International Conference Planning Requirements

This assignment delves into the specific requirements for planning an international conference. It emphasizes the importance of adequate resources, spatial considerations, and operational aspects to ensure a positive experience for delegates. The document highlights key factors such as venue size, technology infrastructure, destination management services, and social networking activities. It aims to provide a comprehensive guide for organizers to effectively plan and execute a successful international conference.

Running head: BUSINESS EVENTS MANAGEMENT
Spatial, operational and functional requirements of different sized conferences
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Introduction
The modern conference industry originated due to the religious and political
congresses and conferences that held in the early centuries. Later it was followed by the
business conferences and meetings. Within this industry, several people from all over the
world come together, therefore this industry has the provision of creating a new market on a
global scale through the conferences, exhibitions, meetings and other corporate events. These
events are mostly of three kinds, small sized conferences with the forums and workshops,
medium sized conferences with different session throughout the day and the international
conferences which continue for several days (Rogers 2013). Within this industry, there are
three kinds of customers of these events, government, private associations and corporate. The
corporate customers hire the event managers to organize the medium or large sized
conferences, however, most of such events are sponsored by the employers themselves and it
contributes to create revenue for the stakeholders attending such conferences. On the other
hand, the private associations tend to hire the event managers for the small or medium sized
conferences where they provide service for a selected group (Pahl and Beitz 2013). The event
managers are required to understand the specifications of different clients. This is very much
significant for the EMCs or the Event Management Companies and he Professional
Conference Organizers or the PCOs. This essay will explore and discuss the spatial,
operational and functional requirements of small, medium and large sized conferences.
Small Sized Conference
In the small conferences, there are around 100-200 guests, therefore the operational
requirements involve arranging a venue to cater such people. There should be chairs and
tables, different room for delegates and the conference room. There should be napery for all
the rooms which are allotted to the delegates and other guests. The lighting and sound system

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should be available in the conference room and minimum of one technician should be present
if there is any unusual and unplanned flaw in the system. The microphones and lapels should
be function in the conference rooms as well. All the rooms should function properly,
especially the heating and cooling functions. It should also cope-up with the number of guests
who are coming for the conference. Mostly for the small conferences, specially, a small hotel
in the city is chosen. The location should be a capital city which can offer a good
communication system for the guests and there are ample chances for accommodation for the
guests (Jones 2014). These factors should be considered to be most significant while
choosing the venue for the conference. There should also be sufficient communication with
the hotel owners so that they are well-aware if there is any change in the schedule or in the
guest list. The management who are organizing the event, they should discuss the entire event
beforehand with the hotel management in order to avoid any communication. For the
conference, there should be a big banquet room with a podium, stage and microphones. If
there are workshop sessions along with the conference, the there should be separate halls with
the minimum capacity of 30-50 guests. According to Rogers (2013) the environment of the
conference and the workshop rooms contribute to the energy and exchange of information of
all the participants. Therefore, all the rooms should be properly maintained and well
functioned. The food should be available whenever it is required, especially the morning and
evening beverages should be served on time. The conference hall should also provide the
space for the guests and delegates to interact and relax. The hotel should also have sufficient
resource and space at their restaurant for catering the guests and delegates for lunch and
dinner. Along with that, they should also have sufficient space for any other collaborative
events.

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Medium Sized Conference
In any medium sized conference, the numbers of guests are around 600-1500 along
with 50 exhibitors. Such conferences are generally 3 days long with the opening ceremony
and around six to eight concurrent sessions on every day. Other than that, there should be
sufficient space for networking activities. Such conferences have different special
requirements from the requirements of small conferences. In these kinds of conferences, the
location choice is very much significant along with the availability of the venue. The venue is
a major factor here as this may increase the number of participants. As in such conferences,
the delegates generally fund for their own selves, the venue location matter a lot (Van and
Getz 2016). As there will be a plenary session in the conference, the delegates will require a
big conference hall where they will listen to the speakers. Therefore a theater should set up
where this purpose can be served. The venue should be selected according to these basic
requirements of the conference. Due to these purposes, the exhibition and conference halls
should have wide space. As stated by Andersson, Getz. and Mykletun (2014) the value spend
by the exhibitor should also be checked before booking the venue. However, it has been seen
that, generally these kinds of medium conferences require minimum of $25000-$30000 to be
spend for the venue. As, there will be minimum of 50 exhibitors, there should also be a hall
of around 2000 square meters other than the conference hall, meeting room and the space
where the guests will interact with each other. This will increase the chances of networking
for the delegates. There should also be separate rooms available where the sessions will take
place. For this purpose, there should be five to seven extra banquet rooms which will have the
capacity of approximately 200 delegates. Other than that, there should also be an extra room
for the operations of the Event Management Company. This room should be adjacent to the
conference room and there should be adequate provision of operating all the rooms form that
particular room. Even though the primary operational requirements are similar to the

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requirements of the small conference such as the chairs, tables, microphones and other
necessary decorations, however the resources should be more than the small conference. Due
to the size of the conference, there should always be one or more representatives from the
Event management Company who will coordinate among the necessary authorities such as
the hotel management, exhibitors and the delegates (Masterman 2014). The representatives
will also take care of the marketing of the conference and they will ensure that there is a
proper communication and signage among the conference management team and the
exhibitors. In this situation, the venue of the hotel will act to be very significant, as more
exhibitors will be interested depending on the place of the conference. Along with that, there
should be proper data connectivity within the conference premises for both the exhibitors and
the delegates. There should also be an extended food and beverages range for the guests. The
hotel should have sufficient resources so that there is no issue with the delegates (Holmes,
Nichols and Ralston 2017). They should have adequate number of employees to ensure that
the plans are executing at right time. Other than that, there should be the Public liability
insurance which should be allotted to the conference venue beforehand.
Major International Conference
A 5 day long major International conference will include, a plenary, concurrent
sessions along with the networking activities on every day, a gala dinner and award
ceremony. The numbers of guests for this conference should be 3500-5000 along with 400
exhibitors. Ideally the space should be big enough to support all the necessary requirements
for the accommodation of the guests, the transport requirements, along with the social
networking activities, leisure programs to other locations (Bladen and Kennel 2014). This
will increase the numbers of participation of the exhibitors and other delegates. The
conference room should be sufficient enough to host a plenary session with 5000 guests. The
dining should also accommodate all the guests which will require around 500 tables. The

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main conference room should have a dance floor and a podium or stage for award ceremony.
The exhibition rooms should also offer around 20000 square meters so that each exhibitor
gets at least 50 square meter space. The other operational requirements are approximately
similar to the small and medium sized conferences, although it should come in big scale
(Mackellar 2014). However, the international conference may require a local travel and
tourism company to take care of the destination management. This company will have
experts, who will take care of the necessary information such as local accommodation,
transport coordination, local entertainment, visa, domestic tour and the other entertainment
for the gala dinner and the award ceremony. They will also ensure the leisure social programs
for the delegates and the guests. There should also be a technology team who will make sure
that there are social networking activities involving the social media sites.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be said that, regardless of the size of the conference, there should
be adequate amount of resource which will cater the delegates. Other than the basic
requirements, there are always some operational and spatial needs which are very significant
for the guests. This study has shown all the basic needs along with these requirements.

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Reference list and Bibliography
Andersen, S.S., Hanstad, D.V. and Plejdrup-Skillestad, K., 2015. The Role of Test Events in
Major Sporting Events. Event Management, 19(2), pp.261-273.
Andersson, T.D., Getz, D. and Mykletun, R.J. eds., 2014. Festival and event management in
Nordic countries. Routledge.
Bladen, C. and Kennell, J., 2014. Educating the 21st century event management graduate:
Pedagogy, practice, professionalism, and professionalization. Event Management, 18(1),
pp.5-14.
Holmes, K., Nichols, G.S. and Ralston, R., 2017. “It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience and
opportunity-deal with it!”–Volunteer perceptions of the management of the volunteer
experience at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Event Management.
Jones, M., 2014. Sustainable event management: A practical guide. Routledge.
Mackellar, J., 2014. Surfing the Fringe: An Examination of Event Tourism Strategies of the
Bleach Festival—Coolangatta Queensland. Event Management, 18(4), pp.447-455.
Masterman, G., 2014. Strategic sports event management. Routledge.
Miyamoto, Y., Kaysser, W.A., Rabin, B.H., Kawasaki, A. and Ford, R.G. eds.,
2013. Functionally graded materials: design, processing and applications(Vol. 5). Springer
Science & Business Media.
Pahl, G. and Beitz, W., 2013. Engineering design: a systematic approach. Springer Science
& Business Media.
Rogers, T 2013, Conferences and conventions: a global industry, 3rd edn., Routledge, New
York.

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Testa, M.R. and Metter, M., 2017. Assessing Economic Impact as a Means for Event
Efficacy: A Proposed Model and Case Study. Event Management, 21(1), pp.61-70.
Van Niekerk, M. and Getz, D., 2016. The Identification and Differentiation of Festival
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