If you have been to one conference you have been to them all. They have the same tried and tested formats and you know exactly what is going to be presented, even before anyone has started to make their own PointPoint.
If you’re planning an event then this is the dreaded preconceptions you will be trying to avoid. You are going to need something to make your conference or presentation stand out from the thousand other, run of the mill, events going on every day in the business world.
1) Create a unique theme around a purpose.
The conferences which manage to create the biggest buzz are those built around a niche market. They specialise in one very specific area and they do it to the absolute zenith of their ability. Rather than taking on the whole e-commerce word, they will focus solely on a user’s click pattern or retention.
This theme will create spin offs and will create the next generations of ideas. This is a great thing, no conference or event should ever be exactly the same as last year. No matter how good last year was, it is still last year.
2) Invite opposition
This might seem like a stupid thing to do but hear the benefits. Who will tell you all the stupid mistakes and glaring errors you are currently making, better than your own worst enemy. The one person who will help you thrive and become a huge success is the person trying to stop you. Listen to their arguments and use these to redesign the system, to fool-proof the user interface and to remove any bugs. Call it Beta testing or just common sense.
3) Make everything easy
I’m not going to bother signing up through three different websites and having to answer five different questions about my household income. Your event doesn’t mean all that much to me, I really just wanted a day off work. Use professional event planning software to ease the burden on every one involved. It makes the sign-up process easier, the entry system is automated and the stats are produced live for everyone to analyse and prove how much better this year was than last year’s success.
Hosting a highly successful event or conference isn’t about re-inventing the wheel, but it does revolve around these three rather simple principles and doing them to the best of your ability.