Assessing The Suitability Of The Conference Registration Area

Ask where the registration desk is usually situated at that particular venue. If the area is not clearly visible to delegates entering the venue, make a note of the fact that adequate signs will be required to point them in the right direction. Ensure that you will have room enough for yourself, staff who may be assisting you, and your delegate packs.

Assessing The Rooms

When considering the suitability of any room, be it a large conference room or a small syndicate room, ensure there is adequate space to be able to accommodate the seating plan you are intending using. The most common types are:

• theatre
• classroom
• boardroom
• U-shaped

 

These are illustrated in Figure 3. Ask the advice of the hotel or venue staff, who will be very familiar with each style and what works best in their particular rooms.

 

Working Out Your Needs

How many rooms are you going to require? This will depend on your programme for the event. You may require just one room set in theatre style, or you may be planning to have the delegates split up into smaller groups for workshops or smaller meetings. If this is the case you will need to have rooms available which are adequate in size, location and content.

In an ideal world the smaller rooms (or breakout/syndicate rooms as they are often called) would be located on the same floor and as close as possible to the main conference room. However, this is often not the case and delegates may have to walk or go by a lift to other floors within the building. If this is the case, are there adequate stairs and/or lifts to be able to cope with the number of people you are expecting? Is there disabled/wheelchair access?

These considerations are important not only in terms of delegate care but to allow you to keep to the schedule. Make a note that adequate signs will be required to ensure delegates don’t get lost en route and/or make use of directional staff/stewards.

Other Room Considerations

• Be aware that the rooms take time to be set up by the venue staff. It may not be possible to run a 500-delegate conference during the day and then follow it by a formal dinner for 500 in the evening in the same room. Discuss your options with the venue staff.

 

• Ask about heating/air conditioning – depending on the time of year, you will certainly need either one or the other.

 

• Is there a separate room that can be allocated as a speaker room? This is somewhere for the speakers to have some peace and quiet away from the delegates, maybe to run through their slides to make sure they are in the right order and not upside-down, and generally to collect themselves before their talk.

The Seating Arrangements

If you are expecting a large number of delegates, check that all the seating will be as seen, and not topped up with ‘cheap seats’. Sitting still all day is hard enough for most people, but sitting still on uncomfortable chairs is close to impossible!

• Check whether the seating is cushioned and comfortable or hard and uncomfortable.

The Ceiling Height

Some conference facilities, particularly those on lower ground floors, have particularly low ceilings and little or no natural daylight. If you are expecting a large number of delegates you will need to assess whether this will feel too claustrophobic and, if you are planning on using audio visual equipment, whether the ceiling will allow the use of a screen suitable for your needs. Conversely, the room may have such a high ceiling that the acoustics are difficult to work with.