Planning Suggestions for an IAGenWeb Conference

Tips on planning an IAGenWeb conference.
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Lynn McCleary
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Location: Muscatine CC - Muscatine, Iowa

Planning Suggestions for an IAGenWeb Conference

Post by Lynn McCleary »

<b>Planning Suggestions for an IAGenWeb Conference</b> ~ Submitted by Lynn McCleary & Conni McDaniel Hall

Planning begins at least 1 ½ years in advance.

Discuss a possible conference with leadership team. The LT does not determine when the conference is held. It's good to get their input, but they aren't always involved.

The ones coordinating the conference need to have it at a time that works best for them and for the majority of the membership.

Avoiding review times and Friends meetings should always be considered.

Leadership crew consists of Conference chairs, treasurer, chef, technical assistants & video conference coordinators.

<b>Conference Location</b>

Consider location of the facility. Holding it mid-state is a consideration but not required. How close is the conference location to an airport?

Consider access to parking. How friendly is the facility to those with mobility issues? Are there bathrooms nearby conference room? Is the temperature comfortable in the room in regards to heating/cooling? How is the lighting in the room?

How comfortable are the chairs? 8 foot tables were used at 2017 conference and they accommodated 3-4 people comfortably.

Is food and drink permitted in the conference room?

Will there be a video conference? Is so, then will need to have people who are willing to make it work. Will there be an expense to do this?

Consider cost of facility rental. Past two conferences have spent $200.00 to put the event on. This included facility rental, guest speakers’ fees, handouts name tags and other incidentals.

Conference organizers could ask for a grant from Friends of IAGenWeb to cover the conference expenses. Remember that Friends meetings are conducted in the months of July and February.

Please remember that there are no funds for conference planning expenses.

Select location with Wireless access, for multiple computers, and has strong Internet signal.

Needed are multiple electrical outlets, in the conference room, so to accommodate multiple electrical plugin strips which won’t trip power breakers.

Need method of projection for an image from a computer screen so all in the room may view it. This could be achieved by a LCD player or a TV screen. This equipment might be secured through the conference facility, brought in by an IAGenWeb participant or rented from a library.

Heavy duty, 3 prongs, electrical extension cords, electrical plugin strips will be needed. These could be provided by the facility or provided by IAGenWeb participants. The 2017 conference had 10 tables with a plug in strip on each one. The area for presenters required a podium and table for presentation equipment with power source.

<b>Planning Conference Schedule.</b>

Will meals be prepared on site or catered in? It is best to have one person in charge of the menu and snacks with Conference chairs offering their suggestions. Dietary restrictions of the participants need consideration.

Perhaps plan cost per person with estimate of 20 participants. 2017 conference Friday supper was $7.00. Saturday lunch & 3 snacks, and beverages was $13.00.

Having an informal gathering for Friday supper has worked well. Registration began at 4:30 pm. We ate at 5:30 pm and called it a day by 7 pm.

Saturday Conference chairs came to location at 7:30 am to get room all opened up. Registration opened at 8 am. Offering a casual breakfast fare, in the hallway by conference room was appreciated. Bottled water was available all day.

45 minutes for lunch was adequate.

For those staying over Saturday night, it was fun to meet at a restaurant for supper.

Saturday sessions starting at 9 am and ending at 4 - 4:30 pm worked well.

Plan for 45 minutes sessions with a 15 minute break in between.

The Welcome by Conference chairs needs at least 30 minutes. Introduce Conf. chairs, facility host, conference chef & those doing special jobs. Ask participants to introduce themselves and tell us tell what projects they are involved with and how long you have been with IAGenWeb. If have video conferencing, need to allow those participants to speak too.

At close of conference, Chairs thank everyone for coming and for those who put in the effort to pull the event off.

<b>Coming Up With Session Topics</b>

Ask our Members what topics they would be interested in.

Consult with the LT team as to what weaknesses they were seeing during Reviews that might be addressed.

Take a look at what items were discussed in the past. Maybe some need to be repeated but presented a different way.

Once topics have been identified then need to recruit presenters. Will need to ask presenters what kind of special supplies/equipment they will need.

<b>Conference Web Pages</b>

Conference chairmen need to create a conference web page and post it on one of their county sites.

Logos of IAGenWeb and USGenWeb must be on the home page with index of details of the conference.

The details to be included:

Invitation to attend extended to County Coordinators, Co-Coordinators, Assistants, Special Project crews and anyone else who contributes to our Project.

Provide address of location including driving directions with link to a map, agenda, menu, registration form, lodging & nearby camp grounds, and note nearest airport.

Decide who is going to receive registrations.

Registration form should include:
  • Attendee Name
    Spouse/companion Name
    Representing what project (s)?
    Email address
    Meal Reservation (Payment may be made on day of event. State to whom the check should be made out to)
    Friday Supper cost
    Number in party
    Saturday Snacks & Lunch cost
    Number in party
    Please let us know about if you have food allergies so we might accommodate your needs.
    If you are staying over Saturday night, please let us know for we might try to do another get-together somewhere.
Conference chairs are going to have to send out messages to members list to encourage them to attend. Posting a Look at Who’s Coming on the conference web page helps create enthusiasm.

Close registration 10 days before start of conference so to give enough time for final preparation.

<b>Following the Conference.</b>

Thank-you notes to be sent to all presenters, hosts, chef, video conference coordinators.

Report of Conference Treasurer to Friends Treasurer if grant money was given.

Overview of conference message to be sent to members list.

Post on Conference web site overview of conference with agenda, photos and presentation handouts, power point presentations etc. The conference pages will be moved to http://iagenweb.org/state/cc_help.htm by IAGenWeb Technical Team.
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