What do conference organisers do

They will also be able to prepare a presentation that is appropriate for the size of the audience. This point is something that both your speakers and your audience will appreciate if you do it well. Also, take into account the fact that it will take time—ten to fifteen minutes, depending on the size of the venue—for one audience to clear out of a space and another one to take its place.

The speakers at the end of the day who end up having to squeeze their talks into a shortened time slot or who end up speaking to an empty room because all of the audience had to leave to catch planes and trains will not be pleased. Avoid this situation by leaving plenty of time in your schedule for transitions between talks. This goes back to point number three—do as much as you can to minimise the logistics that your speakers have to manage.

If your conference is in a hotel, the ideal situation would be to provide your speakers with rooms in that hotel. When it comes to presentations, all it takes is one small technical glitch to ruin the show. Great speakers know how to deal with last-minute tech snafus, but even the best presenters can find them distracting and unnerving. In order to avoid any potential issues, make sure that you have technical support on hand throughout your conference to help your speakers get set up correctly.

Before the event begins, do a dry run to make sure that all of your equipment works properly, and ask the presenters to come a bit early, prepared with their presentation media. These days, so much of the networking and idea sharing that makes conferences great is taking place online. Provide your speakers and audience with a hashtag for the event in advance.

Experienced speakers will work that hashtag into their presentations, which in turn will encourage audience engagement online. Phew—your event is over, and it was a great success! After all of the hard work that you put into planning such an event, it might be tempting to throw your computer out the window and take a three-week vacation to some tropical island.

Before you do that, though, make sure to send notes to all of your speakers letting them know that the event was a success and thanking them for their participation. There is a growing awareness about the environmental impact of events. International standards have already been published, drawing attention to integrating social and environmental responsibility issues in event planning. Destination marketing is linked to experiential design since it involves expanding the event experience beyond the venue.

PCOs of today must integrate destination and event marketing and have a clear rationale about their choice of location. Not to forget to show how that choice aligns with attendee profiles and event goals.

Next, we will look at how these changes translate into the need to update and upgrade the services offered by professional conference organisers. Moving forward, the following services will be critical to the success of 21st-century event planning and executing strategies:. PCOs should be fully conversant with hybrid events that have a vital digital component.

This means understanding the different types of hybrid models and their suitability to other event types. It is also necessary to have a reliable system of managing both live and online aspects of events and merging two experience types seamlessly. Therefore, PCOs should explore their role as technology consultants.

These are uncharted waters for many associations and professional organisations, which means that PCOs will need to take the lead in coaching and training. Services like speaker support or training for digital event organisation and production will give clients more tools and help build collaborative relationships. Event planning should now incorporate complete security strategies combining entrance control strategies, training so that staff are prepared to respond to dangerous situations and evacuation plans in collaboration with local authorities to only name a few.

Moreover, the pandemic changed the depth and breadth of event risk health management. Acting as meeting architects , PCOs align event objectives with content and format so that events deliver optimal value to all stakeholders. Both digital event marketing and conventional marketing will need to be adapted to new environments. PCOs will play a key role in multi-channel content creation and formulating strategies to repurpose event content. Moreover, they should be ready to provide additional services like data analytics and extended reporting functions.

Sustainability will be at the heart of event planning. Amid a changing landscape, professional conference organisers will need to re-examine their role and reformulate it to align with new realities and demands. The concepts covered in this article can help bring expertise and added value that resonates with the needs and expectations of clients, sponsors, and event participants.

Professional event planners are natural problem solvers. PCOs have fantastic contacts, strong relationships with suppliers, and when things go wrong, they roll up their sleeves and get stuff done. Good professional conference planners take pride in delivering the type of creative and unique experiences that exceed delegate expectations.

Brian helps researchers find conferences on PaperCrowd. He enjoys entertaining his baby nephew, playing an insane amount of sport, and being wildly competitive at party games. Previously, he worked as the admin of an international entrepreneurship research conference.

Or visit exordo. Running an academic event? Brian Campbell. Managing your conference management software If you want them to, your PCO can also handle setting up and running aspects of your conference management software. Managing your conference contacts Almost every one of your conference contacts — from your plenary speakers to your reviewers — will have a long list of priorities that come ahead of your conference.

Problem-solving Professional event planners are natural problem solvers. Hiring a professional conference organiser Good professional conference planners take pride in delivering the type of creative and unique experiences that exceed delegate expectations.