18th March 2010

The Volume of Responsibility of a Professional Conference Organiser

A Professional Conference Organiser is a company or institution which specialises in the organisation and management of congresses, conferences, seminars, workshops and similar events.

A Professional Conference Organiser is a company or institution which specialises in the organisation and management of congresses, conferences, seminars, workshops and similar events. They are commonly known as a PCO.
These organisations work as consultants for event management, and they provide a full service for the management of conferences. This service includes conference design, registration, site and venue selection and booking, audiovisuals, IT support, logistics, recreational activities, marketing, printing, resource speakers, funding and sponsorship, financial management and budget control.

Planning an important corporate event is a stressful and tedious job. Not many organisations will have specific employees to handle conference organising. If a member is designated to handle this job, it is done so while he/she takes care of her normally duties. Thus, the expectations of the company will be a bit too high – to organise a conference of high standards and also carry out the daily routine work.

The best solution is to hire a Professional Conference Organiser. There are a great number of such companies which consist of a team of professionals and offer their services in this field. They can be easily found online at detailed and informative websites.

They are always willing to take care of your entire event – from start to end and will offer you their fullest assurance to deliver a successful product.
Conferences lead the way for modern communications in the corporate world. It is an opportunity where corporate companies, business companies, trade associations, clubs and all other institutions make use to get themselves known and to convey an important message or sell some technical knowledge to other relevant companies and/or persons. Conferences are varied, diverse in nature and are organised for many reasons. It is the duty of a Professional Conference Organiser to take time, sit down with client and study the exact goals and requirements of the event that needs to be organised.

The required components will always be the same whether the number of attending participants will be large or small.

The role of an event organiser will vary depending on the client and the type of event that needs to be organised. Given below are some typical activities that are included in organising a conference:

  • Research the markets to identify opportunities for events
  • Liaising with clients to ascertain their exact needs and requirements for the event
  • Producing detailed proposals: time frames, venues, suppliers, insurances, legal obligations, staffing, budgeting etc.
  • Arriving at a budget and working within it
  • Identifying and booking a suitable venue
  • Making sure that health and safety rules, insurance and legal obligations are adhered to
  • Coordinating equipment hire, stand designers, caterers, contractors etc.
  • Organising facilities for car parking, traffic control, security, first aid, hospitality and media
  • Identifying Resource Persons
  • Planning out room accommodation and recreational activities, scheduling workshops and demonstrations
  • Preparing delegate packs and papers
  • Liaising with marketing and PR colleagues to promote the event
  • Liaising with the client and designers to create a name for the event and organising all printing
  • Supervision of all dismantling and removal of equipment after the event
  • Post-event evaluation

The above activities are those generally carried out when organising an event. A Professional Conference Organiser is well aware of those that are required depending on the type and style of event, the duration and all other requirements it entails. 

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