Operational And Functional Requirements Of Different Conferences

Question: Discuss about the Spatial Operational And Functional Requirements Of Different Sized Conferences. Answer: Introduction The modern conference industry originated due to the religious and political congresses and conferences that held in the early centuries. Later it was followed by the business conferences and meetings. Within this industry, several people from all over the world come together, therefore this industry has the provision of creating a new market on a global scale through the conferences, exhibitions, meetings and other corporate events. These events are mostly of three kinds, small sized conferences with the forums and workshops, medium sized conferences with different session throughout the day and the international conferences which continue for several days (Rogers 2013). Within this industry, there are three kinds of customers of these events, government, private associations and corporate. The corporate customers hire the event managers to organize the medium or large sized conferences, however, most of such events are sponsored by the employers themselves and it contributes to cre ate revenue for the stakeholders attending such conferences. On the other hand, the private associations tend to hire the event managers for the small or medium sized conferences where they provide service for a selected group (Pahl and Beitz 2013). The event managers are required to understand the specifications of different clients. This is very much significant for the EMCs or the Event Management Companies and he Professional Conference Organizers or the PCOs. This essay will explore and discuss the spatial, operational and functional requirements of small, medium and large sized conferences. Small Sized Conference In the small conferences, there are around 100-200 guests, therefore the operational requirements involve arranging a venue to cater such people. There should be chairs and tables, different room for delegates and the conference room. There should be napery for all the rooms which are allotted to the delegates and other guests. The lighting and sound system should be available in the conference room and minimum of one technician should be present if there is any unusual and unplanned flaw in the system. The microphones and lapels should be function in the conference rooms as well. All the rooms should function properly, especially the heating and cooling functions. It should also cope-up with the number of guests who are coming for the conference. Mostly for the small conferences, specially, a small hotel in the city is chosen. The location should be a capital city which can offer a good communication system for the guests and there are ample chances for accommodation for the guests (Jones 2014). These factors should be considered to be most significant while choosing the venue for the conference. There should also be sufficient communication with the hotel owners so that they are well-aware if there is any change in the schedule or in the guest list. The management who are organizing the event, they should discuss the entire event beforehand with the hotel management in order to avoid any communication. For the conference, there should be a big banquet room with a podium, stage and microphones. If there are workshop sessions along with the conference, the there should be separate halls with the minimum capacity of 30-50 guests. According to Rogers (2013) the environment of the conference and the workshop rooms contribute to the energy and exchange of information of all the participants. Therefore, all the rooms should be properly maintained and well functioned. The food should be available whenever it is required, especially the morning and evening beverages s hould be served on time. The conference hall should also provide the space for the guests and delegates to interact and relax. The hotel should also have sufficient resource and space at their restaurant for catering the guests and delegates for lunch and dinner. Along with that, they should also have sufficient space for any other collaborative events. Medium Sized Conference In any medium sized conference, the numbers of guests are around 600-1500 along with 50 exhibitors. Such conferences are generally 3 days long with the opening ceremony and around six to eight concurrent sessions on every day. Other than that, there should be sufficient space for networking activities. Such conferences have different special requirements from the requirements of small conferences. In these kinds of conferences, the location choice is very much significant along with the availability of the venue. The venue is a major factor here as this may increase the number of participants. As in such conferences, the delegates generally fund for their own selves, the venue location matter a lot (Van and Getz 2016). As there will be a plenary session in the conference, the delegates will require a big conference hall where they will listen to the speakers. Therefore a theater should set up where this purpose can be served. The venue should be selected according to these basic requ irements of the conference. Due to these purposes, the exhibition and conference halls should have wide space. As stated by Andersson, Getz. and Mykletun (2014) the value spend by the exhibitor should also be checked before booking the venue. However, it has been seen that, generally these kinds of medium conferences require minimum of $25000-$30000 to be spend for the venue. As, there will be minimum of 50 exhibitors, there should also be a hall of around 2000 square meters other than the conference hall, meeting room and the space where the guests will interact with each other. This will increase the chances of networking for the delegates. There should also be separate rooms available where the sessions will take place. For this purpose, there should be five to seven extra banquet rooms which will have the capacity of approximately 200 delegates. Other than that, there should also be an extra room for the operations of the Event Management Company. This room should be adjacent to the conference room and there should be adequate provision of operating all the rooms form that particular room. Even though the primary operational requirements are similar to the requirements of the small conference such as the chairs, tables, microphones and other necessary decorations, however the resources should be more than the small conference. Due to the size of the conference, there should always be one or more representatives from the Event management Company who will coordinate among the necessary authorities such as the hotel management, exhibitors and the delegates (Masterman 2014). The representatives will also take care of the marketing of the conference and they will ensure that there is a proper communication and signage among the conference management team and the exhibitors. In this situation, the venue of the hotel will act to be very significant, as more exhibitors will be interested depending on the place of the conference. Along with that, there should be pr oper data connectivity within the conference premises for both the exhibitors and the delegates. There should also be an extended food and beverages range for the guests. The hotel should have sufficient resources so that there is no issue with the delegates (Holmes, Nichols and Ralston 2017). They should have adequate number of employees to ensure that the plans are executing at right time. Other than that, there should be the Public liability insurance which should be allotted to the conference venue beforehand. Major International Conference A 5 day long major International conference will include, a plenary, concurrent sessions along with the networking activities on every day, a gala dinner and award ceremony. The numbers of guests for this conference should be 3500-5000 along with 400 exhibitors. Ideally the space should be big enough to support all the necessary requirements for the accommodation of the guests, the transport requirements, along with the social networking activities, leisure programs to other locations (Bladen and Kennel 2014). This will increase the numbers of participation of the exhibitors and other delegates. The conference room should be sufficient enough to host a plenary session with 5000 guests. The dining should also accommodate all the guests which will require around 500 tables. The main conference room should have a dance floor and a podium or stage for award ceremony. The exhibition rooms should also offer around 20000 square meters so that each exhibitor gets at least 50 square meter spa ce. The other operational requirements are approximately similar to the small and medium sized conferences, although it should come in big scale (Mackellar 2014). However, the international conference may require a local travel and tourism company to take care of the destination management. This company will have experts, who will take care of the necessary information such as local accommodation, transport coordination, local entertainment, visa, domestic tour and the other entertainment for the gala dinner and the award ceremony. They will also ensure the leisure social programs for the delegates and the guests. There should also be a technology team who will make sure that there are social networking activities involving the social media sites. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be said that, regardless of the size of the conference, there should be adequate amount of resource which will cater the delegates. Other than the basic requirements, there are always some operational and spatial needs which are very significant for the guests. This study has shown all the basic needs along with these requirements. References Andersen, S.S., Hanstad, D.V. and Plejdrup-Skillestad, K., 2015. The Role of Test Events in Major Sporting Events.Event Management,19(2), pp.261-273. Andersson, T.D., Getz, D. and Mykletun, R.J. eds., 2014.Festival and event management in Nordic countries. Routledge. Bladen, C. and Kennell, J., 2014. Educating the 21st century event management graduate: Pedagogy, practice, professionalism, and professionalization.Event Management,18(1), pp.5-14. 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