Conference Planning Guide

To “confer” on a particular topic when a group of people meet at a place it is termed as a conference. Far removed from the stereotypical ‘year-end company conference’ which is just an excuse for the whole company to pull into a posh hotel and have a weekend long party, the planning and execution of a successful and effective conference takes a lot of time, discipline and commitment. Following factors are very much important in planning a conference successfully.

* Planning a committee to carry out the conference successfully.
* Estimating the cost required to carry out the conference.
* Fix a venue/hotel where the conference is to be held.
* Proper negotiations & agreements between parties
* Identify speaker & host who will carry on the conference.
* Detailed plans for program.
* Carrying out plans those are fixed to execute the conference.

Apart from the above mentioned factors there are few other important issues those should be taken into consideration for carrying out a conference successfully. There are different sectors on which conferences can be organized, like academic, educational, engineering, and medical & many others. To organize the conference in a proper & successful manner appointment of a Conference coordinator is very much vital. The number of members in the committee should be dependent on the size of conference you are organizing; oversized committee can lead to negative result for the conference.

Finding a potential speaker or the presenter is the most important thing before organizing any conference. Inexperienced or incapable speakers can spoil a well organized conference. Usually your speaker needs will depend on the topics to be addressed, but sometimes this may get upturned. If a speaker is selected because of his or her repute for making energetic presentations and the theme is resolute exclusively by the speaker’s predilection, this can lead to an horrible surprise when the topic is out of sync with the rationale of the conference.

Evaluation can provide a qualitative compute of any or every constituent of the conference; this feature unaided gives it value. Additionally, evaluation can be an important device in planning next year’s conference. The most frequent process of evaluation is the use of an evaluation form. The form is designed as a questionnaire to gauge conferees’ reactions to and thoughts of various components of the conference. The design of the evaluation form should aid a quick and easy response and at the same time permit a more detailed reply.