CONFERENCE

DEFINITION OF CONFERENCE
Presentation By: Mary Grace P. Gonzales
ABOUT
DEFINITION OF
CONFERENCE
A: A MEETING OF TWO
OR MORE PERSONS FOR
DISCUSSING MATTERS
OF COMMON CONCERN

B: A USUALLY FORMAL
INTERCHANGE OF
VIEWS :

C: A MEETING OF
MEMBERS OF THE TWO
BRANCHES OF A
LEGISLATURE TO
ADJUST DIFFERENCES
 ORGANIZING A
CONFERENCE

1.1 Different types of conference

Conferences can include a variety of events

such as roundtables, workshops, lectures, etc.
Depending on what you want to achieve with
your conference, you might find it useful to
familiarize yourself with the different types of
conferences:
 CONFERENCE

The most general term to indicate a meeting for

discussion - most commonly adopted by
associations and organizations for their regular
meetings. It is usually associated with the most
traditional type of presentation, that is, papers
followed by questions.

Example:
Annual Conference of the Society for French
Studies

Biennial Conference of the Society for Italian

Studies
 SYMPOSIUM

Nowadays, this describes a meeting to discuss a

particular subject, but its original meaning
defines it as a drinking party devoted to
conversation and following a banquet. A
symposium thus has a slightly more informal
character than a conference.

Example:
Spanish and Portuguese Studies Postgraduate
Symposium
 SEMINAR
The first meaning of this term refers to a group
of students studying under a professor with
each doing research and all exchanging results
through reports and discussions. Its second
definition: 'debating special issues' preserves
the conversational character of the term
'seminar'.

Example:
IGRS: From Textual to Visual

Departmental Research Seminar (Italian, UCL)

 COLLOQUIUM
This term indicates both a traditional
conference and a conversational seminar.
Colloquia tend to privilege the aspect of debate.

Example:
Colloquium for Police History (SSEES)
 WORKSHOP
TTaken from the language of manufacturing,
the term workshop indicates a brief intensive
educational program for a small group of
people that focuses on techniques and skills in a
particular field. In academia, it is adopted to
describe meetings reserved for small groups of
specialists who come together for concerted
activities or discussion.

Example:
Mutual Perceptions in Travel Literature (SOAS)
 ROUNDTABLE
The roundness of the table clearly symbolizes
the equality of all participants. Each of them
will have the same right to take the floor.
Roundtables commonly bring together
academics who usually are invited as key-note
speakers. Discussion nevertheless plays the
leading role in this kind of meeting.

Example:
Berkeley Germanic Linguistics Roundtable

Urban Environmental History

TIME AND VENUE

When to start planning? Finding a suitable date for your

As a rough guide, you should start conference.
planning a one-day conference 12- rule out right from the start any date
18 months ahead of time. Although it conflicting with other relevant
is possible to put something academic events or with national
together more quickly, you are more holidays (and even very important
likely to achieve your aims with a sporting fixtures, as for example, the
long lead-in. Two-day or longer World Cup may deter potential
conferences will require 18 months participants to commit from coming
plus. The importance of thinking to your conference).
ahead in seeking funding should also
be noted.
TIME AND VENUE

The timetable of your conference

The length of a single paper commonly Venue
varies between 20 and 30 minutes. In case you are given a choice between
Occasionally it can be reduced to 15. different rooms or venues consider the
The presentations of keynote speakers following points:
however can last up to one hour. There cost
is no compulsory limit for the length of size and shape of rooms:
a single session, but if it lasts more traditional lectures, workshops and
than two hours consider a proper break. roundtables all require completely
Also include in your planning enough different kinds of rooms
time for questions at the end of each technical facilities: rooms with
paper or session. Make sure that all built-in audio-visual equipment
speakers and chairs are aware of the may work out cheaper than renting
question format. When putting equipment
together the programme of your accessibility of location: this may
conference, it is important to be aware affect both costs (travel expenses
of your speakers' and delegates' of speakers) and the appeal to
comfort, and to schedule adequate other participants.
breaks.

 SPEAKERS AND CHAIRS

•Once you have decided on a date and place for your conference, you can start
selecting the speakers. The most common way to do this is either by a

call for papers (we have prepared a another subsection within this tutorial
on what to consider when putting together a call for papers)
or by personal invitation.

A call for papers will allow the participation of students and researchers that
you do not know but who could offer a significant contribution to your event.
Personal invitations will ensure that established scholars will be informed
about your conference. It also acts as publicity; some people who will receive
your call (or invitation) may decide to attend your conference, even without
giving a presentation.
 SPEAKERS AND CHAIRS

Chairs
When planning the programme of your conference, a chair should be assigned to each of the sessions. A
chair should have at least the same status as the speakers she or he will present. Entrusting a PhD
student with the task of introducing a renowned scholar may be inappropriate. Each chair must be
personally invited to act in this role, and informed of her/his duties well in advance, even if she or he
will take part in the conference as a speaker, too. Bear in mind the nature of the session when assigning
chairs: some people are firmer than others. For instance, to allow one speaker in a session to overrun so
badly that the others will have to trim their papers is offensive to those speakers and makes all
participants uncomfortable. Where speakers are known to overrun, or where debate might be heated, or
when a session is tightly timetabled, pick a chair who you can rely on to cope. A chair aslo has to
organize the question and answer session, and may need to get things going with a question of their
own. If possible it is good to select someone who knows something about the topic of the session, and
who will therefore add substantially to the debate.
 FINANCES

This is probably one of the most complex organizational aspects of any conference - certainly it is
the most worrying one. That is why it is advisable to organize your conference in your home
institution where you may be able to draw on the assistance of a central conference office and you
may have recourse to funding.
 FINANCES

The list of your costs may include:

keynote speakers' travel and accommodation expenses
session chairs’ travel and accommodation expenses
students’ bursaries
conference packs
advertizing
secretarial staff
porters and security staff
room bookings
rental of technical equipment
meals and refreshments
office costs (photocopying, postage)
administrative charge
TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE
 TRAVELFAST.CO

TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE
Ask your speakers well in advance which facilities they
might require. This might range from video and sound
facilities to computer and network connections. Checking
that these facilities are available at the venue of your
choice, is not enough: you will also have to enquire
whether the institution hosting your conference is able to
put some technical assistance at your disposal -
microphones and computers have a well-known
disposition to stop working when you need them most. If
at all possible, familiarize yourself with the audio visual
equipment (and do it before the day of the conference!)..
 LUNCH AND
HOSPITALITY
The first rule about hospitality is not to make any
promises that you cannot keep. This said, hospitality can
include many aspects, such as:
travel expenses (from airplane to underground tickets)
refreshments
lunch
conference fees
information material (e.g., city guides)
All these items can be offered
both to speakers/chairs and participants
only to speakers/chairs
only to keynote speakers
 LUNCH AND
HOSPITALITY
In fact, very few organizations can afford to cover all
these expenses, just as very few scholars expect to be
refunded for every single expense. What really matters is
that you (as well as your call for papers and invitations)
are clear and precise from the beginning and that what
you promise reflects the level of the registration fee. If
you set a high fee, participants expect more, so again be
precise about what is and is not included.
 LUNCH AND
HOSPITALITY
If you offer to reimburse expenses, remember to ask
speakers to retain receipts or other documentary evidence
of their expenditure. This is normally required by
sponsoring bodies before they will release funds. It is
essential to make clear to speakers what sort of expense
you will cover (economy air fares, second class rail fares,
no taxis, etc) at the outset. Try to avoid offering to book
incoming speakers' travel: this is time-consuming and
very unlikely to result in cost savings. On the other hand,
conference offices can sometimes book local
accommodation very cheaply.
 LUNCH AND
HOSPITALITY
Catering
Remember to include regular breaks for tea and coffee,
and to allow adequate time for lunch. If possible, a
reception at the end of a conference provides an
opportunity for more relaxed socializing. Make sure that it
is made clear to all participants beforehand (speakers,
chairs, delegates) whether their registration fee includes
refreshments.
 LUNCH AND
HOSPITALITY
Supporting events
Participants often welcome the opportunity of breaks in
the programme to explore the city and its monuments
and/or to debate at more leisure specific issues and
exchange opinions with individual speakers. They will
appreciate finding in their conference package a list of
major cultural institutions, events (such as concerts and
exhibitions) and bookshops.
 TRAVELFAST.CO

PROGRAMME

Anyone who has tried to organize a conference

knows that the hardest thing to establish is the
programme. This often goes through several
different stages or order of speakers before being
finished. One effective way of controlling this
variability might be:
 TRAVELFAST.CO

PROGRAMME
Set out the aims of the conference and its format (symposium, workshop,
round-table, etc.).
Set out issues to be covered.
Identify a proper title.
Release the call for papers and send all personal invitations.
Collect abstracts from speakers (rejecting - if necessary - those extraneous to
the conference subject or devoid of any academic relevance) and confirmations
of availability from chairs.
Verify what technical devices each speaker needs.
Verify if and how many overseas speakers you can afford.
Divide speakers (and chairs) into coherent sessions on the basis of the subject of
their paper, taking into account the technical devices they asked for when
assigning the rooms and remembering to allow time for questions and for
refreshments breaks.
Send speakers and chairs the draft programme and ask them for confirmation.
Type and release the definitive programme. At that point, your programme
should not change any more, but it is possible (or rather, probable) that this will
turn out to be necessary. This is the reason why you should not remain without a
contingency plan.
 TRAVELFAST.CO

CONFERENCE PACK
Even if some of your conference participants know each other, they are
unlikely to be familiar with the host institution, so it is important that you
offer them a conference pack as soon as they arrive. This kind of pack should
include:
the definitive programme
abstracts if possible
name tags
a map of the conference rooms
a map of the city
a list of all participants (with their e.mail)
and may include:
a list of useful telephone numbers (starting from your own and including
those of hotels, taxicab services, medical assistance, etc.)
the list of major cultural institutions and events currently available in the
city, including advice on where to eat
some white paper
a pen
fliers from external organizations (publishers etc), who have paid for the
inclusion of their publicity.
WHAT TO KEEP IN MIND
TRAVELFAST.CO

DURING THE CONFERENCE

Once the machinery has been set in motion, you should be able to reduce your tasks
to:
smiling, always and whatever may happen
receiving speakers, chairs and all other participants
being present whenever possible at all lectures and events
indicating who to turn to for assistance
if possible leaving to assistants (postgraduate students, friends who offered their
help) the duty of
registering participants
distributing conference packs
collecting conference fees
collecting receipts for all payments to be refunded
receiving people during all conference sessions
giving general information
checking daily that direction signs are on/in place
solving minor inconveniences
reporting to you (and to all other organizers) any major inconveniences.
 THINGS TO DO AFTER THE
TRAVELFAST.CO

CONFERENCE

A conference is only finished on the last day of its programme for the
speakers. For organizers its conclusion simply marks the beginning of a
new series of tasks to be carried out. You must take care in particular of
three bodies: your institution and any other sponsor, speakers and the
research community.
Your institution and any other sponsor
All institutions which have supported your conference with financial
assistance have obviously the right to be informed about the conference
itself and, above all, to check if and how you spent their financial
contributions (not to mention that many sponsors do not make their
funds available until they receive these items of information). You have
therefore to let them have as soon as possible:
your final report (taking into account both informal feedback and
evaluation forms)
the final budget of the conference.
 THANK

YOU
PRESENTATION BY: MARY GRACE P. GONZALES