All event managers, regardless of their experience in work, will admit that planning an academic conference from start to finish is a herculean task. And rightfully, the process can feel overwhelming for all those involved. In such scenarios, it’s easier to make mistakes. More often than not, these mistakes are simple yet overlooked.
Mistakes are inevitable when you have multiple responsibilities such as managing budgets, coordinating speakers, and keeping attendees engaged, it’s easy to make blunders. Even the most experienced of event coordinators end up making mistakes that later cost them dearly.
Time, money, and credibility are three factors that event managers pay close attention to. Even the tiniest of mistakes severely affect all of these at once. The good news here is that most of these mistakes are predictable and preventable. But preparing in advance and staying vigilant is what either makes or breaks your event. In this guide, we’ll walk you through some of the most common mistakes in conference planning.
Don’t Procrastinate
One of the biggest mistakes planners make is underestimating how much time goes into planning a successful conference. Waiting until a few months before your event to start planning is a recipe for stress and compromise. You’ll end up settling for whatever venues, speakers, and vendors that are still available.
Start planning months in advance for major conferences. This timeline gives you room to negotiate better rates and rope in top speakers.
Don’t Expect Perfection
Make sure to add some amount of buffer time into your schedule. If no one’s told you this before, things will go wrong as you plan events. Speakers will cancel in the final minute, and vendors will overlook some important deadlines. Even the weather and other external factors could wreak havoc during the event.
Allowing for extra time in your schedule gives you more room to handle such problems without derailing everything.
Don’t Skip Conference Budget Discussions
Most event planners create a rough budget estimate and then hope for the best. Not having clear discussions about budget leads to overspending, tougher compromises and confusion.
Your budget deserves as much attention as your program content. Therefore, list every possible expense, no matter how small. Venue rental, catering, audio-visual equipment, speaker fees, marketing, insurance, registration platform, signage, staff travel, contingency funds, everything needs a line item. Maybe your attendance exceeds projections and you need extra meals. There may be issues with equipment or a requirement for emergency rental. A contingency fund means these surprises don’t cause a crisis.
Picking the Wrong Venue For Conference
The venue you pick to host your conference/convention affects almost everything else about the event. When you pick the wrong space, you’re in for some logistical nightmares. Yet coordinators or organisers often choose venues based on price alone or because they’ve used them before.
It is important to visit your venues in person before you book them. The truth is that photos lie. A spacious meeting room, in person, might feel cramped with your expected attendees. The equipment used in the venue may be outdated or malfunctioning. Walking through the space shows you issues that no website will disclose.
Overcomplicating the Conference Schedule
Organizers often try to pack too much into their conference schedule. They think more sessions mean more value. In reality, an overcrowded schedule exhausts attendees and reduces learning retention. Ensure that there are adequate breaks during your program.
People need time to process information, use restrooms, check messages, and network. Scheduling sessions back-to-back without breaks frustrates everyone and causes disruptions when sessions run long. Limit concurrent sessions to avoid decision fatigue. When attendees face too many simultaneous options, they struggle to choose and worry about missing out. Three to four concurrent tracks usually work well. More than that becomes overwhelming.
Don’t Ignore Marketing Until It’s Too Late
Some coordinators assume that if they put together a great program, the attendees will automatically come in. They wait until the final minute to realize that they were terribly wrong. It is clever for organizers to kick off any marketing efforts as soon as you have put the basic details together.
You don’t need your full program finalized to begin building interest. Share your dates, location, theme, and a few confirmed speakers. Generating enough buzz around the event helps attract the attention of the audience from the moment marketing activities begin.
Don’t Keep Your Speakers in the Dark
Your speakers are the ones who either make or break your conference. And yet, many organizers choose to focus their resources and energy solely on their attendees. It’s not unheard of that sometimes speakers receive minimal guidance and support during an event.
Organizers assume that professional speakers know what to do. But the truth is that even the most experienced of speakers appreciate better communication and logistical support. Send speakers detailed information well in advance. Share session format, time limits, audience demographics, technical specifications, and presentation guidelines. Some other questions that you may want to address with the speakers are-
What software versions do you support?
What aspect ratio should slides use?
Can they include video?
How will they advance slides?
Maintain communication and set clear expectations when you approach the speakers to attend and speak at the event.
Don’t Underestimate Audio-Visual Needs
Technical problems rank among the top issues that sabotage the conference experience for attendees. Microphones that don’t work, projectors that fail, or presentations that won’t display, ruin even the best content. Yet organizers and coordinators often underinvest in AV support.
By hiring professional AV technicians rather than relying on in-house staff or volunteers, organizers can deal with any problems that do arise. Their expertise is certainly worth the investment.
Delegate, Don’t Micromanage
Some planners try to control every aspect of the event personally. As a result of which they struggle immensely to trust others on the team with important tasks. It is important to build a team that’s proactive and capable and then trust them to do their jobs.
Hire or recruit people with relevant skills and give them real authority. Micromanaging wastes everyone’s time and demoralizes talented team members. Accept that things might be done differently than you would do them. Different doesn’t mean wrong. As long as work meets quality standards and deadlines, the specific approach doesn’t matter. Team members can work independently as organizers stay informed of their progress.
Fewer Mistakes, Better Events
Planning a conference is a lot like a game of chess. Organizers find themselves having to manage countless moving pieces, and each of them warrants much thought and deliberation. But even then, we move the wrong pieces and get checkmated. Event management is similar. Mistakes creep in even with meticulous planning. The key is testing the waters, spotting common mistakes, and then working on avoiding them.
Start early, plan thoroughly and always create contingencies for when things do go wrong. Learn from each event you plan.
What worked well?
What would you change?
What surprised you?
The answers to these questions are what will make your next conference better than the previous. Something will go wrong despite your best efforts. It is how you handle those problems that matters the most rather than avoiding them entirely. Making note of the mistakes you are prone to making is just the first step in conference planning. The next is finding a tool that helps you avoid them entirely.
This is where Dryfta comes in. Our purpose built event management software helps you stay organized, manage budgets, coordinate speakers and streamline registration, all in one place. Dryfta handles the heavy lifting so you can focus on putting on a great show. Why learn the hard way when you can plan smarter from the start?