Are you hosting or organizing a business conference soon? An essential element to any successful conference is the informational pack. It contains the information that moves the conference along based on the speakers and scheduled activities.
While putting a conference pack or schedule together may seem intimidating, you can create a useful, comprehensive pack of information that provides value to the event’s attendees. Here are some tips to help you put together an organized pack.
Decide on Folders or Binders
Putting conference packs together can be expensive, especially if you have many attendees. If your conference will just last a day or two, consider folders for the informational materials since they’re more affordable. For longer conferences, binders are a necessity to keep papers neat and tidy.
Remember to include some blank lined pages or a small notepad for attendees to take notes.
Create a Detailed Agenda
The document attendees will refer to most often is the agenda. It is packed with information, including the names of keynote speakers, the titles of their presentations, times and locations of seminars, and more.
Ideally, the agenda for each day should only take up one page so it can be used as a quick reference. You can provide further details about each speaker, seminar or event within the pack. When you place all the materials in the pack, the agenda should be on the very top.
Format Internal Pages Consistently
Don’t get too creative with your use of fonts, symbols and images within the documents inside the folder or binder. Professional documents should use standard fonts, colors and imagery.
Keep each specific type of document consistent and grouped together. For instance, detailed biographies about keynote speakers should all be typed in the same format, using the same color and type of paper. Lists of vendors and sponsors should all be formatted the same way to avoid the appearance of bias or preference.
Common pages you should include are:
- Agendas
- Detailed event information
- Detailed speaker biographies
- Maps of the location noting each of the meeting rooms
- Names and contact information for nearby entertainment, dining and accommodations
- Vendor lists
- Advertisers
- Event organizers
Use Quality Paper Products
Professional conference information should be printed on quality paper products like those from www.peppermintprint.co.uk. Paper is not an item to skimp on. Fellow business professionals know the difference between quality stationery and standard copy paper. Put your best foot forward when networking with other businesses.
You should also consider having all conference materials printed professionally. The printing will go much faster than it will with standard office machines.
Check Print Quality
It pays to be meticulous when you’re the organizer of the conference. Get help if you need to, but every page of the informational materials should be quickly examined to ensure print quality. Remove pages that are smudged, that contain lines or that are too difficult to read. If you use a professional printing service, this will be done for you.
Assemble the Pack
After you’ve determined that all the pages are consistent, accurate and up to quality print standards, put the pack together. Again, this can be done professionally, but it is also manageable with a small group of people.
If you’re doing it yourself, lay the materials out on long tables in the order they should be placed in the pack. With a few volunteers, go along each station of the table gathering materials. You’ll have everything organized and in the folders or binders in no time!
No doubt about it, the conference pack is the most important document of the event. Being prepared makes the experience better for everyone involved, especially attendees who are in unfamiliar surroundings. When done correctly, it provides attendees with everything they need to know to move smoothly from one event to another.