How to Create a Conference Program for a Memorable Event
A skillfully designed conference program is not the only ingredient in a successful conference. However, it is impossible to have a great conference when the program is weak. It won’t matter if your venue was spectacular and the catering was superb. It won’t matter that every session ran on time and the social events were engaging. If your conference program sucks, the attendees will walk away feeling underwhelmed.
Of course, this puts quite a bit of pressure on you as a conference organizer – there are so many things to consider, plan, and execute. Indeed, hosting a memorable event is no easy task. It is a worthwhile one though!
Conferences – whether they are of business or academic nature – are vital to pushing conversations forward. They create an immersive learning environment, offer the ideal setting for networking, and foster cross-border and cross-discipline collaborations. More than that, conferences enable people to broaden their understanding of the world and various topics thanks to the vibrant mix of perspectives and experiences that they assemble.
So in this post, we will go over a few best practices that we’ve developed over the years on how to put together a stellar conference program.
#1. Make conference program design a collaborative experience
Most of the time, there is one person leading the production side of event organization. We encourage turning agenda design into a collaborative experience. You will benefit from gathering the opinions of your marketing team, delegate sales reps, and other producers.
Your colleagues’ opinions and views on what topics and speakers could add value to the event are shaped by their daily tasks and responsibilities. They interact with different types of participants on a regular basis. As a result, they may reveal insights that you would’ve missed otherwise.
#2. Put together an advisory board/scientific committee
Advisory committees for events typically consist of a small group of experienced professionals and thought leaders in a particular field. For example, for academic events, an ideal advisory committee would have accomplished scientists, researchers, and educators who have a diverse range of experiences and career backgrounds within the same couple of disciplines.
There is a lot of value in assembling and engaging an advisory committee for conference program design:
- Expertise and diversity of perspectives: Accomplished professionals in the field of the conference themes can provide valuable input on the speakers, important topics, the overall direction of the event, and session formats.
- Credibility:Â Having an advisory board that features prominent experts adds credibility to the event.
- Quality assurance: An advisory committee can help vet speakers and their presentation proposals to ensure the conference program meets certain expectations for quality.
- Event promotion: Advisory board members are likely to share their involvement in the event with their network members, providing your event with additional exposure and reach.
#3. Integrate various session formats into the conference program
One of the ways to keep your event engaging is by offering your attendees a variety of learning environments. Everyone learns differently. For some, the most effective way to consume new information is by listening to a presenter. Others prefer exercise-based learning – workshops. Yet for others, being involved in a discussion is the best learning strategy.
Of course, do not go overboard and set up each session in a different format just for the sake of it. Rather, think of 2-3 session formats that you think would be most conducive of learning and determine how to incorporate them. Your conference program can be a mix of lectures on the main stage and workshops/panel discussions in breakout sessions, for example.
#4. Catch up with past delegates and speakers
If you are working on an annual event, we strongly recommend to make time for in-depth discussions with past attendees. In fact, don’t even wait until you start planning out the next event. Do it as soon as your conference is over, while the attendees’ memory is still fresh.
It is always a good idea to send a quick questionnaire to the attendees immediately after the event. However, don’t stop there. Schedule calls for a more nuanced discussion.
Past attendees hold a treasure trove of feedback that will help you make the next conference even better. Source their feedback on what they thought went well, and what was done poorly or could be further improved. Yes, it might be a humbling experience. But it can also give you insights on what aspects of the conference made it a lasting positive impression on the attendees.
Be open, be receptive, be discerning in your conversations.
#5. Schedule calls with your target audience members
Every conference should have a target audience in mind – who are the people this event strives to benefit?
Once you create your “marketing persona”, identify a few people in your network who match the the characteristics and reach out to them. Source their input on what issues they deal with on a daily basis, what pressing topics they are struggling to address, what market trends and developments caught their attention, etc.
This will give you a stronger understanding of what matters to your target audience and what topics should be at the foundation of your conference program.
#6. Maintain a balance between quantity and quality
It is easy to get carried away by adding as many speakers as possible to the agenda in the planning stage. The more speakers you have, the more successful your event is going to be, right? Wrong!
There is a fine balance between quantity and quality. Sure, it might be a good idea to integrate a couple of panel discussions in the conference program. However, making every single session a panel discussion will compromise the quality of the event. The advantage of a panel discussion is the diversity of opinions that it presents to the attendees. The disadvantage, however, is that a panel discussion is limited by how in-depth it can cover a subject.
Similarly, give each presentation a sufficient amount of time. While it may make sense for some sessions to be short, others may require a bigger time allocation on the conference schedule.
In conclusion
Designing an engaging program is not an easy task. However, you are much more likely to succeed if you seek feedback and advise from the right people: past attendees, members of the target audience, and an advisory committee. Involve your colleagues to gauge their perspective and input. Finally, think of how you want to structure the event – what session formats to integrate and how to allocate the time for each.
We wish you the best of luck!
0 Comments