We’ve all been to business conferences – and all these conferences fall into one of three broad categories (in terms of performance and usefulness as opposed to subject matter that is) which are: Great, OK, and somewhere less than satisfactory!
Now I can’t speak for the rest of the world, but in my personal experience, very few, if any, conferences fall into the first category whilst just over half fall into the last. This isn’t really good enough.
The question, then, is how to lift a conference from the good category to the great or from the mediocre to the just OK.
Of course a lot of this comes down to basic organisation, and adequate infrastructure and resources. But if we dare to presume that such basics are in place and are working as they should – then what?
The trick is in making the conference that little bit different in some way – whilst managing costs to a point which your audience can stand.
For example – a creative offbeat venue can really help sell a conference and make it a bit special – but are the basic arrangements in place?
Anyone can pick a wacky location, but not every such location is well-versed in the organisational details necessary to make a conference really work. But then again, some are. Or if they aren’t, but you hire the right conference organisers, they can be.
And therein lies one of the biggest of all tips in organising a conference; particularly a major one – and that is to rely on the experts. If you interfere in the running of an event, but aren’t truly well versed in the process of doing so, your tendency will be to worry over minor details, which are meat and drink to experienced conference organisers. All those little things you think no one else will have thought of – will have been if you choose the right company.
Instead, put all your effort into the brief. Try and put more effort into the brief and its comprehensive accuracy than you do into the conference itself. In this way, you’ll successfully farm out the whole job to the right people in the right way.
It’s the same principle as a complex car repair, or surgery, or conducting one’s own defence in an important court case. In other words, this is work best left to someone who knows what s/he is doing at a high level of expertise – beyond that which you could reasonably be expected to have yourself.
Why would you think you can succeed in the world of effective corporate entertainment if you aren’t experienced in doing so? The trick is to get the brief right, then to find the right company responding to that brief (which isn’t usually the cheapest). No one will remember if you saved a small amount if money as you put together a mediocre conference. But they will remember a great one, and they won’t count the pennies.