Easing Delegates Into The Event

This article is designed to provide event organizers with tips to ease their delegates into the event.

#1 - Give Your Delegates Time

Don't throw your delegates into the deep end of a conference or seminar immediately following registration. If possible, allow them some time in the city where you are holding your event to find their way around and get acquainted with things. This will not only help them feel more at home but it will give them a chance to explore local attractions and take care of last minute errands before attending your conference or seminar.

#2 - Don't Overwhelm Your Delegates

Do not guestimate how many delegates you will have for your conference or seminar. The last thing you want to happen is to disappoint a delegate because their expectations were not met. You would be surprised at the number of delegates who are turned away from an event due to too small a registration.

#3 - Beware of Security Issues

If you are holding your conference or seminar at one location, make sure that all of the parking and security needs of that location are fully addressed before guests arrive. This is true for all major events. If you are holding your event at multiple locations, make sure that each location has enough room for both your guests and the security personnel who will be present to ensure their safety.

#4 - Prepare Your Delegates

Give delegates a few days to prepare themselves for the event. Depending on how much time they will have before attending the event, it will give them time to walk around before the conference or seminar begins so that they are able to get acquainted with things. This way they can take care of any last minute errands prior to attending your conference or seminar.

#5 - Reassure Your Delegates

Reassuring your delegates is just as important as giving them time to get acquainted with the conference or seminar before attendees arrive. There is nothing worse than being at an event and realizing that all of your delegates have a negative attitude about the event. The only way to combat this is to make them feel welcomed, like all of their expectations are met and they are part of something special. This can be done through positive messaging in your advertising, in the welcome packs you send out to your attendees. It can also be shown through example when speaking with delegates regarding their experience at the event. If you send delegates home feeling like they were not appreciated and were treated poorly, they will likely share their story with others.

#6 - Come Up With A Theme For Your Conference or Seminar

One of the easiest ways to create a theme for your conference or seminar is to take your previous event and use it as a guide. If you have held an event in the past, look at the participants of that event. What caused them to attend? What did they enjoy? What stuck out to them? Find something from that experience that relates to your subject matter for your next event. Depending on the size of your audience, this can be a great way to get people excited about attending the event.

#7 - Provide Delegates With A Specific Agenda

Many conferences and seminars are not run by an umbrella organization. An event organizer can create an agenda for their event that delegates can take home with them. This way delegates will not only have an agenda for their day, but it will also show them what they have to look forward to when attending the conference or seminar.

#8 - Give Delegates A Watch List

If you are holding your conference or seminar at multiple locations, give your delegates a watch list of where they need to go. This way they do not have to spend time running back and forth from one location to another.

#9 - Make Delegates Feel Special

Some people feel comfortable when they know that the eyes of their peers are on them. If you do not provide your delegates with the idea that they are special, chances are they will not feel as comfortable speaking or representing themselves at the conference or seminar. This is why it is important for event organizers to make their delegates feel special by providing them with a welcome pack, showing them where their seating will be and how it will be designated, what to expect from the opening ceremonies and who will be representing your organization during those events.

#10 - Show Delegates You Are Interested In Them

Some people feel uncomfortable asking questions or having their questions ignored. If this is the case for your delegates, make them feel comfortable. It is important for delegates to know that their questions or comments are important to you. Rather than asking them to wait, ask them what they would like to know and make it a point from there on out of making sure that they have been noticed.

#11 - Make Your Delegates Feel Important

Did you know that some event organizers are so busy during the day that they simply do not notice when a delegate leaves without telling anyone? This puts a damper on the whole experience for all delegation members because many will feel like their contribution was not appreciated after hearing nothing back from an organizer regarding it. This leads people to question whether their efforts are even worth making or not.

#12 - Don't Force Interaction

Whether you are organizing a conference or seminar for 20 or 2,000 people, it is important to remember that your event has to flow. If you feel like a certain portion of your event is not going as planned, do not force interaction. Allow the flow of the program to continue at its pace and if delegates still have questions regarding that same portion of the program, they will likely come back and ask you questions after the event has finished. Delegates do not want to feel rushed and/or ignored so make sure that your event is being ran in accordance with what was planned all along.

Event Planners Entities

There are many entities involved in event planning when it comes to international events. Event planning is a high-level and global activity. It requires expertise and experience in order to successfully plan the whole event process, from conception to execution. However, nowadays, people of different cultural origin, working in an urban area, face many challenges which may create a barrier for them to organize an international event efficiently and successfully. The main obstacles mostly related to the cultural differences. Therefore, this is a reason why an event planning must be carefully planned in order to avoid any of the potential risks which may cause some losses or inconvenience to the stakeholders.

1. International Event Planners Association (IEPA) - The International Event Planners Association (IEPA) is a professional association for members and associates of event planning companies at local, regional, national, and international levels. It offers a forum for members from different parts of the world to exchange ideas and best practices relating to event management. Its primary purpose is "to promote and advance the profession of event management through education, communication, research, advocacy and networking". IEPA is founded in September 1998 by Dr.

Conclusion

The event planning is a high-level and global procedure because it requires expertise, experience, and knowledge in order to successfully organize the whole event process. However, because of the different cultural backgrounds, many international organizations face potential obstacles which may cause some losses or inconvenience to their stakeholders. Therefore it is important that this type of process be carefully planned in order to avoid those risks so that organizations can succeed in their projects with confidence, without feeling any losses or inconvenience.

Organizations should also be careful enough when they choose the international event planners as partners.