Don’t be tied to one format

Let’s say you’ve tried to follow all of our advice. Now take another look at your program: if it consists only of “We do this, and we get this”, “Look at our superinnovative (in fact, no) product,” then something is going wrong. The IT community is demanding of conference content, but probably not in the way you think.

Stop terrorizing the speakers with requests to make a wow presentation and come up with a tastier presentation topic, think better about the format. Maybe instead of lectures you should organize a discussion, a round table or a contest for the funniest story about failure.

There is no perfect solution: for a while, it seemed to everyone that the best event for an I.T. student is a hackathon. Here you get practice, and productive communication, and sometimes even good prizes. Then everyone rushed to hold hackathons, and there were so many of them that they quickly became boring to everyone.

Now there is a real battle of formats: online versus offline, formal versus informal events. It is clear that everywhere there are pros and cons, and above all it should be based on the goals, objectives and existing resources. But if you look at the general trend, participants are more willing to choose informal events, where you can not only listen and ask questions at a set time, but also engage in a dialogue with the speaker. It is difficult to do this online, and all other things being equal, live communication will be preferred.

Each format has its supporters, and surely they will be found in your audience, even if you offer something quite unusual. As it turns out, many people are willing to trade their couch and TV shows for this kind of action.

If you’re afraid, set up a survey among your potential target audience to find out how they’d like to spend their time. Here we get to the most obvious, but nevertheless the most important tip on our list.

Speakers

Ask people you know to speak. If you don’t know the speaker personally, look for common acquaintances and ask them to introduce you.

Why look for common connections? Speaking at an event is a matter of 15 minutes, but you have to prepare a report, or even a presentation, before you speak. When asked by someone you know, it’s harder to refuse or ignore the request than when asked by a stranger. So do not be shy to ask for help.

What should be in a message to a potential speaker:

introduce yourself: write who you are and what organization you are from, attach a link to your corporate website – that way you save the interlocutor’s time;
state the gist of the matter: what the conference is about, when it will be, what you want from the person in this regard;
finish the message with a question. For example, ask if he wants to meet and discuss the format of the presentation. Of course, this is worth doing if you are better at persuasion verbally;
talk about how this person’s performance will help your guests pump up their skills. Generally, people are pleased when there is attention and interest in their favorite cause.
Write briefly. A couple of paragraphs in two or three sentences is enough.

As part of the follow-up communication, give the speaker a timeframe for his or her presentation, a deadline for preparing material, including the presentation. Think about the format of the presentation: whether it will be an experience story, a master class, or some other form of activity.

If it is a workshop, find out if any equipment, special programs, or props are needed. Ask the speaker who the master class will be useful to: a general audience or narrow specialists. All this information should be obtained from the speaker before you start promoting the event. You need to understand what benefits you are offering your guests.

If your speakers dutifully send you presentations a few days before the conference, review them on your projector and make sure the text and images are readable. This will help you avoid a situation where the presenter is drawing the audience’s attention to a presentation in which nothing can be seen.

Find out if you can include the presentation in the newsletter after the event or post it on social media. Announce before or during the presentation that materials will be available later. Then guests can listen quietly and ponder questions, rather than straining to take pictures of the slides. When the conference is over, remember to keep your promise and post the presentations.