A Well Defined Theme is a MUST for your Conference or Meeting
07/03/2012
Identify the Objective of Your Conference
Whether you're in sales, customer service, production, hospitality it’s important to hold conferences. Before deciding on your theme you need to be clear about why you're having a conference. Some common reasons for holding a conference are:
- Team building: A conference will encourage heightened awareness in an atmosphere of togetherness which makes for better teamwork. Face-to-face communication is much more effective and motivational than letters, memos and email. Conferences also help to generate excitement; raise your staff’s expectations of themselves; and build enthusiasm for challenges, opportunities and rewards.They can clear the air to eliminate staff misunderstandings early-on and can get people back on track and on the same page.
- Information and Training: They provide an opportunity to impart new information or training. A conference will get your team up-to-speed quicker on goals and objectives. They provide a way to access feedback from your people that you wouldn’t otherwise get. Use your conferences to share info on what’s working and what’s not, get trained, do role-playing, and sharpen skills and methods.
- Reward and Recognition: Use conferences to recognise individual and team effort and accomplishment. And to reward accordingly. Recognition in front of one’s peers is a powerful motivator.
- Product Launch or Re-Launch: Use conferences to introduce a new product or relaunch an old one, or unveil new goals or procedures.
- Business Planning: A conference is a fantastic way to focus positively on identifying problems and challenges, and then brainstorming solutions. Use your conferences to get all your creative juices flowing and generate as many ideas, answers and solutions as possible before narrowing your list down to the plan ahead.
Tie your Objective and Conference Agenda together with a Conference Theme
A carefully selected theme for your conference will help to unify everyone’s focus and efforts. A well-chosen theme provides an “umbrella” concept, under which your agenda, speakers, all related materials and activities are made more effective.
Twenty Tips for a Meaningful Theme
- Review your conference agenda to decide which theme best relates to your objective and will help to dramatise it.
- Consider your attendees and what theme will appeal will be to them.
- Will the theme appeal equally to men and to women?
- Will new employees and verteran employees respond the same way to the theme?
- Is there anything seasonal you can tie in with - Valentine’s Day, Secretaries Day, Bosses Day, Birthday of an important person, Spring, Halloween, major Sports Event, important National Holiday?
- Are there other themes, slogans and programs in our company or organisation that our theme can tie in with?
- Keep your theme short so it’s stronger and more memorable.
- Create a slogan for your theme.
- Can you sustain this theme over time without people getting bored with it?
- Can you have some fun with this theme idea?
- Will your people buy into the theme and its intent?
- Be sensitive and don’t allow sexism, racism or other objectionable aspects to relate to your theme.
- Once you’ve selected your theme, review your agenda and see how your theme can tie in with it.
- Build every element around your theme. For example: ask your speakers to use language and references that relate to the theme, ensure break away sessions and team building activities include elements of your theme.
- If possible, create a logo for your catchy theme, and produce hats, t-shirts, mugs, pens, screen savers, mouse pads and other items that bear the theme.
- Use the theme/logo on all promotions and literature.
- Use decorations if possible, whether simple posters or elaborate backdrops which can be purchased. Inexpensive decorations can go a long way e.g. balloons, streamers, posters, banners.
- Use gifts, prizes and giveaways that fit with your theme.
- If appropriate, add some theme-related entertainment to your conference: e.g. skits, song parodies, role-playing, background mood music.
- Serve refreshments that carry out your theme.
See also
20 Theme Ideas for your Conference or Meeting.
