Organizing a conference? Here's a list of basic formalities

conference organization_golden rules

Organizacja konferencji to nie lada wyzwanie. Sądzisz, że na organizacji imprez znasz się jak mało kto?

A conference or corporate trip are events in a completely different category. Their organization differs strongly from organizing a birthday party, a daughter's baptism or a corporate office party. I suspect that since you came here, you are facing the challenge of organizing a conference or a corporate trip.

In this article, you will learn about the basic paperwork involved in organizing a conference.

  1. Location - business hotel for conference  
  2. Budget is the key
  3. Guests, guests, guests
  4. Closing of the conference

Company trip, training, conference - difficult tasks to perform

Organizing events from the business world is not the easiest task, nor is it a task for everyone. Perhaps in a different way. It's not so much difficult as simply a rather complex task. It's not very understandable for you? Ok... I'm already explaining.

Conference organizer cannot be a random person, chosen by the boss, because this person has little work. Because no one else has the so-called "knack" for it, so the boss chooses his favorite, because he trusts that the corporate trip he will organize will be a hit. This task cannot be entrusted to a random person. If the most important people in the company decide that you will choose a conference "specialist" among your employees, you must know who to look for;)

He's not a super hero, he's a meticulous, accurate person with the ability to anticipate. Surely you have someone like that on your team. Now that we have our conference operator to plan the entire corporate trip. It's time for him to use his comprehensive knowledge and include some important points related to formalities.

Start with the basic paperwork

Kto z nas lubi papierkową robotę i formalności? Jasne, że nikt. To mało przyjemny obowiązek, jednak konieczny przy organizacji eventów. Jednak w tym przypadku, aby ułatwić nam zadanie warto podzielić formalności na te, z którymi trzeba się uporać przed konferencję oraz na te, którymi zajmiemy się po wydarzeniu. Zacznijmy od spraw, które trzeba załatwić przed konferencją, nawet kilka miesięcy przed. Zostańcie z nami i sprawdźcie od czego zacząć.

Location - business hotel for conference

We are organizing a corporate business trip, an industry conference... and we are looking for a suitable venue. Do not leave the reservation of the room for the last minute, in the spring-summer season, companies organize a lot of events. That's why you need to hurry, choose the best business hotel for the conference and be sure to book the date. When choosing a center, let's be guided, of course, by the number of participants and equipment meeting rooms.

You can read more about this in the equipment article a luxury hotel for a conference.

When booking a date at the business hotel of your choice for your conference, make sure the resort:

  • has a conference room suitable for the number of our participants
  • will be able to provide accommodation for all guests
  • has catering facilities

All in all, these are the most important considerations when booking a hotel for our event. If you are looking for a 3-star hotel, check out the offerings Conference Center of the Magellan Hotel. Together with the resort staff you will organize a successful corporate trip.

Budget

The budget and schedule must be watched. Because it is the most important, and in general, everything depends on the budget. This is true. Holy words. Already at the stage of planning the event you need to know what fund you have and how long (days/nights with accommodation) your event will last. It is the budget that determines whether all guests will spend the night in the hotel and what meals we will order.

What kind of business hotel for a conference we can afford also depends on our budget. 

Tak samo jest w przypadku wyjazdu firmowego dla pracowników. W budżecie musicie określić w jakim ośrodku odbędzie się event oraz na jakie atrakcje dla zespołu będziecie mogli sobie pozwolić.

Invitations and sponsors

It doesn't matter what kind of invitations you decide on. Paper, personalized, handwritten, wrapped in an envelope, or invitation in the form of a mailing. The content and form of such an invitation must be created much... much earlier. When preparing the budget, you need to know how many special guests you want to invite. As for the participants of the event, materials advertising the event and a newsletter will suffice. When preparing such a newsletter or materials promoting the company, it is worth thinking about the sponsors of our company trip or conference. Since we have funders of the event and managed to get media patronage for the conference, it is worth bragging about it 🙂 How can this be done? On materials promoting the event, for example, in the form of logos, or a short note.

Video, photo and advertising materials

If you care about the registration of the event, you want to have commemorative photos, or a live report on social media. Think about a video and photo professional. When hiring such a person, specify in the contract what kind of photos and videos you expect. Specify the deadline for handing over all materials and the scope of work during the corporate trip. Such photographic materials can also be included in the post-conference package for participants. Video materials, photographs that you will publish on social media are great advertising material. Perhaps your business hotel for the conference, will be interested in publishing such a video. The exchange of materials is an ideal example of cross-promotion.

Promotional gifts and office supplies

No conference can do without promotional gadgets. So when organizing a conference, it is worth including a point in the cost estimate for buying gadgets for conference participants. Are you organizing a company trip for employees with training? At the event there will be a lot of games to integrate the team? You will certainly need office supplies. Include their purchase in the event budget as well. Small things in the form of advertising gadgets ( obligatory with our company's logo) will please everyone, and may even turn out to be a necessary office supplies.

Contract with a catering company

A business hotel for a conference is a resort with the appropriate rank. Rather, in any such place there are adequate catering facilities. However, if for various reasons, your hotel cannot offer you meals, you need to think about a catering company. In this case you will need a contract, after all, the catering company is our subcontractor. In the terms and conditions, indicate the times when the catering company is to appear at the hotel, specify the exact menu and the form of payment. Make sure, preferably in writing on the contract, that there will be no shortage of food or drink during the conference, and that professional waiters will supervise the catering.

After the conference 

In the case of a conference, as organizers you should take care of speaker publications. If you organize a recurring event, think about a small publication attached to the materials advertising the event. After a successful event, it is worthwhile to thank the participants for their participation in the conference in a return email. In such a message, you can send a brief summary of the event along with a short photo report ( if you already have one).

All elements of the end of the conference make a good last impression. After all, it is to them that we will be sending further invitations to our events. A database of such contacts is valuable for any conference organizer.