How to organize a perfect conference: 7 Key Steps To Success

Conferences are an excellent idea when you wish to share experience and advertise some of your services. To communicate this stuff to large audiences, the best solution is to organize a conference. For some time, talks, performances, and any type of activity that involves crowds are postponed. This gives you more time to organize the upcoming events in a way that will make them outstanding.

The organization of such an occasion demands organization skills and focus on detail. If you are the type of person who likes to take care of small things and doesn’t like to leave something to luck, this is probably your playground. Organizing a conference can prove fun if you are not overwhelmed with feelings of stress and disappointment.

To help you have a unique discussion, we list some of the things you need to take care of. Take a look at the steps below and try to achieve them in the order mentioned to avoid confusion.

1. Study the agenda
   For starters, you should have a clear overview of what you want to achieve through the conference. Do you want to pass out information? Do you want to reach out to clients? Do you want to engage your existing customers? Whatever the deal is, determine the goal and break it down into small pieces to see how you can approach its accomplishment. Don’t put all the issues on the table at once cause you will get confused. Short, simple steps are the initial advice.

   

2. Refer to previous experience
   If the same conference has been organized in the past, make sure you reach out to the previous organizers and communicate your thoughts with them. Let them pass you their wisdom, and if they already have a list of suppliers they are working with or anything that might seem useful, make sure they hand it to you. You can even take a look on the web to check similar conferences and get ideas.

   

3. Determine your budget
   Now, it’s time to go to the practical parts of a conference. Starting with the budget you are willing to spend; you will make a list of the things you guess you will need to pay and paint the big picture of where the money is going to be spent. Depending on the conference’s purpose, we suggest making a realistic plan of how you intend to move regarding the finances.

   

4. Find sponsors
   If your budget is tight, don’t get disappointed we have a clue of what might help you breathe financially. Sponsors are many times available at your disposal. It is more possible to find grants if the conference is big and has many attendees. To convince people to sponsor a part of the meeting, you need to clear out that you will somehow promote their product. Whether this is by mentioning their contribution or putting banners to advertise them, make sure you give back what you have been generously offered.

   

5. Choose speakers
   Finding the right speakers is what is going to make the difference. Speakers and attendees are basically going to be the ”body and soul” of the conference. Make contact with them and try to fit them into your plans. It is essential to get in touch with them before you pick a date, so you can assure they will participate in your conference. Let them be aware of the gist you want to come out of the conference to help them adjust their speech accordingly.

   

6. Take care of the details
   Moving on with the conference, it’s time to start taking care of the details. First, you have to pick up the date. You could organize the event for a weekend or any day that might be considered to be relaxed, so people can come to attend. At the same time, you will have to make some phone calls to find a proper venue with convenient parking and book. The vendors are the next thing on the list. Catering, light lunch, and all the details that improve the experience for the visitors are essential. You can even decide on a theme for the conference, which is very popular nowadays and adds a sense of fun to the whole event. Remember the speakers’ presentation will be the conference’s pillar, but these small details are where your contribution will be noticed after all.

   

7. Promotion
   Last but not least comes the promoting part. Once you have taken care of some details, it’s time to invite people to join the conference as attendees. The best solution to reach them is to create a professional site and choose an appropriate domain. Send promotional emails to people who might be interested and encourage them to register on time and buy their tickets. Include information about the conference’s topic, the where, and when, and who is about to speak. If you have celebrities or people who will increase your event’s prestige, point out their participation.

   

Written by Anna Siampani.