Remember, many venues and catering services must be reserved months in advance, and many participants will have to travel and make scheduling arrangements to be present. Furthermore, you might need sponsors and large companies prepare their annual budgets months in advance so any financial or non financial help has to be negotiated with them in advance.
You’ll need a conference coordinator who’s the point person for all the major decisions and who will end up giving the most time to pulling everything together. [2] X Trustworthy Source Kansas University Center for Community Health and Development Community-based research center focused on supporting public health development and education Go to source You can also hire an event planner if you have a big enough budget, and spare yourself the headache. If you’re planning an annual conference, invite the previous year’s coordinator to the committee, or at least ask for any materials from the previous year to help streamline planning.
Stick to a fairly simple plan the first time you organize a conference. For instance, keep it to 1-2 days with no more than 250 to 300 people. [4] X Research source Take some time to conduct some informal market research on the conference objectives. Small focus groups and surveys work well for this![5] X Expert Source Amber Rosenberg, PCCPacific Life Coach Expert Interview. 8 March 2022.
Find out what the industry norms are in your area before deciding on a date. For instance, in Europe conferences are usually held between March and June or September and November. Similarly, conferences tend to be held from Thursday to Friday or Monday to Tuesday. [6] X Research source The length depends on what all needs to be accomplished at a conference. For a conference of 250-300 people, plan for about two full days. [7] X Trustworthy Source Kansas University Center for Community Health and Development Community-based research center focused on supporting public health development and education Go to source In general, it’s easiest to organize a conference in your own city, and the city needs to have access to a nearby airport, hotels, and an acceptable choice of venues. It’s best if the city is an area that people would want to visit anyhow to attract people who are on the fence about attending. [8] X Research source
Choose a name that hints at the goal and/or audience of the conference itself. Look up names of similar conferences to get ideas, but be sure yours doesn’t sound too similar to another event, especially one related to your niche. [9] X Research source
Make sure your budget and pricing model reflect a healthy ROI. [11] X Expert Source Amber Rosenberg, PCCPacific Life Coach Expert Interview. 8 March 2022. Consider recruiting sponsors for your event. Sponsors pay a fee to support the conference but also get a say in the content of the conference itself. If you have a sponsorship, your sponsors will typically host presentations or panels with their own speakers, and they may brand conference materials with their logos. Sponsors might include local industry leaders or philanthropists, depending on your topic. [12] X Research source
If it is a small, local conference with little or no fees, it might make sense to not charge people for attending. Another option is to allow people who present to attend free, while others pay a small fee to cover conference costs. Multi-day conferences or those that serve meals typically charge registration fees, which can vary from $30 to several hundred in the United States. [13] X Research source Many conferences use a sliding pay scale for people in different stages of their careers. For example, academic conferences typically charge a lower fee for students than for faculty. You might also charge a lower fee for members of the sponsoring association than for the general public.
Check out whether your city has a convention center or hotel with convention rooms. For small conferences, you can often rent a local church or community center.
Some venues will provide an event planner who can handle many of the remaining details of your conference. Even if the planner charges a fee, it may be worth it to prevent this from becoming your own full-time job for the next few weeks.
Keep in mind that attendees may have dietary restrictions, allergies, and preferences that can make planning meals rather difficult. If you choose an experienced caterer, they can create options for vegetarian, nut-free, gluten-free, kosher, or other meal preferences.
Go to the conference venue and meet with the staff the day before to be certain that everything is in place and to take care of any last minute details.
Begin with a keynote or opening address. This is usually given someone well-known in the industry. The rest of the conference should be divided into shorter sessions. The actual content of sessions is usually determined by who is planning to attend (participants will submit proposals). You can also plan for workshops, film screenings, or other formats that you know you want to include. Depending on how many people are attending, you can have one session at a time (called “plenary”) or several sessions running concurrently (called “breakout groups”). [15] X Research source End the conference on a high note, with a motivational speaker or a challenge to the audience.
The type of sessions you expect to have will influence how you publicize the conference, so decide early what type of content will be most meaningful to your target audience. Sessions can range from 45 minutes to three hours each, depending on the number of presentations and the content. [16] X Research source
You can also schedule time for organizational business such as business meetings or awards. You can include catered meals or ask attendees to bring a brown-bag meal. You can also take a break and let attendees get lunch at nearby establishments. If you charge a fee, people will generally expect you to provide at least one meal. Depending on your location, consider providing entertainment, like tours of the local area, a night at a comedy club, or a film or theater performance.
If you’re only targeting a small group, publicize the conference through emails and mentions in your newsletter or administrative meetings.
Once you have confirmation that big names in the field will participate, you can include this information in your conference materials, such as your calls for participants.
Be sure to include the date, time, and address of the conference venue, and names of any prominent speakers. You can also include information about transportation, lodging, area attractions, and you can attach the conference schedule when it is available, if desired. Update the website with a link to register when you are ready to open up registration.
Social media, such as the sponsoring organization’s Facebook page and Twitter feed[22] X Expert Source Amber Rosenberg, PCCPacific Life Coach Expert Interview. 8 March 2022. Listservs and e-mail contact lists Trade blogs, magazines, newsletters, or journals Posters, flyers, or other announcements sent to relevant groups, organizations, or businesses
The length of the proposals depends on your industry. In academia, smaller conferences usually ask for an abstract of a few hundred words; larger conferences ask for entire manuscripts.
Set up a registration website that is linked to the conference website. You can also use a third-party host for online registration, like RegOnline. You can also allow participants to call or fax in their registrations if you have a way to process payment by credit card. If you don’t want to take registrations online or over the phone, upload a registration form to your website, then have participants print it and mail it to you. To encourage early registration, offer a discounted rate for those who register a month or more in advance.
