How to Organize a Conference
How to Organize a Conference
A conference is a great way for people with a common interest to get together and exchange the most cutting-edge ideas in their field. Conferences are regular occurrences in academia, many industry fields, multi-level marketing groups, and religious groups, to name a few. If you have decided to organize a conference in your area, you might be starting to realize that a well-planned conference has a to-do list about a mile long. There is the conference venue, participant list, materials, technology and even refreshments to think about and plan. If you are beginning to regret stepping up to plan, slow down, take a breath and know that you have the skills to organize a conference. The key to successful conference management is to take each task one step at a time and keep a thorough list of what you’ve done and what you need to do next.
1.Start early
You should begin early stages of planning the conference at least eight months in advance, even longer if the conference will have many participants or is large in scope.
- 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.
2.Form a committee
A conference committee makes all the decisions for the conference, and having more than one person ensures that you have enough perspectives to make decisions on important issues and that you have enough people to actually pull off the details.
- You will need a conference coordinator, who is the point person for all the major decisions and who will end up giving the most time to pulling everything together.You can also hire an event planner if you have a big enough budget, and spare yourself a headache.
- If this conference is repeat of one that has been held before, try to get the previous year’s coordinator on the committee. If he or she cannot participate, at least ask for any materials from the previous year to help streamline planning.
3.Name the conference
This will help when you begin publicizing, but also helps in planning since you can keep your materials consistent and start building a social media presence for the conference.
- 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 is original.
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4.Establish ticket price and method of sales
Some conferences are free to participants, and others charge exorbitant fees. There are several factors to consider when setting the ticket price and determining how to begin selling tickets:
- What are the fees associated with conference planning? 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
- 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 and also charge a lower fee for members of the sponsoring association than for the general public.
5.Choose your conference venue
When scouting locations, keep in mind the number of participants, the convenience of the location, parking and proximity to public transportation, airports, and hotels. Your goal in finding a place to hold the conference should be making it as easy as possible for participants to attend.
- 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.
6.Plan the schedule
You already know the title of the conference and have a general idea of the topics. But now you have to decide how it will actually play out. Conferences come in many types, and different industries take different approaches.If you are unsure how to proceed, consider going to a common conference format
7.Decide what type of sessions to have
These will vary depending on industry standards, but you might consider lectures, works-in-progress presentations, workshops, policy updates or state-of-the-field addresses, interactive sessions, or open-floor poster presentations.
- 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.
8.Find industry leaders to participate
You need a big headliner or keynote speaker to help convince other people in the industry.
- 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.
9.Create a conference website
These days it is almost mandatory to have a digital presence for a successful conference. Find an available URL that includes the conference name or a logical derivative of it, so that it will be easy to find. Include all the important information about the conference at the website, and be sure to list the URL on all print materials and advertisements related to the conference.
10. Advertise
Start early (up to a year in advance) so that presenters can begin submitting proposals for session ideas. Depending on the size of your conference and your target audience, your approach will differ. Keep in mind where members of your target audience get their information about this industry or group.
11. Solicit proposals
In your advertising materials, you should also include a “Call for Participants” or a “Call for Proposals” asking for individuals or groups to submit paper, panel, or workshop proposals.
- Depending on your industry, you can ask for a specific length of the proposal. In academia, smaller conferences usually ask for an abstract of a few hundred words; larger conferences ask for entire manuscripts.
