The OpenWater Blog

3 Major Conference Scheduling Issues You Should Know About

The goal of any conference is to make attendees happy. After all, the speakers and conference only exist because of them. And yet, few executives address one of the most likely issues head-on when they’re planning: scheduling.

Scheduling issues are annoying and frustrating to attendees. They wait all year for your conference only to attend and…they can’t find where they need to go? Or, they find where they need to go only to not find the presentation they want according to the schedule?

Truth be told, scheduling is a major source of discontent for many conference attendees. To make sure the same doesn’t happen at your conference, check out the 3 most common scheduling issues below along with a simple solution for each.

Your Conference Schedule and Materials Are Disorganized

Between the schedule and other printed materials that accompany presentations or that attendees receive from vendors, there’s a lot going on. This means it’s up to you to ensure everything is organized, regardless of how much paper is being passed out.

Attendees hate when either your conference or materials are disorganized. More importantly, they don’t want to attend a conference where any element appears to be “thrown together.” This harms organizational prestige and makes attendees unlikely to return in following years.

The Solution: Synchronize materials in organized packets and make all materials available on your mobile app before the conference. By doing both, you’re ensuring each attendee has organized information and, more importantly, that they can consume the information as they wish (whether in print or digital).

Your Conference Schedule is Confusing

A conference is a big, confusing place for attendees, especially those who have never been to your conference before. Often, this leads to attendees wandering around, uncertain as to where they should be and when. And no, having a smaller event space will not fix this problem.

The Solution: Include a floor plan in your mobile event app and printed conference materials. This will guarantee that every attendee always has the resource to tell them where they need or want to go. The best part is that you can color code or otherwise organize the chart as you see fit to ensure no attendee is confused.

Your Conference Website is Poor Quality (or Doesn’t Exist)

Your conference website is a wealth of information both before, during, and after your conference. This includes speaker schedules and other schedule-related information. However, if your website is unorganized, the likelihood of attendees finding the information they need is unlikely.

The Solution: Upload your conference schedule with speaker photos, biographies, and presentation materials in one, convenient location. Print key information to be included in materials at the conference as well.

Don’t Fall Victim to Scheduling Problems

You’ve spent a lot of time planning your conference; don’t let scheduling issues ruin the experience. Instead, be aware of these common problems and how you can rely on technology to solve each well before your conference gets started.

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