If you are about to undertake planning a conference for your company or organization for the first time, don’t be overwhelmed by the scope of the task. Staying focused, organized and referencing checklists will help you get started. Consider the following conference planning basics:
- Choose a date for the conference. Make sure important senior-level people are available.
- Decide your conference’s beginning and end times.
- Choose your location. It’s important to choose a destination that will be convenient for your attendees; easily accessible by public transportation; appropriately sized for your number of attendees; and a desirable destination.
- Set your budget. Thoroughly research your costs then decide how to price your tickets.
- Consider who to invite to speak or ask for proposals from potential speakers from your industry. This may need to be done several months in advance as high-profile speakers’ calendars book up early.
- Determine what kind of audio-visual equipment may be needed. Your hotel/conference center have some equipment available. If not, look into an outside source.
- Set your itinerary for each day. Depending on how many days your conference lasts, consider including meals, snacks and evening entertainment.
- Book a caterer or work with the hotel food and beverage manager. Check references and set up a tasting before signing a contract.
- Consider using easy online event registration. Selling tickets and registering attendees can begin with your organization’s website and managed with online software. This paperless option saves money and allows you to communicate with your attendees through e-mail.
- Create a marketing campaign to get the word out about your conference to your audience. Look into social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, etc… to spread the word.
- Confirm your bookings at least a week before your conference date.
- Finally, if you know you don’t have the skill set to organize a specific aspect of the conference, consider bringing in an event planning consultant to help.
