CANSW Conference Planner



CANSW Conference Planner

One Year in Advance (or as soon as possible)

• Decide on a location/city

• Get volunteers willing to work on the organizing committee

• May need to look into hotel/where to hold the conference if space is an issue

• Fall is generally when the conference has occurred—November is temperamental for car travel and flights , thus late Sept to late Oct is preferred (note: Yom Kippur and Halloween dates should be avoided due to family commitments. Please be attentive to avoid these dates if at all possible)

• You may want to consider the weather/climate related to the date you choose – the better the weather, the better to showcase the venue

Prior to First Meeting

• Review evaluations from last year conference

• Review any helpful info passed from previous committee

• Consider what positions/duties individual people would like

• Always keep fundraising opportunities in mind when a drug representative or other funding source becomes apparent

• Keep in mind speakers – start a file on provincial speakers

First Meeting (8 months to 1 year before conference)

• Welcome and Intros

• Assign chair

• Assign minute taker

• Goals at Meeting

• Confirm dates/city and format of conference

• Confirm hotel/location for group

• Determine conference theme/title

• Brainstorm ideas for speakers

• Get a general letter for requesting sponsorship (see Appendix)

• Send out invite to previous year’s sponsors (see Appendix)

• Review previous conference evaluations (see appendix)

• Have people think about what roles to take

• Call for CANSW abstracts should go out at least 7 months prior to conference with deadline for submissions (see appendix)

• Plan a next meeting with action steps people to take in meanwhile (meetings should be monthly at least until June, with ability to call meetings in between to fine tune planning if necessary) (eg. Kingston committee met _____)

Committee Members & Job Duties

• Treasurer from CANSW Executive

• Preferably another Executive member.

• Volunteers from the host community and elsewhere

• Minutes of the meetings need to be forwarded to the Executive.

Job Duties

Chair (can be Co-Chairs)

• Facilitate meetings

• Organize agenda

• Set up teleconference calls with access code # (from Executive)

• Organize materials for conference call

• Ensure minutes sent to Executive

• Introductions at opening of conference

• Plan a wrap-up meeting post conference to review evaluations and make recommendations to the Executive/next year’s committee

• Establish regular planning/reporting meetings. Set up email lists. Always make it clear who is supposed to do what and when. Keep minutes/notes of your meetings and use them to follow up.

• Manage conference crises

Treasurer of CANSW

• Draft budget with previous years income/expenses as data

• Direct the spending habits of committee

• Set realistic financial goals with committee

• Organize cheques for presenters and other bills

• Receive conference application cheques/make out receipts

• Receive donations/sponsorships/make out acknowledgements

Logistics (can be shared duties)

• Key contact person for hotel/venue

• Get info on cost of accommodation/meals

• Confirm room number requirements, needs, costs

• Determine menus with providers

• Ensure AV requirements are coordinated

Documentation (can be shared duties)

• Coordinate/delegate/facilitate and format conference brochure

• Draft evaluation forms

• Draft continuing education units (CEUs)

Fundraisers (can be shared duties)

• Develop list of who to approach in regards to finances

• Send letters/make phone calls

Key Speaker Coordinator

• Key person to communicate with keynote speaker(s)

• Coordinate/receive correspondence

• Confirm details of keynotes’ needs (AV needs)

• Get hard copy of presentation

• Suggest back up presentation in case of equipment failure

• Ensure payment

• Receive bio

CANSW Presenters Coordinator (and Poster Presentations)

• Send out call for abstracts from CANSW presenters—indicate honorarium will be provided but in order to keep conference rates lower, accommodation and transportation costs are generally not provided (all CANSW members who have financial difficulties can approach the Executive for some financial assistance)

• Create a deadline for submissions

• Receive applications

• Review information with committee

• Communicate acceptance and liaise with CANSW member as speaker

• Send acceptance letters with details of CANSW financial honorarium for their efforts and remind them of limitations of financial assistance (see Appendix)

• Ask for a brief bio

• Get hard copy of presentations for conference booklet/to hand out

• Confirm details of speakers’ and posters needs (AV needs)

• Get hard copy of presentations and suggest paper backup presentation if equipment failure

• Ensure honorariums

Miscellaneous Items

Annual General Meeting

• Need 2 hours for AGM

Assign Hosts for Each Day/Part of Day

• Determine who introduces/thanks keynote speakers/presenters

Breaks

• People need free time (mid morning, mid afternoon and lunch)

Brochure

• Date and venue

• Cost to members/non-members/students and late fees

• Hotel details – cost (parking too) and how to book

• Mail in form to who, cost, name to write on the cheque

• Which dinner attending/if special meal requirements

Budget

• Traditionally CANSW has spent $5000-$6000 for conferences.

• At the Kingston Conference $10,000 was spent, but the committee was successful in fundraising so that very little was out of CANSW coffers afterwards.

• Increase fundraising, increase items to provide (eg. Lunches, suppers)

Compensation for Committee Members

• The CANSW Executive 2003-2003 made the decision to financially compensate the Conference Organizing Committee Members with an honorarium equal to the amount of the Conference Registration fee.

Conference Kits

• Obtain handouts and freebies

• Endeavour not to spend too much money

Conference Site/Hotel

• Try to keep conference costs down by using rooms that are free. This may require some adapting or negotiating.

Food

• Be sure to negotiate food services so that you are not liable for food costs beyond what you can cover through conference fees. Usually food planners will allow up to 10% more people than you contract for (e.g., for late registrations), but be sure this is clear up front.

• To reduce costs, seek sponsors for specific meals where possible. Some larger vendors are happy to get the publicity that comes from sponsoring a breakfast, lunch, reception, or even a dinner.

Hospitality Suite

• Opportunity for people to meet informally

• May be helpful having non-committee members help with staffing/hosting

Housing

• Estimate the number of people you think might attend (ask previous conference hosts) and make arrangements accordingly. When making reservations with local hotels, negotiate other amenities if possible such as shuttle services (from airports, to conference sessions).

• Be careful to avoid making reservations that require guarantees or other financial obligations. It's best to let the housing/hotel organization handle their own reservations and billing. Find out how long reservations can be held, cancellation deadlines, etc.

Minutes of Meetings

• Minutes of each meeting should be kept, indicating discussions and outcomes as well as action plans (who, what, when)

• Minutes need to forwarded to the Executive to keep them advised of progress and provide opportunity to give direction/comment

Name Tags

• Try to generate name tags to be printed from your conference database program.

• Keep the name tag layout simple: a small conference logo or title, the person's full name in LARGE, readable letters, and the person's institution. Don't make people squint to read names on name tags.

Potential Keynote Speakers

• These should be speakers who will interest the membership (draw an audience).

• Preference expressed by CANSW membership is to have a Canadian, social worker in renal.

• Costs must be explored

• Cost of speaker, their accommodations, meals and travel are generally assumed by CANSW

Promotion of Conference

• Promoting the conference begins as soon as the site is selected by posting the date and location on CANSW listserver, in the CANSW Voice

• The first wave of publicity comes with the call for presentations

• The next wave comes as you send out the conference announcement, with as much detail as you have, including a tentative program. Set a registration deadline that accounts for your own deadlines (food services, etc.) You may have to consider a higher fee for those who are late.

Round Table

• Confirm topics

• Assign facilitators

Technical support

• Worth paying for

• Always good to know how to problem solve with technical difficulties (eg. Overhead needs spare bulbs, LCD projectors and laptops and how to operate)

• The bigger the venue, the more hi tech

Travel

• Travel to the conference location needs to be considered (can most people drive, fly etc)

• Provide standard taxi rates from airport to location.

• Maps to the location may be required.

• Encourage carpooling via webserver.

Walk thru the Conference Days

• Create a “walk thru” of conference—who does what, when, items required. (See Appendix)

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download