Open days give organisations a chance to welcome people through their doors, explain what they do and answer questions face to face. In Lancaster, open days can be useful for schools, colleges, community organisations, charities, sports clubs, training providers, local businesses and other groups that want to reach people across the city and surrounding areas.
Good promotion is important because people need to know when the event is happening, where to go and what they can expect. Lancaster has a mix of residents, students, businesses and visitors, so organisers may need to use several ways to communicate their event.
Printed materials can support this work alongside websites, email and social media. Flyer printing, poster printing, banners, brochures and other printed items can help make an open day visible in the places people use every day. For organisations planning events at short notice, same day printing in Lancaster can also help when extra materials are required close to the event.
Understand Who You Want to Attend
Before producing any promotional material, organisers should decide who the open day is for. A university or college event may be aimed at prospective students and their families, while a local business may want to attract customers, potential employees or other businesses. A community organisation could be trying to reach families and residents from particular parts of Lancaster.
Lancaster University and the University of Cumbria both contribute to the city’s student population, making education an important part of local life. Open days connected with education may attract people who are unfamiliar with Lancaster and need clear information about locations, travel and event schedules.
The city is served by Lancaster railway station and has road connections through the M6, which can be useful considerations when promoting events to people travelling from outside the area. Promotional material for visitors can include the full address, opening times, registration details and simple travel information.
Knowing the audience also helps organisers choose suitable printed products. Flyers may work for general local distribution, while brochures and booklets can provide more detailed information to people once they arrive.
Use Flyers and Leaflets Around Lancaster
Flyer printing and leaflet printing remain practical options for promoting local open days. A small printed flyer can contain the event date, time, location, contact details and a short explanation of what visitors can expect.
Lancaster city centre provides a busy setting where residents, workers, students and visitors regularly move between shops, services and other facilities. Areas around Market Street, Penny Street and the surrounding central streets are part of the city’s main shopping environment. Where permission has been obtained, suitable local businesses and community locations may be willing to display or distribute information about relevant events.
Distribution should be planned rather than simply covering a large area. A training provider could focus on places used by jobseekers or students. A family event might be better promoted through community venues and businesses serving parents. Business open days may benefit from reaching offices, commercial areas and organisations connected with the local business community.
Flyers should be easy to read. A clear heading such as “Open Day”, followed by the date, time and venue, usually works better than filling the page with too much information.
Make the Event Visible with Posters and Banners
Poster printing is useful when an open day needs to be promoted from a fixed location. Posters can be placed inside the organisation’s premises and, with permission, at suitable businesses, noticeboards and community venues.
For the venue itself, banner printing can make the entrance easier to identify. This is particularly helpful when visitors have not been to the site before. A banner outside the building can confirm that they have arrived at the correct place and show where registration or entry is located.
Large format printing can also be used for directional signs and information boards. For larger open days, visitors may need guidance between reception areas, presentation rooms, exhibition spaces and other parts of a site.
This can be especially important when people are arriving within a short period. Clear signs reduce the need for staff to repeatedly give directions and help visitors move around the venue more easily.
Printed materials should use consistent colours, logos and wording so people can quickly recognise information connected with the event.
Provide Useful Information During the Open Day
Promotion should not stop once visitors arrive. The materials provided during an open day can affect how easily people understand the organisation and remember the information afterwards.
Brochure printing can be useful when an organisation needs to explain its services, facilities, courses or programmes in more detail. Booklet printing may suit events where visitors need schedules, maps, speaker information or several pages of supporting content.
Business card printing can also be relevant for business open days and professional events. Staff can provide visitors with direct contact details rather than asking them to write down an email address or telephone number.
Printed handouts should focus on information people are likely to need after leaving. This might include application details, prices, opening hours, future event dates, contact information or instructions about the next step.
For events attracting people from outside Lancaster, including clear local contact details and the full venue address can make follow-up communication easier.
Think About Staff and Event Presentation
Staff should be easy to identify at a busy open day. T shirt printing or workwear printing can be useful when organisers want reception staff, guides or volunteers to be clearly recognised.
Simple printed clothing containing the organisation’s name or event wording may be enough. The purpose is practical: visitors should know who they can approach when they need help.
Printed table materials can also support reception desks and information points. Signs can identify departments or services, while printed schedules can show presentation times and activities taking place throughout the day.
Lancaster has organisations ranging from independent city-centre businesses to education providers, charities and community groups. The scale of an open day can therefore vary considerably. A small local organisation may only need a few posters, flyer and signs, while a larger educational event may require brochures, banners, staff clothing and directional materials.
The printing plan should match the size and purpose of the event rather than using products that are not needed.
Plan Printing Before the Event Date
Leaving promotional materials until the final day can create unnecessary problems. Organisers should work backwards from the open day date and decide when flyers need to be distributed, when posters should go up and when materials for the venue need to be ready.
It is also worth checking all details before printing. Dates, opening times, addresses, telephone numbers, website addresses and booking instructions should be confirmed. A small error can become more difficult to correct once hundreds of copies have been produced.
However, open day requirements can change. Attendance may be higher than expected, another information point may be added or additional signs may be required. Access to same day printing services in Lancaster can be useful in these situations.
Printing Lancaster can support local organisations with practical printed materials for open days, from flyers and posters used before the event to banners, brochures, booklets and signs required at the venue. Choosing the right products and preparing the information clearly can help make promotion more organised.
Conclusion
A successful open day depends on giving people clear information before they attend and making the event easy to navigate once they arrive. In Lancaster, organisers can combine online promotion with printed materials to reach residents, students, businesses and visitors.
Flyers and posters can build local awareness, banners can identify the venue, and brochures or booklets can provide information for visitors to take away. Businesses and organisations should choose materials based on their audience, venue and event size.
By planning printing early, checking event details and considering how people travel around Lancaster, organisers can create a practical promotion plan that supports the open day from the first announcement through to the event itself.