Organising a Tech Conference – 10. Advertising the event
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Leveraging professional networks Without a doubt leveraging our existing professional networks is what helped us secure the largest number of delegates. We identified a group of leaders in the field, and contacted them personally, asking them to spread the word. We also leveraged our networks in the following organisations:
AGIS Principals & directors IBO Directing traffic to event website As stated in a previous post, we created a sub-section of our school website for our event....
Organising a Tech Conference – 9. Communicating using mass email tools
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Reasons for using MailChimp Here are the main reasons why we decided to use MailChimp over our internal email system:
Improved deliverability of emails No risk for our domain to end up on ‘spammers’ lists Better group management Detailed reports of who read the emails, who clicked on links within the emails, etc. Nice looking templates Ability to easily personalise emails Ease of use Generous free tier It has a monkey for its logo MailChimp is only one of many providers of such service....
Organising a Tech Conference – 8. Employing Student Helpers
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There are several strategies that can be used to recruit the right students for the jobs you need. Here are some of the strategies we used when organising the ECIS Technology Conference 2015.
Advertising the positions We decided to advertise for the following positions using our internal daily communication with students (daily bulletin) and through email communication as well. You can download all of the position details and requirements here....
Organising a Tech Conference – 7. Securing sponsors and exhibitors
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Defining the target audience Potential sponsors and exhibitors will most likely be interested in knowing the following about your event:
How many delegates are expected to attend the event? Is that figure based on past events? What is the profile of the delegates? How is the event a good fit for the company? Designing sponsorship packages, including pricing One way to design sponsorship packages is to look at what other conference organisers have done in the past....
Organising a Tech Conference – 6. Scheduling & Programming
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The scheduling process, in a nutshell The process can be summarised as follows:
Choosing a theme Call for presentations Estimate the number and types of presentations needed Select and reject presentations ‘Stranding’ presentations and workshops Communicate session titles with potential delegates Prepare a first draft, and communicate with presenters Prepare reviewed draft, and communicate with presenters Prepare final draft Perform final check with presenters Select software to present programme Communicate programme with delegates Constantly review programme based on cancellations and number of delegates Organise networking opportunities, including social events Choosing a theme for the conference The theme for the ECIS Technology Conference 2015 was ‘Building engagement’....
