I like to think of business conferences and events as big parties, so naturally, when I organized my first event, I asked myself, “What makes a great party?” Entertaining content, engaging people, and tasty snacks are the features that came to mind. For a professional event, these elements remain essential. Just like the best social gatherings, preparing all of these elements for a professional “party” can be very time consuming.
Here are five secrets that help me stay organized, feel prepared, and efficiently coordinate and market professional outreach events.
1. Make deadlines and stick to them.
When you’re at the beginning of planning, it’s extremely important to create a timeline and set goals and deadlines for all of the moving pieces. When does the Save the Date go out? How long do presenters have to enter proposals? When do we have to send the programs to print? Consider all of your deliverables, whether those are physical pieces, digital marketing messages, or menu choices and give them a spot on the timeline. And of course, STICK TO THEM!
2. Create a strong image and message for your party.
Remind folks about the event as many times as you can. Present the information on as many mediums as possible. Tell everyone about the event that you think may be interested. You’re spending a lot of time making sure that the conference is going to be a success; make sure that as many people as possible share that experience with you. But most importantly, make sure the message stays consistent. Don’t confuse people about what the event will offer – be succinct in your descriptions across platforms and mediums.
3. Be familiar with the conference space.
If you’re organizing an event with multiple keynotes, breakout sessions, and multiple meals, it’s important to set up the rooms to be versatile to this kind of variety of activities. You can’t do that unless you’ve physically stood in and experienced the space. It isn’t always possible to hold actual rehearsals of events, but you should definitely take the time to physically experience each space you’ll be filling with guests the day or days of the event.
4. Don’t do it alone.
Having a planning committee is extremely valuable, especially in the last weeks leading up to the event. You’re going to need a lot of hands to help get name tags, materials, props, AV equipment, and other odds and ends together. Identify each person’s roles and responsibilities from the beginning of the planning process so tasks don’t fall through the cracks. Check in with your committee often and have open lines of communication.
5. Don’t sweat the small stuff the day of the event.
Not everything is going to turn out exactly as expected the day(s) of the conference, and that’s okay. Most of the errors you may notice won’t be noticeable to the attendees. Instead of looking for potential errors, notice all of the things that are going right. You’ve worked really hard to pull this party off, so enjoy it!