Conference Planning Checklist: Programme & AV

Conferences punish vagueness. Fix the outcome, the audience and the format first — then build everything else in service of them. This checklist runs from six months out to the post-event retro and works for single-track summits, meetups and multi-hall conferences alike.

Six months out: concept and venue

• One-sentence outcome: what attendees leave knowing or doing
• Audience profile, scale (50/200/500) and format: single-track, multi-track, hybrid
• Budget model: target ticket + sponsorship revenue against total cost
• Venue holds: plenary + breakouts, strong Wi-Fi, load-in, parking, delegate coaches
• Title sponsor outreach begins — sponsors should de-risk the venue commitment

Four months out: programme and ticketing

• Five headline speakers confirmed with signed terms and travel plans
• Open call for sessions or complete the internal agenda
• Ticketing live with tiered pricing (early bird, phase 2, group rates)
• Agenda page published — it is your primary marketing asset
• Marketing engine: email list, social cadence, partner amplification

Two months out: production

• AV and production partner booked; technical rider written
• Livestream decision made with dedicated crew if yes
• Registration tool selected; badge and signage design started
• Sponsor deliverables confirmed with assets due dates
• Speaker decks requested with a firm deadline at week 3

Programme design depth: conference planning guide.

Two weeks out: freeze

• Full agenda locked; speaker decks collected and rehearsed
• Run-sheet with room owners, timekeepers and a live agenda board plan
• Signage mapped: entrance, registration, agenda, washrooms, each room
• Delegate kits assembled; dietary tags captured from registrations
• Backup everything: decks on two devices, printed agenda, offline ticket list

Delegate experience: the small things that win

• Registration under 60 seconds per person with a printed-badge fallback
• Sessions start and end on time — appoint an explicit timekeeper
• Two lunch seatings for rooms over 250; clear zone signage
• Power strips and seating at lunch; water available in every room
• A visible help desk for the entire event, not just the first hour

Event day

• Team briefing two hours before doors; tech check on every room
• Live monitoring of online questions if hybrid
• Feedback survey live before the closing session ends
• Photography brief: stage, audience, networking, sponsor assets

+1 week: close the loop

Thank-you mail with recordings and slides, survey analysis with named owners for each fix, sponsor report with reach and photos, expense reconciliation, and a one-hour retro. Then update vendor notes while memories are fresh — for the next round, compare teams on Eventibe.com.

Related reading: corporate event timeline and hiring event vendors.