Home >A to Z of Conferencing

A to Z of Conferencing

Accommodation

Delegates and guests who travel to your event will require convenient, comfortable accommodation. If most of your guests will have to stay over night it is a good idea to hold your event in a hotel where suitable rooms can be booked.

Banquet

A formal banquet or gala dinner is a great way to round out a successful conference, or can be arranged as a stand-alone event. For many people, the opportunity to network is one of the most attractive elements of any event and a big dinner will give them the perfect opportunity to meet and mingle with the other guests or delegates.

Coaching

Speakers who are chosen for their knowledge are not necessarily adept speakers. Presentation coaches can work with speakers to ensure that they are well rehearsed and that before they take to the stage they feel comfortable delivering their speech to the assembled crowd.

Décor

Always tailor the decoration of a venue to the event in question. It can be tempting to run riot with balloons and buntings but be warned: the children’s birthday party look is rarely appropriate to corporate events. For the best-dressed room turn to a professional who will offer advice as to how to create the look that you’re aiming for.

Event managers

If you are not a dedicated event manager but have been charged with planning an event, you will soon find that other responsibilities fall by the way side as planning your event begins to eat into your time. To put your mind at ease and to ensure that mistakes do not occur, hire a professional to do your worrying, make the magic happen and call in discounts from suppliers.

Food

As much as possible, previous to an event try to taste all food that your guests will consume. When the food provided by the hotel does not meet your standards you can bring in your own caterers to whip up the required feast. In cases when events will span a number of days contact guests several weeks prior to the event to request details of any special dietary requirements

Guest Speakers

Research the speakers who’ve made a splash at previous events or have experience presenting to groups. Think carefully about your programme of events before booking speakers and never forget that stage presence will win a crowd like little else; an entertaining speech will be remembered for a long time to come.

Innovation

Make your event memorable. Take a few risks and don’t be afraid to update and modernise the formula for your event. Use an unusual venue, include team-building activities and entertain your guests in unusual ways that will surprise them and ensure that they leave with memories that will stay with them for a long time to come.

Journeys

If your guests spend hours standing on a cold windswept platform or in an empty airport arrivals hall prior to their arrival, that is likely to be the memory that stays with them longest. Make sure that the venue you book is easily accessible and in the case of international events, ensure that each guest is either met upon arrival at the airport or that they are fully informed as to transfer arrangements.

Keepsakes

Send your guests away with a high quality gift that they can use, if your budget allows for it. Don’t waste money on gifts that will be binned. It makes more sense to spend a little more and present them with something that they will truly appreciate and enjoy using and that incorporates your own logo.

Latecomers

Take into account that no matter how organised you are, invariably, tardiness will intervene and throw a big fat spanner in your beautifully arranged works. Prepare for the entire event to run slightly later than the official schedule of events so that, should this occur, you will be able to absorb the delays and ensure that everything still runs smoothly.

Media

Draw up a press release prior to an event and send it to selected media contacts. Follow this up with phone calls and emails, both before and after the event. During the event ensure that high quality photos are taken and then place these on a website where they can be downloaded in both low and high resolution.

Name tags

Nametags are essential to networking and help delegates to meet each other and introduce themselves to relevant contacts. They also identify members of the event administration team who might be able to help them with any difficulty that they encounter during the event.

Online registration

Online registration makes the organisation of an event easier for both you and your guests. When guests pre-register online you have a much more complete idea of just how many people will attend and what their needs might be. For the guest, registering online reduces waiting time and makes the process of entry into the event far more pleasant than it might otherwise be.

Photography

Hiring a professional photographer is absolutely essential to any event. Make sure that you get the shots that you want by either accompanying the photographer around the room or by delegating someone else to do this. Be sure that captions are noted correctly and that images are made available to interested media in a format that is suitable to their needs. It is a good idea to place the photos on a website – such as our gallery facility - where they can be downloaded in both low and high resolution.

Staging

The eyes of your guests will be on the stage and it must look great, with your logo displayed in a tasteful manner and using high quality lighting to show off the stage to its very best. A professional team will make the room look great, however when you are doing it yourself keep things simple.

Technology

Most hotels now have all the audiovisual equipment that you’ll require. However, if you need something that the hotel cannot provide, you should consider hiring this equipment. If you hire any equipment make sure that the company you rent from is reputable and that they will offer the support services that you require.

Useful information

Distribute a fact sheet of useful information to delegates and make it available online. Also, appoint one individual as information officer and make sure that all guests are aware of how they can contact this person.

Verify

Verify everything and check it twice. If in doubt ask questions, write notes, make lists and tick things off as they get done. Take nothing for granted and re-check everything as the event approaches.

Welcome

Make sure that each guest gets a warm welcome and that the venue for the event is clearly sign posted. Have a welcome desk meet them at the entrance and show them where they can leave coats, bags and umbrellas.

X marks the spot

Provide maps to your event and upload these to a website where they can be viewed and downloaded in advance of the event. If your event is an annual occurrence, collect as much information as is available about attendance and attendees. Use this information to inform any changes or innovations that you put in place from year to year.

Zzzz

From the start to finish of your event you’ll be kept busy and it’s likely that you will be exhausted by the end of the event. However, make sure that your guests don’t feel the same way. Give them time to relax, to take in the information that has been delivered and to network with the other attendees.