Post 11 of 15

Maps

As most of our delegates were not familiar with the event venue, we decided to create detailed maps of the venue. Not only were those maps helpful to delegates, they were also a good advertising opportunity for our sponsors. We created the maps using Adobe Illustrator, so that they could be printed in very large sizes without any loss in quality. Here are the maps we used for the event.

Venue Map Train station map

Signage

Once inside the venue, delegates had to find their way to presentation rooms swiftly and efficiently. This was true for every delegate, even those who work at the school, as we used a different numbering system for our presentation rooms. We posted signs all over the venue, pre-empting what the main traffic thoroughfares would be. We also posted signs on every door used for the conference, using the same icons and colour coding as on the maps. Here are some examples of the signs we displayed around the venue.

Auditorium Sign No Entry Sign Sign

We created signs for the following:

  • Room doors
  • Direction to presentation rooms and specific areas
  • No entry
  • Bus numbers
  • ‘Welcome’ signswhen picking up special guests at the airport
  • Signs for exhibitor tables

Banners

We created several banners to place around the venue. We placed them in the following locations:

  • Entrance area
  • Reception area
  • Cafeteria area
  • Main keynote area (multiple banners)

This process was not time consuming but required the help of the facility team, as some of the banners required special equipment to securely put in place.

Exhibition space

Each exhibitor was promised a table within a 2-metre space, with two chairs and access to electricity. While this sounds like a no-brainer, it was quite the challenge to find enough electrical sockets to ensure all had access to electricity, while complying with health and safety requirements. With hindsight, we could have planned this part of the event better.

Whilst setting up all of the tables was not a difficult process, it was a time consuming one.

Access to electricity

As stated above, this proved a challenge, as the venue does not have as many sockets as we anticipated. This is definitely worth looking into before setting aside areas for specific needs.

We were lucky enough to have access to a dedicated ‘facility’ team at the venue, and with plenty of notice they were able to setup extra access points for the event. This took a few days.

Keynote space

We worked with Trusted Events to set up the stage of our main keynote space, and they did a wonderful job of setting up screens, microphones, lighting, etc. This process took nearly two working days to be completed, including all of the necessary tests.

Keynote space Photo credit: Sebastian Stiphout©

The process of setting up chairs, placing promotional materials on chairs, putting up banners, posters, etc. again is quite time consuming. It took us about 6 man-hours to ensure all was setup correctly.

Compliance

Health and safety regulations are of a very high standard in Germany, where we organised our event. It was therefore vital that the decisions we took in terms of furniture placement, electrical equipment, etc. was fully vetted by thevenue’s health and safety officer.

I would strongly urge you to consult with a professional if such an officer is not available at the venue where you are intending to organise your conference.

Screens

We decided to setup screens around the venue, to show tweets, photos from Instagram, display the schedule, etc.

This process was not extremely demanding, but required setting up an online system to ensure content would be delivered consistently and synchronously across all screens. We decided to use live wall.co, which worked great but took a couple of hours to setup perfectly.

Screens

Photo credit: Sebastian Stiphout ©

Wifi

Again Trusted Events worked tirelessly to ensure great Wifi access was available throughout the venue.

This required careful planning well before the conference started (we started this part 3 months before the event), as a lot of decisions need to be made, which would affect the setup. For example:

  • Separate networks for presenters/admin/delegates
  • SSID name
  • Password/no password
  • Maximum number of delegates per area
  • Bandwidth capping per device
  • Disabling of blocking/filtering
  • Data collection
  • Privacy policy
  • Etc.

We were extremely satisfied with the results, as were the delegates.

Registration area

The registration area consisted of 4 long tables put together. While the setup of the tables was trivial, there were a few tasks that took a significant amount of time:

  • Placing insert in delegate badges
  • Labeling water bottles (we decided to buy regular water bottles, and label them with our logo)
  • Sorting delegate badges in alphabetical order

Here is the insert we placed in each delegate badge. We wanted the insert to be as useful as possible.

Insert front

Insert back

Delegate bags

Whilst placing printed materials and goodies in delegate bags is not very difficult, it is most certainly time consuming, and requires a lot of space. It also generates a lot of rubbish (wrapping paper and cardboard boxes). This needs to be planned carefully to ensure all of the bags contain the same items, as sponsors most likely will have paid to have materials placed in bags.

Cloakroom

Delegates were able to keep their jackets on rails near the entrance. On the last day of the conference, we used a classroom so that delegates who had already checked out from their hotel room could store their suitcases until the end of the conference. We did not man this room, as we are lucky this area of the world is extremely safe.

In the next post, I share the steps we took to prepare each presentation room.