Sarah Byrne, Director, Mosaic Events
Top tips on creating a successful conference event
Set clear objectives
This may sound obvious but without clear objectives how do you measure whether you have hosted a successful event. Is to generate new revenue, secure new clients or to gain publicity. The why has to be the start of your event or conference planning.
Plan – the devil is in the detail
Fail to plan you plan to fail, create details such as location, speakers, number and quality of participants, food, activities etc. Don’t be afraid to aim high i.e. who would be your ideal guest speaker. Think of the costs.
How will you pay for your event or conference? Are there any resources you can use for free? Do you charge delegates, what are the opportunities for sponsors etc. Costs can quickly add up and can include location, staff, speakers, meals, audio/visual, printed materials etc. And you also need to think about how you will market the event. (see below)
Market the event
Look at the options available. These can include a dedicated website , email campaigns, social media marketing and using third party event management systems. Some will cost you some may be free but timely, you need to plan accordingly.
Work with experts
This isn’t a cheeky plug for Mosaic (well maybe a small one). But it does save you time and money when you work with experts. Look for organisations that have a proven track record of event and conference management. They should add value and make your life easier.
Find quality speakers
More and more people are now ‘time poor’ so if they are going to invest their precious time to go to an event, it has to be memorable and worthwhile. One way of achieving this is by getting quality speakers at your event.
Get feedback
From traditional methods through to easy online feedback tools, make it a must that you get feedback and evaluations from all involved with your event. Live feedback (if monitored) is also a great method of capturing the thoughts of delegates etc.
Assess and improve
Going back to point 1. You need to measure the event against your objectives, taking into account feedback etc. Your challenge is to continually improve and make next year’s conference even more memorable.