Can you imagine an effective conference without interactive sessions among attendees and speakers? It’s impossible because this segment stands out as the most interesting part of the event for most participants.
However, the planning starts with defining the event theme, which remains the buzz question for any expected attendees before registering. The venue you choose must go with the event theme and accommodate all the participants comfortably.
Confirm the agenda including the segments to follow in the event and mention this on the promotion page. Also, don’t forget to add the keynote speakers’ info on the promotion page as it is the center of attraction for visitors. Choose the speakers carefully as they will connect the participants to the event.
You need to know more about how to plan an effective conference. So, stay with us for the ideal planning ways.
Why Planning an Effective Conference Is Important?
Planning an effective conference means you’re serving your attendees with good content in a comfortable environment. You should follow the structure of an effective conference to benefit from the event.
But will you benefit from the event? Yes, any day, and let’s go through the top benefits.
Brand Reputation
The inclusion of high-quality content and successful execution of the planning takes your organization’s reputation to different heights. Moreover, people will start believing in your arrangement as they have benefitted from the conference.
Industry Relationship
A better relationship is always key to your advancement if you wish to continue your good run in organizing conferences. A good relationship with attendees works as an invitation for upcoming events.
Build your relationship with popular sponsors to invest in your future events. Also, you can ensure the engagement of top speakers by planning for an effective event.
Encourages Teamwork
To make any conference effective, there is no alternative to working with a team of intellectuals. In a team, you have to get your job done within the allotted time as well as inform the members about your progress.
Moreover, every member is accountable for their tasks which enhances the success rate undoubtedly. Members also learn how to value others’ opinions while working in a team.
Investment Turns Into Revenue
You are running paid promotions, renting a venue, and investing in catering for success. But will these earn you any revenue? It mostly depends on how you run the promotions and manage to attract the possible attendees.
Including reputed keynote speakers, and an interesting event schedule, inclusion of panel discussion, and interactive sessions can easily encourage the expected attendees to join the event.
As a result, revenue comes through ticket sales. However, sponsorship can deduct a certain amount of cost.
Prepare for The Upcoming Conference
An effective conference means the attendees have been benefitted. Therefore, they will surely love to check your upcoming plan and may also register for it as well. This is nonetheless an indirect promotion method.
How to Plan an Effective Conference?
The success of a conference depends largely on how effective it turns out to be for the attendees. Mentioning the benefits that the participants might get from joining the event is an interesting way to attract more attendees.
You can plan a superb event, but the success depends on how you manage each and everything on that particular day.
That is why, we suggest you follow a few steps to convert a normal conference into an effective one. You should also avoid a few notable mistakes.
Go through the following steps to plan and execute the event accordingly.
- Ways to make a conference effective
- Knowing about the common mistakes
- Ways to increase the number of attendees in the event.
What Are the Ways to Make a Conference Effective?
The conference remains ineffective until the attendees get the vision and expertise from the experts for what they have registered for the event. Understanding conference structure and sticking to the plan can be crucial to making a conference effective any day.
Here are the secrets for the organizers regarding the event:
Arrange a Conference on A Specific Theme
Dealing with a specific theme is the first step you can take as an organizer. Including several topics at the same time weakens the real motif of the conference. Attendees never find it interesting to join such events as they remain confused regarding the theme.
Ensure the Engagement of The Attendees
Engaged audiences provide a life-like atmosphere to the event. The delegate of the program comes with the crucial responsibility to make the attendees engage. In most cases, this particular engagement is not given the required importance.
Delegates and facilitators need to discuss topics that bear importance to both the participants and the event.
Through the question-answer segment, the moderator can engage the participants the most. For instance, asking the attendees which speaker they want to hear from next can be an engaging question.
The speaker must possess the same quality to ask questions to the crowd and maintain interaction to get the best out of the program.
Sending Small Reminders to The Possible Attendees
A personalized email or text message can work well to ensure the presence of all registered attendees at the conference. It’s a smart strategy to maximize the presence at the event.
However, if you are new in this field, you may be ignorant about the benefits of it. It can sometimes be regarded as the final stage of the promotion, through which an organizer invites his expected attendees for the last.
Even if an attendee forgets the date, he/she can immediately pack his backpack and get ready to attend his awaited event.
Conduct the Program According to The Schedule
What is the use of the schedule of the program if you don’t follow it? Proper scheduling is essential to managing a conference project according to the plan. First of all, understand the conference structure before finalizing the event schedule.
The most suitable way to inform the audience about the entire planning is to display the schedule on the big screen and you can even have one at the entrance.
What it does is the attendees can mentally prepare themselves for the upcoming segment. Also, no confusion arises among the participants regarding time management, which ensures active participation.
Impose Professional Speakers to Keep the Participants Engage
There is no better alternative than engaging the participants and speakers to ensure a lively conference. The motif of signing professional speakers in the program is to hand over the task of keeping the participants engaged.
As a speaker, you can do several things for participants’ better engagement.
- Address the audience to start the program
- Ask frequent questions related to the conference topic
- Give solutions to any problems the participants mention about
- Ask whether they are enjoying the program or not
- What else do they want to hear about
- Ask, if there is any particular speaker for whom they are waiting.
These are a few questions that could engage a massive audience at any time. And a professional speaker is well aware of the ways to ensure an audience-friendly program.
Maintaining Eye Contact with The Participants
There is no scope for the attendees to feel bored or useless in a program when the speakers speak addressing them. And maintaining eye contact with the participants is the best way to address them.
Having eye contact with the audience turns out effective in two ways.
- Ensure an active engagement of the attendees
- Encourages the audience to become active listeners.
Professional speakers have the habit of interacting confidently with the listeners through eye contact. Thus, the participants always feel they are an active part of the program.
Interactive Session with Experts in The Field
The interactive session is one of the most important and interesting segments of any conference from the audience’s perspective. It is a networking opportunity for like-minded professionals.
Create an attendee-friendly environment, where they can easily communicate with their fellow participants. Such conversations will remove the shyness while interacting with the experts.
Moreover, include experienced keynote speakers who can easily interact with the attendees. Maintaining eye contact and asking them questions like for whom they are waiting to hear can encourage the participants.
The interactive sessions are helpful for beginners in this field as they learn new visions and ideas, and prepare to roll on for advancement.
A Question-Answer Session for The Participants
The experts are also bound to deliver satisfying answers to the attendees. This section may not take more than 30–40 minutes.
But what makes this section more interesting is offering to discuss any of their thoughts with the professionals. For participants who seek experts’ suggestion throughout the entire event, the Q&A turns out the most effective segment.
The organizers provide ample opportunities for newcomers to connect face-to-face with industry professionals to solve any of their problems.
Allow Showcasing New Thoughts and Perspectives from The Attendees
A conference becomes effective for the attendees when it allows the beginners to showcase their new thoughts and perspectives on a particular topic to the experts.
For personal and professional development, attendees can communicate with fellow attendees as well. Such communication allows the participants to come out of their comfort zone and broaden their thoughts.
It’s a platform offering newcomers to generate better ideas and showcase these ideas to the world stage.
Voting System to Decide the Key Learning
As you have come almost to the end of the event, it’s time to hear from the audience. It’s tough to ask each of them individually and know what they learned from the event.
The completion of the event’s motif depends on the expression of this by the attendees. You can go through the following steps to learn about what is the best thing the attendees learned.
- Divide the attendees into a few groups.
- Hand over a pen and paper to write down whatever they think is the best thing they have learned here.
- Discussion among the group members regarding their opinions.
- Submit their opinion group-wise to the authority.
- Let the authority inform the attendees about the learning that stood out as the best.
It ensures the active participation of the attendees till the very end of the program and rightfully chooses the best learning through intellectual voting.
Engagement with Exhibitors
Partnership with exhibitors or promotors means a promotion for your organization or company. But do you want to know how this promotion works out?
- A Better Image: At first, involving a reputed company for sponsorship creates a better image of the conference for the expected attendees.
- Attract More Participants: The involvement enhances the trustworthiness regarding the event among the participants, finally encouraging registration.
- Increase Brand Value: Even if you’re not a big fish in this conference-arranging industry, a sponsorship can introduce you to mass people in the field.
- Reduce the Overall Expenditure: The sponsor will cover a lot of your expenses, which lets you save a certain amount for the next event as well.
Rewards for Excellence
The attendees must receive rewards for their great engagement and contribution to the conference. Top Companies provide an award and a certificate to those who have contributed actively to the event from the beginning to the end. It’s a perfect way to encourage the participants to participate in the upcoming conferences as well.
Utilize Social Media
Utilizing social media is another way to reach the targeted audience virtually. Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn are good mediums to spread your event.
Participants interested in the same field as the conference’s theme can become an integral part of the event to make it a success.
Here are some beneficial sides of social media:
- Attendees can get updates regarding upcoming conferences
- Sharing of ideas among attendees
- Discussing things that are relevant to the theme of the conference
- Expressing the conference experience on social platforms
- Leave opinions on what issue the conference should be, etc.
There is not a single better way to engage the attendees and the expected attendees virtually than social media platforms.
Know About the Common Mistakes in Planning an Effective Conference
The sole purpose of bringing industry leaders, experts, keynote speakers, and professionals together is to work on the betterment of beginners in their particular fields. So, is it possible without their engagement?
Although it’s a crucial aspect to ensure maximum engagement of the attendees, often we seem careless about this. To gain better insights, network with leading companies and industries, learning best practices, and knowledge sharing, maximum engagement is a must.
Here are the common mistakes of the organizers regarding the engagement of the attendees.
Poor Check-In System for The Attendees
Leaving a bad impression at the very beginning of the conference can ruin the entire experience of the attendees.
So, there is a simple thing you can do about this. Just arrange a seamless and hassle-free check-in system at the entrance.
Manually listing the participants will create untold suffering for the attendees. The most appropriate way is to maintain an online attendance list to identify the expected participants.
Moreover, this will disallow any unregistered person to enter the event. Also, make sure the attendees leave the premises peacefully and seamlessly after the conference ends.
Identical Meal for Everyone
A hungry stomach will always appear as a hindrance to focus on the conference. So, organizers must keep a budget to provide at least snacks and beverages to the attendees.
However, if the meal arrangement is for lunch, then you should know that not everything you offer will be appealing to everyone. Therefore, keeping the meal a little bit customizable may increase the attendees’ engagement.
Suppose, you’re serving prawns at lunch. Now, attendees with allergic issues and vegetarians won’t be able to take the meal. Therefore, keeping a customizable option for meals is the best solution in such circumstances.
Get Reviews Regarding the Program
You are encouraging the attendees to begin their journey in the modern world with the supervision of the experts. But who will encourage you to arrange the next conference?
Well, it’s none other than the attendees themselves and they will do so by submitting their reviews on both good and bad sides of the program.
You can collect reviews regarding the program in two ways:
- Physically through a piece of paper and pen in the last phase of the program.
- Reviews virtually through social media platforms.
These reviews turn out helpful in several ways.
- Encourage the organizers to arrange the next conference.
- Informs about the section that requires improvement.
- Provides idea on what should be the topic for the upcoming conference.
Not Maintaining a Connection with The Attendees After the Event
Maintaining a connection with the attendees mainly does two things.
- It works as a token of recognition for their presence and active participation in the conference.
- It’s an indirect and soft way to let them know about the upcoming event and invite them to become a part of that as well.
The best way to maintain such connection is possible through the blessing of social media, where attendees can express their experience and the organizers can ensure the betterment of the mistakes from the next event.
How to Increase the Number of Attendees in the Event?
The bigger the participant number is the better engagement is possible. So, somehow the engagement is connected to the number of participants in the conference. As an organizer, you can do a few things to increase the number of attendees.
Promote Your Conference by Mentioning the Previous Events
Promote your product to get the maximized number of sales and promote your conference to get the maximized number of attendees.
The condition is, the promotion should be done in the right way. Promote your upcoming conference featuring photos, presentations, and info about the previous events. This will create more interest in the expected attendees.
Moreover, they can find out whether you even arrange events on their interested themes or not. Social media is there to promote the theme of your conference in the best possible way to your intended participants.
Discounts or Offers for “Early Birds”
Another superb way to attract your expected attendees to your conference is by offering discounts for “Early Birds”, which is applicable for early registrations. Also, you can put on a certain amount of discount for those who will join the event as a group.
Invite Influential Figures to the Event
In the promotion, you’re supposed to add every crucial detail related to the event. So, enlisting the speakers’ and guests’ names will make it more interesting for the expected attendees.
The participants can gain better insights, knowledge, and expertise in their respective fields. The addition of influential speakers enhances the learning process.
Highlight the Attendees’ Benefits
Those who have never participated in any sort of conference will surely ask himself what are the benefits of joining this event. So, did you provide the answer?
While promoting the event to your targeted audience, always try to highlight their benefits.
- Supervision of industry leaders and experts
- Face-to-face interaction with business influencers and enthusiast
- Chances of collaboration and partnership
- Showcasing your innovative thoughts and ideas
After knowing the beneficial sides of an event, the interest to register for this will go sky-high for sure. So, never miss out on this segment in the promotion.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to Measure the Quality of A Conference?
As an organizer, you need to follow the four features of a successful conference to maintain the quality of the event. But to measure the quality, you must assess your expectations from the event.
It can be the amount of revenue, attendees’ satisfaction level, brand recognition, or something else. After the event ends, collect reviews from the attendees on the premises and online platform.
Put all the reviews together and cross-check with your expected result from the conference. Having maximum positive reviews means you were able to uplift the quality of your conference.
How Do You Organize a Conference Checklist?
Organizing a conference checklist begins by outlining all essential tasks. Start with a timeline, breaking down responsibilities into categories such as venue selection, speaker coordination, and marketing efforts. Prioritize tasks based on deadlines and dependencies to ensure nothing slips through the cracks.
Next, personalize the checklist to suit your specific event. Include details like catering preferences, AV equipment needs, and attendee registration. Regularly review and update your checklist to track progress, making adjustments as necessary. This proactive approach not only keeps you organized but also reduces stress as the event date approaches.
How to Develop a Conference Budget?
Assess the amount of revenue you can expect to earn from ticket sales first. If you have a sponsorship, then count the saved money as a part of the revenue as well.
The next thing you need to do as an organizer is start planning for the event according to the amount to get in return. The reason is that the budget of any event can’t be more than your expected revenue.
After you have both these information, the rest of the task is to distribute the total amount in different fields of the planning. However, always prioritize the major aspects of the planning like venue selection, promotion, and speaker fees.
What is the Main Purpose of a Conference?
The main purpose of a conference is to create a platform for the exchange of knowledge, the sharing of innovative thoughts, and the development of skills. All these are done under the supervision of professionals in a specific field.
Question & answers, group discussions, panel discussions with experts, and interactive sessions are some of the key characteristics of a successful conference.
Should I collect feedback after the conference?
Yes, collecting feedback after the conference is essential. It allows you to gauge attendee satisfaction and identify areas for improvement. By using surveys or casual conversations, you can gather valuable insights that highlight what participants enjoyed and what could be enhanced for future events.
Moreover, engaging with attendees post-conference shows that you value their opinions. This not only helps you refine your planning process but also fosters a sense of community. Attendees are more likely to feel connected and invested in your next event if they know their feedback truly matters.
Final Thoughts
Finally, the wait is over when you can start executing your plans to make the conference effective. The effectiveness depends mostly on engaging the participants because they are the life of the program.
Start the road to an effective event by sending small reminders to the registered attendees. Then engage them in the program through influential speakers who can maintain good eye contact.
The segment after that turns out to be much more interesting, as the participants directly interact with the experts. Lastly, get reviews from the attendees that will allow the organizers to learn from their mistakes in this event and encourage them to do better in their upcoming events.
