You dream of launching your next conference without a hitch. When your event goes smoothly, you bring in new leads, engage potential and existing customers, and amplify your brand. However, reaching this goal can feel daunting. The planning process requires you to look at all of the different details involved in launching a successful event.
Fortunately, a comprehensive checklist can give you a step-by-step outline to follow that will help you plan your conference without skipping any of the important steps or missing key details.
Our checklist will break down what you need to do into different categories so you can make sure you cover all the important event features. Let’s jump right in.
Understanding the Basics of Conference Planning
Your conference planning process needs to start by reviewing the core components of your event.
Defining Conference Objectives
Know exactly what you want to achieve with your conference. When you know your goals, you will be able to clearly define who you want to attract to the event, the types of speakers you want to organize, and how you want to structure the event. In other words, your objective will define the rest of your planning processes.
The three most common types of event objectives include:
- Education
- Networking
- Fundraising
Work with your team to set clear objectives for your event so you can move forward to the next steps.
Identifying Your Target Audience
After you identify your core objectives, you and your team must determine your target audience for the event. Knowing your target audience will help you outline your marketing strategies and design an event that will appeal to this selected demographic.
Analyze your audience so you know what types of marketing, speakers, and schedules will appeal to them. The personas you develop for your audience will provide the building blocks for effective planning and marketing.
Once you know your audience, look at the other types of events they attend and what makes those events appealing. Know what makes them interested in your conference. Note their pain points and what they want to see in an event. See how they use social media and the web searches they make. The more information you gain, the easier it will be to interest them in your event.
For your conference planning checklist:
- We have defined our event objectives
- We have determined our target audience and their personas
Pre-Planning Essentials
Once you know what you want to achieve with your event and your target audience, you need to move into the planning phases.
Budgeting for Your Conference
The budget will provide you with guidelines concerning your venue, speakers, catering, and size. Knowing what you have to spend for your event will allow you to start making selections.
Begin by making a detailed breakdown of your necessary costs. It helps to think of the different areas where you will have to budget, including:
- Venue, including any additional fees for security, parking, shuttles, and related features
- Catering
- Technology
- Marketing
- Onsite materials, such as signs and decorations
- Speakers, including any perks and accommodations for them
After you break down the list of your different expenses, gather estimates for different costs, such as typical venue costs or catering costs. Look at what other events have paid for similar speakers. Use this insight to start piecing together your budget; prioritizing the most important areas of your event to make sure you use your available finances effectively.
Choosing the Right Date and Venue
Your next step is to select an official date and venue for your upcoming conference. When you review your list of available dates, remember to keep in mind potential obstacles for your typical target audience.
- Note important holidays that would lower your attendance rates.
- Consider industry events that people would want to attend
- Remember school schedules. Placing events around common spring break dates, for example, might hinder participation.
- Look at what’s going on in your hosting city- large competing events might raise hotel prices or make travel difficult for participants.
Keep your guests in mind also as you choose your venue. You will want to consider:
- The capacity of the location
- The centrality and accessibility of the location
- The facilities available at the venue.
For your conference planning checklist:
- We have outlined the event budget
- We have prioritized expenses
- We have priced major event components
- We have chosen an event date
- We have selected the event location
Building Your Conference Team
To help you progress through this planning process, have the right people working alongside you. Adding your team building process to your checklist helps you consciously choose the people who will be the greatest assets.
Assembling the Right Team
Your successful team will be responsible for various parts of the planning process, from marketing to speaker recruitment. To build your team, take into account:
- How you will allocate the different roles and responsibilities
- How your team will communicate their progress to others
Collaboration and communication will be critical to make sure the event moves forward smoothly, accurately reflecting your brand, your goals, and your audience. You also want to make sure people remain united in their vision for the event so that all the different pieces come together to fit smoothly.
Hosting Regular Meetings
Create a plan for your team to meet regularly and review progress and decisions. Selecting a common app and system for tracking progress and where people are in their responsibilities can help considerably. Many teams make good use of project management or event management planning apps.
Having regularly scheduled meetings, such as weekly huddles, helps everyone stay on track and ensures that your team remains on the same page about the event. The various components of the conference will overlap to some degree, such as speaker selection and marketing. Meetings ensure everyone feels caught up with what their collaborating teams have accomplished.
For your event planning checklist:
- We have formed a planning team
- We have outlined everyone’s responsibilities
- We have a plan for collaboration and communication
- We have a meeting schedule
Developing the Conference Program
One of your team’s first responsibilities will be to develop a program for your conference. These activities and presenters will draw attendees and affect their satisfaction.
Selecting Speakers and Presenters
The speakers you select should resonate with your desired audience. Zoom in on their pain points and the topics related to your industry that intrigue them the most. Consider speakers and presenters from other industry events and how people rated those presenters to start your search.
As you start to formulate a list of potential speakers, look for examples of past work they have done. See what they said at other conferences and how well they engaged the audience. See how people rated them as a speaker.
As you receive speaker proposals, discuss with your team how well their proposals align with the theme and audience of the event. Look for opportunities to build interaction with attendees, such as offering Q & A sessions.
When reaching out to potential speakers, put together event overviews that highlight the value your event can offer them. You might demonstrate how it can amplify their personal brand, for example. You can also include perks like a free hotel room, which can be particularly intriguing if you host the event in a popular city.
Creating an Engaging Agenda
As your speaker list begins to form, put your different components together into an engaging conference agenda.
A popular agenda will balance the different conference components that people appreciate, such as keynotes, breakout sessions, and networking opportunities. Offering opportunities across the program for all three can keep people interested throughout the conference.
Event management software offers excellent tools to help you schedule your event and manage the agenda. You can use a platform, like A to Z Events, to track your speakers, create a specialized calendar, and organize the flow of your conference from start to finish. With everything contained within an app, it also becomes substantially easier to collaborate with other members of the team.
For your conference planning checklist:
- We have contacted speakers
- We have reviewed proposals
- We have created an event agenda
- We have selected an event management software to manage our planning process
Marketing Your Conference
Once you plan out the agenda and activities of your event, it is time to get information out to your target audience so people can start to register.
Crafting a Marketing Plan
Your marketing plan should hit three core components:
- Social media
- PR
Know where your target audience lives on social media and the content they engage with. Design ads that speak to the main point that will interest them.
Segment your email list to hit the demographics you want to reach. Draft emails that highlight the value of your upcoming conference and encourage them to register.
Pair both of these strategies with PR. News releases that highlight your speakers and the importance of your conference can amplify your brand and draw even more registrants.
The key across all three components remains branding and messaging. Maintain consistency that targets the audience you outlined before and draws attention to the value you offer your attendees.
Utilizing Online Registration Platforms
For your marketing to be successful, you need a well-designed online registration platform. This platform should have a user-friendly registration process so that people can easily shift from seeing your ad to registering to attend themselves. Fortunately, working with a robust event management platform, like A to Z Events, allows for seamless integration of your online registration with the rest of your event planning features so you can track your leads and monitor your attendee numbers.
On your conference planning checklist:
- We have a plan for marketing our event
- We have built an online registration page
- We have integrated the online registration with the rest of the event management capabilities
Logistics and Preparation
As you move closer to the event, you will develop a plan to manage the logistics and final preparation for the big day.
Coordinating Event Logistics
When your conference kicks off, logistics will play a big role in ensuring everything goes smoothly. You will need to consider:
- Who will ensure all audio and visual equipment is set up
- How your seating arrangements are established
- How guests know where to go and who will keep them organized
- Who checks in on the caterers and oversees them
- Who checks in and monitors your other vendors
- Who is responsible for troubleshooting any problems.
Preparing Conference Materials
The event itself will also call for printed materials and digital materials to keep everything and everyone organized.
Consider materials such as:
- Programs
- Signs directing attendees
- Badges
- Apps to keep people connected
- Online content, like speaker information
You need to plan for designing and creating these materials. Know who will manage them and the timeline for each component.
For your conference planning checklist:
- We know who will manage vendor logistics
- We know who will manage attendee logistics
- We know who will manage communication with the venue
- We know who is in charge of testing equipment
- We know who will manage troubleshooting
- We know who will plan and manage printed and digital materials
Day-of Conference Management
Proper preparation for the day of your event will also help keep everything running smoothly.
Setting Up and Testing Equipment
To avoid emergencies the day of your event, check all the equipment before the start time. Make sure that everything works properly so that you have time to arrange a backup if something isn’t right.
Have a checklist for the day of your event so you know who is responsible for any final equipment setups and tests, and nothing’s left to chance.
Engaging Attendees
Once your attendees start arriving, you want to get them settled in as quickly as possible so that they can maximize the opportunities your conference offers. Starting off with icebreakers that help people relax and get to know each other a bit can be a good strategy.
Further enhance the attendee experience through ample networking opportunities. People want to make professional connections at events, so offer formal networking periods and more informal opportunities, such as meal times.
Throughout your event, incorporate live feedback channels so you can monitor engagement throughout the event. An event app serves this purpose well.
For your conference planning checklist:
- We know who verifies all day-of setups
- We have a checklist for day-of testing and setups
- We know who plans opening attendee events
- We know who keeps attendees organized
- We have an app ready for live feedback
Post-Conference Activities
After the event wraps up, you want to walk through these last few steps to gauge your success and know what to keep and change for the next conference.
Gathering Feedback
Organize your methods for gathering feedback from attendees. You might incorporate surveys and direct interviews, for example. Ask people about their opinions regarding your venue and food, speakers, networking opportunities, and overall event value.
Use the information you collect to improve your plans for future events. Insight directly from your target audience will help you continue to improve your conference planning skills.
Debriefing with the Team
Once you have gathered your feedback, bring the team together for a comprehensive debrief. Discuss where the conference had the most success and what lessons were learned throughout the process.
Document the discussion so you have it readily available when you start planning your next conference.
For your conference planning checklist:
- We know who will write and distribute post-event surveys
- We know who conducts post-event interviews
- We know who collects and analyzes feedback data
- We know who will plan and run the team debrief
Conclusion
Planning a successful event requires tracking a variety of different components and knowing how to think of all the details that can make or break your event. Fortunately, a thorough checklist can guide your planning and help you avoid gaps and problems.
Structuring your planning based on our checklist can help you enhance your planning process. You will find it easier to keep yourself organized and on track.
See what a difference a checklist can make when planning your next event.
