Make it Flow: Conference Scheduling Tips

If you're planning a conference, you're probably pulling your hair out trying to determine the right presenters, festivities, food, and timing for everything. While the presenters may drive attendees to the conference, your schedule is essential in providing the type of atmosphere suitable to bringing the attendees back next year. It's not an easy task to determine the proper line-up for all your conference has to offer, but here are some helpful tips:

Speakers

By now, you should already have a fairly good idea of who your presenters and speakers will be. Ideally, you should mix both big named presenters and local talent by switching back and forth in your scheduling. However, you'll also want to make sure that the big personalities are scheduled at optimal times throughout the day. For example: Tom Brokaw should be scheduled perhaps mid-morning or early afternoon to ensure the highest level of attendance possible. Of course, a speaker like Tom Brokaw might be also be better suited for a time like 6pm, so that work schedules do not conflict. It will all depend on your audience. Conversely, schedule your lesser know speakers for the in between times.

In many cases, you'll have more than one speaker scheduled at a time. This is perfectly acceptable given that you have different rooms to accommodate the audience. Giving your attendees a wide variety of speakers is a great idea, but beware that some may not enjoy being forced to make the choice between them.

Breaks

Scheduling breaks is probably the single most important part to scheduling a conference. Nobody likes feeling rushed so it's essential that you allow enough time for the following:

• Moving between sessions
• Bathroom breaks
• Meal breaks
• Snack breaks
• Mingle and networking breaks

Allowing your attendees to maneuver through a large facility takes time. In many cases, they can get lost if your venue is not well equipped with signage and staff. Allow 15 minutes between sessions for everyone to get to the next. This will help to reduce distractions in the sessions as well.

Bathroom breaks are a given, but do you lump them in with the general breaks? It all depends on your preference. If you're a little light on speakers or activities, you can easily fill time with mingling and networking sessions as well as bathroom breaks. Typically, you should offer your attendees a break every hour. Each break should be about 15 minutes long, but some opt for 30 minutes.

Meals will vary greatly with each conference. Some will cater in for their attendees while other conferences will provide beverages and snacks, but the meal is up to the guest. No matter what you decide, you must allow attendees at least an hour to eat. It's actually an even better idea to wait to start the next session for 15 to 30 minutes after that. Typically, it will be a lunch break, but you very well may be conferencing after dark, so use your discretion. However, if you're breaking for both lunch and dinner, you should generally break at 12 noon for lunch and 6pm for dinner.

Plenty of conferences choose to provide snacks rather than full meals. This is a great way to save on cost while still keeping the people happy. If you choose to do this, don't skimp on time allotted for snacking. Folks will use it as an opportunity to network whether or not your schedule allows for it. Again, this time can be combined with other breaks, but should be at least 15 to 30 minutes. If attendees have to venture outside of the venue for a full meal, you'll want to take into account the location of restaurants nearby when determining the amount of time to allow. If the closest eatery requires a bit of a walk or a short taxi ride, you'll need to provide enough time for folks to comfortably leave, eat at a sit-down restaurant, and return.

Activities

Activities like raffles or other fun games can be done during break time. Of course, it can be scheduled in as well. Something like announcing raffle winners can be done during break time, however, if you have a more involved activity it can be scheduled at time when those who choose not to participate can snack, mingle or use the restroom. In most cases, all breaks and activities are done between speakers and sessions.

The importance of your schedule is to allow attendees to absorb the great information your speakers and sessions provide while giving them a chance to mingle with their peers in the downtime. This will make them more likely to attend future events. But, if things go wrong or you find that your schedule is a little out of whack, don't worry. Use OfficeArrow's evaluation form to help you improve your efforts next time. If you're looking for more resources, try our conference schedule template. Use it to help you create your schedule by formatting is specifically for your conference.