How to Plan a Post-holiday Conference That People Come to
After the standard two-week work hiatus enjoying all things summer, it’s not always an easy transition back into corporate-world for people (even if people only took short breaks).
Most of January is spent easing back in, planning for the year, in meetings and adapting to restructuring. While this is an exciting time, it’s difficult to try to connect with people and get them to start thinking about the conferences and attending events.
January and February are notoriously quiet months, corporately, but this doesn’t mean it’s not a great time to host a conference. Here are a few of the tactics and event management tips we suggest you adopt as you’re planning a conference that’ll take place in the first quarter of 2019.
Get more bottoms in seats with these conference planning tips
- Weave it into their goals
Are you aware of any recurring problems that your clients often express to you? They might feature in their goals list, so use this knowledge to include in your messaging. This will validate the need to attend your corporate event and place greater value on the ticket. - Know the type of event
It’s a conference, of course. But is it team building, networking, a trade show-style, educational or a product launch? Once you know the style, you can determine the best format and structure to make sure your guests get what they expect. - Learn conference design principles
Allow plenty of time to plan and promote your conference. Consider how you’ll brand it, creating the schedules, inviting spokespeople, payment structures, and all the other necessary details. Visualise how you’d like the event to play out, then write down all the details that you’ll need to plan. - Don’t do it alone. Treat it like a business.
Even if it’s a promotional event, don’t be afraid to put a price on the ticket. This way, you can invest the appropriate amount of time (and hire resources). You can work with the emotion of scarcity to sell tickets. You’ll know the people who attend will be committed to learning, connecting and collaborating.
People are busy this time of year, but they’re planning ahead. Tap into this opportunity to position your conference as an important node in their growth.
While you focus on connecting with your guests and selling tickets, let us take care of the logistics. By hosting your conference in our convention centre, you don’t need to worry about parking, catering, nearby activities, and accommodation (if it’s a multi-day event).
Connect with our conference organisers to ensure a successful event and have your guests asking when the next one is.
