5 top tips to landing the keynote speaker of your dreams

It’s undeniable keynote speakers can make or break your conference. Here are our top 5 tips to ensuring your speakers meet expectations, drive registrations and delight delegates.

A quality program is a centrepiece for a conference and the jewel in the crown is undoubtedly the conference keynote speakers. The ability to hear industry and thought leaders that otherwise would be inaccessible provides a key motivation for an individual to attend a conference.

In effect, the right headliner not only helps sell tickets but builds a dynamic event your delegates can’t stop raving about. Yet, while finding the right mix of keynote speakers that both expand learning opportunities and drives registrations is essential, it’s not
always easy.

Regardless of your industry, it can be assumed your top picks are well sought after. We recommend committee discussing preferences as early as possible – with the aim to book speakers at least 1 year in advance if possible.

So, here are our top tips for finding the keynote speaker of your delegates dreams:

1. Understand your conference program and set your theme

The first step is to get an overview of your conference program needs and start brainstorming your program theme.  This way you can create a list of speaker options and topics that fit best your requirements.

So take time to investigate:

• What current and future industry trends are you wanting to address?
• What do you want to achieve with your program?
• What topics need to be discussed?
• What type of sessions are you looking to fill?
• What worked and didn’t work in the previous conference?

WE RECOMMEND BOOKING KEYNOTE SPEAKERS IN AT LEAST ONE YEAR PRIOR TO YOUR EVENT.
SO START PLANNING EARLY

2. Understand your audience

Of course, this process of understanding your program and setting your theme also corresponds with the need to understand your target audience.    So yet again time for research – ask:

• What are the demographics of my audience?
• Are there any knowledge gaps that need to be filled?
• Does my audience need motivating rather than industry knowledge?
• What was the delegate feedback from our previous conferences?

4. Know your budget

Now you have a list of possible speakers, it’s time to look at your budget.

What entitlements are included with your invitation? The usual for industry speakers is flights, accommodation, free registration and possibly a speaker’s fee to cover costs.  For ‘celebrity’ speakers expect the fee to be higher. Remember to get the most out of your investment, you can extend your speaker’s participation in the program with a number of different types of sessions.

For example, one speaker can deliver a keynote presentation, participate in a panel session, run a dedicated workshop and offer a mentoring session to student members. It delivers a strong return on investment.

5. Invite your keynote speakers

Now you’ve got your top list of speaker preferences, it’s time to send out invitations. For industry connected speakers, we recommend the committee invite the speaker personally to participate in the program.

THE INITIAL INVITATION FOR INDUSTRY SPEAKERS SHOULD BE MADE BY A REPRESENTATIVE OF YOUR COMMITEE

Once you have initial acceptance, it’s time to get your PCO involved to manage the process – from sending an official invitation, managing entitlements and speaker obligations and any logistical requirements. For those corporate or celebrity speakers with an agent, you can get your PCO to make contact.

By following these five simple – yet essential – steps in a timely and well-considered manner you will be assured satisfaction from the committee, delegates and even the speakers themselves.

How to recruit, manage and deal with event volunteers

Sixty-five students from across South Africa gave our team a helping hand onsite at WFOT 2018. Our volunteer coordinator nominated them as the best she’s ever dealt with. Zoe shares her top 8 tips for getting the most out of your event volunteers.

Event volunteers can really help in the smooth operation of any event – if you get the right ones.  Zoe, our regular conference volunteer coordinator, found the best volunteers she’s ever had the privilege to work with at the recent WFOT 2018 Congress in Cape Town.

When the World Federation of Occupational Therapy’s  2018 Congress committee put a call out for event volunteers to Occupational Therapy students, they received an amazing response.

Seventy-eight occupational therapy students from across South Africa submitted an application.  A total of sixty-five were selected to help out across the five-day event.

“Many of these students don’t have ready access to funds but did whatever they could to be there and participate in the Congress,” says Zoe.  “They were the most committed, enthusiastic volunteers I’ve ever met.  Helpful  from the moment they arrived at 7am right through to the end of the day at 7pm.”

When asked to determine what set these volunteers apart from other volunteers, Zoe felt it was their level of engagement.

“It was evident these volunteers wanted to be there,” said Zoe.  “They were so grateful to participate in a Congress where they could mix with international practitioners.  It made them feel a part of a global community and that they were on the right career track.”

The eight top tips for getting the most out of your volunteer

With volunteers playing a key role in the daily running of a conference, here’s Zoe’s 8 tips to recruiting, managing and dealing with event volunteers (the right way).

1. Application process: To streamline the volunteer submission process, create an online form for people to complete. It should ask clear questions that determine the reasons why they want to volunteer and the time they are available.
2. Volunteer selection: Select volunteers genuinely interested in either the conference topic or getting hands-on event management experience. These are the volunteers likely to be the most engaged.
3. Communication: Communicate clearly with volunteers from the beginning, outlining expectations and volunteer entitlements. Be prepared to answer questions. If there’s a large group, consider creating a Facebook group where you can communicate as a group and answer FAQs.
4. Clear briefs: Prior to the event have a clear idea as to the different tasks that volunteers can undertake in the lead up to and during the conference. Have any relevant event information and instructions for each task clearly listed to provide to volunteers on the day.
5. Unified look: Provide the volunteers with a uniform or a form of identification that clearly indicates they’re working for the event. For WFOT, all volunteers wore bright orange t-shirts.
6. Delegate: If you have a large volunteer base, nominate lead volunteers to manage the delegation of tasks amongst the group.
7. Stay in touch: Have an identified way that all delegates can easily communicate with one another. For WFOT we used the social media app WhatsApp to send instructions and communicate with in real time.
8. Say thank you: Remember to show your appreciation to the volunteers. For WFOT, the committee held a special forum and hosted a thank you party.  Volunteers also had the opportunity to attend some sessions if they weren’t working.

9 innovative brand boosting conference marketing ideas (that sell registrations!)

To boost your event profile sometimes you need to extend beyond your standard event marketing strategies. Here’s nine creative, registration boosting conference marketing ideas to add to  your promotional arsenal. 

Undoubtedly, if you have an annual conference, you already have a standard event planning marketing strategy. At a minimum, it includes a website, email marketing, advertising and so on. (If it doesn’t – it really should!)

But is it enhanced by delegate boosting, branding building conference marketing ideas that can strengthen registration sales and determine your event’s success?

For people to attend you need to get the word out and sometimes you need to be a little innovative with your event marketing ideas.

We share with you nine innovative, creative approaches you can use to effectively expand your event’s exposure.

1. Tap into industry influencers

Investigate who the top influencers are in your industry.  Most likely these individuals will have a strong following that may align with your target audience. See how you can get them involved with your event, or at a minimum promoting the importance of it to their community.

2. Offer attendee incentives

Offer incentives to your membership or past conference attendees to promote your event. Offer incentives or discounts to bring a new attendee or make a group booking. This is a prime opportunity for promotion by people who know and respect your event.

4. Get it on video

Video marketing can have a strong, positive impact on decision making. Creating videos –  such as testimonials from delegates, a collage of past conferences or personal invitations from speakers – is a great way to build engagement, build your brand and encourage sales.

6. Find common ground

If you have a target audience that works predominantly within specific organisations, geographic areas or attend similar events, tap into any available promotional opportunities. Ask organisations if you can put up some posters, arrange for complementary organisations to email their members and advertise at events that cater to the same target audience. Some conferences also look to create marketing partnerships where they will exchange suitable cross-promotional opportunities with other organisations to promote one another accordingly.

7. A little email something

Even the smallest bit of promotion can help – get the committee (and other stakeholders) to put a conference logo or banner promoting the event within their email signature. This is an easy and cheap way to promote the conference to vast networks of potential attendees or sponsors.

8. Social media shares

Again, something small and easy but effective is adding a share button on the post-purchase page of registration.  This will encourage people to promote their involvement and the conference to their networks.

9. Use remarketing

If you have the budget, a remarketing campaign is an ideal way to tap into an already interested audience.  Basically, through Google ads – if someone has visited your website but not proceeded to purchase – you can position your online advertising to a defined audience to remind them of the event and their interest.

Be a little innovative
For your next conference, boost your annual conference marketing strategy with innovative ways you can add to your marketing strategy that’ll help expand the exposure of your event and boost registration and sponsorship sales.

How to guarantee maximum return on your annual conference

Organising a conference is such a big investment of time, energy and resources, you want to see a valuable return. Here’s our six simple steps to ensuring successful conference results (time after time).

1. Set clear, measurable and realistic goals

In the infancy of planning, sit down with the committee and your PCO to identify the objectives you wish to achieve. You can have more than one objective, which can focus around aspects such as:

• Financial Conference Objectives:
  Do you want to break even or do you have a set profit in mind?
  Do you want to raise a particular amount in sponsorship funds?
• Attendee Conference Objectives:
  How man delegates do you want to attend this year in comparison to the previous year?
  Is there a particular sector of your membership you want more participation from?
• Satisfaction Conference Objectives:
  Satisfaction levels lead to conference loyalty in the longer term – can you create a conference program that is relevant, interesting and valuable to your attendees?
• Growth Conference Objectives:
  Do you want to raise the profile of your organisation? If so, who to in particular?
  Do you want your membership base to grow?

Write your goals down so the whole committee has a clear understanding of what you’re setting out to achieve.  Refer to it throughout planning and when you need to make decisions.

Examples of clear goals are:

• By the start of conference day 1 registration numbers are to have increased by 10% from the previous 2016 conference.
• By the date of X, abstract submissions are to reach a minimum total of 300 (a 10% increase from 2016) with an aim of increasing student member abstract submissions by 7%.
• Increase delegates satisfaction with networking opportunities by facilitating 2 new opportunities for connection 
• Introduce one technology innovation that will allow for more streamlined audience interaction with the program and speakers

Remember to keep goals realistic, don’t expect massive growth within one year, so review past conference history and put a target that is within reach.

3. Know your audience

When it comes to planning your conference marketing, sponsorship  and  the program it’s important to have a clear understanding of your audience demographics as well as their requirements and expectations.

If you don’t already have the information at hand it is time to start researching answers. Speak to key stakeholders, gain advice from past conference committees, review past conference reports and survey your membership database.

Once you have a clearer picture you’ll be able to devise a marketing plan that reaches, engages and encourages commitment from your audience.

We also recommend segmenting your audience database into different identifiable groups such as students, senior managers, employees and employers.  This way you can create event communications that will directly appeal to each group’s motivations and reason for attending.

These steps are particularly beneficial for objectives centred around profile growth, delegate attendance and sponsorship sales.

4. Program for satisfaction

When you’re devising the conference program it pays to keep these segments you created for marketing in mind.  This way you can devise a stronger mix of sessions relevant to a larger cross section of your delegate base.  This will ultimately positively drive satisfaction levels by fulfilling expectations, meeting education needs and improving skills.

Understanding the ins and outs of your membership base/target audience will lead to a growth in meeting any objectives around delegate attendance, conference satisfaction and loyalty.

6. Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate

While realistically if you monitored your progress throughout planning there won’t be any ‘surprise’ results, but the conclusion of the conference is still the moment of truth.

It’s time to collect and collate your data and compare it against the objectives at the very start of your conference journey.

Areas to review include:

• Reconcile your financial accounts
• Collate your registration data
• Review your survey results
• Monitor social media
• Speak to people
• Review membership renewals or applications

Did you achieve your targets?  Take a note of what you achieved and what you didn’t.

If there are any targets that weren’t achieved it will be beneficial to delve into the reasons why to record into the final report.

This will ultimately help guide the next conference committee to better set their own objectives.  It will enable the continued growth of both your conference and your organisation. Year after year.

The top 5 conference planning tools you can’t do without

Every PCO worth their salt will have these top 5 conference planning tools up their sleeve. 

Every profession has its own industry specific tools needed to get the job done. A builder is nothing without a hammer, nails or saw, just as a doctor can’t get by without a stethoscope, thermometer or tongue depressor.

2. A Critical Path

3. Online registration and call for submission software

Any conference organiser worth their credentials, not only need these five key planning tools, but they also to know how to use them with impact.  It’s why each should be operated under proven processes and procedures.

When managed correctly, these tools will ease the full conference planning process. 

How to avoid these top 7 mistakes when booking a conference venue

Conference venue selection is one of the first decisions a committee needs to make, but be aware your venue choice can make or break your event. Here are the top 7 conference venue finding mistakes and how to avoid them.

Choosing the venue for your conference sounds like an easy task but it is one fraught with pitfalls that could not only leave a bad impression on attendees but also drastically impact your budget.

When starting your search make sure you avoid these common seven venue booking mistakes.

Conference Venue Mistake 2: Not knowing your conference program

While searching for your conference venue, you really need to know at minimum a general outline of your program.

This is of course much easier for conferences with a history, however, prior to commencing your venue search you need answers to these questions:

• Do you need an exhibition space, and if so roughly how many exhibitors?
• What types of presentations will your conference comprise and what space will you require to accommodate this?
• What technology will be required for these presentations?
• What will your catering and social event requirements be?
• Will you hold your social events in the same venue or an alternative one?
• Do your delegates need accommodation?
• And most importantly, what is your budget?

Create an overview of your conference venue requirements so you can create a shortlist of suitable venue options.

Top Tip: Remember your aim is to find a venue that is adaptable to your program, rather than you needing to adapt your program to a venue.

Conference Venue Mistake 3: Over or under estimating your delegate numbers

With regards to conference numbers, event history is once again a blessing, yet it’s an area that can be a minefield.

Book a space too large and you end up paying way too much, while booking a conference room too small can lead to your guests being cramped and uncomfortable.  Neither are a welcoming scenario.

For an annual conference, take a look at the conference data of past attendance.   As a general rule attendance will be affected by the state it will be held in – numbers tend to be larger in the Eastern states – particularly Sydney and Melbourne – than in the west.

If it’s an inaugural conference, it’s best to be more on the cautious side when estimating numbers.

We recommend reserving a larger space, with the option to be able to reduce space once numbers become clearer. This will minimise impact on your budget.

Top Tip:  While it is essential to make sure  your venue can accommodate your maximum numbers, only contractually commit to minimum numbers to minimise any potential financial ramification of low delegate numbers.

Conference Venue Mistake 5: Poor location to save money

A venue in an unsuitable, inconvenient location will be guaranteed to get your attendees offside.

Many committees fall for the mistake of selecting a venue that is not central to save money, however, as a result delegate numbers may fall due to the inconvenience of travelling to the venue.

When seeking your venue think once again about the needs of your delegates:

• Will the majority of attendees be local and require to be a reasonable distance from home or work?
• Is the venue easy to get to from the airport?
• Will there be attendees from out of town who will require suitable accommodation options close by?
• Is there sufficient parking and public transport options?

Top Tip: Trying to save money with an out of the way venue, may result in a higher loss of income from low delegate registrations. 

Conference Venue Mistake 6: Skipping Site Inspections

If your event is not in your state or country, it could be pretty easy to make the decision to forego the site inspection.

Yet, relying on a distant desktop review of venue options – for budget and convenience sake – can really lead you into troubles that are otherwise easily avoided.

If you are unable to attend line up someone with experience – an event planner or DMC at the destination – to conduct a site inspection for you in your absence.   But be sure to provide them with the full overview brief that we discussed in point 2.

If you can go along, we still recommend that someone with relevant experience accompanies you.

Top Tip: Have a checklist to review or standard questions to ask at each site inspection for comparison purposes.  Check what other events are being held at the same dates to avoid any potential clashes; ask about any planned renovations and if you have time, arrive early for your appointment so you can quietly observe the venue in operation prior to your appointment. 

While finding a conference venue may sound relatively easy – or fun – there are a lot of pitfalls to avoid. Pitfalls that can have an impact on your budget and your reputation.

It’s why we recommend getting an expert in to help out.

Are conferences relevant any more?

With the vast capabilities of digital technology is attending a conference even necessary these days? Here’s our thoughts on the matter. 

9 Examples of Interaction Rich Ideas for Conference

1. Speed networking for young professionals and students
2. Lunch with an Expert
3. Living polling in sessions via mobile conference apps
4. Mentor/mentee exchange
5. Tea, Toast and Talking Posters
6. Senior and Retired Practitioner lunch
7. Parents and Carers Networking
8. Meet and Greet
9. Live Twitter feed on screen during sessions

Keep Delegate Engagement Front of Mind

So, when developing your conference program keep opportunities for engagement at the forefront of mind.

Remember, it’s important to keep up with the modern digital world to encourage the continued growth of the real life, real time, real face to face interactions conferences offers.

Main Image: Photo by Nacho Capelo on Unsplash

Need to make your conference relevant?  Let’s talk.

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