GROUPE 5

HOW TO ORGANISE A CONFERENCE

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objective
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Organising a conference
3.2 Pre-Preparation
3.3 Last Preparations
3.4 Benefits of a Conference
4.0 Summary
5.6 Conclusion
6.0 Tutor Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading

1.0 Introduction

In this unit, an attempt will be made to provide a detailed

description of all the steps to be followed for the organization of
a conference. Before we do this it is pertinent to define a
conference and a seminar and showcase the difference between
the two. A conference is a “prearranged meeting for
consultation or exchange of information or discussion, a
discussion among participants who have an agreed topic”
(Princeton University, 2006), whereas a seminar is “any meeting
for an exchange of ideas [... which] is offered for a small group
of advanced students” (Princeton University, 2006). Seminars
are instructional and are geared toward providing training and
education. People attend seminars as a quick way to gain
information without having to take long classes on that
particular subject. In some cases, seminars take place before
the conference starts. These are called pre-conference
seminars. Conferences are usually the main event and are of
longer duration than the seminars. Some conferences include
the morning plenaries with presentations and panels and in the
afternoon they have breakout, which are round table discussions
on the subject. There are also morning and afternoon coffee
breaks and lunch.
In this unit, guidelines for organising a conference will be provided
which could be extended for seminar as well.

2.0 Objectives
It is expected that at the end of this unit, the student should know all
about conference and be able to plan and or organise a conference
successfully.
3.0 Main Content

3.1 Organising a Conference

Organising a conference is not an easy task. It requires months

of planning, strict attention to detail as well as the ability to
foresee and forestall disastrous events before they happen.
However, the organisation process can be a lot intimidating if
you have knowledge of how to plan a conference effectively. A
group of two- three persons will not be enough for the
organization of a conference, hence; you will need to recruit
more people in your group. If you have not got prior approval or
be assigned to organise a conference, you should inform the
department about your ideas and goals and have their approval
before inviting more people to help you organise it. If you have
a small team you will need to “call for volunteers” so as to
expand your team. A “call for volunteers” should outline the
purpose of the team which can now be called a committee. You
should provide a general description of what the new members
will do. Make sure that you provide a ‘response deadline’ for
those who would like to volunteer and before admitting anyone
in the committee it is advised that you make an interview.

Before having the interview make sure you have a list of all the
questions you and your colleagues would like to ask as well as
what it is that you are looking for from the new members. What
you are looking for should be determined by what the
conference is all about. The most important restriction for a
person to become a member of the committee should be to be
available during the conference preparation period.

3.2 Feature of a conference

It is important to specify the nature of the conference and also
address the following issues:
 Who is the conference going to address? That is, who are the
target group?
 Who is most likely to attend it?
 Which area or subject will be covered?
 Will it have a specific theme within the area?
 Is it going to be a regional or international conference?
 Where will it be held?
 How long should it last?
  What is the scope of the conference?

3.3 Conference Preparation Committee

A conference organizing team or committee will need among others

the following:

HEAD OF THE CONFERENCE COMMITTEE

The Head of conference is usually also the Head of

organizational committee. She/he is in charge for technical and
organizational preparation of the conference. She/he directly
leads, organizes and supervises the work of entire
organizational team. She/he takes part in all phases of
preparation, execution, ending and evaluation. His/her specific
tasks include:
- she/he is responsible for executing all the tasks of the
organizational team; - she/he takes part, with her/his suggestions,
in preparation of the lists of needed
materials (office and other);
- she/he is responsible for updating the home page of the
conference;
- she/he is available for the members of her/his team for help and
advice;
- she/he is responsible for a normal course of events;
- she/he passes out the tasks to her/his team;
- she/he pronounces praises and rebukes;
- together with the members of the team sets up a time frame of the
event;
- deals with conflicts inside the team in case they emerge
During her/his work the Head of organizational team takes into
consideration suggestions and advices of other members of the
team. For the needs of harmonization of the work he organizes
regular meetings of the team. An essential part of these
meetings is also analysing of the work that has been already
done. After the conference, she/he takes an active role in
evaluation and drawing of the final report of the event. The
“Head” position could be field either by an individual or a team.

HEAD OF FINANCE
The person will know exactly how much money you have and what
you spent the rest of the money on.
The most important task is drawing up the budget and gathering
the funds needed for the event. All the other members of the
team help her/him with her/his task, especially the Head of
conference. Head of finances is responsible for positive
management of the event. She/he is coordinating the needs
(financial, material) of other members of the team. With the
available resources she/he tries to satisfy as much needs as
possible.
Individual tasks are:
- she/he’s in charge of financing before, during and after the event;
- she/he collects and keeps track of delegation payments;
- during the event she/he’s in charge of common purse; - responsible
for appropriate security of common purse; - responsible for setting
up the final financial report.

HEAD OF THE PROGRAMME

Her/his job is to prepare the programme of the conference. This

means she/he has to plan every event from getting up in the
morning to going to sleep. She/he can conduct this task with the
help of the team or other people, but if the task is not completed in
time or not done properly she/he is the one responsible. Individual
tasks are:
- preparing the order of the day;
- getting in touch with the speakers, participants of round tables
etc.;
- informing the Head of technical support which rooms are need and
when;
- planning the evening events, making reservations if required;
- informing the Head of accommodation when should the meals take
place; - responsible for a contingency plan in case speakers cancel
their attendance some minutes prior to start of the session.

HEAD OF ACCOMMODATION

This person will organize all the accommodation facilities and

offers provided for the conference, as well as inform the
participants or attendees about all the tourist information
needed. The hotel must be very neat and affordable and must
offer as much as possible. Avoid, if possible, accommodating
your participants in different hotels around the city as this will
pose a big problem for Head of logistics. She/he has to make
reservations in a hotel early enough. Here she/he must work
closely with Secretary of the organising committee as she/he is
the one who can give the exact number of participants. Once
you have the exact number of participants you can make
reservations for lunch and dinner. Add to the number five more
meals, just in case. And don’t forget that the organizers need
food too☺. A few days before the conference starts check if
everything is O.K. with your reservations. Make sure that the
hotel and restaurant management are prepared for the
incoming participants.

HEAD OF TECHNICAL SUPPORT/WEBMASTER

This person(s) will know how to handle audio-visual equipment

as well as support the organization and maintenance of the
webpage. Her/his task is to prepare the classrooms in time,
make sure that the audio-video equipment is working properly.
For successful conducting of this task she/he should have 4 – 5
people helping her/him (depending on the size of the
conference). Some other tasks are:
- she/he is responsible for update of info – point and materials
available there;
- she/he also photocopies all needed materials for the
conference. This task is
conducted before and during3 the conference;

- other tasks as providing the white board markers, floppy discs

for the delegates,

WEBMASTER
Her/his task is to maintain and refresh the home page of the
conference (if you have
one). She/he is not in charge of the content of the home page,
only the outlook of the page. Individual Heads provides her/him
the content for the home page. PR team can be responsible for
the outlook of the page and the webmaster becomes in charge
for the technical side of the page.

HEAD OF LOGISTICS
This task includes all transport of participants around the city
during the event. It also includes transport from/to airport, train
station, etc. The arrival of delegates probably represents the
most demanding part of this task as they arrive at different
times and different locations. This means you need to have
enough people and transport means to transport the delegates
to the hotel. The easiest part is therefore transport from hotel to
faculty and back as it takes place at the same hours every day.
And you already have all the delegates in one place. You’ll
probably use public means of transport so make sure to give the
participants the tickets.
You also need to organize transport for sight-seeing. If this event
takes place in the city this poses no problem - you can use
public means of transport in the city. If you plan a trip outside
the city and visit some distant places, then you should rent a
bus to take the participants for a field trip.

HEAD OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

If you want to be mentioned in the media then you need your PR

team. Task of this
team is to get in touch with as many journalists, reporters as
they can and keep them informed about your events (lectures,
round tables, etc.). Prepare special maps with materials for
journalists and make sure that they have a seat in front of the
conference room.

FEEDING/COFFEE/TEA BREAKS

This is usually contracted out to professional food vendors

depending on the nature and size of the conference.

3.4 PREPARATION TIMETABLE

There should be a timetable for the preparation, execution and

follow-up. The timetable should be divided into the above
mentioned three sections with respect to the remaining months
until the conference is held. When planning the timetable you
should consider that you should provide at least some months
for preparation. This is vital for both the organizers and the
presenters. The following guidelines are very vital for a
successful planning of a conference.

Secure a day

In order to be able to secure a good timeframe for the

conference you should search for a convenient period for the
stakeholders within the year you are interested in organizing
your conference. Make sure that you choose a period that it is at
least some months away and that there is no other similar
conference in that period within the same area as the one where
you are thinking of having your conference.

Room bookings

Once you decide on the day you need to allocate room bookings
(committeestyle or
lecture style). When making room bookings you should think
about how many parallel sessions you are going to have. The
more parallel sessions the more rooms you will need. Depending
on the length of the conference the attendance will vary.
Therefore, you need more rooms that you may use at the end
which are good sized rooms where your participants will not
seem to be too few or too many. Ensure that the rooms you
book have appropriate requirements such as audio visual (AV)
equipment.

Catering

Like we mentioned earlier, the catering services can be

contracted out to the catering professionals that suites your
requirements. Consider that when being asked to give the
catering service the program of the conference you should tell
them to bring everything 10-15 minutes earlier so as to avoid
any delays and be able to have a back-up plan in case that
something goes wrong; with respect to catering services.

Funding

If you are planning a big conference, your organisation alone

may not be able to shoulder all the expenses. In order to be able
to pay for all the conference expenses an organisation may
need a sponsor. But before you consider the option of a sponsor,
you should first discuss with your organisation to see whether
they could fund the conference. Thereafter, you may approach
other organizations for sponsorship.

Plenary Speakers

High rated conferences tend to have two or three plenary

speakers who are well informed in the topic of discuss. As a
conference organizer you should have decided whether the
conference you are organizing will be of a specific subject or
not. If the conference covers a specific area then you should
choose the leading Professional in that field and invite them to
become the plenary speakers. Hence, if you would like to have a
conference which covers different areas, invite as plenary
speakers professors who are working on such areas.

Advertising the event

When confirming your plenary speakers then you can advertise

the event. Initially the event should be advertised to your
audience, depending on the nature of the conference. You can
choose any mode of advertisement that will reach your target
audience.

Call for abstracts

The ‘call for abstracts should include information such as:

 time and place of the conference
 names of the plenary speakers
 which departments / associations support the event
 deadline for abstract submission
 description of the abstract format required; named, word
count etc.

There should be a reasonable deadline for abstract submission.

Although this may be extended, especially, when you don’t have
enough abstracts to complete the required slots.

Call for attendees

The ‘call for attendees’ should be distributed once the deadline

of the ‘call for abstracts’ has passed, so as to invite more
participants to attend and to remind them of the event. This
should include:
 time and place of the conference
 names of the plenary speakers
 which institutions / organisations support the event
 deadline for registration
 the exact link of your webpage which they should visit in
order to register.
 contact details in case of any further enquiries
 registration form

Registration form

The form should include among others:

  name and affiliation details
 information about registration packs/fees
 information regarding dietary requirements or any other
individual needs
 a box to indicate whether they are presenting or just
attending the conference
 information about accommodation packs

Webpage design

There should be a webpage through your organisation’s server

or through one of the sponsor’s; this depends on the status of
your conference and whether it is sponsored by a bigger
organisation. The actual webpage should include:

 information about the nature of the event

 information about the place and the surrounding area where
the event will take place
 travel information, bus, trains, metro timetables etc
 hotel lists
 contact details of all committee members
 information about the committee members
 abstract guidelines
 fares for registration/ packs available for students
 ways of payment  registration form  previous events etc.

Receiving/Reviewing the abstracts

Make sure that the abstracts submitted follow the format you
requested. Those that abide to the guidelines can be
categorized depending on their field. The ‘call for reviewers’
should include information about possible areas which will be
addressed by the abstracts as well as a deadline for notification
of interest. When sending the abstracts to reviewers you should
give the reviewers an anonymous copy of the abstract so as to
avoid any biased answers. You should also provide the
reviewers with reviewing guidelines, in order to obtain clear
comments and avoid more subjective recommendations.

Acceptance/ Rejection of abstracts

When receiving reviewers’ comments and their suggestion for

accepting or declining the abstract you should inform the
presenters beforehand that you should try to crosscheck
reviewers’ comments so as to make sure that you also agree
with their comments. The abstracts that were rejected could be
accepted as a poster presentation or nothing at all.

Conference programme

When creating the program there are several factors you should
consider, such as:
 enough time for registration in the morning
 include a few minutes slot in the first session for the opening
of the conference which should be made by a member of your
sponsoring
organization and the chair of your committee
 adequate breaks between sessions
 coffee breaks should last for at least 40 minutes
 lunch breaks should last for at least 1 hour
 have extra time for poster presentations
 allow for a few minutes break between presentations so that
attendees can choose to leave or change the lecture room
 try to have presentations in each session and same lecture
room that cover the same or similar area of discuss.
 have both the name of the presentation and the presenter on
the program.

Advertising conference program

Once you have created the program you should send it to all
concerned organisations and your target audience.

Last Preparations

Make the conference packs for the event. This should include the
following:
 abstract booklet
 conference timetable
 information about local events and the area, which you can
get from the
tourism office from your town/city
 any advertising leaflets given by your organisation or any
other funding body
 taxi telephone numbers, Train, metro, bus timetables
 name tacks (make sure that committee’s name tacks differ in
color or layout
to the ones given to presenters and attendees
  food vouchers (if any)
 area maps
 delegate lists
 feedback form
 Make preparations in case that the event has to be cancelled.
That is, you may need to have a cancellation notice ready
which you could distribute to everyone who was registered as
well as to any mailing lists.
 Ask your plenary speakers, attendees and presenters whether
they would require any extra help with their arrival at the
place of the event.
.- Have a list of all the telephone numbers for all possible
services needed. That is, catering, safety services as well
as hospital telephone numbers.
 Make sure you have at least two extra laptops for the day of
the event, in case that a computer or the AV equipment in any
of the rooms is not working properly.
 Have an announcement advising attendees to enter/leave the
lecture room if they are late by the emergency exits not the
front doors so as not to interrupt the presenter.

On the day of the conference, arrive early and prepare the

registration desk and make sure that everybody is on their
position. Check the room layout, provision for speakers (AV,
water in the conference rooms). Advise the presenters as soon
as they register to check their presentation with the person who
has been allocated for this job. Before the beginning of the first
presentation thank everyone for coming and also make sure you
acquaint them with safety and room evacuation procedures.

Ensure that safety measures are in place and that first aid
attendants are in position to render their services if necessary.

After the conference

Record the attendance and prepare and send ‘Thank you letters’
to speakers. Prepare general report to all sponsors and
delegates. Finally, settle the accounts of the proceedings

3.4 Benefits of a Conference

A conference since it is the broadest of the two kinds of

meetings (seminar and conference) can provide among others
the opportunity to:
  meet people. from other departments of your organisation or
other organisations
 become aware of other cultures and ideas related to the
subject of discuss
 familiarize yourself with other research work, projects etc.
 promote your organisation, university / department within the
field
 attract new and active personnel in your organisation,
university / department
 build connections and create a network of co-workers and
institutions
 travel and get to know the hosting country (geographically,
culture, religion etc.)
 promote your own research and get feedback
 gain and train management skills
 train interpersonal skills
 learn how things are behind the scenes
- become an active member of the department or organisation
- promote your association inside and outside your faculty,
- gain connections, build networks with institutions important to
your organisation’s work,
- create an opportunity to travel outside your domain if it is
hosted elsewhere,
- gain new life experiences,
- gain new friendship,
- and a lot of other professional and personal reasons,

4.0 SUMMARY
We have discussed extensively on what needs to be done in the
preparation or organisation of a conference. The guide provided
in this unit can be used for organising a local or international
conference of any standard. When you are executing the tasks
provided here, it is not absolutely necessary to keep to the strict
line between the competences of each Head of the committee.
You need to be flexible and adjustable as it will not be possible
to conduct particular tasks due to different reasons (illness,
absence of the person in charge, etc.).

5.0 CONCLUSION

In this unit we observed that there is no stereotype manual for

organising conference. What we have done here is to provide a
guide which you are free to modify to suit your requirement or the
requirement of your organisation. Depending on your needs you can
have additional people for carrying out some special tasks. For
example, we can put here a “second in command”, a person that will
the place of Head of conference during her/his absence. You can
have a special person for this or it can be one from your
organizational team. It doesn’t really matter as long as she/he is well
informed and prepared to take such a responsible place. Some of
the tasks mentioned in the organising committee are shorter and
less demanding than others. This gives to team members the
chance to help each other in accomplishing their tasks. If the
personal relations within the team are good then the work inside the
team should pose no problem at all. Good Team Spirit will make for
a successful and effective organisation of a conference

HOW TO ORGANISE A SEMINARS

1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objective
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Seminar: its’ objectives and importance
3.2 How to Organise a Seminar
4.0 Summary
5.0 Conclusion
6.0 Tutor Marked Assignment
7.0 References

1.0 Introduction
Organising a seminar is not the easiest tasks. It is not something
you can do in a day. It requires proper planning, strict
adherence to detail and the ability to think ahead and foresee
and foreclose all the pitfalls that can mar the success of the
seminar. Organising a seminar requires extensive preparations
and definitely not a one man’s affair. It involves a group of
people who are knowledgeable in the field. Training seminars
provide employees and members of professional organisations
with an opportunity to learn business and industry practices. In
this unit, we are going to outline seminar organisational process
which if followed will make an organisation of a seminar less
tedious and less stressful.

2.0 Objective
At the end of this unit, you are expected to know how to organise
and host a successful seminar of any magnitude.

3.1 Seminar: its’ objectives and importance

Seminar refers to a forum or any form of academic or any other
meeting that is used for a training or academic discussion.
Seminar is instructional in nature and is geared toward
providing training and education. It is usually organised in form
of a lecture, presentation or discussion for a group of attendees
about a particular topic or industry. It is characterised by a
formal presentation by one or more specialists. Most seminars
are done by people in academic fields. Students may be asked
to present a seminar in their courses. This is usually done with
an objective of inculcating presentation and leadership skills in
the students. It is also done to make students or attendees
have in-depth knowledge as they research deeper into the topic.
Seminar helps inculcate a comprehensive understanding of the
functions and operations of a group, an organisation (public or
private) or an academic discipline. In other words, it equips
participants with additional knowledge on the topic of discuss.
Seminars are an excellent way of promoting your business. The
overall aim of seminar presentation is to help develop an
emerging field at the intersection of multi-disciplinary
understanding of the topic in question.
Seminar incorporates a variety of teaching methods including
plenary sessions for the entire group, smaller topical breakout
sessions where attendees choose from a variety of topics, and video
discussion groups. These small groups work with their faculty
advisors each day, which provides for individualization of each
team’s learning goals. Each team prepares a unique “Action Plan” to
serve as a blueprint for participants to use once the members of the
team return to their respective organizations.

The intensive training experience includes a pre-seminar self-

assessment and post-seminar support from the organisers’ staff.
Participants sometimes refer to these intensive training
Seminars as participants ‘boot camp’. This is because
participants work hard, learn a lot, laugh a lot, and network
across disciplines.

3.2 How to Organise a Seminar

Before you start planning for a seminar, you need a clear view
or understanding of what the seminar is intended to achieve.
You equally need to set out term of reference for the seminar as
well as a committee to make the seminar happen. The term of
reference is the pivot around which the entire planning revolves.
It is a key to knowing how long the seminar will last. A budget
should be set out to be used to plan for the event. Where your
resources cannot accommodate your budget, you can appeal for
sponsorship. The remaining cost can be offset by the
participants by charging a fee. It is necessary and desirable to
confirm the topic and the location of the event prior to the date
of the seminar.

When organising a seminar, there are many factors that are

very crucial to the success of the seminar presentation. Here are
some of the guidelines to organising a successful seminar;

i. Seminar Objective(s)

Decide on the main objective of the seminar. In other words,

what exactly is the purpose for your seminar? Choose the areas
you want your seminar presentations to be focused on. Try and
make your seminar stand out. Identify those areas that will
make people in your niche very excited about the event. Are
there any hot topics or controversial debates happening in your
industry that people are craving to learn more about?

ii. Fundraise

Identify the short-term plans and the long term goals of your
seminar. Make projections on the cost and technological
requirements for seminar. Securing the money to fund seminars
can be quite challenging. If your organisation can make the
necessary fund available that is well and good. However where
this is not possible, it is advisable to source for fund by
approaching some investors or lenders for sponsorship. Put
together some promotional materials too. The sponsors will like
to know that they will get value for the money invested. In view
of this, you will probably need to convince them on the things
that will be the main draw that will get people to your seminar.
In other words, what are those things that will make your
seminar stand out from others in the industry? Other pertinent
issues are;

- How much will the seminar cost, such as speakers fees,

venue and equipment rentals?
- How much do you plan to sell admission form?
- How do you plan to market the seminar?
- When do you expect to pay back your investors and
lenders and at what rate of return? iii. Choose a venue
Once you have decided on the type of programme you want to
put on, the next is to select a venue for the event that meets
the requirements of your seminar profile. Such requirements will
include such issues as the event dates, price, room style, room
size, audio/visual requirements, parking lots, and enough seats
for expected participants etc.

iv. Accommodation

If the seminar will last for more than one day, then you will need
to arrange for an accommodation for the attendees. Such
accommodations should be affordable for the participants or
classified according to attendees’ status and affordability.

v. Catering Services

If the seminar is to occur over meals times, there will be a need

to arrange for professional caterers. You should give them your
feeding specifications and enough notice to meet your requests.

vi. The Speakers

Once you have decided on the content areas, identify speakers

who are well versed on the topic your seminar offers. The
keynote speakers should be very knowledgeable, well-respected
and have the ability to provide a general information on all
areas of the field covered by the seminar. However, secondary
speakers should be experts in specific areas and able to better
elaborate on individual topics. When you have identified
potential speakers, reach out to each one of them via e-mail to
get a feel of their interest level. Find out their availability on the
date you intend to host the seminar and their rate. This is
necessary as it will enable you see who fits your budget. vii.
Seminar Agendas
Create agendas highlighting the major events for the seminar.
Allot speaking times and schedules for your seminar. The
participants will appreciate given the opportunity to quickly
check event times.

viii. Time blocks for the speakers

Keynote speakers should be allotted greater time for their

presentation and also for the questions and answers session.
Secondary speakers should be given only enough time to
present their topic and a short question and answer session.

ix. Free time

The attendees or participants will appreciate free time to visit

local sites. Giving free time will make attending your seminar
feel like a vacation. It will also increase attendance.

4.0 CONCLUSION

In this unit, we discussed extensively on seminar and its

preparations. We observed that just like in conference
organisation, similar process may be used in seminar
preparation. The guide provided in this unit will produce a
successful seminar both within and outside the organisation.
When you are executing the tasks provided here, it is not
absolutely necessary to follow them rigidly. You may apply some
flexibility depending on your choice and interest. Just bear in
mind that there is no stereotype guideline for organising
seminar.

5.0 SUMMARY
Seminar is interesting if well prepared. All the issues mentioned
in the preparation of a seminar are very important and should to
a greater extend be adhered to. Try to make a good budget and
source for fund if necessary. Remember that the money realise
should be adequately accounted for and disbursed judiciously to
the stakeholders. Rendering a good financial account after the
seminar is very important and should not be overlooked.