A step-by-step guide on organizing a conference, forum or other business events on your own.
Our modern dynamic reality dictates that more and more tasks in politics, business and public life are being resolved via relevant thematic events. If you plan to hold a conference or forum in Minsk, but you have no appropriate experience, then this article will help you to structure the organization process, for that's exactly the proper organization of the conference, which helps to build the image of your company. In this article, we will talk about what's needed to organize a conference in Belarus using your own resources, without involving any third parties or persons.
So, you got an idea or received a task from your management to organize a conference. Where to start?
First of all, it is necessary to collect all the input data, such as: the number of participants, make a list of the necessary equipment, including projectors, screens, flip charts, develop the conference agenda. In general, the agenda should be given special attention in the process of conference organization, because it defines whether it will be convenient for the conference participants to attend talks, participate in sections and communicate with each. It is very advisable at the very early stage to decide on the timing for coffee breaks, the start and the end of the conference, for all of your subcontractors providing transfer and catering services should be informed about that in advance.
Our experience in organizing conferences in Belarus suggests that competent timing is the basis of an effective organization.
The next step in organizing a conference is to draw up a list of subcontractors. The most important is the venue. As a rule, if some of the participants of the event are coming from other cities or other countries, it is best to hold the event in the same hotel, in which the participants will stay. In principle, this applies to any event, because the hotel also provides catering services, which often have to be ordered separately, when holding the event at non-hotel venues. Another important point is the conference room of your choice. It should provide the necessary capacity for participants specifically for your layout and room configuration.
In general, there are the following points that you should pay special attention to, when organizing a conference:
- Venue (including conference room layout)
- Catering
- Participants accommodation (if required)
- Equipment and staff
- Transfer (from the airport and in the city)
- Information materials (brochures, booklets, badges etc.)
Equipment for the event is an especially important thing!
We are aware of cases, when organizing conferences in Belarus and beyond, preference was given to low-quality equipment due to its low price, as a result there were problems with sound or with the presentation of video materials, which certainly influenced the effectiveness of the event and hopelessly spoiled the overall impression.
That is exactly why in our work we pay special attention to equipment and provide projectors, sound systems and video cameras of leading producers.
After the plan has been drawn up, it is necessary to conclude agreements with subcontractors, in which all conditions should be very carefully defined, because if they are not fulfilled by any of the subcontractors, all work will come at risk. Just imagine, for example, that during the conference the sound goes out, the projector turns off, the dinner was served too late or the simultaneous interpreter turned out to be unqualified and could not ensure the communication of the participants with the speakers at the proper level.
The last thing to do is a thorough inspection of how everything is prepared, which is done the day before the event, in the evening or even at night. According to our experience of organizing conferences in Belarus, such inspections always reveal a number of things, which can disrupt the smooth and efficient flow of work on the next day.
Thus, we conclude: it is possible to organize a conference in Belarus on your own, however, to do that it is necessary to take into account all of the above factors, enlist the support of trusted subcontractors and ensure timely monitoring of work.