CountryPlace Conference Planner s Toolkit
Contents. Introduction Understanding the purpose of the conference Venue Selection Financial Planning Conference Management Debrief and Review Help is at Hand Contact Contact CountryPlace CountryPlace on on 9728 9728 7070 7070 or or visit visit www.countryplace.com.au www.countryplace.com.au
Introduction Organizing a conference can be a headache for some of us. Here s where we can help. CountryPlace has assisted with the planning and organization of over 1000 conferences. We have accumulated significant experience in the conference planning process and are keen to assist our clients with this task. This Conference Planner s Toolkit will step you through the planning process ensuring your next conference achieves the planned outcome. In particular, where to start in planning for a successful event, right through to the review after it s all over. Achieving the best result with the least amount of stress requires working to a plan and sharing the important decision milestones. A successful outcome will depend on the planning you do. We suggest you consider: setting clear goals for the conference the process of selecting the right venue establishing a budget how you will manage the conference the process of review We have assembled some tools here, to help you. Please remember we are only a phone call away if you need assistance. Understanding the Purpose of the Conference Determining the purpose of your conference and writing clear goals and/or measurable objectives is the first step in planning a successful conference event. To determine the purpose and set objectives it will be helpful to understand the various conference types. Strategic Development / Corporate Retreat Particularly important for new initiatives, reviews, internal announcements of complex senior management issues. Very interactive, often continuous, with meal breaks taken in the conference room. Sometimes private dining, security, may require a sole use venue. Objective: To create future plans for the organisation Training & Development Training events are generally educational and often allow attendees to interact with people from different parts of the organisation. Meeting intensive, evening sessions, lots of visual presentations and flipcharts, little free time, usually external facilitators are used. Objective: To improve specific skills through learning Sales/ Product Meeting to communicate with the sales force - setting sales goals, announcing new product lines. Can be used to focus individual goals in terms of wider corporate goals. Often use team building activities, multi image AV, lots of product displays, special guest speakers for dinner. Objective: To work on sales plans, product knowledge and team motivation Association Meeting Annual meeting/conference focusing on past performance and future direction. Enables members from different parts of the country to interact and put forward their views. Exhibit orientated with lots of discussion groups. Dinners with Industry Awards presentations. Objective: To gain agreement on future plans Incentive A reward driven event recognising excellence in performance. Venue chosen will often be different or unusual at exotic destination with an extensive range of on & offsite recreation facilities. Usually a light meeting schedule. Objective: To reward staff for their achievements When you have the responsibility of putting the event together you need to know the objectives. If you haven t been given that information or it is not forthcoming, make some educated assumptions then ask for clarification. Having the conference objectives documented and clearly understood is the platform on which all your planning decisions will be based. Planning & Purpose Checklist Clarify reason for conference Clarify type of conference Understand main objective Document objectives
Venue Selection Once you have the objectives clearly established, you need to find a suitable venue. Don t take it for granted the dates you want will be available. A good place to start is the preferred dates; flexibility with dates, may be beneficial in negotiating with venues. Referring to your conference objectives and budget, you should also consider the attendee profiles - age, gender and level within the organisation. You will need to allow for program design, meeting format, social and recreational needs, previous conference history, internal organisational policies and how your attendees are getting to and from the venue. A venue that is not too far away will be helpful for delegates. If using facilitators, you will need to consider their preference for the style, location and conference facilities. Venue Considerations Now there are decisions to make. Firstly, what style of venue would be suitable? Specialist Conference Centre Resort Motel Hotel Star level Secondly, what type of location will be suitable? CBD Metropolitan Regional By the sea In the snow Local, interstate, overseas Access to airport Commute distance/time for speakers When you have your venue criteria firmly set, you can then start matching venues to your needs. For the novice this can often be the hard bit. A great deal of information can be found from: Searching the web Regional meeting and conference bureaus Hotel chains Trade directories Referrals from colleagues Short-listing Venues Keep in mind that the more venues you contact, the more time consuming (and often confusing) the task may become. We suggest getting quotes from 3 venues and site inspecting each. The range of service, help and assistance you receive will vary greatly. Matching delegate profiles and conference objectives to your shortlisted venues requires sensitivity and careful judgement. The venue with the most suitable facilities will not be the right one, if the service levels and staff attitudes are inadequate. A personal inspection of your preferred venue/s will enable you to assess how appropriate the venue will be for your group. Before you even consider taking the time out to undertake a property inspection, you need to be confident it is going to be appropriate for your group and requirements. Before you go you should have made a general assessment of each venue on your shortlist.
General Assessment Here are some questions that may need to be answered before arranging site inspections: Does the venue specialise in the conference market? Name three comparable conference groups that recently met at the venue? Are all meals and refreshment breaks included? Is private dining available? How long has the General Manager been at the property? What type of security is provided? Parking space available? Parking costs? What is the policy on changing numbers of attendees? What are the venues trading terms and conditions including cancellation policy? Does the venue offer an all-inclusive rate per day? How promptly are requests dealt with? How flexible is the venue in meeting unusual requirements? What options are available that make this venue stand out from others? Does the venue have a sustainability policy? What industry awards has the venue achieved? What quality accreditation or certification does the venue have? Physical condition and presentation? Safe for attendees to walk around, especially at night? Hours of reception? Services available after hours? Mobile phone reception? Is the venue staff trained in first aid? What is the disabled access? How clean and well kept are public areas? Where are the photocopying and reception areas in relation to the conference room? Venue Inspection There is real value to be gained from conducting an in-person, thorough site inspection of your short-listed venues before making a commitment. It s a good idea to take your decision-maker on the site inspection. During your visit there will be questions you want to ask: Conference Room How many meeting rooms are available to the group? Back-up power source in the event of a power outage? Audiovisual equipment included? Condition? Is the conference room soundproof? Is the conference room free from pillars, low hanging lights (that obstruct views)? Will the chairs in the conference room be comfortable over long periods? Are they adjustable/ergonomic? Can the room be secured when not in use? Are there individual lighting controls for various types of presentations? Are there individual climate controls? Do the conference rooms have good natural light? Does the conference room have Internet access? Is there a separate business centre? How many breakout rooms are there? How far are the amenities from the conference room? Is external access to the meeting room close by? What are the access times to the conference room? Location Considerations Travel time is one of the biggest concerns for most conference organizers. Senior executives travelling for say, just one session, will not be pleased if they have to travel for more than one hour to attend. You shoud consider: Travel time from the CBD Travel time from your office Travel time from the airport (if appropriate) Accommodation Do guestrooms have individual climate controls for heating and cooling? What facilities are in the guest room? Eg. iron, ironing board, hairdryer, Tv, tea& coffee making facilities. Are there twin sharing options? Internet access in the guestrooms? Are all the bedrooms on site? Are they bedrooms in the main building? (Finding your room at night, in bad weather, is undesirable) Food & Beverage Does the venue have a sustainability approach to food? Attitude of staff? In what area will the meals be served? How does it present? What is the comparison between properties on food and beverage variety? To what extent are special dietary requirements met? - DECISION TIME - Now that you have personally been to your short-listed venues and compared their facilities and services in relation to your conference objectives and budget, it s decision time. Normally, the venue chooses itself. You may need to adjust your budget to obtain the most conducive environment to achieve your goals. Venues vary significantly on quality, service, style, expertise and value. If you have any doubts about the venue s ability to deliver, check with previous users. Venue Selection Checklist. Establish dates for conference Decide the likely location Define venue style Generate short list Assess costs and standards Conduct venue site inspection
Financial Planning One of the first considerations is to determine if the conference is intended to make a profit, break even or cost money. Some may be paid for entirely by the organisation because of its importance and benefits to attendees. No matter which way your conference is financially structured, you need financial control over the event. Most meetings today are conferences fully funded by the organisation. They cover training, management, strategic planning and sales and product launchs. When given the task and a budget for organising a conference you need to clarify exactly what the budget is required to cover. Many times people are off organising the venue for a 4-day residential conference and subsequently find that the budget they were working to included the external facilitator s fee and travel costs from overseas. It is also important to ensure that when you are comparing quotes and proposals from venues or other suppliers, you are comparing like with like. Some venues do not include dinner in residential meeting packages while others do. A simple spreadsheet allows you to compare like with like. A CMP (Complete Meeting Package) rate usually refers to all charges per person, per 24 hours, excluding consumable items such as telephone, fax and beverages. Make sure all meals are included in this rate. There is nothing worse than finding out dinner for your group is extra. Budget Checklist List all conference costs Allow for a reasonable cost variance as a contingency Project your revenue (if appropriate) Review all components as you go Debrief and Review You will want to assess what elements of the event were successful. And what areas needed improvement. The people to ask are your conference presenters and the delegates. Remember, rarely will you be able to please all of the delegates, all of the time. The feedback will help you for next time. You need to determine when and how you get the feedback either at the conference or after the event. Provide a printed questionnaire, which delegates complete at the end of each session (if having many different presenters), or at the end of the conference. You may like to address issues such as speaker style, content and relevance, along with venue comfort, conference service, food and beverage. Any venue issues need to be addressed with the venue. Also, a debrief session with guest speakers/presenters and the venue will be helpful. Here is a sample of some of the questions you may like to include in your review of the venue: Did you enjoy the food during your conference? Consider quality, size of portions, special dietary requirements and the appropriateness of the food for your group. Please comment on the conference room. Consider the conference room set-up, lighting, climate control, servicing during breaks, cleanliness and equipment. Was the accommodation to your expectations? Please comment on the service? Was your timing schedule met? Was the staff attentive and prompt in following up your requests? What was your overall impression of your stay at the venue? What was the most positive point of your conference? Did the conference content meet your expectations? Comment on how you related to the information the presenter/facilitator delivered? You will find that this feedback will assist in future planning for your next conference. Remember the prime conference objective in assessing the success or otherwise of your conference and keep the smaller itchy issues in perspective. Often, the most effective communication and learning at conferences occurs outside the conference room. This is when delegates and presenters can interact face-to-face and relate their own experiences and learning with others. Sharing accumulated knowledge and experiences can be invaluable, whether people from across the state, from a different division or even a different organisation. This is the essence of a successful conference, the emotive touch, good old human contact where your emotions are challenged; you experience laughter and establish relationships with others. The challenge for conference organisers is to maintain the human touch and create the conference environment for it to be effective. Review Checklist. Achievement of original objectives Speaker relevance/ style/ delivery Organisation of venue Suitability and function of conference room Standard and quality of meals Overall balance of program Relevance and value to delegates
Help is at Hand If all this sounds like a challenging and onerous responsibility. It is. Tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars are often spent on each conference. Making the event a success reflects well on the organiser. The opposite is also true. This resource guide, whilst thorough, is by no means exhaustive. It cannot cover every aspect of all conferences. However, when used as a guide, clients tell us it has been found to be very helpful. If you require further assistance, call one the experienced consultants. They will help you with all aspects from planning, advice on facilitators, airport transfers and even entertainment. This Conference Planner s Toolkit is provided with the complements of: CountryPlace 180 Olinda Creek Road, Kalorama Vic 3277 Phone 9728 7070 Fax 9728 6260 Email info@ countryplace.com.au www.countryplace.com.au CountryPlace