Planning a Conference

The task of planning and co-ordinating a

conference is a high profile but demanding
role that can be rewarding at the
completion of the event. The following
offers a few useful tips to use that will
make the task easier.

Planning the event is all the groundwork
for a successful conference or function.

There are 2 important questions to ask
before considering to organise a
conference

What is the conference to achieve -
Purpose
What method will be best used for the
conference to achieve- How
Conference Purpose

The purpose of a conference may be for a
variety of reasons. Some of the more
common purposes are to:

Co-ordinate Activities
Build Morale
Secure Agreement
Brief Staff/Clients
Solve a Problem
Exchange Information
Initiate Policy
Product Launch
Keeping the purpose in mind will assist in
planning the method on how will the
conference be able to achieve its purpose.
This will also determine how much time
allocation is required to achieve the
objectives.

How to conduct the Conference

Date and Time

Select a date, time and duration for the
Conference. These may all be
approximates initially, but after reviewing
the following steps shall then enable a
much more accurate duration. When
selecting a date, be sure to leave yourself,
attendees and presenters enough time to
plan ahead for the conference. Also allow
time to be able to find and book a suitable
venue. Many conference and function
venues get booked ahead well in advance,
so you may not have many choices if
leaving it too late.

Attendees

Identify who will be the intended audience
of the conference, how many will be
attending and from how far are they
required/able to travel to the conference.
Are there any special requirements
attendees will require to access the
conference eg wheelchair access.

Conference Content

Determine the most appropriate topics that
will address the conference purpose. Select
activities and presenters that can help
achieve the conference purpose. The final
agenda, order and content of conference
activities will go through many changes
until the actual conference is run.

Venue/Facilities

Selecting the correct Venue may require
the most time, as you should always
inspect a venue prior to booking it.
Preparing a check list of the conference
facilities and requirements that will narrow
the selection to appropriate venues for the
conference. The following points should
be decided prior to searching for a
conference venue.

Location To help decide the location,
ask the following questions

o How far are attendees travelling,

o If attendees are being flown in, how far
from the nearest airport

o How are attendees arriving to the venue
eg car then how long a drive is not too
long

o Does it need to be close to the workplace
or far away from the busy workplace

Capacity Ensure that the venue can
provide for the number intended attendees
in the conference room layout appropriate
for the conference purpose. The following
are a selection of room layouts to be used

o Theatre useful for briefing a large
group, initiate a policy or build morale and
writing by attendees is not required to take
place

o Class Room Used for briefing a groups
who are also required to take notes and
perhaps work in small groups of a
maximum of 4 for Exchanging
information, or solving a problem
conference

o Board Room This arrangement all
participants can see each other in the
conference and is useful for securing
agreement, solving a problem amongst the
group, or purpose that consists of a group
no larger than 20. This arrangement
encourages participation of all attendees

o Hollow Square The participants face
each other but unlike the board room
arrangement, has more space across from
participants.

o U-Shaped enables group interaction
but the conference is focused around a
facilitator at the front of the group.

o Banquet Style A large conference can
be arranged in smaller groups seated
around round or rectangular tables where
group and workshop activities can be
performed through the conference. The
banquet style also encourages attendees to
network with their immediate group at the
conference.

Facilities There are a variety of
facilities to be considered for a conference

o The presenter facilities eg speakers,
mics, audio, visual aids, screens, boards,
flipcharts etc.

o The attendee facilities eg catering,
seating, lighting, break up rooms for
workshops, writing materials etc.

Accommodation If the conference is
residential the venue should address the
following items

o Whether the accommodation will be
required close to the conference facilities

o How are the attendees to be roomed eg
in pairs, triples, quads or dormitory styles

o Capacity can the venue accommodate
to room the number of attendees of the
conference.

Budget work within the cost allocated
for each attendee and how much has been
budgeted for the conference. This amount
will narrow the selection of venues
suitable for the event.

Conference support It is always helpful
to have a conference co-ordinator at the
venue that can assist with the finer points
of the conference. Venue Conference Co-
ordinators know their venue and its
capability that can provide useful
suggestions for your conference.

Extra curricular activities When the
conference is in recess, will the attendees
be required to participate in any team
building activities. The venue may have
contacts that can oblige or find your own,
ensure the venue can accommodate these
activities if required.

The hardest decision of the conference
organising has been completed soon as a
suitable venue has been selected.

Leisure and Tourism Link is offering a
Conference Referral Service. We may
have a suitable venue for the conference
you are arranging. Contact us, supply the
conference requirements and let us assist
in the venue selection process. Our service
is free to use and there is no obligation.
We are an information service that is here
to take out the monotonous task of chasing
up possible venues.

Promote the Conference

Invitations may be required to be sent out
to presenters/facilitators and the intended
the audience of the conference.

Posters on noticeboards around the
workplace are also a useful easy promotion
activity of a work conference

Preparation

All the finer details of the conference
should now be attended to. Items such as
fine tuning the order of the conference,
confirmations, name badges, co-ordinating
and printing of presenter notes, table
arrangements, catering options,
Conference evaluations etc.

After the Event

Taking time out after the conference and
just covering some of the following, will
nicely complete the hard work of planning
and conducting a conference.

Pay all outstanding accounts of the
conference

Organise presenter notes/conference
outcomes

Distribute conference outcomes

Collect and analyse conference
evaluations if used

Reflect whether the conference reached
its objective/purpose

Strengths of the conference

Weaknesses of the conference.

Have a team meeting and brief the team
(if used) about the conference outcomes.

Take a rest until the next conference is
required.
Planning
is a process for accomplishing purposes. It
is setting of goals on the basis of
objectives and keeping in the resources.

3 easy steps in planning:
1. Choosing a destination
2. Evaluating alternative routes
3. Deciding the specific course of your
plan.

Prioritizing Tasks

Planner - commonly used by office
executives in planning their work in the
office. They use planner in
prioritizing/batching their work.

Tips in effective planning
1. Keep all of your planning tools and
forms together in one place.
2. Plan ahead of time, however frequently
you plan.
3. Separate your planning from your doing.
4. Dont try to imitate the people who deal
with all kinds of complicated planning.
5. Stretch yourself on an ongoing basis and
try out something new.
6. Quiz other friends, colleagues, and co-
workers about how they plan and what
works for them.
7. Remember that planning is an ongoing
process.
8. Make being proactive a personal priority
for you.
9. Choose planning tools that help you to
organize your meetings, appointments,
tasks, projects, etc.
10. Respect your time by learning how to
deal with interruptions.
MEETING
- an act orprocess of coming together as an
assembly for a common purpose.

COMMON TYPES OF MEETING:
1. Investigative meeting
2. Work Meeting
3. Staff Meeting
4. Team meeting
5. Ad-hoc Meeting
6. Management Meeting
7. Board Meeting
8. One-on-One meeting
9. Off-site Meeting
10. Kickoff Meeting

PLANNING EFFECTIVE MEETINGS
1. Selecting Participants
2. Developing Agendas
3. Opening Meetings
4. Establishing Ground Rules for Meetings
-Four powerful ground rules:
a. participate
b. get FOCUS
c. maintain MOMENTUM
d. reach closure
5. Time Management
6. Evaluations of Meeting Process
7 .Evaluating the Overall Meeting
8. Closing Meetings

1969 -- Samuel Beckett, Ireland
1925 -- George Bernard Shaw, United Kingdom
1964 -- Jean-Paul Sartre, France