Successful Conference Planning Guidelines

Not every one of us was born to organize a conference, vigorously poring over details and constantly trying to hold the threat of chaos at bay.

Very often we find ourselves in this position sooner or later. Whether it's by your own choice or not, you sometimes get roped into planning an important conference, education seminar, or incentive meeting that could be a critical component to your organizations success. We've put together some tips to assist you with your planning.

CONFERENCE ROOMS: One of your very first items of business should be to reserve the necessary conference rooms for the sessions, ensuring that the venue has the needed space and enough breakout rooms as you would require. The location of the venue needs to be considered carefully in order to ensure that it will be central for all the attendees and easily accessible for delegates flying in from around the country.

ACCOMMODATION: Depending on the size and nature of your conference delegates might require accommodation. When selecting a venue ensure that accommodation is either available onsite or close by for the convenience of all the delegates. Ensure that you know beforehand how many rooms are available for your conference, if the hotel has disabled rooms available and what additional recreational facilities it can offer to your conference attendees.

FOOD: It's important to ensure that regular snack breaks, with drink are schedule to keep delegates fresh and free to concentrate for the whole day. As you develop the meeting agenda ensure that you strategically scheduled breaks throughout the day allowing for enough time to provide attendees with the opportunity to also network. Be sure to find out peoples dietary requirements beforehand in order to also accommodate any special requests.

EQUIPMENT AND SUPPORT: This is another critically important part of the conference, especially in our technology-driven society. It is of vital importance to determine ahead of time the standard equipment that your venue will have available and if you will need to rent any additional. Always check with presenters what type of equipment they will need when you confirm arrangements with them. It's always easier if you select a venue that have standard equipment already in the conference rooms as this means one less thing that you have to worry about.

ENTERTAINMENT: Depending on the size, duration and scale of the meeting or conference, you may need to provide for one or more social activities for attendees.

Organised dinners at local restaurants can be enjoyable, especially for smaller conferences. For conferences that are of a bigger size and attendance, a banquet may be in order. At the very least, provide a list of recommended local eateries for those who want to venture out on their own.

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