How to Organize a Women's Conference

What should we discuss?

Somewhere in the United States, a conference is taking place today. It's likely, in fact, that several conferences are under way in cities such as Las Vegas, Chicago, Cleveland or Des Moines. Such gatherings have myriad themes, ranging from pork production for farmers to copy editing for journalists. Conferences focusing on topics of interest to women are also common. In many ways, organizing a women's conference is no different from organizing any other conference. All conferences involve the same kind of preparation and planning.

Instructions

1. Assemble a conference committee. Plan a series of meetings to organize the conference. Discuss ideas and topics. Committee members should share their ideas and experiences from other conferences. Decide on the theme and keynote speakers. Delegate tasks.

2. Determine a budget, location and date for the conference. Avoid schedule conflicts, such as holidays. Find a hotel or convention center that has the appropriate number of rooms. Make the arrangements. Reserve the expected number of hotel rooms for participants.

3. Put a conference program together. Send out invitation letters to keynote speakers. Send out a call for papers. Describe the themes of the conference and the length of the papers. Set a submissions deadline. Make a schedule for speakers and workshops. A rule of thumb is 90 minutes for a panel and 60 minutes for a workshop. Panels should have no more than three to four speaker. Leave time for a question-and-answer session. The workshops provide an opportunity to deal with a variety of themes and topics.

4. Take care of the practical things. Make a list of supplies and equipment you will need. This includes coffee, food and other beverages, microphones and additional audio equipment and tables and podiums. Other things to include are name tags, printed conference programs and information about local restaurants and sites. Make arrangements for entertainment. Conference attendees will focus better if they can have fun, as well.

5. Confirm all the arrangements the week before the conference. Call the hotel and the conference center. Make sure the rooms and the equipment are in order. Make arrangements to have the keynote speakers picked up if they are flying to the conference.

References

• IAPSS: Conference Manual
• AFSCME: Women's Conference Planning Checklist