What do you hope to achieve?

Press, 18 April 1979, Page 13

What do you hope to achieve?

When planning promotion and publicity well in advance of your convention, consider your various

audiences. What information will

i your association members I want. Your exhibitors. The ■ trade in general. W'ill your i convention produce any j news significant to the I public. Establish a schedule ! of mailings which step up { in pace to reach a crescenI do at convention time. Your

publicity (for trade press, for Convention Bureaux), invitations to media representatives. Registration service is a headache for all convention organisers. Time is a major factor and a good registration service is fast and accurate. Services to be handled at a desk could include registration, ticket sales, information, messages, emergency housing, hospitality, organisation membership, materia] distribution, publication sales, transportation, secretarial service and shopping service. Space must be reserved for the registration-service area, and it is important it. is properly publicised and designated on a diagram of ! convention facilities. The i area should be large

mailings should cover: Announcement of locations and dates, reservations, programme information (general, detailed), exhibits, when held (application for space, detailed information, assignment of space, information for servicing exhibit, publicity aids), registration and ticket sales (advance, at convention), Women’s programme, pre and post-convention trips, announcements and

enough for an easy flow of traffic, and set up to make registration a continuous process. Adequate telephone facilities are a necessity.

Convention signs should be simple. You will need registration cards, badges and tickets — all available from the Convention Shoppe through your Convention Bureau — as well as accounting record forms for receipts, charges.

refunds, orders, cash summaries, sales summaries, and inventory reconciliations. Order these early.

Exhibits play a major role at some conventions, and must, be considered as part of the convention and not a separate event. Co-ordinate convention and exhibit, requirements in the areas of programming, space selection, sources for facilities, equipment and services; and housing reservations. The convention should never compete with the exhibition and vice versa. They should complement one another.

The framework of the exhibition will include a detailed draft of proposed rules and regulations for exhibitors; a draft of proposed space contract for exhibitors; a drawing of proposed booth layout.

Schedule your time so that you (the organiser) will arrive at the convention hotel several days before the event.

Set up appointments with the Convention Bureau representative, hotel executive and key members of the hotel staff for a complete preview of your plans. Arrange pre-convention sessions with your staff and orient them to the hotel

and services you expect to use. Introduce them to hotel personnel and others with whom they will work. Ensure the hotel has a complete list of your staff members, their responsiiji.iues and authority, and where they can be reached while at the convention.

Also update your list of hotel personnel — who handles what, where they can be reached, and who takes their place in offduty hours. Finally, when the meeting is over, all officials should confer and develop a written report to review its- success. The areas to

be covered include: total number of rooms used, pattern of arrivals and departures. the number of no-shows tor reservations, the volume of room service used by registrants, volume of public dining service, volume of other types of business from registrants which was beneficial for the hotel or city, the attendance at all private food functions, expenditure at receptions, especially a la carte, number of meeting rooms used; type of set-up and attendance.

Other events relating to the convention but sponsored by private companies should not be overlooked. Discussion should also focus on the adequacy of facilities and services, and evaluation of service staff. Any post-con vention correspondence centering on evaluation data should have copies sent to all parties. Over all. do not neglect to obtain specialist advice or help on any aspect of convention planning — it could pay off in the long run.