How to organize a conference in a professional way? Practical guide - Part II
Accommodation of guests
Before choosing a specific conference venue, it is advisable to have a good look at all the conditions prevailing in such a venue. If, for example, an international conference is organized, the hotel staff without knowledge of English is a tragedy and the number of stars does not matter afterwards. You also need to be prepared for accommodation not provided by the conference itself. Investigating the local hotel market will allow for a good determination of the real costs of stay.
Event technical support
The issue of technical comfort is paramount, because everyone expects everything to work. That's why you need to rely on IT specialists, and to do this you need to be sure that backup devices are available. You can't afford a situation, that during the most important event the projector will break down and won't replace it with anything else.
Conference space
Conference space is a place where guests will stay and then meet already in the form of a conference / this place must be well checked before the final choice, because many a beautiful hotel organizing conferences is in fact completely unprepared for them logistically, because the organization of the conference has become an additional service for him. If at first it was built as an intimate place to rest for guests, the conference will not succeed.
There must be enough... space in the conference space. It is simply a physical place to be used by conference guests. There must be enough space for everyone to feel comfortable, but also for there to be enough room for just in case.
It is also worth remembering that the conference will not last 24 hours a day, so guests should be able to use the services of the city in which the event will take place. In order for this to really make sense, the city must offer some specific services for guests. The organizer will not create them by itself.
The issue of transport
Guests must reach the conference venue and if it is not then also the place of accommodation, transport between the two locations must take place without hindrance. It is usually transport and logistics that decide whether the event will take place as planned and whether there will be no delays. Transport should be prepared in such a way that it is convenient for its users and provides an adequate margin in situations where additional transport services not provided for in the basic logistical plans are suddenly needed.
Additional accompanying programmes
Conferences are important because of the basic scientific or business core of the decision to prepare the conference. We must not forget, however, that the most important interactions during all kinds of conferences do not take place during lectures and panels, but in theoretically free time, i.e. during breaks and accompanying events.
