Ever found yourself at an event and found it missing something?

It is estimated that there are 22,000 events held in Ireland every year!  Great numbers.  But how many of them fulfilled their purpose or even had one to start out with???  Most events held in Ireland are arranged by someone who is not a professional conference organiser – they end up having to do it, but it is not their main job.  It is a massive task to pull of correctly, so don’t try it alone, do get help.

Found this photo when I googled Conference Photos – figured they deserved the plug seeing as their website came up on page one.

As an event organiser, you definitely want to avoid the following -

• Delegates wondering why they came, it didn’t meet expectations.
• The venue was too hard to find and directions were not clear enough.
• The room was too hot or not enough ventilation and no air conditioning!
• The room was not set up properly and you couldn’t see the presentation properly.
• The service was terrible and the venue couldn’t even serve a decent cup of coffee!

They all sound like basic enough elements to get right, but you would be surprised how often they are not.
To avoid embarrassing situations such as the above, ensure your event has 2 main elements -

1. A purpose
2. A Plan!

We will go into these in more detail in the next post.  In the mean time, click though here for expert Conference Organiser tips…

Other blog posts on this topic include –How to plan an event – tips from the experts

How to Plan a Conference …. continued advice from the experts.

 

Step Three – Producing the Conference

To put the conference product in place you will to need to action the following:

Conference Budget:  This needs to be drawn up and must contain a revenue and expenditure section together with an actual column.  Always include a contingency figure, say 10% of the estimated total.

Programme:  Clearly identify you objectives so that both you and your speaker know what the conference is aiming to achieve and delegate expectations are met.

Marketing and PR plan:  You need to identify how are going to reach your target audience. Website will need to be designed or updated.

Event Schedule:  This is used to plot all the various activities that are talking place throughout the conference.

Step Four – Products and suppliers

Once you have produced you conference budget you can confirm your suppliers and product requirements:

Venue Finder:  Professional venue finders, who are experts on venues and offer an independent opinion are always a safe bet to use to ensure you select the right venue.  Your reputation is on the line if you chose the wrong venue!

Accommodation:  This may need to be placed on provisional hold if the conference venue cannot provide or has insufficient space.

Audio Visual equipment and production:  This is something either the venue can provide or you can source in-house.  Alternatively obtain up to quotes from conference / AV companies.

Catering, entertainment, transport, delegate bags etc:  Make sure you have thought of everything at this stage so that there are no surprises in the budget later on.

Marketing and PR plan:  You need to identify how are going to reach your target audience. Website will need to be designed or updated.

Event Schedule:  This is used to plot all the various activities that are talking place throughout the conference.

 

Step Three – Producing the Conference

To put the conference product in place you will to need to action the following:

Conference Budget:  This needs to be drawn up and must contain a revenue and expenditure section together with an actual column.  Always include a contingency figure, say 10% of the estimated total.

Programme:  Clearly identify you objectives so that both you and your speaker know what the conference is aiming to achieve and delegate expectations are met.

Marketing and PR plan:  You need to identify how are going to reach your target audience. Website will need to be designed or updated.

Event Schedule:  This is used to plot all the various activities that are talking place throughout the conference.

 

Great meeting room, just outside Dublin. Convenient to the airport also.

 

 

Step Four – Products and suppliers

Once you have produced you conference budget you can confirm your suppliers and product requirements:

 

Venue Finder:  Professional venue finders, who are experts on venues and offer an independent opinion are always a safe bet to use to ensure you select the right venue.  Your reputation is on the line if you chose the wrong venue!

Accommodation:  This may need to be placed on provisional hold if the conference venue cannot provide or has insufficient space.  Ensure there are enough gurestrooms for delegates or that there are excellently priced hotels within easy reach of the conference.  You don’t want your delegates arriving late as they were stuck in traffic.  Again, consult a venue finder on these.

Audio Visual equipment and production:  This is something either the venue can provide or you can source in-house.  Alternatively obtain up to quotes from conference / AV companies. Ensure  you get references, as getting the AV right on the day is essential!!

Catering, entertainment, transport, delegate bags etc:  Make sure you have thought of everything at this stage so that there are no surprises in the budget later on.

Marketing and PR plan:  You need to identify how are going to reach your target audience. Website will need to be designed or updated.

Event Schedule:  This is used to plot all the various activities that are talking place throughout the conference.

Source – In Any Event UK

For more expert tips on organising a conference or event – click here…

How to plan a conference – Corporate Event tips from the experts

 

HOW TO PLAN A CONFERENCE – source In Any Evenet UK – www.inanyevent-uk.com

Step One – Planning

Decide who is going to be involved in organising the conference. Set up a conference planning committee.  Arrange a meeting to establish what work needs to be undertaken, by whom and set timescales.  Obtain handover notes if this event has been previously organised by other committees.

At this initial planning meeting is essential that you set your event objectives. For example these can be along lines of:

• What is the conference aiming to achieve?  What as an organisation are you trying to achieve by hosting this event?

• Who are you trying to impact?  Define your target audience in terms of delegates and sponsors?

• How do you define success?

Decide on dates for regular planning meetings and produce notes from meetings together with action points.

Step Two – Work in Progress

From the planning meeting draw up an activity schedule together with list of actions, status of actions and deadline dates. This will become your working schedule.

At each planning meeting produce an agenda based on the headings of the activity schedule. Produce meeting notes together with actions.  These together with the activity schedule will be what you use to plan your event.

Step One – Planning

Decide who is going to be involved in organising the conference. Set up a conference planning committee.  Arrange a meeting to establish what work needs to be undertaken, by whom and set timescales.  Obtain handover notes if this event has been previously organised by other committees.

At this initial planning meeting is essential that you set your event objectives. For example these can be along lines of:

• • What is the conference aiming to achieve?  What as an organisation are you trying to achieve by hosting this event?
• • Who are you trying to impact?  Define your target audience in terms of delegates and sponsors?
• • How do you define success?

Decide on dates for the regular planning meetings and produce notes from meetings together with action points.

networking area Hotel Europe, Kilarney, Co Kerry. Great conference hotel.

Step Two – Work in Progress

From the planning meeting draw up an activity schedule together with list of actions, status of actions and deadline dates. This will become your working schedule.

At each planning meeting produce an agenda based on the headings of the activity schedule. Produce meeting notes together with actions.  These together with the activity schedule will be what you use to plan your event.

Step Three – next post

-  source of this expert advice –  In Any Evenet UK - www.inanyevent-uk.com

If you are interested in more tips from the professionals on how to plan a conference or event, check out these links….