BLS Conference
Could you host the conference next year?
Introduction
Congratulations!
Hopefully you are not regretting the decision to host this event. It will take a huge amount of work, but is an extremely rewarding process and will be something that you can be extremely proud of. BLS is what we, as members make it, and this is an extremely important way of showing your support to the society.
These notes are intended to act as a guide to organising the conference. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of how you must do things or else, but rather as some helpful pointers to getting things right so that your conference is a great success.
General Information
Working Party
Arrange for a working party to assist you. A group of 3 or 4 people are probably enough, and it makes things much easier if you are all fairly local. Travelling for 4 hours to an organising meeting is not much fun and may not be supported by your employer.
Make good use of email – it is invaluable in making sure that the working party all know what is going on and also ensuring that the admin office is kept informed.
Delegate tasks.
Check regularly that tasks are done to schedule.
Committee
The BLS committee need to be kept up to date with the conference organisation.
Find out from the admin office when they are meeting and get a brief written report together for this. A member of the committee will be allocated to you as a link person for support and advice, but they won’t necessarily be able to form a part of your working party.
Anything on which a committee decision is required will be emailed out to members from the admin office.
When to hold the conference
Ideally you are looking at these notes two years before the proposed date of the event you have volunteered to organise.
Set the date as soon as possible to give yourself time to get organised and for delegates to book the time into their diaries.
The conference is usually held during the first week of October, starting on the Sunday evening and running through until Tuesday afternoon. However this is not set in stone, so liaise with the committee if you wish to change this arrangement.
Purpose of the conference
Education
Learning something new is probably the main reason that people attend. Consider the range of delegates, some will be experts in their field will years of experience, while others may be new or only do lymphoedema as a small part of their role. Provide a varied programme.
Networking
Very important for most delegates, so allow as much time for this as you possibly can.
AGM
This is the only opportunity to hold this event and is thus vital to the running of BLS as a society. While this is probably not the most interesting aspect of attending conference for the majority of delegates it is never the less extremely important. A minimum number of members need to be present for certain decisions to be carried forward so holding the AGM in the middle of the first day with a popular or famous speaker afterwards can help to boost attendance.
Corporate Members
The corporate members have their own needs which need to be taken into account. Space is needed for stands and time allocated for delegates to visit everyone.
The companies are extremely generous in their support of BLS both at conference and during the year and it is important that they not forgotten in the excitement of planning your programme.
Raising revenue
See costs
Where to hold the Conference
When deciding where to hold the conference in the following considerations should be borne in mind:
Access
Good road, rail and air links are essential if BLS members are to be able to attend from all regions of the UK or from abroad.
Venue
You will need:-
- Conference room that can accommodate between 200 and 300 delegates
- Space to feed the delegates lunch and tea and coffee breaks
- Sufficient toilets
- Monday evening dinner and entertainment
- Space for stands for both the corporate members and any other exhibitors
- Space for any concurrent sessions, for example meetings on the Sunday evening
- Space for poster presentations
- Disabled access
Keep the cost of the facilities in mind – you need to be making a profit on this event.
Book the venue as soon as possible.
Negotiate the price of everything and do let the venue know that BLS is a charity; they may well have special rates that apply in these circumstances. Keep asking about this.
Keep in close contact with the venue events manager, they will be invaluable in guiding you with organisation of the conference and will probably be able to suggest local suppliers of services such as the audiovisual equipment etc if they do not have this in-house.
Accommodation
While it is not essential that accommodation be on the same site as the conference, feedback from evaluation of previous conferences indicates that delegates find this much more convenient and prefer this arrangement.
Where possible try to negotiate favourable room rates – you are unlikely to be offered this so do ask about it.
Alternative places to stay, for example local hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation, particularly at the cheaper end of the price range must also be considered and information on this supplied to the delegates.
What Else do I need to Arrange?
1) Facilities
If not supplied by the conference venue you will also need to arrange the following:-
Audio – visual equipment
Lap top, data projector, screens.
Will you need to show videos, play tapes?
Check early with your speakers what equipment they will require.
Microphones
Static mikes for the speakers and at least 2 roving mikes for questions from the floor.
Technical support
This is vital unless you are extremely confident that you can manage all of the equipment yourself.
Feedback from evaluation forms identifies failure of IT equipment as one of the major gripes of delegates.
Staging
A platform of some kind and a lectern will be need if the delegates are to be able see the speaker clearly.
Boards for poster presentations
2) Refreshments
Judging by the evaluation forms from previous years most BLS members take this aspect of the conference extremely seriously!
Areas of concern in the past have included lack of vegetarian choice, difficulty getting to food especially at lunch times, shortage of fresh fruit, access to drinks at break times and no access to drinking water.
You will need to arrange
- Lunch for the 2 conference days
- Tea and coffee (and biscuits!) at registration times, morning and afternoon sessions
- Conference dinner – further advice about this will be included later.
Once again negotiate the best rates you can with the venue events organiser.
Get everything in writing and forward to the BLS committee for approval.
3) Delegate Packs
These should include
- Delegate list
- exhibitors
- Programme
- Information on speakers
- Information on poster presentations
- Evaluation forms
- Acknowledgement of any sponsorship
How you chose to present this information is up to you. Bear in mind the cost of any bags you chose to buy.
In the past this has been sponsored by one of the corporate members.
Various corporate members may wish to include items in the bags. Liaise with the committee if you are unsure of the appropriateness of items, e.g. job adverts.
Putting all the information into the bags takes ages so allocate time and help with this as it will probably need to be done on the first day of conference.
The admin office will provide the BLS information to be included.
4) Conference dinner
This is one of the highlights of conference for many delegates.
It usually takes the form of a 3 course meal, the cost of which is included in the conference fee.
Do not forget your vegetarian delegates when planning your menu.
The entertainment is important. BLS members like to dance, so some form of disco or band is usually appreciated.
You may also wish to arrange something that provides a local flavour.
Make a note of the names of any winners of any competitions that you hold.
5) Raffle
Following the development of the Caroline Badger Research fellowship award in 2003 it was agreed that a raffle be held at the conference dinner with the proceeds going to the fellowship.
Prises could be requested from exhibitors, corporate members, the venue as well as local business and organisations.
Remember that the winners may not be local to the venue so service style prizes such as dinner for 2 at the Italian may not be appropriate.
Do not forget that the entertainment and food must be paid for so set realistic budgets.
On the day ensure that the amount raised is counted and recorded and the money safely stored in the hotel safe.
Promoting the Conference
The more widely you can advertise the conference and the earlier you start the greater chance you have of attracting a wide range of delegates.
How will you reach delegates who are not members of BLS?
Be imaginative.
Bear in mind that advertising can be expensive.
Set closing date for applications no later than 2 weeks before the conference and stick to this strictly.
Newsletter
Keep BLS members well informed via the newsletter. Find out when the closing dates for articles is and ensure that you submit information in good time.
Feedback from evaluation forms suggests that the BLS newsletter is the main way that members get information about the conference. There is no cost to including conference information and this is a good method of asking for research and poster presentations.
Posters
A sample poster is included in the appendix.
These could be distributed via the newsletter or regional reps for national coverage.
Costs
One of the aims of the conference is to make a profit, as this is one of the main sources of revenue for the BLS.
A suggested minimum target is £10,000.
The Treasurer will need detailed accounts of what you plan to spend and will also be able to give you advice regarding what has happened in previous years.
Included is a list of the costs for the Cardiff 2004 conference, which should act as a guide.
Also included are the BLS expenses guidelines on fees for speakers, accommodation, travel etc.
If you need further guidance contact your committee link or the treasurer.
Some costs will need agreement from the committee before they can be agreed.
As mentioned previously, negotiate carefully with the venue to ensure that you get the best deal possible.
Start this process as early as you can.
Wherever possible get a number of quotes before agreeing on a supplier.
Sponsorship
Requesting sponsorship for specific items or for a general donation can be a way of keeping costs down.
A sample letter is included.
Be sure to thank any sponsors in writing, via the delegate packs and at the conference itself as well as afterwards in the newsletter.
Speakers
Once again the value of early planning cannot be underestimated.
Look at the feedback from the last two conferences to get ideas for a theme.
Poster and research presentations can be good sources for speakers.
Your regional rep may be able to suggest local experts. Other sources of advice include the committee, your working party and the membership via the newsletter.
Your speakers may not be familiar with the technology so ensure that you (or a delegated person) are able to assist them on the day.
Remember that delegates come from a variety of backgrounds and levels of knowledge so try to pitch the conference so that there is something for everyone.
Presentations
Speakers should present their talk in PowerPoint on CD rom. This should be forwarded to you as soon as possible, certainly no later than the early morning of the day they are speaking, ideally the week before the conference.
This will give you a chance to get the talks all installed on the laptop and to check that everything works as it should do.
Obviously the sooner you can check (and re check!) this the less grey hairs you and your speakers will develop on the day. If you are not confident with the technology identify someone who is and delegate this aspect of the conference to them in addition to relying on your paid technical support on the day.
OHP’s with acetates can look unprofessional so avoid their use.
Slides can be unpredictable, so if required ensure that you get them as early as possible and you know exactly how the equipment works.
Different ideas
A number of different formats have been tried over the years. Look at previous feedback evaluations for ideas and guidance.
Concurrent sessions can be difficult to supervise, and the movement of a large number of people in a small space and a short timeframe can be difficult to arrange.
Panel sessions can work well, but do require a high degree of organisation. No more than 1 per conference is probably advisable. Ensure that you and your panel are clear what you are trying to achieve and schedule a practise run through.
Practical sessions/ tips tables
Timetable
These are suggested guidelines, not a Delia Smith recipe for success!
2 years before or as soon as possible
Research venue options, obtain written quotations and forward to the committee for final agreement
Assemble your working party and liaise with your committee link
Start thinking about your theme, speakers and programme
12 months
Finalise venue booking details and get this in writing. Forward to the admin office.
Contact speakers by letter, giving details of what you want them to do and the honorarium available.
Contact corporate members and other exhibitors by letter
Develop programme.
Liaise with your manager to negotiate the time required later on.
Keep everyone informed of your progress via the newsletter. Ask for research articles for presentation and for poster presentations.
6 months
Ensure that programme (even if some speakers/topics are provisional) and application form are in the March/April edition of the newsletter.
Get advertising and publicising as widely as possible.
3months
As far as possible finalise timetable.
Double check you have allowed enough time for all the set meetings needed.
AGM
Foras
Regional Reps – check with the coordinator what time is needed and when would be the most convenient for them.
Medics
Review the past conferences for ideas of what is needed.
Make sure that your accommodation is booked!
1 month
Check with your working party that delegated jobs are completed.
2 weeks
Forward the list of speakers to the Regional reps coordinator. Ensure that each speaker has a regional rep identified to welcome them and to get tea, coffee etc as required on the day. You will be far to busy to do this.
Finalise numbers and let the caterers know.
Late applicants cannot easily be accommodated so be strict about this.
1 weekDouble check everything with the events coordinator.
Liaise with all speakers to ensure they are still coming and that their presentations are with you early.
At conference
After the Conference
Ensure thank you letters are sent to speakers and honorariums paid, as well as acknowledgements for sponsorships and donations.
Send feedback forms to the admin office
Write an article for the Nov/Dec issue of the newsletter.
Have a large gin and congratulate yourself on having done such a fantastic job.
