Northstar

The event planner���s conference checklist Amiando, the worldwide software solution platform, for online event registration and even ticketing has put up some tricks and tips which you may refer to and collate as checklist, for your next big conference. 1. Identify possible dates When defining the date for your conference it is helpful to have several possible dates in mind. Sometimes the location of your choice will not available on your preferred date so you have to switch to another date. It is essential for the success of your conference not to select a day which is a bank holiday because many of your potential attendees won���t visit your conference at these special dates. In order to make sure your chosen day is not a bank holiday you can check the bank holidays worldwide on www.bank-holidays. com. When planning and fixing the date for the conference, event managers should always have their intended audience in mind to avoid holding your conference at the same date as another industry related conference. So don���t forget to check the dates of competitive conferences on different conference calendars. Many event planners post their An Arabian themed convention hall serviced some 30 million extras in 2011 alone. Many planners such as Aliah Sutianto, a freelance travel planner focusing on the MICE sector, would say that the 30-year-old airport needs some freshening up, to aid in streaming in the flow of business travellers into the capital city. And the airport authorities are doing just that. Sutianto said that her clients, who are from the banking and IT solutions sectors, look forward to the renewed look. ���I believe that a renovation will assist in the flow of travellers at the airport, both internationally and domestically. It will also be good if we have other alternative transportation in mind, to help business travellers beat the peak traffic situations in Jakarta,��� said Sutianto. The Soekarno-Hatta Jakarta���s main airport will soon be able to cope with the surge in passengers, with an expanded capacity of p to 62 million people ��� more than double its original capacity. The refurbished look is slated to be ready for completion by 2015. Events conferences on www.confcal.com or www.theconferencecalendar.com to promote them. At times it makes sense to plan the conference directly before or after another conference in the same area/city. Attendees may be interested in both events and have a greater incentive to attend both. You can find more ways to boost the attendance at your conference on meetingsnet.com Start planning your conference early. Sometimes it is necessary to begin a year in advance. staff and a good infrastructure. So you have less work. Ideally, the location should be near the airport or central station or near the city center so attendees can easily get there. You can check possible venues on www.venues. org.uk or www.venuefinder.com for example. Please notice that the size of the venue should be adequate for your conference and the expected amount of attendees. Inspect the considered venue before the event to avoid unpleasant surprises afterwards. You can alternatively ask other event planners who already held events there about their experiences. 5. Pre-sell / online registration Conference registrations are the main revenues for the event and event planner thus attendee registration and payment handling is crucial and should be easy to use and look professional. In addition you can use the registration form to collect attendee data for marketing activities after the conference. Professional event management services offer you entirely customizable registration forms. You can host your online registration form either on an event management service website or your own conference website. In both cases the website should include more than just the online registration form. It should display the agenda, speaker, directions and some hotel recommendations where your attendees can stay during the conference. It is crucial to have a trustworthy provider who offers different payment methods and currencies to make the registration easy for your attendees. As providers differ in service you should choose a provider with automated payment handling, billing, a good attendee management, discount system and cancelation handling to save time. In order to find the right provider it is helpful to create a checklist with features that are relevant for you and your conference. For the full list, visit www.events.travelweeklyweb.com 2. Create a conference budget The budget is a very crucial part of the event planning process. The objective is to provide event planners with a financial limit. It should be specific, and include revenues (sponsorship, ticket sales) as well as expenses (printing, location, food, supplies, security). To make sure you don���t forget any position compare it with your conference checklist. You can find a basic event budget checklist on www.docstoc.com 3. Find a venue for your conference The venue of your conference is very important for the well-being of your attendees and speakers and for the success of your conference. As soon as you have defined possible dates for your conference you can start to search for appropriate venues. A hotel with conference rooms is a good choice as it provides 4. Agenda and speaker Besides networking, topics and speakers are the main reasons to attend a conference. It is important for the success of your conference to organize well-known speakers at an early stage. Famous speaker always help to gain more attention and attract more attendees. Big names are not only crowd puller but also help to obtain more well-known speakers. For this reason event managers shouldn���t underrate the importance of this part. Prior to pre-sell the tickets to your conference the agenda should at least be roughly determined. Make sure to include enough time for networking. In case of food being served order and organize adequate catering. February 2013 Going into space When it comes to venues and space, event planners are often cajoled into thinking that the space matters, but far and beyond the metrics, location, availability of Wi-Fi, connections and distance to other amenities like accommodation and shopping centres, are integral to ensure that travellers and exhibitors are able to run their show. Jakarta offers plenty of opportunities for business and corporate events to take place. Its huge market potential may be further assisted with better infrastructure and strategic planning for a smoother execution of large scale events or corporate meetings for the average business travellers. As of now, unlike the airports in Malaysia and Singapore, the Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta lacks the rail access, making it less accessible for travellers, now that it is handling more than it can contain. The airport���s official capacity of 22 million travellers Photo: Resorts World Genting Feature 5

• Cover