Help Your Next Event Go Smoothly with These Must-Know Tips
Whether you’re expecting 50 attendees or 5,000, planning a conference is no easy feat. Many moving parts are required to ensure the event goes off without a hitch, and without the correct planning and preparation, things could get out of hand! Luckily, our team at LoneStar Badge & Sign has years of experience helping conference planners and consultants get everything they need to pull off amazing events.
Here are four tips for conference planning to help your next event go smoothly and save you from some headaches:
- Manage marketing wisely
- Create natural networking
- Watch your budget
- Book quality vendors early
Keep reading to learn more about our tips for conference planning!
Manage marketing wisely
The first of our tips for conference planning is about marketing, of course. It’s reasonable to promote your event and get the word out to as many people as possible. However, you have to be savvy about marketing your conference so that you aren’t throwing time and money down the drain.
Having an online presence is essential, but you want to find ways to reach your target audience rather than throwing a wide net and seeing what comes back. Create an informative yet intriguing website as your primary marketing base and then branch out from there into social media platforms, email marketing, and pay-per-click strategies that make sense for your industry.
But online marketing is just half of the equation! Make sure your event materials look good and will leave an impression on vendors and attendees alike. Our team can ensure your conference marketing materials, booth graphics, personalized giveaway items and more are designed to perfection and delivered when and where you need them.
Create natural networking
One of the primary reasons people want to attend conferences is to network with others in their field. You want to find ways to allow these interactions to happen naturally rather than overdoing it and making people feel pressured or uncomfortable.
One easy way to create easy networking between attendees is by providing name tags that include attendees’ company names or titles. Doing this allows people to meet and greet each other naturally while still having a visual reminder of who they’re talking to and what the person’s background is. Ask attendees to wear their name tags throughout the conference to create as many networking changes as possible.
Also consider adding badge ribbons to denote things like whether it’s an attendee’s first time at a conference, whether they’re a speaker, or other fun labels that can help people stand out.
Watch your budget
When it comes to tips for conference planning, this one might be the most important and the most challenging to follow. Before you start any planning, make sure you know your budget and then stick to it. It can be very easy to spend on different aspects of your preparation and realize too late that you’re running low on funds when there’s still a whole checklist to get through.
The LoneStar team is always conscious of our customers’ spending limits and ready to help find solutions for your badge and sign needs that fit within your budget.
Book quality vendors early
Every conference needs the help and support of high-quality vendors, whether it’s for the conference location, food service, audio/visual assistance, security, graphic design, or more. It helps to take the time to carefully select your vendors by researching their offerings and any available customer reviews. Also, consider every type of vendor you will need, not just the major ones.
For instance, to create natural networking, you’ll need those name tags. Finding the right badge and sign vendor to deliver your items on time and budget will help your event look official and organized.
That’s where LoneStar Badge & Sign comes in! We can provide you with a custom portal for online ordering and ensure all your conference supplies arrive at your chosen location right when you need them.
Get in touch with us today for more details and tips for conference planning to help your event succeed!