The conference organiser’s advent calendar

As the festive season is now upon us, the team here at Nottingham Conference Centre have taken a look back at their favourite posts from 2011 and put together their top 24 tips for conference organisers. So, in no particular order…

1. Plan, plan and plan again. If you’re organising a conference don’t do anything before you’ve got a detailed plan in place.
2. Think about why you are holding your event, what your aims are and who your target audience is.
3. Draw up your budget early and make allowances for emergency contingencies.
4. If your event date is flexible, consider holding it in a less popular month such as August or January. This will give you a much better opportunity to get the best deals.
5. Visit your shortlisted venues before making a final decision on where to hold your event.
6. Look carefully at what is included in your venue’s DDR to avoid any surprises further down the line.
7. Keep your conference green by choosing a venue with good public transport links.
8. Start marketing your event to your target audience and open up registrations as early as possible so you have plenty of time to make any changes to numbers or rooms.
9. Send out communications, such as registration forms, agendas and directions via email or provide them as downloads from your website. This saves money and helps your conference stay green.
10. Get on Twitter and give your conference or event its own hashtag.
11. Use Twitter for collating feedback, as an interactive voting system or for posing questions in Q&A sessions.
12. Make sure your speakers are relevant and interesting to your target market. Don’t just book a celebrity speaker because you think the name will sell.
13. Add a hybrid element to your event. This can be anything from streaming presentations live via your website, creating a virtual replica of your exhibition hall or setting up networking sessions via Google+ Hangouts for your virtual attendees.
14. Give your day variety. Don’t have presentation after presentation. Add break-out sessions, Q&A sessions, breaks, games, workshops, panel discussions, exhibitions and networking opportunities to your agenda.
15. Schedule a workshop or session that involves delegate interaction in the session after lunch to keep the energy levels up.
16. Consider carefully how you will open and close your conference. These two key moments are the ones that are likely to stick in your delegates’ minds – so give them something to remember.
17. Keep the momentum going after your event. Ask for feedback, post hand-outs and videos of presentations on your website to keep delegates engaged and encourage further networking via social media.
18. Encourage delegates to car share where possible – great for the pocket and the environment.
19. Choose foods for your conference menu known for their brain boosting powers to keep your delegates’ minds on top form.
20. Finalise your agenda and think carefully about timings – is 10 minutes long enough for 100 delegates to get a coffee or is 20 minutes more realistic?
21. In conjunction with your delegate agenda, put together a concise running order for your event so that you, your speakers and your venue know what is happening when, who is responsible and how to contact them on the day.
22. Be ready for the unexpected (do you have a plan if you keynote speaker gets delayed in traffic?).
23. Ask for feedback from your delegates so you can improve your next conference or event.
24. Smile!

The psychology of colour on meetings and conferences

When you’re planning your next conference or meeting take a moment to consider how your colour scheme might affect your delegates. It’s great to have stunning lighting and bold coloured rooms in your venue but which colours are best? Which colours inspire and motivate? Which are calming? And which colours should you avoid? The team here at Nottingham Conference Centre have put together this post to make sure you create the best environment possible.

White

White rooms convey a sense of space and of being a blank canvas. Your delegates will feel inspired and creative inside. Avoid the white coming across as too stark and sterile by having darker coloured flooring and furniture. White rooms can of course also be easily dressed to suit any other colour theme or lighting scheme.
Best for: inspiration.

Blue

Blue is a great colour to go for if you’ve holding an important decision-making meeting. Research has shown that people are more productive in blue rooms. The colour blue is seen as peaceful and can promote a feeling of calm. It is however preferred more by men than women so bear in mind your audience. Navy blue is seen as a very corporate colour which conveys authority and trust, making it a good colour for a speaker’s suit or clothing.
Best for: productivity.

Green

The colour green symbolises nature and the great outdoors. If you’re keen on the environment choosing the colour green is a great way to symbolise this. It is also associated with luck. Green has a calming effect that can relieve stress so after a busy day on the exhibition floor provide your visitors with a green space in which to unwind.
Best for: relaxation.

Orange

Orange is seen as an energetic colour that catches the eye and promotes enthusiasm – perfect for sales conferences and motivational speeches. Get your speakers to wear a flash of the colour but avoid using it too much as they may not be taken seriously.
Best for: motivation.

Yellow

Yellow is seen as a happy, optimistic and warm colour. It can however create feelings of frustration so should be used sparingly as a complimentary colour. Introducing a piece of artwork or flowers to your room would be the best way to use yellow.
Best for: optimism.

Red

Red is an intense colour that promotes strong feelings. Mainly associated with love and danger it catches the eye and stimulates the brain. However, it can cause tempers to flare so avoid too much red in your next boardroom meeting. Again red should be used as an accent colour with small flashes in your table decorations or speakers’ accessories.
Best for: attention grabbing.

Get creative before your wedding day

Before your wedding day at Nottingham Conference Centre why not get creative with a short course?

Next door at Nottingham Trent University there are expert tutors who can help you make beautiful fascinators and corsages to wear on the day, or simple jewellery as gifts for family and friends. There are tutors who can show you how to take great photographs of people and places, and there is even a course for making better speeches through storytelling – perfect for your best man. Before your big day you can enrol on a scheduled course or have a bespoke session created just for your wedding party.

Courses include:

• Fascinators and Vintage Flower Making
• Jewellery Making for Beginners
• Photoshop for Photographers
• Portrait Photography
• Storytelling for Presentations
• Wedding Photography

More details on these courses can be found on the NTU creative short courses website.

If you’ve got any questions about arranging a special course for you and your party then simply email the short courses team or give them a call on 0115 848 2813.

More top tips to make your conference a success

The team here at Nottingham Conference Centre have put together this post to offer you more top tips on how to make your conference a success.

If you’ve read the post on organising a conference you’ll know our number one piece of advice – plan, plan and plan again. When it comes to thinking about the content of your conference then the advice is just the same. What do you want people to remember about your conference? What impressions and key messages will they take away with them? Keep these key questions in mind when you begin to plan the structure of your day.

Start early. Make sure you have your venue, speakers and other logistics in place so you can concentrate on marketing your conference. Identify your audience and chose methods of communication that they are most likely to respond to. For example, writing a traditional letter is unlikely to inspire the audience of a youth conference.

Pick a theme for your conference and try to keep it consistent throughout. Provide all your speakers with a cover slide that contains your branding, logo and colour scheme and ask them to use it in their presentations and handouts. Use your chosen scheme throughout your conference, for example, in the lighting, hand-out materials, posters, registration forms and delegate badges.

Create a buzz about your conference before everyone arrives. Send out detailed programmes of the day, your sessions and the topics to be covered. Use social media to talk directly to your delegates and encourage them to interact with each other before the event. Introduce your speakers and get them to engage with the audience beforehand as well. Your speakers may even want to give delegates topics to think about and investigate before their sessions.

Give your day variety. Don’t have presentation after presentation. Add break out sessions, Q&A sessions, breaks, games, workshops, panel discussions, exhibitions and networking opportunities to your agenda. Schedule a workshop or session that involves delegate interaction in the session after lunch to keep the energy levels up.

Consider carefully how you will open and close your conference. These two key moments are the ones that are likely to stick in your delegates’ minds – so give them something to remember. Keep the momentum going after your event. Post hand-outs and videos of presentations on your website to keep delegates engaged and encourage further networking via social media.

Meet the team… Emma and Sally, Nottingham Conference Centre’s Receptionists and Administrators

What are your main roles and responsibilities?

Emma and Sally: The main role of the Receptionist and Administrator is to be the first point of contact for any delegates or visitors to the conference centre. We provide assistance and ensure that Nottingham Conference Centre’s high standards of customer service are met and maintained. We also deal with day-to-day administrative tasks.

What do you do in a typical week?

Sally: I open up the conference centre in the morning, meet and greet delegates and signpost them to their conferences. I also carry out administration work around purchasing and additional services. Basically, all of the above with a smile!

Emma: As the afternoon receptionist, I make sure conferences finish without a hitch and oversee delegates on their way out of the building. On quieter days I could be doing anything from financial administration to updating signage or setting up a room.

Where did you work before joining Nottingham Conference Centre?

Sally: I have spent the majority of my working life in the public sector, employed by the Library Service. I always enjoyed getting involved in library events and ensuring good customer care, so I was keen to move into a role that reflected these skills.

Emma: I have mainly worked in customer service and front of house roles in a variety of sectors including travel, hospitality, retail and legal. I also studied for a BA in Social Sciences at the Open University and was President of the Northern Universities Dance Association.

Why did you want to work here?

Sally: I was keen to work at such a prestigious venue; its spaces are so light and airy you can’t fail to enjoy working here. I have always enjoyed the people aspects of my previous jobs and this role allows me to work to those strengths.

Emma: I have always been passionate about working in events and conferencing, which stems from voluntary experience organising events and competitions for the university dance circuit. Working for NCC provided the perfect opportunity to enter the events industry professionally.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

Sally: I love meeting a variety of people, and the fact that each day is different. I also enjoy working in such a beautiful building.

Emma: I really enjoy the positive atmosphere and the variety of people I meet daily, as well as being part of a new and exciting venture.

Top tips for successful team-building events

There are a wide variety of activities that can be used for team-building events. The team here at Nottingham Conference Centre have put together this post to make sure that you get the most out of your event.

Team-building events are designed to improve the way a group of people work together as a team. They are popular in the corporate environment but can also be used for sports teams, associations and other organisations where team working plays a key role.

Activities used for team-building are designed to:

• Improve communication and trust in the group
• Allow members to get to know one another better
• Motivate the team
• Help identify individuals’ strengths and weaknesses
• Bring out the best in the team as a whole

You need to start by thinking about why you need to hold your team-building event. Do you have new employees who you would like to integrate into the team? Are your team feeling a bit jaded and lacking motivation? Have you recently restructured or had other major changes in your company?

Once you’ve identified why you need to hold your event, you need to think about what you want to get out of it. Think about your aims and how they support your and fit in with your company’s aims. Sit down with the team and ask them what they feel they would like to get out of the session as well.

Next, think about what sort of event would be best suited to your group and aims. Do you want to go for a purely social event to encourage team members to get to know one another, an outdoor adventure challenge to promote collaborative working or a simple morning’s brainstorming session away from the office? You will also need to take into account the individuals in your group when planning an event – orienteering in the Welsh mountains may not be suitable for everyone! Sometimes just taking your regular weekly meeting to another venue and adding in a social lunch afterwards can work just as well (and be more cost-effective).

During your event ensure that everyone in your team is getting the most out of the session. Pay particular attention to the naturally quieter members of the group and make sure they feel comfortable enough to join in and contribute. Although you need to be aware of how everyone is getting on, don’t forget that you also need to join in. The session won’t achieve much if the leaders and managers of the team merely observe.

Hold a post-event session as soon as possible back at the office. Discuss how you felt the team-building went and what the group felt they got from the event. Ask for feedback and use this to aid your evaluation and for planning future events.

Making the most of conference Q&A sessions

Most conferences include a Question and Answer (Q&A) session at some stage of the event. Traditionally these can be seen as difficult from both an organiser’s and a delegate’s point of view. The team here at Nottingham Conference Centre has put together this post to ensure you can make the most of your Q&A sessions.

Organisers

If your Q&A is a standalone session, make sure that you have advertised who will be on the panel and what topics they will be covering in advance. Encourage delegates to send in questions beforehand – either via email, Twitter or by filling in a question card on the day. This ensures you’ll always have something to start the session off with.

Get delegates asking their questions to speak up or use a microphone, depending on the size of your room. Ideally a delegate number of over 50 warrants the use of a microphone. Also encourage your speakers to repeat the question before they answer. There is nothing worse than listening to an in-depth answer to a question that you couldn’t hear. Make sure you have a ‘runner’ in the room who is in charge of passing the microphone around and can keep an eye on who has had their hand up for the longest.

If you’re holding your Q&A session directly after a speaker’s presentation ensure you leave enough time. Schedule it into the conference agenda and make sure your speaker knows not to run over into the allotted time. At the start of the presentation announce that there will be time at the end for questions. This means that your delegates will be expecting the session and you won’t be met with an embarrassed silence as everyone suddenly tries to think about what they want to ask.

If your event is hybrid (see our post on Hybrid conferences) and you have virtual attendees, try to make provision for them to be able to ask questions alongside the live audience. Twitter is a great tool for doing this. Have someone monitoring your hashtag and get them to pose the questions from the virtual attendees.

Delegates

Q&A sessions can be a really positive part of your conference. They give you an opportunity to interact with the speakers and get the answers to your particular questions.

As you’re listening to a presentation keep a note of any questions that you have. Many of these may get answered later in the session or asked by another delegate but it’s great to have a starting point. If you want to ask a question make sure you know the format of the session. Do you need to put your hand up, wait for the microphone to be passed to you or stand up whilst you’re talking? When asking your question, keep it concise, relevant to the session and introduce yourself first.

If the thought of posing a question fills you with dread then you can still learn plenty from listening to the questions and answers posed by others. Don’t feel as though you have to ask a question and then spend the whole session panicking as you can’t think of anything to say.

Christmas at Nottingham Conference Centre

This Christmas join us at Nottingham Conference Centre and book your festive celebration in the heart of Nottingham, at our beautiful and unique venue. Relax and enjoy one of our shared party packages in the stunning architectural splendour of the Grade II* listed Arkwright building. With fabulous food and entertainment organised, you can step into the festive spirit from the moment you walk through the door.

Our Magic of Christmas lunch is perfect for those looking for a sophisticated and unique Christmas celebration. Enjoy a traditional three course festive lunch followed by coffee and mince pies, accompanied by our table magician.

If you’re looking to celebrate in style and dance the night away, then our Christmas Party Night package is for you. The night includes a drink on arrival, a three course festive dinner followed by coffee and mince pies and a disco.

Alternatively, let us create a bespoke event, exclusively for you. From a festive lunch for 60 guests to a glittering cocktail party for 200 guests, we can help you plan a Christmas celebration to suit your needs.

For more details, email us to request a copy of our Christmas brochure or call +44 (0)115 848 8000 to speak to our Christmas party coordinator.

Hybrid conferences and events

If you’re not entirely sure what a hybrid event is, it’s basically a conference which combines both a live, face-to-face event and an online virtual experience. You have your usual audience attending your conference and an additional online audience participating remotely. Hybrid conferences are a great way to increase participation in traditional events by engaging a much wider audience.

Many people can find travel, time constraints or cost a barrier to attending traditional conferences, so turning your event hybrid is a perfect way to be able to make your event more accessible and reach new delegates. You can turn your conference hybrid in some really simple ways. Traditional video conferencing still works best for small meetings but different techniques are needed for larger conferences.

Integrate Twitter into your event. If you’ve read our post Organisers: using Twitter to enhance your conference, you’ll already have some ideas of how you can combine the two. You can have someone at the conference tweeting the main points and content of your presentations to your virtual audience. In return, your virtual attendees can use Twitter to pose questions and interact with other delegates – both virtual and live.

Encourage the delegates attending your live event to share content and opinion via their own networks. Getting your live attendees to interact with your virtual audience gives your conference greater integration.

Stream your keynote speakers and presentations live via your website. If you can’t quite run to video and audio, provide live blogs or transcripts instead. Make supplementary material, such as hand-outs, available electronically. Used in conjunction with Twitter or a live website based forum, this will make your conference fully accessible to your virtual audience. It’s usual for virtual attendance to be free but require registration. This ensures you can capture contact information and that your full conference material is only distributed to those who have registered.

Virtual attendees can also interact with each other ‘face-to-face’. The new Google+ Hangouts tool is perfect for this. Up to 10 people can participate in a group video chat using their webcams, making it perfect for virtual attendees to meet and discuss your conference in a similar manner to your live audience. You could also reserve one of the places for a video link to the live event and have a booth where live attendees can pop in for a chat with their online counterparts. Consider setting up a dedicated networking session using Hangouts allowing both live and virtual attendees to interact.

If you’re hosting an exhibition alongside your conference, you can also make this accessible to your virtual audience. Provide a dedicated page on your website where you have all the exhibitors listed alongside their websites and contact details. Add photos and video clips of the live exhibition to make it feel more accessible. You can even go as far as to create a replica exhibition space for virtual attendees to look round and offer live chat links direct to the exhibitors.

The possibilities for hybrid events are endless and while they’re still quite new at the moment, it will be interesting to see how the concepts develop over time. Let us know if you’ve got any good tips or ideas for turning conferences and events hybrid.

Autumn special offer

This autumn at Nottingham Conference Centre get an amazing one free place per 10 paying delegates (the eleventh delegate goes free). This very special offer applies to new bookings for events taking place between Monday 3 October 2011 and Friday 27 January 2012 and is based on the available rate (from £30 + VAT per person).

Our fully inclusive rate includes main meeting room hire, data projector, screen, 52″ TV, Blu-Ray DVD player, flip chart, paper and stationery box. The package also includes a three-course hot and cold buffet lunch, beverages throughout the day, complimentary Wi-Fi connection in all our rooms and access to our executive lounge during your event.

To make sure you don’t miss out on this great offer, call us today on +44 (0)115 848 8000 or email us to book your date quoting ‘NCC Autumn Offer’.

Offer subject to availability. Full terms and conditions apply.