TIPS ON ORGANISING A CONFERENCE

SOME HELPFUL TIPS ON ORGANISING A CONFERENCE FOR THE FIRST TIME

If you are new to organising a conference, it can be a daunting experience, something that you put off or wish you could hand over to someone else, there are so many elements to cover and nobody seems to offer like for like pricing, where do you start?

Bicester Hotel Golf and Spa have put together some useful tips to help you when it comes to planning your conference:

You firstly need to decide what your company or you want to achieve from the conference and secondly what is the overall budget.

There are so many different types of venues, from old country manor houses, to modern City Centre office block type venues. The location, size of your conference and whether you require accommodation and leisure facilities will narrow your search down considerably.

You need to consider how delegates will be travelling and what the nearby transport links are like or for those driving, motorway links and parking facilities at the venue. Choosing a venue that is difficult to get to will have delegates arriving in a harried state.

What type of venue do you choose? Are you looking for a venue that offers free Wi-Fi throughout the building, a good mobile signal and a venue that has meeting rooms well placed for all the other facilities? Bicester Hotel Golf and Spa can offer you this plus we can give you a chance to combine your conference with some teambuilding, relaxation and play time. We are set in 134 acres in the heart of Oxfordshire, close the main rail links into London and Birmingham and 2 minutes from M40 Junction 9. We can cater for all your requirements with conference facilities for up to 200 people, have extensive health club and spa facilities on site, 18 hole golf course and land for outdoor team building events alongside 52 bedrooms.

What are the ergonomics like, you don't want to have to walk to another building for a coffee break, although smoking is not permitted in venues, there are always delegates that smoke, consider how far they need to go in the coffee break to have a cigarette. Bicester Hotel Golf and Spa do allow smoking on their balconies leading from some of the main function rooms.

Once you have decided upon your venue, it's important to make a list of what you require, itemise everything required for your event and make a detailed itinerary. Will you require a large room for a Plenary Session, include timings, number of breakout or syndicate rooms you require and for how many people in each. What equipment do you require in the break out rooms, what equipment do you require in the main meeting room. Do you want coffee/tea on arrival and where would you want this served. Do you require a registration desk, name badges, will you be putting up pull up banners advertising your company and logo, do you require an admin room, and will you need to photocopy anything whilst you are there? What type of lunch and or dinner would you like, will there be water on the table. Try to avoid large heavy meals at lunchtime; you don't want your delegates falling asleep in the afternoon. Bicester Hotel Golf and Spa offers a range of menus to cater for all.

How many delegates will require overnight accommodation, do you require a room for a private dinner, do you want to include wine in the price, is this in the budget?

If you have booked Keynote Speakers it is advisable to check what their technology requirements are, they might prefer a lapel microphone as opposed to a hand held microphone. What set up do you require, do you require back projection, staging, music, sound system, are you hiring an AV company to take care of this or are you relying on the venue.

Setting dates for your Event: When you are setting your dates, you need to consider the following, is it during the school holidays, is there a major sporting event on in the area, and is it a busy period for the venue? Mondays and Fridays tend to be the least busy days for venues. When setting your timings for the event, if people are travelling a distance ensure your start time allows them adequate time to get there.

Good luck and after the first one, it's a doddle.

MORE INFORMATION ON THE CONFERENCE, MEETING & TRAINING FACILITIES AT BICESTER CONFERENCE CENTRE

For further information please contact your dedicated Conference Co-ordinator on 0845 519 9204 or click here to email us.

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