How can a professional conference organiser help you
Few organisations have the capacity to free up someone full time to organise a conference. It’s usually something that employees have to do on top of their regular work. One person books the conference venues London another one signs up an international speaker and yet another handles visitor registration. Are you keeping track of everything? Are the less pleasant tasks also getting done? If not, then you should consider hiring a conference organiser.
Here are the benefits:
A conference organiser lowers stress
Why do you actually want to organise a conference?
Are you interested in the latest views of experts in your field? Do you enjoy talking to visitors from your branch? Do you want to draw attention to a product or service?
Or would you rather fumble with a USB stick, deal with an uncooperative projector and a last-minute PowerPoint presentation?
A professional conference organiser ensures that you can take care of the planning (gives energy), while they handle organisational matters (usually takes energy).
Critical questions help you with the budget
Is a conference organiser an expense or an investment?
That depends not only on your own experience (as an unexperienced conference organiser, you will benefit more from professional help), but also on the critical thinking of the conference organiser.
An experienced conference organiser will feel free to ask critical questions about your objectives, budget and locations:
- Why choose a certain location? Perhaps out of habit you would go with event space in London centre, while the parking at other venues in London is better and will also save you money.
- Is it realistic to organise a conference for a specific budget? How many visitors do you need to invite major speakers from your sector? On what dates do you have the best chance of success and how long beforehand do you need to start?
Your conference is of a higher quality
As the expression goes, the devil is in the details. And this is very much the case when organising a conference.
No matter how good the speaker is, fumbling with a PowerPoint presentation or someone who’s in the wrong hall will not make a good impression on your visitors.
A professional conference organiser has gone through everything that can go wrong at least once and knows in detail how to organise a successful event:
- A realistic planning, budget, risk analysis and schedule. (With enough flexibility in case something goes wrong)
- Professional communication with visitors. (No more worrying about ticket sales and questions about parking)
- Welcoming guests during the conference. (Your visitors always know where they need to be)
- Coordinating catering and technical matters. (Food is booked on time, no more fumbling with presentations)
- Evaluating the conference. (How did it go as compared to other conferences?)
A creative approach that suits your target audience
London is a prominent conference location that plays host to many events. It also means that you have a lot of competition: renting a hall with speakers is simply not enough.
A good conference organiser will help you find a special location and a creative angle that suits your target audience.
They know what works and what doesn’t, and how to find the right balance between nice extras and some depth. Popular types include a talk show, game show, debate, brainstorming, speed dating or an app which visitors can use to meet each other.
Time for your guests
Although conferences need a lot of preparation, in the end it’s all about the days of the event. At that moment, you’ll want to reap the rewards of all your hard work. A conference organiser will handle all practical matters, and you’ll have your hands free to meet interesting speakers, network with guests or take care of anything you need.