Best Time to Host a Conference

They say timing is everything, right? Well, it’s no different when you’re deciding when to host your next conference. Of course you would like to plan the meeting for a time when the rates are the lowest – you do have a budget to beat just like everyone else. But what you need to keep in mind is what time of year/month/week/day also fits well into the target audiences’ schedule.

You’ll need to consider the reasons the attendees are coming and what has an impact on these reasons.

Is cost an object to attendees? If so you’ll want to look at off seasons and off times for the cities you are thinking of.

Are attendees able to take time off of work to attend? If not you will have to look into weekends. Same thing if you are hosting in a family-friendly place and you expect many will want to bring along their family.

Do attendees look at the meeting as a ‘nice-to-attend’ vs a ‘need-to-attend?’ If so, you may want to load the most important parts of your meeting into one day so some folks will decide to come just for that portion instead of not attending at all.

It’s impossible to get into the minds of each possible attendee and time the meeting perfectly so all candidates can come. But knowing your audience and knowing what makes them tick just a little can go a long way. A good question to ask yourself when in the early planning stages might be: ‘When can I put on the best possible show that will allow the majority of the best part of my target market to get the most out of my meeting?’

If you have any questions regarding timing and dates for your next event or meeting, please contact us at [email protected]