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Introduction
The Conference Organiser is
responsible for most of the detailed planning and
execution of the event. This includes rental of the venue,
advertising, announcements, Web site, printing,
registration, policing at the event, transportation etc.
Event Treasurer (as necessary) will be held to decide on
actions and monitor progress. Typical of the functions
carried out by the EXPERT TOURS are:
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Accounting:
compiling a budget and updating this as required in
consultation with the CUSTOMER Conference Officer,
assistance in soliciting sponsorship, accounting
according to the budget headings, collection of
registration fees prior to and during the event,
settlement of supplier accounts, production of and
arrangements for auditing of final accounts.
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Online presence:
constructing and managing the central Web site, ftp
sites, mailing lists, etc., of the conference.
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Promotion:
constructing a timetable for promotional activities,
design, production and distribution of promotional
material, canvassing participants, coordination of all
PR and press activities, including presentations at
preceding events.
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Planning:
preparation of and participation in planning meetings,
advice on the programs for the event, coordination of
paperwork for the technical program (receiving papers
for review etc), planning and reserving all necessary
rooms, lecture theatres, audio-visual equipment etc,
handling standard correspondence with speakers.
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Registration:
Registration of participants, speakers, guests,
accompanying persons, correspondence with
participants, setting up computerized mailing lists
for all participants, collecting and passing to the
Customer Conference Officer fortnightly statistics on
registrations, passing registrations fortnightly to
the Central Secretariat to validate registrations
claiming CUSTOMER" member discounts, handling
confirmations and invoices for registration,
compilation of conference documentation and folder,
name badges, issuing conference documentation.
Provision of final list of participants to Customer
Conference Officer in an agreed machine-readable
format.
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Hotel reservations:
reservation of hotel allocations, registration of
hotel bookings and collection of deposits, transport
to/from conference centre.
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Other organization:
organizing and staffing the conference office,
employment and control of technical personnel,
organization of the entire conference execution,
including social program, general correspondence until
final settlement of the accounts.
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Sponsorship:
finding and negotiating with possible institutional
and institutional sponsors.
Miscellaneous Points
Regarding Organisation -The secretariat
Summaries of registrations
should be sent to the Customer Conference Officer every
two weeks. This should be broken down into members
and non-members in each category.
The Registration Desk should be open on the day before the
conference, and during the tutorial days. The
pre-conference information should tell delegates where the
Registration Desk is and how to get there from the
recommended hotels. The EXPERT TOURS secretariat will
check registrations claiming membership rates. The
conference organizers are responsible for collecting debts
on registrations.
Book Exhibition
With the large number of
attendees from academic or official institutions, a good
book exhibition is essential. Book exhibitors should be
charged at a specially reduced rate to encourage their
participation. Even if there is no major equipment
exhibition, a book exhibition should be held.
Exhibition
In suitable locations there
may be an exhibition held as part of the EXPERT TOURS
event.
Here, suitable means that there are good facilities for
staging an exhibition, sufficient local support and
interest to make the exhibition worthwhile.
If an exhibition is planned it is essential that
sufficient soliciting of companies is made prior to the
event to ensure success. Initial publicity needs to go out
at least 15 months before the event in order that
companies can budget for their participation. A poor
exhibition in terms of number of stands is worse than no
exhibition at all.
In association with the
main exhibition it is usual to organize a series of
industrial seminars, presented by companies. This provides
an opportunity for them to talk about their recent
products and current research. The organization of this is
regarded as a part of the exhibition, and companies may be
required to pay for any rooms or equipment which they use
as part of the exhibition budget.
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