The New Year is here and it’s rife with the opportunity to impress at your next conference! At the onset, it’s totally normal and almost expected to feel a tad intimidated at the immense volume of work that comes with putting together a memorable conference. BUT with a proactive team like Congress Rental SA to back you, the right software and equipment, and a well-put-together plan of action you should feel confident in your ability to pull off one stunning conference.
Our checklist for the best conference will show you how to get a handle on the colossal task at hand.
Before You Start Planning
There are a few essential decisions to consider before you actually start planning your event or conference:
- Your team – Assembling a reliable team is essential to any successful conference. Your team will be there to help you organise your conference and make decisions. Your team should also encompass a reliable conference equipment provider because organising a memorable conference is unachievable without quality equipment.
- Set objectives – What are you hoping to achieve with this conference?
- Identify your target audience – who will be attending and what will they gain from it?
- Brainstorm a theme and layout – Not every conference needs a theme but coming up with one is an excellent way to put together a cohesive event. Also, think about whether your conference will be hybrid or in-person.
- Develop a budget – How much will you be spending at your conference and do you need to offset costs with sponsorships?
1 Year Before the Conference
Book a Venue
Finding the right venue should be your number one priority. We suggest finding a venue first and choosing the dates of your conference based on venue availability. This will guarantee you’ll find a venue that fits your vision! Consider the following:
- How many attendees do you expect?
- What is the format of your event? Hybrid, In person, Silent?
- Equipment requirements? What does the venue supply?
Confirm Dates
After finding your dream venue you must finalise the dates. We suggest doing this step quickly as you’ll need to share the dates with everyone to complete the next steps.
Choose Your Technology and Equipment
If you’re hosting a hybrid conference you will definitely need a conference platform where your virtual guests can attend sessions and engage with you and each other. Regardless of your conference format there are a few key tools you would need such as:
- A website
- Event registration software
- Conference Equipment
- A customer relationship management system
- A project management tool for keeping track of time while putting your conference together
Congress Rental SA is a proud distributor of quality conferencing equipment that can fast-track you on the road to a successful conference. Including:
- DCN Multimedia Conference System
- CCS 100 D Digital Discussion System
- DICENTIS Wireless Conference System
- DCN Next Generation Discussion System
- DICENTIS Flush Language Selector
- Audio Visual Equipment
- Public Address Systems
- Silent Meeting Technology
- Video Recording & Streaming
- Interpreter Booths for multilingual events
- Integrus Wireless Language Distribution System
6 Months Before the Conference
Develop Branding
Branding impacts how your potential guests will come across information about your event. It includes your conference name, slogan, logo, colour palette, messaging, and imagery. These things need to inspire!
Design the Delegate Journey
The delegate journey is key to making or breaking the success of your conference. Envision the journey you want to take your attendees on. Remember, a conference is a collection of different touchpoints that lead your attendees on a holistic event journey. This step includes finding speakers, exhibitors, and sponsors (people are more likely to attend an event or conference that is backed by a well-known company).
3-6 Months Before the Conference
Find Suppliers
Security, food, furniture. Some venues may have internal employees that take care of these things but if not, you’ll need to hire external suppliers. Don’t forget to ask permission from the venue to bring them in.
Start Promoting
Ensure your website is up and running so people can buy tickets and start advertising. Whether you opt for modern social media marketing or old-school and ever-successful print marketing. Don’t forget to offer specials, giveaways and early bird tickets to entice your audience.
Site Check with the Equipment Suppliers
When checking a site with your equipment suppliers keep in mind that a venue may look great for guests to access but may not be easily accessible for large equipment or booths and it may be a challenge to get this equipment into the venue. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Are there lifts?
- Are there enough plug points, extensions cables and multiplugs?
- Do the interpreters have a view of the speakers?
1 Month Before the Conference
Finalize the Conference Schedule
It’s time to create your conference schedule! Create a program for attendees that can be distributed upon entry at your conference. Don’t forget to create a master schedule for your team that outlines their key tasks and responsibilities.
1 Week Before the Conference
Prepare a Dossier of Relevant Documents for Interpreters
Creating a dossier of relevant information for the interpreters is an essential step to getting the interpreter to understand exactly what the conference is about and what topics they will be translating. This is especially prevalent if your conference addresses a very specialised topic or industry.
Send Out Reminders and Check-In
Send out reminders to all attendees. Check-in with your team and make sure everyone is prepared for the big day!
During the Conference
Conference Management
You’ve meticulously planned each step that led up to the start of your conference and may overlook the important step of managing the conference throughout the day of the event. As the conference organiser you should have a clear schedule enabling you to help your team and attendees should there be any issues.
On-Site Technical Team
Congress Rental SA has a team with extensive years of experience and industry knowledge making us experts in successfully servicing meetings and conferences of any size. Our team also takes pride in having exceptional communication skills, making our customers’ lives easier.
After the Conference
Follow-Up and Analysis
Send out thank you’s. Follow up with sponsors and speakers. Host a meeting to discuss what went well and what to do better next time. You can also ask your attendees for feedback and advice.
With Congress Rental SA on your side, we can help you make conference planning easy. With a range of state-of-the-art industry-leading conference solutions and a team that is backed by years of experience!