Tips for Hosting an International Meeting in the US

If you are looking into hosting a conference in the US that includes attendees from outside North America, you probably have a million questions running through your head. “Will they want to come to this meeting location?” “Will they have trouble with customs?” “What cultural differences should I account for?”

As you realize the difficulty in getting clear answers to your questions, you begin to explore options you have used in the past: a phone conference, a web conference or communicating via email. Anything to get you off the path you have found yourself on.

When you find yourself at this point it’s time to relax and take a deep breath. It isn’t as daunting a task at it may appear, and there are many people and organizations waiting to help you. People host meetings with international attendees everyday. It can be done, and it can be done effectively. To get you started we have provided a few tips that should help your conference planning move along.

As with any location for a conference, you should make sure that attendees can easily fly in and out of the local airport, and can get around the city without much trouble. Remember they probably don’t know their way around too well. Just imagine if you were told to get to some small city in Europe – wouldn’t you feel more comfortable going to a more well-known place than a small town in the hill country?

With any meeting you want to give attendees plenty of time to prepare. This is especially true for those that will be flying into the country from abroad. These attendees will need all the time you can give them in order to get the logistics settled (i.e., getting the money to attend, passports, flight schedule). Not providing attendees with ample preparation time may cause them to pass on the conference.

Another great tip is to allow for down time in the meeting schedule. Attendees don’t want to fly halfway across the world and not have an opportunity to enjoy the destination. In addition to being attendees, these people are also tourists to the location, and may bring family along to enjoy the trip.

A last tip is to work with associations and organizations that provide services for people visiting their cities. Check in with the local convention and visitors bureau for the host site. They will be more than happy to help you in order to give visitors to their city (whether from the US or abroad) a great experience.

Remember, a key to any great meeting is proper preparation. You will host an outstanding conference with international attendees as long as you give everyone enough time (including yourself), incorporate the right people into the planning and relax.

If you have any questions regarding hosting international guests at your next meeting, please contact us at [email protected]