Conferences Part 2: Organizing, Planning, Chairing

In this second part of our conference podcast series Chris and Judith talk about the fun and frivolity of organizing, chairing and running a physical conference.  We have both had experience with this in the past and direct experience lately and we share some tips and tricks we have picked up along the way.

We talked about the creative process involved in developing conference themes and the tremendous value in being able to create a platform for discussion and presentation.

Once you have been on the other side of conference organisation, you have a much higher tolerance and respect for things that may (and most likely will) go wrong.  Judith shared an example of a recent PIE event that involved a massive last minute shift of venue – which they masterfully solved.

We talked about the hope that conferences can in fact be conversations.  We need to bring the coffee break chat into the panel sessions and develop a platform for debate and engagement.

Things that can go wrong, will likely go wrong.  Things you didn’t know could go wrong, will likely do so. Be prepared to vamp.

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