Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Pointers To Hold A Successful Conference

By John L Jones

If you are planning on organizing a conference, then you must make sure that you are ready to not only provide great content but also great comfort to all the participants. Conferences are a great place for people to come together and discuss policies; however, uncomfortable settings can make it difficult for participants to use their full potential, and can further harm the conference atmosphere as well.

Following are five tips on how to organize a great conference:

1. Great Content: Make sure that the topic the conference is being hosted on is very interesting. If you are arranging a conference for a specific industry, then try and get well-known people from within it to come and talk at the event. Make sure you pick a Chairperson who understands the topic and is able to make conversation on it, as well as motivate other people to participate in the conference.

2. Proactive Participants: While deciding on a system to get participants to register, make sure you attract the excellent people. By having people at the conference who are aware of and involved in the topic will make it far easier for the conference to become an accomplishment. Furthermore, make sure you promote the conference through different media to get an extensive coverage.

3. Good Food: Nothing destroys a conference as fast as bad quality food, or lack of water. Humans are not able to function well when hungry or thirsty, so make sure you talk to the event planner in advance about the food that will be offered. Make sure that the food offered has selection and is high-quality. Additionally, also cater to incorporate any nutritional restrictions some participants might have (like vegetarian options).

Make sure food is offered at regular intervals with snacks and coffee in between as people are habitual of having something every four to five hours. Provide enough time in plan for everyone to get food and enjoy it completely before rushing back to the conference sessions.

4. Friendly Service: In case you have volunteers assisting you, make sure you train them to be very friendly and courteous to all the participants. As the participants will be working all day long, there is a probability that they might become shot-tempered or impolite when being asked for change in rooms or other problems that might happen. Nothing will make them ruder or unhappier than a volunteer who is rude to them. As these participants are your guests, make sure you treat them politely throughout their stay.

5. Lodging and other extras: If you are offering overnight accommodation, check the rooms to make sure they are cleaned properly and have good heating or cooling systems. Inform participant who would be staying over their room numbers when they register, and notify them of any hotel facilities or restrictions (all keys at reception, no phone calls from etc) so that they have full information with them.

Other than rooms, also consider what other things you can provide to your guests. It might be possible to get snacks or drinks company to sponsor the conference so you can give participants free snacks other than the ones the hotel provides. It is also nice to get a little reminder of the conference, so consider getting t-shirts, key rings, or mugs made depending on the demographics of the participants. - 15266

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