Planning a Conference - How to Plan a Conference
13/04/2011
Planning, organising and conducting a conference can be rewarding and challenging. To hold a successful conference, you will need the talents, co-operation and participation of many individuals.
Planning your Conference Dates
You should start planning your conference at least 12 months before the conference date. This will provide you with all the time you need to handle the planning and administrative tasks. These tasks can be accomplished in much less time, but the earlier you start, the easier your job will be.
When deciding on the dates for your conference, remember that all hotels and conference venues have peak periods of high demand, quiet periods of low demand, and shoulder periods of variable demand. If you are considering dates during a peak period, you may need additional lead time to get the conference venue you want, when you want it, and at the price you want it.
These are three fundamental elements involved in selecting a venue - location, date and price
Some conference planners regard date and location as the most critical elements, while others are most concerned with price. Prioritising any two of these elements strongly influences the third factor.
Establish a Conference Planning Committee
The Conference Planning Committee is a group of people that hold responsibility for arranging the conference and planning the conference agenda. Committee members should represent your conference target audience. If you have received sponsorship for your conference, you could include members from these organisations on your committee. The committee will be used to distribute the workload among many people, and ensure that the conference represents the thinking and planning of more than one individual.
Small conferences will have a small planning committee. A larger conferences will need a larger committees because there are more decisions to be made and there is more work to be done.
The Conference Planning Committee must appoint a Conference Coordinator who will be responsible for the overall project management of the activities required to deliver a successful conference.
Conference Planning Activities
Planning a conference requires a great deal of administrative and clerical time. If your conference has 200 participants or more, executing the conference successfully will require a lot of management. This means the coordinator may need to employ administrative staff to assist with the workload.
For most of the attendees on the Conference Planning Committee, their activities will be a part-time responsibility. However, for the coordinator be prepared that the conference will become a full-time assignment.
Management Activities required to Plan a Conference
- Prepare a conference budget
- Develop a project plan identifying all the task leading up to the conference, with dependencies and responsibilities
- Visit conference venues
- Negotiate contracts with venues
- Develop a conference marketing plan and manage activities against this plan
- Arrange sponsorship
- Recommend and correspond with speakers, entertainers and exhibitors
- Prepare descriptions of workshops and break-away sessions
- Prepare the conference agenda and plan the program of activities
- Recruit and train conference staff or volunteers
- Manage conference crises
- Develop session and conference evaluations
- Authorise expenditures
- Ensure bills are paid and
- Manage expenditure against budget
Administrative Activities required to Plan a Conference
- Organise, schedule, and staff Conference Planning Committee meetings
- Develop conference notices, brochures, registration forms, banners, signs, conference program
- Communicate with conference registrants
- Order conference supplies, materials, and equipment
- Work with suppliers
- Prepare name badges and conference packs
- Order room setups for all workshops and sessions
- Handle logistics for presenters, facilitators, key note speakers and any other VIPs – accommodation, flights, car rentals
- Recruit and train conference staff
- Process conference registrations in the office and onsite
Have a look at our Conference Planning Checklist, for a comprehensive list of activities required to plan a conference properly.
