| I have participated in a number of conferences | | | | attendees have the CDs right away you can be sure |
| throughout the years as attendee, presenter and | | | | that information will be shared right when they get |
| organizer and I have seen poorly-run conferences | | | | back to the office and the information has |
| and well-run conferences. Of course as a conference | | | | mind-share. Strike while the iron is hot! |
| organizer you want to make sure your conference is | | | | 3. Have an expert facilitate the Q&A. |
| well-run. Here are 4 tips for ensuring that your | | | | Throughout each presentation you should utilize |
| conferences are the best they can be. | | | | "question runners" who walk around the room |
| | | | carrying placards with a big question mark on it. If |
| 1. Make presentations available prior to the event. | | | | you want to ask a question you flag down one of |
| Invariably the best run conferences I have attended | | | | these runners and they record your question, which |
| have made all of the presentations available to | | | | then gets asked during the Q&A at the end. |
| registered conference attendees prior to the event. | | | | The key to really making this work, however, is to |
| This is great for attendees because it helps them to | | | | provide an expert to ask the questions of the |
| be able to select which sessions they want to spend | | | | presenter. This is excellent because the expert is able |
| their time at. With so many sessions to attend it is | | | | to quickly sort the questions in a logical fashion and |
| important to your attendees that they don't waste | | | | reword the questions in a way that may result in a |
| their time. In addition, conference organizers with the | | | | clear and better answer. |
| discipline for ensuring that their presenters get their | | | | 4. Plan full days. One last thing I really think is |
| material put together far in advance know that doing | | | | important is that each day is actually packed with |
| so means the content will not be rushed at the last | | | | sessions. Make sure that there are sessions of one |
| minute, which means for poorer overall presentations. | | | | sort or another running from 7:00AM to 6:30PM each |
| Force a real early schedule because of the need to | | | | day. If you have a sponsor showcase area don't |
| create a website of conference presentations and | | | | block out half a day where there is nothing else going |
| you can be sure the content will be far better and | | | | on except for the showcase, actually run it |
| more enjoyable for your attendees. | | | | concurrently with real sessions or lunch. Attending |
| 2. Provide a complete presentation archive on CD to | | | | conferences is an expensive proposition in terms of |
| attendees at the start of the conference. Take the | | | | money and time - it is critical that conference |
| previous tip a step further and make sure that in the | | | | organizers provide full days that provide value. |
| welcome pack you put together for your conference | | | | There are many other things that need to be done |
| attendees that they receive the final copy of every | | | | to run a successful conference but if you add these |
| presentation. Most organizers do this after the | | | | 4 tips to your planning you will be miles ahead of |
| conference ends, sometimes more than a couple of | | | | your competition. |
| weeks later. By then it is too late! By ensuring the | | | | |