Free Tips for Meeting Planners
How to Make Your Conference or Event Have
Optimum Success
- To make your attendees feel welcome, have a volunteer greeter committee with special hats, badges or banners to indicate that they are there to help and make everyone feel comfortable. Pick individuals who are warm and outgoing with good people skills.
- On name badges or name tags, have a sticker or color that indicates someone is new or a first-timer and give them front row placement at event. Greeters will know to especially seek out and help them. Even better,
pair them with an old timer.
- Develop a conference time-line at least one year in advance of a major conference. Keep adding line items with who is responsible for each by when, and share this time line with anyone critically associated with the conference. Modify and update as you go along and review after the conference to see if deadlines need to change. They often do.
- Adult learning research is that people retain data best when they discuss what they have learned with another shortly after learning. A quick "repeat back what you learned" type of dialogue. A chemical reaction in the brain occurs when a person feels "on the spot" and must remember. Do this in pairs and not in front of the group, so as not to embarrass anyone.
- Consider various giveaways and raffles at every major event. Most of your vendors will be happy to donate something to get the free advertising. This ups the participation, interest and enthusiasm of your attendees.
- Have a trade show at your event, with vendors displaying the latest innovations in the field. You can charge good money for this, minimizing your conference expenses and making it a win-win for everyone.
- Buy the book of the speaker and give it away to all conference attendees as a way to anchor in what they have learned. Most speakers will give you a discount on large volume purchases.
- Consider including a 5 minute exercise/stretch break led by someone who does lots of aerobics, or an aerobics teacher. Have a stretch and movement session twice a day, especially after lunch about 2:00 PM.
- Have someone who is a good listener and a good people person interview attendees at the end of the conference and get testimonials on video. Nothing works better for promoting future conferences! You can even post them on YouTube!
- Be sure to do volunteer recognition at the event, perhaps even with awards and/or gifts. This will encourage future volunteers and let those who came forward feel gratified and appreciated.
- Use evaluations every step of the way. Use SurveyMonkey or an online system. Modify next year's conference based on the feedback.
- Check with your speaker and ask them to create a cover page for their worksheet or AV visuals that features your theme and logo for the conference. Give them the camera-ready artwork or a website link to download it and promote consistency.
- Pre-screen your hotel or convention site. It is well worth the money to fly someone across the country to be sure the facility is right for your event. Develop a conference map to show where all the function rooms are. Visit the guest rooms. Check to see which magazines come standard in each room. I recently visited a hotel a month before a conference where I was speaking, and I discovered they have a magazine which would have been very offensive to the attendees at my event. I had them remove it.
- Have a greeting letter in every attendee hotel room,welcoming them and giving them critical information and updates on any changes. It makes them feel welcome.
- Use internal PR to create excitement about your conference at least 6 months in advance. Include infor in ezines,newsletters and fliers. Have HashTag on Twitter, a Facebook Page and promote it through Linkedin. Get people excited by including interviews with the speaker on video. Share your Fired Up! enthusiasm and others will get Fired Up!, too!
- Little things mean a lot: have greeters put stickers with the conference theme on people's name tags, have snacks all day- at 10:30 have fruit and danish at a break; in mid-afternoon have beverages and cookies or cheese in lieu of dessert at lunch. Give public recognition to those who excel in courtesy, positive attitude, volunteerism, customer service, etc.
- Have an AV liaison at the hotel and get all the phone numbers and contact vehicles to reach them. Use Walkie Talkies. If your conference is complex relative to AV, have the AV specialist stay until everything works and have them check in every hour.
- Take extra bulbs for LCDs, extra batteries for microphones, extra extension cords- just to be on the safe side.
- Have a spousal track and invite spouses if it's the appropriate time and place.
- Make your conference FUN and memorable. Include music at every break and consult a sound studio about custom music for your conference. Use dramatic introduction music before each key segment.
