Seminar Planning Checklist: How to Plan a Women's Conference

Planning a women's conference from the ground up can be an enormous amount of work. A tremendous amount of planning and conceptualizing must take place, and every detail must fit seamlessly together to provide a memorable experience for the attendee. While the size of your conference has a lot to do with how long it might take you to orchestrate everything, it is possible to create a memorable event in less time if you know what you are doing.

The following material is intended to be used as a women's conference planning checklist as you create your big event, and it will allow you to cross your t's and dot your i's as you attend to every anticipated need that your guests might have.

Formulate A Vision Of Your Event

In thinking about the purpose for designing this conference, you'll want to outline the big "why" that would cause women to show up to your event. What will your topic(s) of interest be? How is it pertinent to your intended audience? What will you want them to take away from the event? Is it going to be low key or very vibrant and dynamic? Thinking through this big vision question before planning will allow you to craft some of the smaller details around your big "why" , pulling everything together for flawless presentation.

Choose a venue

With the number of projected guests in mind, you'll need to choose the proper venue for your event. Contact local hotels, schools, or public buildings and ask if they have a seminar room, coworking spaces or a meeting room for rent. Ask what rental rates are, and make sure that you have the proper funding to cover the cost of venue rental. Ask if there are other services the venue provides, such as food and beverage service, cleaning crews, and restroom facilities. If your conference is intended for more than one day, you'll have to have all of these services at your disposal to ensure that your guests are taken care of.

Set a price, craft a budget

This will perhaps be the most time consuming and tedious step of them all--where is your funding coming from? If you are funded by a group or organization, make sure that your operating budget stays within their guidelines. If you are funding the conference privately, make sure you have enough to cover the initial cost of rental fees, food and beverage services, speakers, sound systems, and other amenities so that everyone is paid in a timely manner.

Set your conference price reasonably, yet make sure it is enough to cover the cost of your operating expenses. Make sure that payment methods and services to manage conference payments are in place so that registration goes smoothly. If possible, consider rallying extra help to assist you in managing the books while you are making sure other aspects of conference organization are going smoothly before, during, and after the event. Keep impeccable records of revenue vs. expenditures to aid in the clean up process afterward.

Manage your special guests

Do you have talent flying in from out of town to speak or perform at the conference? Assist them in booking accommodations and providing them with options for leisure time activities while they are here. Supply them with conference schedules and contracts and make sure that expectations are laid out in advance for services rendered and payment. If necessary, schedule transportation to and from the event to make their time here less stressful. Follow up with thank you correspondence and keep records of guests who are willing to return for subsequent visits.

Think about providing a conference souvenir

When thinking about the content of your conference, what seems appropriate to give as a parting gift? Will it be a best selling book from a keynote speaker, a tote bag with conference related goodies, or a DVD of favorite conference moments? Whatever the gift, make sure that expenses are covered, and that it is relevant to conference material.

Once you have knowledge and the basics of how to plan a women's conference, preparing becomes crossing items off a massive checklist, plugging away at it until the last guest leaves your venue. It may be a stressful affair to orchestrate, but there are a host of planning materials available in print and on the internet to assist you in planning your big day, week, or weekend. Keep your "why" in mind, and let that fuel you when the going gets tough or complicated, and remember, you have information these women need to hear, they will appreciate the time in similar company, and hopefully everyone will come away from the event with a refreshed spirit and a renewed sense of purpose. Happy planning!

Author Bio: Emily is a writer, she writes for many companies includes E88 Bangkok who provides meeting rooms, seminar rooms, coworking space as well as the event space in Bangkok. Emily is working closely with many aspiring thinkers and entrepreneurs from various companies. She loves encouraging small business owners and digital marketing through her articles!