List of Conference Organizers

Large conference centers usually have a meeting and event planner on staff.

Meeting and convention planners provide help to conference committees with advice on purpose, budgeting, schedule of speakers, transportation, accommodations, seating and a variety of other issues that come with the setup of small and large conferences. Conference organizers build events around the message and must seamlessly coordinate every detail. Choosing a space, location, and atmosphere is just one of many criteria that conference organizers face during the preplanning stage of their jobs. Finding a conference organizer or a company who hires such professionals is necessary to creating the large conferences that bring so many educational and professional resources together.

IEEE

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers organizes conferences for technology events. With more than 1,100 technical conferences each year, IEEE conference organizers plan and set up events, serving in various roles on the conference committee. IEEE provides a guide in how to become a conference organizer as well as a checklist and timeline for planning a conference with IEEE. In its Conference Organizer's Newsletter, IEEE includes photos and information of previous successful conferences.

SIAM

The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics or SIAM regularly holds conferences for educational and professional interests. According to SIAM, the main role of the conference organizers is to design a technical program that includes themes, plenary speakers, mini-tutorial speakers, and mini-symposium organizers, as well as a scheduling of all education sessions and lectures. SIAM provides a list of guidelines and dates for conferences on its website.

Gershaw Conference Group

For professional on-site event management, the Gershaw Conference Group Inc. Company or GCG provides staffing, coordinators, and management. From its website, a customer can request a quote or browse its resources in addition to event staffing services. GCG owns GCG Event Partners and Professional Meeting Planners (PMP). GCG provides conference organization for medical, academic, corporate and many other industry conferences. Since 1989, PMP planned meetings for events across the country, and since 2003, GCG Event Partners has also set up events that include a network of over 1,000 meeting and event professionals.

Marriott

For meetings and events, Marriott offers resources for preplanning, budgeting, booking and conference sites. Marriott provides a list of certified meeting professionals and event associates that have experience in catering, marketing, vendor selection, space requirements, entertainment and organization. With organizers from Marriott, you receive help with defining the event's purpose, scheduling speakers, organizing transportation and accommodations, entertainment and recreational activities, as well as seating arrangements and budgeting. Marriott hosts many conferences a year at a number of its national hotels and conference centers.

References

• Bureau of Labor Statistics: Meeting and Convention Planners
• IEEE: Conference Organizers
• SIAM: Conference Organizer Guide
• Gershaw Conference Group
• Marriott: Event Planning Services

Resources

• Professional Meeting Planners
• GCG Event Planners
• Marriot: Event Planners