PROMOTIONAL FEATURE
First conference impressions count
This is an age-old adage
that is still relevant today.
Introducing your delegates
to your conference should
be like introducing them
to a new person—first
impressions are everything
There are multiple first impressions
in conferencing: the conference
website, the content, the registration
process, the relevance to the person
and the more superficial—but equally
important—aspects such as the venue
and location. It is critical to get a
thumbs up across the board, which
means that you need to plan for your
delegates, putting them at the forefront
of every aspect of the event focus.
The conference website can be seen
as the starting point of this journey.
This needs to be kept relevant and
clearly communicate the right message
to attract the right delegates to attend.
It should be easy to navigate and
interesting to look at. Furthermore,
it needs to provide the centralised
platform for speakers, program,
sponsors and exhibitor information,
but above all, it needs to include an
‘easy to use’ registration process.
At VMS we have a unique registration
system, which has recently been
completely rewritten to include more
modern and flexible templates while
providing a simple ‘one page’ registration
process to collect the delegate data
that underpins the entire conference
delivery. We design each aspect of
the website with the delegates’ first
impression and user experience in mind.
Let’s move on to the next huge
impression: the venue and location
of the event or conference. The
choice of venue is always key and
is just as important as the location
and accessibility for delegates. VMS
provides a complimentary venue
finding service to help with the often
tedious task of collating the correct
information to make an informed
decision about both venue and
location.
Finally, it’s the program and
atmosphere at the conference that create
lasting impressions, and this is what
will ultimately determine the success of
your conference. There is so much we
could cover here that could literally fill
the rest of this magazine.
So, let’s keep to the very basics:
program or agenda and delegate flow.
Technology is being harnessed to create
seamless and interactive conferences.
A conference app is a hugely useful tool
to provide—not only a single source of
information at the delegates’ fingertips,
but also an interesting and interactive
way for delegates to experience a
conference.
It’s often insight of others that
galvanises your ideas and we work as
an extension of your team to bring over
27 years of industry experience to your
conference planning journey. S
www.vmsconferences.com.au
Issue 1 2020 | Chief of Staff 15