how to organize a conference

by Vernetta R. Freeney | Featured Contributor

You have successfully pulled off your tour. But before you celebrate on all your hard work and months of planning you need to find out what the attendees thought.

Now it’s time to gather data and feedback to see what worked and what needs improvement. Personally I send a hand written ‘Thank You’ note to everyone involved with Fusion Tour. That one little gesture leaves a lasting impression of their experience a lot longer than any other networking event they attended.

Send a follow up email with a detailed survey about one week after the stop. Or have them fill one out right then and there. You want to gather as much information as possible before they move on to the next big thing in their business life. It also helps to get key demographics for them to add to your sponsor proposal for your next tour.

Analyze all data to see what resonated the most. This will help you make that a focal point on your next tour. Sometimes what you thought was the best thing isn’t always what the attendees see. Analyzing the data will help you see through their eyes your entire plan.

Another quick way to receive feedback is to capture video responses immediately following the event. You can use these to promote the rest of the stops on your current tour. Also keep these videos to add to your marketing plan. People want to see what you accomplished the previous tour.

Once you’ve received feedback from everyone, you want to match it according to your original plan. Sometimes we get so caught up in putting the plan into action that we leave out details that could make or break the experience for the attendees. This is why getting feedback is vital. You want to make sure your goal and purpose were fulfilled.

This is our last post in this series, “How To Create Your Own National Tour.”

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Vernetta R. Freeney- Tour Creator Extraordinaire

Vernetta R. Freeney is an award-winning blogger and Editor in Chief/Blogpreneur of VernettaRFreeney.com. I am also the creator of the award winning Fusion Tour and speaker on how to build a signature National Tour and building your platform via your blog.

My life now is about combining all of my passions (travelling, connecting women and giving back) into one big gift to the world. And that’s what I plan to do.

Fun Facts: I’m a chocolate lover, TV scripted drama watcher, film fanatic and the biggest Dallas Mavericks fan.

You can connect with me on Vernetta R. Freeney.

Vernetta R Freeney

Vernetta R. Freeney is the Founder/Chairwoman of the Award-Winning Women Are Gamechangers blog and creator of the Award-Winning Fusion Tour, a national intimate business conversation tour for women who work from home, bloggers and introverts.

She is an educator, blogger, speaker, and advocate for women and youth. You will find Vernetta online sharing and discussing topics ranging from blogging, grants, women Gamechangers, social justice, Fusion and the latest news to what’s she has coming up.

When she is not online causing people to think, you can find her teaching at a local Houston college, volunteering with a youth organization, speaking somewhere across the country, blogging on her blogs or others, curled up on her couch reading a really good book or cheering on her beloved Dallas Mavericks.

Vernetta may have begun her career working in nonprofits then transitioned into education. But her true calling has always been being a champion for women taking control of their purpose in life. Her goal is to help unleash the Gamechanger within many women through Fusion Tour.

vernettarfreeney.com/

by Vernetta R. Freeney | Featured Contributor

You cannot execute your plan for your national tour unless you have the right people in place. You must be as specific as possible on the type of team members you need as well as their duties and length of assignments.

You need to know the positions or team members you need to effectively pull off your national tour. Examples are a host/hostess, official blogger(s), tour coordinator, marketing members, social media street team, referral team, etc. These are the positions I have for Fusion tour. And I’ve held these positions on other tours.

I suggest the following steps to see how each person will fit into your national tour plan. You start with a group call to layout the goal, purpose and expectations of the tour. Then you do individual interview to see if they can verbally fulfill your plan bringing their own ideas to the table. Have a senior team member (if you have one) interview the candidate as well. This gives you two different perspectives. Most importantly, have them send you a portfolio of events they have executed successfully. All of this helps give you an overall perspective on how well these people will fit on your team.

You need to know how you will pay them. That’s part of your budget. Three options are subcontract, hire them as an employee or outsource the work. This allows you to either agree on a fixed fee for that person or you can do commission based fee. I do both depending on the position.

In your job description put how you will pay them. Knowing this upfront will make it easier to weed out the ones who may not be as effective. As a solopreneur hiring the right people is key. They must not only fulfill their duties but add value to your national tour as well.

Get the right people in place prior to putting your plan into action. You can’t have a team without a completed plan. They need something to follow.

Next month we’ll talk about how your team will pull off your tour effectively through a sound marketing plan.

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