Planning, organizing and conducting a training conference can be rewarding and challenging. To develop a successful conference, you must employ the talents, cooperation, coordination, and participation of many individuals. For this reason, it is best to establish a Conference Planning Committee very early in the planning process, even before a decision is made to actually hold a training conference (see Appendix A for sample timelines/tasklines).

A Conference Planning Committee is a group of people that holds some responsibility for shaping the conference and planning the program. Committee members should broadly represent your conference target audience. If one organization is sponsoring the conference, members or employees of that agency are usually appointed to the committee. However, it is not unusual to ask representatives from outside agencies who would have an interest in the conference to serve on the committee as well. When more than one agency is sponsoring the conference, each sponsoring agency is usually represented on the committee. There is no one formula for success, so other arrangements are possible. A committee should be used to distribute the workload among many people, but the greatest benefit of using a committee is that it ensures that the conference represents the thinking and planning of more than one individual.

Small conferences have small planning committees; larger conferences may need larger committees because there are more decisions to be made and there is more work to be done. Be careful--forming large committees can lead to problems. Getting everyone together for meetings is the most obvious difficulty. Getting everyone to agree on issues can be more serious. Certainly, situations will occur where complete agreement cannot be attained. The point here is not to create problems by assembling a committee that is so large that reaching agreement is difficult.

Look for persons to serve on your committee who:

* Are qualified to serve due to their experience on substantive issues, respect given to them by professionals in the field, or their organizational, negotiation, or communication skills.

* Are dependable.

* Are able to accept responsibility.

* Work well with others.

* Can make decisions.

* Can abide by the decision of the majority.

Typically, the Conference Planning Committee shares responsibility with the Conference Coordinator and the Sponsor for the following three functions:

* Serve in an advisory capacity.

* Approve scheduling and logistical decisions.

* Respond to recommendations and suggestions on conference content.

Once you begin to deal with various issues, the committee's role will become more defined. The key to avoiding confusion or misunderstandings is to clearly explain to committee members the committee's purpose and function. On different issues the committee may be asked to advise or make recommendations, give its stamp of approval, or make a final decision. Additionally, there may be instances in which the coordinator or sponsor will use the committee as a sounding board; in these cases, the committee is asked to react without the responsibility to do anything more.

You will find that creating a written document that states the purpose and function of the committee minimizes conflicts and sets the standard for your conference organization. Before meeting with the committee, meet with the sponsor to prepare a written statement of the committee's purpose and function. Additionally, illustrate the relationship among the committee, coordinator, and sponsor by preparing a "block form" of conference issues to be addressed and the function of each of the "conference triumvirate." The following is an example of a block form you can use:

Issue Function

Committee Coordinator Sponsor

Site Selection React Advise Decide

Workshop Titles Decide Advise Approve

Continue to add issues as appropriate and necessary for your conference. Once the list is completed and the function of each person or group has been indicated, review the list with the conference sponsor before presenting it to the committee.

There are other committee issues that the sponsor and coordinator need to address, such as:

* Will committee members be compensated for their time or reimbursed for meeting expenses?

* How often will the committee meet?

* How long will the committee exist?

* Will the committee evaluate the conference?

* Will the work of the committee be recorded for future use?

* To whom is the committee responsible?

The answers to these questions are especially important when the committee consists of representatives from various organizations and agencies.

The Conference Coordinator

One of the first responsibilities of the Conference Planning Committee may be selecting one of its members to serve as the Conference Coordinator. Another common practice is for the sponsor to designate a coordinator who is not a member of the committee. The person appointed as coordinator may be an internal person or an external person.

An internal coordinator is a member or employee of the sponsoring agency or organization. It is by far the most common practice to appoint an internal coordinator.

An external coordinator is generally a person who is exceptionally skilled in conference planning and is "loaned" to the sponsor by an outside agency or contracted by the sponsor for conference services. Although there are more people today earning a living as conference coordinators than there have been in past years, conference planning is still a fairly new profession. There are few situations in which contracting with an external coordinator is necessary, but you should know that it is an alternative. One case in which you may want to use an external coordinator is a national conference with thousands of participants.

Having a competent person serve as coordinator is vital to the success of the conference because the coordinator is involved in every aspect of conference planning and execution. You need someone with all the qualities stated earlier for committee members plus a few more. Look for a person who:

* Possesses good organizational skills.

* Is a good communicator.

* Has an eye for details.

* Can function well even if things get a little stressful. A good sense of humor is a big plus.

Conference planning requires a great deal of time devoted to administrative and clerical work. Conference execution requires a lot of management, especially for larger conferences with 200 participants or more. This means the coordinator may need to employ an administrative staff or secretariat. The secretariat can be an individual or a group working under the direction of the coordinator. The responsibilities of the coordinator and secretariat together may include the following:

Management Functions

* Prepare a conference budget.

* Set the schedule for completing tasks leading to the conference.

* Conduct site visits.

* Negotiate contracts with hotels/meeting facilities.

* Recommend and correspond with speakers/entertainers/exhibitors.

* Prepare session descriptions.

* Set the flow of the conference and plan the program.

* Recruit and train conference staff/volunteers.

* Manage conference crises.

* Authorize onsite expenditures.

* Develop session and conference evaluations.

* Ensure bills are paid.

Administrative Functions

* Organize, schedule, and staff Conference Planning Committee meetings.

* Develop conference notices, brochures, and registration forms.

* Communicate with conference registrants.

* Order conference supplies, materials, and equipment; work with suppliers.

* Prepare name badges, signs, banners, and the program book.

* Order room setups for all workshops/sessions.

* Handle logistics for VIPs.

* Recruit and train conference staff/volunteers.

* Process conference registrations in the office and onsite.

The work of the Conference Planning Committee is a part-time responsibility; for the coordinator, the conference can become a sole assignment!