sharing the information and materials.
• YouTube Terms. All videos must consider YouTube’s policies and terms of service.
• Non-Government Speakers. If the federal government host wants to bring in a non-government speaker, they must adhere to these requirements. Please note that this policy also limits mentions of non-government products in presentations. All speakers must complete the TTS process before being listed in a digital.gov event.
• Copyright Laws. Presentations and materials cannot contain copyrighted material without appropriate approvals or acknowledgments.
• In-Person Event Approval Process. In-person events require additional forms and approvals at GSA. Digital.gov will help you work through the TTS Handbook event approval process, but federal employees may need to directly get certain approvals. NOTE: Digital.gov is not currently approving an in-person events.
• Linking Policy. You may include links to government sites only. Links or references to any non-government sites, including non-profits, must undergo additional review to ensure they comply with the GSA Linking Policy.

Other Important Deadlines

To ensure your event is a success, Digital.gov requests the following information in a timely manner:

• Submit a request to host an event at least two months before the event date. Digital.gov hosts numerous events each year and maintains a full schedule given available resources.
• Event details must be provided three weeks before the event date.
• Presentations, videos, and other materials presented/distributed as part of the event must be submitted one week before the event to verify that they meet our requirements.

To ensure your event complies with these requirements, we kindly ask that you submit your request two months in advance of your ideal event date. If you need an event sooner, we’ll try to accommodate it if our schedule permits.

Step 2: Submit Your Request

To request an event, please email us at DigitalGov@gsa.gov with information requested in Step 2 of our Event Copy Template, or email us the following information about your event:

• What is your event about? A simple title (or just a topic if the title is still in the works) with 1-2 sentences on the topic and purpose of the event.
• Who is the host? Provide the name and agency of the event host(s).
• What type of event do you prefer? We offer:
  • Virtual/online events using various technologies (e.g., WebEx and Zoom);
  • In-person events at GSA’s headquarters; or
  • Hybrid events with online and in-person attendance.
  • Recording a video is also available virtually or in our studio, if needed. However, most of our events are recorded live and posted online.
• When do you want to host your event? Please provide a few options for possible dates/times and the duration (in hours or mins) of your event.
• Are you considering any non-government speakers or highlighting a non-government product/solution? If yes, please provide some background on how this non-government person or solution might be included in your event, so we can make sure to comply with our non-government speakers process.
• How is your event relevant to Digital.gov’s mission/vision or communities? Please provide a few sentences to support your request, so we know how it might be relevant for our platform. If you are supporting a specific community topic, make sure to note which one as well.

Digital.gov Review Process

After receiving the request, Digital.gov will take the following steps:

1. Confirm receipt (or request any missing information).
2. Review your information with the Digital.gov leads.
3. Based on the Digital.gov lead decision, we will:

• (Yes/Maybe) We will ask you to complete our Event Copy Template and/or schedule a meeting with you to gather any final details and discuss next steps.
• (No) Email you explaining why your event may not be right for Digital.gov at this time.

Our review process can take up to two weeks. We kindly ask that you submit your request two months in advance of your ideal event date. If you need an event sooner, we’ll try to accommodate it if our schedule permits.

Step 3: Schedule Your Event

Once your event is approved, we will work with the host to coordinate the schedules of the host, key speakers, and the Digital.gov team. We will offer days/times to the host based on the initial request, and ask the host to coordinate the speakers’ availability.

Most of our events are scheduled Tuesday through Thursday since a lot of federal employees work an alternative work schedule with Monday and Friday off. We also will look to schedule your event after 11 a.m. ET to accommodate potential attendees in various time zones.

We generally cannot and do not recommend scheduling an event with less than two weeks’ notice. This timeline often reduces our ability to promote your event, does not allow attendees to get approvals to attend an event, and ultimately results in lower attendance rates.