Conventions. Week 3

1.

Conventions
Week 3

2.

Conferences. Congresses. Conventions
°
For simplicity, convention and conference may be used interchangeably while congress is commonly used in
Europeans countries and seen as similar in meaning to conference.

3.

Convention Categorization and Measurement 1/3
1. By purpose
°
Congresses are usually to inform, communicate and provide opportunities to debate different issues
°
Conferences are used to inform and to reach conclusions or decisions for issues introduced
°
Conventions, on the other hand, are mainly held to organize, inform, motivate, communicate, debate or vote

4.

Convention Categorization and Measurement 2/3
2. By number of participants
°
Conferences are usually smaller in nature when compared to conventions and congresses .
3. By frequency
°
Conventions are usually held annually, whereby congresses can be held annually, semi-annually or even on an adhoc basis
°
Conferences have established and fixed schedules with a frequency that varies depending on each association

5.

Convention Categorization and Measurement 3/3
4. By type of attendees
°
ICCA has classified international into corporate and association
°
International corporate meetings consist of internal and external meetings and combinations of both
°
International association meetings are grouped into governmental associations and non-governmental
associations meetings

6.

Value chain in convention industry 1/4
°
Associations usually meet on a predetermined schedule ensuring a predictable starting point for a convention
timeline
°
Associations can choose to organize the convention in-house or outsource to Professional Conference Organizer
(PCO)
°
PCOs will develop proposals and budget required to run the convention and submit them
°
In practice, a PCO can be brought in anywhere in the planning process but are commonly brought in as early as
the bidding process

7.

Value chain in convention industry 2/4
°
A bid is defined as “an invitation to host an international convention in a country.”
°
Bidders should also analyze bid criteria and conduct in-depth research to ensure whether their destinations meet the
specifications needed to go further in the bidding process
°
According to ICCA, there are four underlying decision:
°
Regardless of the complexity of the bidding process, once bids from every destination are submitted, potential bidders are
shortlisted and site inspections have been conducted, the winning bid will then be announced.

8.

Value chain in convention industry 3/4
Planning
• The very first step is to establish goals and objectives and in doing so distinguish between objectives of attendees,
meeting professionals and the host organization
• After setting the big picture, planners have to put all the details together, which might for instance, include:
- organize site infrastructure
- determine marketing plan
- produce promotional tools
- estimate on-site staff requirements
- make other arrangements

9.

Value chain in convention industry 4/4
Marketing the convention
• This task is heart of the convention as it focuses on targeting the right group of attendees, speakers and sponsors
by using the right approach in the right place at the right time
• A marketing plan for convention requires extensive market research to shape an impeccable and compelling action
plan and should not only be geared towards delegates but also potential sponsors, suppliers and exhibitors as well

10.

Organizing a
conference
What is
conference?
Different types
of conference
Time and venue
Speakers and
chairs
Finances
Call for papers
Technical
assistance
Lunch and
hospitality
Conference
offices
What to keep in
mind during the
conference
Things to do
after conference

11.

A conference is generally understood as a meeting of several people to
symposium. While a conference differs from the others in terms of size and
purpose, the term can be used to cover the general concept. A convention is
larger than discuss a particular topic. It is often confused with a convention,
colloquia or a conference; it is a gathering of delegates representing several
groups.
At a conference, innovative ideas are thrown about and new
information is exchanged among experts. Its purpose could be one of
the following:
•An academic conference is a gathering of scientists or
academicians, where research findings are presented or a workshop
is conducted.
•A business conference is held for people working in the same
company or industry. They come together to discuss new trends and
opportunities pertaining to the business
•A trade conference takes place on a larger scale. Besides
businessmen, there are members of the public who come to network
with vendors and made new connections. Such a conference consists
of workshops and white paper presentations.
•An unconference differs from the traditional conference, since it
avoids the high costs, top-down organizational hierarchy and
sponsored presentations. All attendees are equally knowledgeable
What is a
conference?
invite experts you
would like to meet
compare your
research findings
with those of others
network
raise your profile
acquire transferable
skills
enrich your CV by
publishing your
paper, or editing a
volume of
conference papers.
°

12.

•the themed conference, small conferences organized
around a particular topic.
•the general conference, a conference with a wider
focus, with sessions on a wide variety of topics. These
conferences are often organized by regional, national,
or international learned societies, and held annually or
on some other regular basis.
•the professional conference, large conferences not
limited to academics but with academically related
issues.
Academic
conferences
Academic conferences
typically fall into three
categories:

13.

Types
Definition
Types of
conference
Examples
Annual Conference of
the Society for French
The most general term to indicate a meeting for discussion - most
Studies
Conferenc commonly adopted by associations and organizations for their
e
regular meetings. It is usually associated with the most traditional
Biennial Conference of
type of presentation, that is, papers followed by questions.
the Society for Italian
Studies
Nowadays, this describes a meeting to discuss a particular
Spanish and Portuguese
Symposiu subject, but its original meaning defines it as a drinking party
Studies Postgraduate
m
devoted to conversation and following a banquet. A symposium
Symposium
thus has a slightly more informal character than a conference.
The first meaning of this term refers to a group of students
IGRS: From Textual to
studying under a professor with each doing research and all
Visual
Seminar
exchanging results through reports and discussions. Its second
definition: 'debating special issues' preserves the conversational Departmental Research
character of the term 'seminar'.
Seminar (Italian, UCL)
This term indicates both a traditional conference and a
Colloquiu
Colloquium for Police
conversational seminar. Colloquia tend to privilege the aspect of
m
History (SSEES)
debate.
Taken from the language of manufacturing, the term workshop
indicates a brief intensive educational program for a small group
of people that focuses on techniques and skills in a particular field. Mutual Perceptions in
Workshop
In academia, it is adopted to describe meetings reserved for small Travel Literature (SOAS)
groups of specialists who come together for concerted activities or
discussion.
The roundness of the table clearly symbolizes the equality of all
Berkeley Germanic
participants. Each of them will have the same right to take the
Linguistics Roundtable
Roundtabl
floor. Roundtables commonly bring together academics who
A symposium is a casual
gathering and includes
refreshments and
entertainment.
A seminar is organized to
discuss a particular topic. They
are usually educational in
nature and attendees are
expected to gain new
knowledge or skills at the end of
the seminar
A workshop is more of a
hands-on experience for the
participants with demonstrations
and activities; the amount of
time one speaker addresses the
group is limited
A round-table conference is a
get-together of peers to
exchange thoughts and
opinions on a certain topic,
usually political or commercial.
There are a limited number of
participants who sit at a round

14.

Start planning a one-day conference 12-18 months ahead of time. Although it is possible to put something
together more quickly, you are more likely to achieve your aims with a long lead-in.
Two-day or longer conferences will require 18 months plus. The importance of thinking ahead in seeking
funding should also be noted.
have to decide what date will be most suitable for your speakers and delegates.
If participants are mainly PhD students, the most effective choice is probably during term-time or reading-weeks.
If on the contrary, your prospective guests will mainly be post-doctoral researcher, lecturers and professors, a time
outside term-time may be preferable.
Once you have identified a date, check the availability of conference rooms in chosen venue, check the availability
of your keynote speakers
For postgraduate conferences last more than a day. Large international conferences rarely last more than three days.
This may require you to schedule some papers to overlap with others. Papers are usually grouped in sessions,
although keynote papers may have sessions to themselves.
The length of a single paper commonly varies between 20 and 30 minutes. Occasionally it can be reduced to 15.
The presentations of keynote speakers however can last up to one hour. There is no compulsory limit for the
length of a single session, but if it lasts more than two hours consider a proper break. Also include enough time
for questions at the end of each paper or session. Make sure that all speakers and chairs are aware of the question
format. When putting together the programme of your conference, it is important to be aware of your speakers'
and delegates' comfort, and to schedule adequate breaks.
•cost
•size and shape of rooms: traditional lectures, workshops and roundtables all require completely different kinds of
rooms
•technical facilities: rooms with built-in audio-visual equipment may work out cheaper than renting equipment
•accessibility of location: this may affect both costs (travel expenses of speakers) and the appeal to other
participants.
Time and
venue
When to start planning?
Finding a suitable date
for your conference
The timetable of your
conference
Venue

15.

Contingency plan if speakers cancel
Do not finally forget to have some 'second choices' as standby, in case a speaker withdraws at the
last moment. In this case you can
•read her/his paper yourself (provided that s/he prepared it)
•replace her/him with another speaker (someone who was, for example, in two minds about
participating)
•extend the time reserved for questions
•bring forward all the papers and present an 'unplanned' event (such as the screening of a video
linked to the subject of the conference)
•if the person who withdraws is a chair you can ask another chair to preside at a second session,
or
•ask a speaker to chair that session.
Chairs
A chair should be assigned to each of the sessions. A chair should have at least the same status as the
speakers she or he will present.
Entrusting a PhD student with the task of introducing a renowned scholar may be inappropriate.
Each chair must be personally invited to act in this role, and informed of her/his duties well in
advance, even if she or he will take part in the conference as a speaker, too. A chair aslo has to
organize the question and answer session, and may need to get things going with a question of their
own. If possible it is good to select someone who knows something about the topic of the session,
and who will therefore add substantially to the debate.
Speakers and
chairs
Once you have decided on
a date and place for your
conference, you can start
selecting the speakers. The
most common way to do
this is either by a
Call for papers
By personal invitation

16.

Call for papers
It should indicate in the clearest way:
•aim of the conference
•format of the conference (symposium, workshop, round-table, etc.)
•issues to be covered
•date and venue
•length of papers
•deadline for provisional titles and abstracts (as well as a word limit)
•address for submission
•fees (if any)
•scholarships (if any)
As to its dissemination, it should be sent to
•academic departments and centres dealing with the subject of your
conference
•specialized mailing lists and newsgroups
Researchers regularly
receive – directly or
indirectly – 'calls for
papers' , which means
that yours will have to
be catchy, neat and
informative if you want
to attract their interest.

17.

Finances
The list of your costs may include:
•keynote speakers' travel and accommodation
expenses
•session chairs’ travel and accommodation
expenses
•students’ bursaries
•conference packs
•advertizing
•secretarial staff
•porters and security staff
•room bookings
•rental of technical equipment
•meals and refreshments
•office costs (photocopying, postage)
•administrative charge
Your income in order to cover these costs may come
from:
•grants from sponsors
•participants’ registration fees
•speakers’ and chairs' registration fees - if you decide to
charge them (this is sometimes difficult with invited
speakers. It is crucial to make clear when you first make
contact what the financial arrangements will be since this
can vary from meeting all expenses and offering a fee to
meeting no expenses and charging conference registration
- or anything in between.)
•book displays
•(possible) collateral events

18.

Technical
assistance
An increasing number of researchers use audio-visual
facilities to present their papers (from the traditional
overhead projector to the more spectacular Powerpoint slide
show), which means that you have to take this aspect into
account when you select the venue for your conference. Ask
your speakers well in advance which facilities they might
require. This might range from video and sound facilities to
computer and network connections. Checking that these
facilities are available at the venue of your choice, is not
enough: you will also have to enquire whether the institution
hosting your conference is able to put some technical
assistance at your disposal - microphones and computers
have a well-known disposition to stop working when you
need them most. If at all possible, familiarize yourself with
the audio visual equipment (and do it before the day of the
conference!).

19.

Lunch and
hospitality
Catering
The first rule about hospitality is not Remember to include regular breaks for tea and coffee, and to allow
adequate time for lunch. If possible, a reception at the end of a
to make any promises that you
conference provides an opportunity for more relaxed socializing. Make
cannot keep. This said, hospitality
sure that it is made clear to all participants beforehand (speakers,
can include many aspects, such as:
chairs, delegates) whether their registration fee includes
refreshments.
•travel expenses (from airplane to
Supporting events
underground tickets)
Participants often welcome the opportunity of breaks in the
•refreshments
programme to explore the city and its monuments and/or to debate at
more leisure specific issues and exchange opinions with individual
•lunch
speakers. They will appreciate finding in their conference package a
•conference fees
list of major cultural institutions, events (such as concerts and
•information material (e.g., city
exhibitions) and bookshops.
guides)
Book displays
All these items can be offered
These are not only a pleasant distraction but in some case can also
present a source of income. They are commonly placed in the hall, or,
•both to speakers/chairs and
when possible, near refreshments, so that participants can have a
participants
look at books on sale between sessions.
•only to speakers/chairs
•only to keynote speakers

20.

Programme
Anyone who has tried
to organize a
conference knows that
the hardest thing to
establish is the
programme. This often
goes through several
different stages or
order of speakers
before being finished.
One effective way of controlling this variability might be:
•Set out the aims of the conference and its format (symposium, workshop,
round-table, etc.).
•Set out issues to be covered.
•Identify a proper title.
•Release the call for papers and send all personal invitations.
•Collect abstracts from speakers (rejecting - if necessary - those extraneous to
the conference subject or devoid of any academic relevance) and confirmations
of availability from chairs.
•Verify what technical devices each speaker needs.
•Verify if and how many overseas speakers you can afford.
•Divide speakers (and chairs) into coherent sessions on the basis of the subject
of their paper, taking into account the technical devices they asked for when
assigning the rooms and remembering to allow time for questions and for
refreshments breaks.
•Send speakers and chairs the draft programme and ask them for confirmation.
•Type and release the definitive programme. At that point, your programme
should not change any more, but it is possible (or rather, probable) that this will
turn out to be necessary. This is the reason why you should not remain without
a contingency plan.

21.

Conference
pack
Even if some of your
conference
participants know each
other, they are unlikely
to be familiar with the
host institution, so it is
important that you
offer them a
conference pack as
soon as they arrive
. This kind of pack should include:
•the definitive programme
•abstracts if possible
•name tags
•a map of the conference rooms
•a map of the city
•a list of all participants (with their e.mail)
and may include:
•a list of useful telephone numbers (starting from your own and
including those of hotels, taxicab services, medical assistance,
etc.)
•the list of major cultural institutions and events currently available
in the city, including advice on where to eat
•some white paper
•a pen
•fliers from external organizations (publishers etc), who have paid
for the inclusion of their publicity.

22.

What to keep
in mind
during the
conference
Once the machinery has been set in motion, you
should be able to reduce your tasks to:
•smiling, always and whatever may happen
•receiving speakers, chairs and all other participants
•being present whenever possible at all lectures and events
•indicating who to turn to for assistance
if possible leaving to assistants (postgraduate students, friends
who offered their help) the duty of
•registering participants
•distributing conference packs
•collecting conference fees
•collecting receipts for all payments to be refunded
•receiving people during all conference sessions
•giving general information
•checking daily that direction signs are on/in place
•solving minor inconveniences
•reporting to you (and to all other organizers) any
major inconveniences.

23.

Things to do after
the conference
A conference is only finished for the speakers. For organizers its the beginning of a new series of tasks to be carried out.
You must take care in particular of three bodies: your institution and any other sponsor, speakers and the research community.
Your institution and any other sponsor
All institutions which have supported your conference with financial assistance have obviously the right to be informed about the
conference itself and, above all, to check if and how you spent their financial contributions (not to mention that many sponsors do
not make their funds available until they receive these items of information).
You have therefore to let them have as soon as possible:
•your final report (taking into account both informal feedback and evaluation forms)
•the final budget of the conference.
Major academies and graduate schools may have their own forms to fill in, which means that you cannot simply send the same
documents to all your sponsors, but you have to adapt your data to the format specifically required by each institution.
Speakers
A special group is constituted by conference speakers and chairs. If you undertook to cover their travel (or other) expenses, it is a
good rule to refund them quickly. Do not forget to ask them for receipts, since you have to present those documents, in your turn, to
your sponsors.
A completely different kind of obligation to speakers is the publication of their papers, since it does not only concern the people
who took an active part in the conference, but the research community as a whole. However, all your efforts to keep single speakers
informed of any progress of the proceedings will be greatly appreciated.

24.

•Registrant –person who is formally registers for a meeting or conference, usually for a fee
•Attendee – one who is present or attends a function or a person who participates in a meeting
•Participant – one that participates, shares or takes part in a meeting
•Learner – one that gains knowledge, comprehension or mastery through experience or study;
someone who learns or takes knowledge or beliefs; one that is learning; one that is acquiring new
knowledge, behaviors, skills, values or preferences (e.g. a 'student' or a participant)
•Speaker – a student, postdoc, faculty or researcher who gives an oral or poster presentation of
her/his project in a moderated session at a conference or other meeting (note that by OSRAA guidelines, this
description is not a participant and thus would not be reimbursed under participant support).
•Lecturer - a speaker of authority who presents a topic to an audience for learning purposes
•Moderator, Facilitator - one or more individuals who lead a group of participants for training
purposes (thus not a participant). In some cases, this person may charge a fee for their professional
services as a consultant
•Keynote Speaker – a person of authority with credentials in a field to give a high level overview of
his/her career or work
•Plenary Speaker or Facilitator – someone with authority to stimulate input and discussion by
participants to come to conclusion for action

25.

26.

Group task
Referring to the Map, plan a one-day post-conference tour for the attendees to explore Samarkand.

27.

Thank You!
Do you have any
questions?
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@elens_a
Email
[email protected]
Phone
+998979292209