So, you want to organize a conference. Nothing can ever compare to a good conference: when people attend a conference, them meet many likeminded people, who share the same ideas and passion as them, and learn new lessons from an enlightened few while making new friends. How can you run a conference that would help people make money?
Before organizing a conference, make sure that it is right for you. Managing a conference can involve emotional rollercoasters, working late nights, and can require a lot of time and money. Consider all this before organizing one, since it not only requires money, but also brain power.
Work Out a Theme
Work out a theme for your conference – it could be a broad one or even a narrow one. While you could consider an idea that brings all the different designers of the country together, you could also consider an idea that involves a conference that has its focus on a particular technology. Conferences on topics such as Oracle would do quite well, since it is the hottest software program and since such topics are well focused. The question you should ask is not whether a particular theme is right, but whether you have one at all on you. When you have a theme, you can get ideas that can bring speakers from different places on a topic together. Also prepare a mission statement to appeal to your target audience.
Get a Business Partner
Organizing a conference involves a lot of hard work and often, you can wake up to the fear of being unable to organize it well. You need someone, who can understand your fears and help you pick up work when you are feeling stressed out, someone that gets excited when you get a new idea, or someone that prevents you from going overboard with a particular idea. When you find someone to trust, you can share your experiences easily with them and this would be the biggest form of help you could get.
Determine your Speakers Early On
Excellent speakers get scooped up quite fast. So, make sure you arrange to secure your speakers early on. Try to find out whether the speakers you have chosen have any common friends. If yes, ask the common friend to introduce you. Explain to the potential speaker what the idea behind the conference is and see whether they can speak on the topic. If the potential speaker does not have a common friend, respectfully ask them for their personal email address and send them the synopsis of what your conference is about, the idea behind your conference, details on any compensation that you would be offering them and whatever else that you feel is relevant to them.
Pick a Comfortable Venue
Your guests are going to be sitting together in one place for the better part of six hours. Pick seats, which are comfortable for your guests to sit on. The venue will also affect the overall milieu of the conference. Also consider where you should place the lighting in the venue. This will improve your chance to make this a money making conference.
