There are certain experiences we should never digitise. Falling in love is one of them. Discussing your work over coffee with a fellow researcher is another.
Paul Killoran

How to Organise a Conference: Step-By-Step Guide

February 2, 2014
February 2, 2014

GOALS, THEME/TOPICS, TIMEPATH AND SET DATES

Every great conference needs a theme. What’s the unifying message that your speakers will deliver and what’s the key takeaway for conference attendees?

The best themes are catchy, relatable, and trigger an emotional response. You want the conference to inspire and stimulate conversation. Your theme has to enable that.

For instance, “Stronger as a team” is probably a better theme than “Achieving improved efficiencies through increased cross-functional collaboration.”

The theme is more than just a rallying cry for all participants; it will also guide your branding and promotion, from designing a logo to coming up with social media hashtags to printing your posters, brochures, and other collateral.
12-14 Months before your conference
12-14 Months before your conference

COMMITTEE

Thinking about doing everything yourself? Stop right there. Every successful research conference needs an active organising committee. So form your committee around this time, and agree who does what.
12-14 Months before your conference
12-14 Months before your conference

CONFERENCE WEBSITE

Whether it’s a simple site or a bespoke design, you need a digital destination to send people to. Get it live as soon as possible so you can start sharing your event with the research world.
10-12 Months before your conference
10-12 Months before your conference

PREPARE BUSINESS CASE AND BUDGET

Even though the goal of a research conference usually isn’t to make a profit, managing your finances is still vital. Create your draft budget now. Then adapt it as you secure funding and sponsorship.
10-12 Months before your conference
10-12 Months before your conference

SOFTWARE

Sourcing the right software is as important as setting a date. Now’s a good time to do your homework, compare software packages and make your decision.
9 Months before your conference
9 Months before your conference

SETUP PAPER & REVIEW SUBMISSIONS

Before you can think about sending your call for papers , you need to define your submission and review dates, develop your submissions process and set up your abstract management system.
8-9 Months before your conference
8-9 Months before your conference

CALL FOR PAPERS / PROPOSALS

Add some nice text here.
5 Months before your conference
5 Months before your conference

REGISTERING DELEGATES

The registration portion of any event is often a magnet for things going astray. So do some prep, test (and then re-test) your system, and open registration now – at least a month before you send acceptance letters.
2 Months before your conference
2 Months before your conference

BUILDING YOUR PROGRAMME

Now’s a good time to build and release your final programme. But keep in mind that you’ll likely be making changes to it right up to the wire. Notify all the committee members and authors before going live.
From 8 weeks up to conference day
From 8 weeks up to conference day

FINAL PREPARATIONS

Time for one final push. Now’s a good time to get all hands on deck. In the last few weeks before your event, go through tasks list and divide these tasks between your organising committee and volunteers.
After the conference
After the conference

POST- CONFERENCE REPORT

Take a moment to savour that post-conference feeling. It’s nice, isn’t it? Now it’s all over, save for the post-game analysis... A post-conference report is an important summary of the whole event that pulls out the most relevant post-event statistics and data on any key goals or recommendations for your future events. That’s why it’s essential to write an event report after the event concludes.

And finally...

Take a holiday. We've seen chairs try to jump straight back into work after organising a conference, and it ain't pretty. So give yourself a break before you go back to business as usual.