Planning a Seminar? Put Requirements in Writing

Years ago, when I first began planning events, I was working on a major event at a hotel. My company was planning to do demonstrations in the hallway that required skirted tables, electricity and telephone lines. I did a walk-through with the Sales and Catering Manager and all seemed fine. A few days before the event, I went back to the hotel for a meeting. I brought up the technology demos and she never remembered having the discussion. I had made a mistake by not putting our my requirements in writing and sending her a copy and not having the information added to our contract.

Any venue you select is juggling information a number of different events. So the person you meet with maybe thinking about the weekend wedding or anniversary party while you are speaking to them about the requirements for your seminar. The best way to be sure you get what you need for your event to be successful is to write down your requirements and have them put into your contract. This is not only true for working with venues but also all of your other important vendors, such as those providing audio-visual equipment, signage, promotional items and, of course, event planning.

By the way, my story has a happy ending; the demonstrations went up at the last minute in record time. Make sure you don’t need last minute work. Write everything down and review your requirements with your contacts a week before your event.

Seminar Planning - The Green Seminar

There is a a lot of interest today in having "green" events. If you are interested in making your seminar earth friendly, incorporate some of these ideas when planning your next seminar:

• Select a location that is close to where most attendees live to minimize the use of fuel consumption.


• Use recycled paper for marketing material, invitations and handouts.


• Eliminate paper handouts entirely. Instead, post presentations on the web, e-mail them after the event or give out CDs and flash drives with the information loaded.


• Serve organic foods.


• Make signage that can be reused at future seminars.


• Use re-usable name tags and collect them at the end of the seminar.


• Use cloths to cover tables instead of disposable paper or vinyl.

Your audience will appreciate your efforts to protect the environment.

Seminar Planning - The Full Day Seminar

Years ago I attended an all day event that Oprah held. It was her "Live Your Best Life Tour". She was pretty much the only speaker. She spoke for 2 hours, gave us lunch, and then returned with a guest who shared the podium but Oprah did most of the talking. It was fabulous.

Not very many people, famous or not, want to speak all day. And not many audiences want to listen to the same person all day. If you want to have a full day event, invite others to share the podium with you. Find speakers whose subject matter adds value for your audience. You might already have business partners in mind. For instance, a financial planner might invite a CPA or an estate attorney. A personal trainer could invite a nutritionist.

Multiple speakers will help you bring in a larger audience if all have a database of clients and prospects and everyone can share costs. Just make sure databases and expenses are equal, no one person should be carrying the burden for all.

At the podium, each speaker should compliment the products and services of the others. This will increase the value of each of the speakers in the eyes of the audience and will help with back-of-room sales.

Seminar Planning - When do YOU get to eat?

Are you planning to serve a meal during your seminar? Do you know what you are going to do about your own meal? Sounds simple but you really need to think about what would work best for you and your image.

If you are a presenter, you will probably want to sit with your attendees to get to know them better. That’s great but I recommend that you have a member of your staff join you at the table. Years ago I was working at an event in which the presenters were asked so many questions during the meal that they could not eat. I finally stepped in and asked that they be allowed to finish their meal so the event could resume on time.

One thing you don't want to do is eat during any part of your presentation. I've seen this happen at a breakfast meeting. The speaker had finished his formal presentation and sat down to eat and do the Q&A. He was chewing while answering questions - very unattractive. This is definitely not how you want to be seen.

If you are organizing and managing the event, you might want eat before the attendees’ scheduled meal. When I'm working at an event of any kind I’m usually so busy making sure I keep the event on schedule that I don't eat. I always ask my staff to eat before the event because they may be needed while the attendees are having their meal.

Seminar Planning - Don't be Too Quick to Book a Venue

I recently heard about a seminar speaker who reserved his venue one year in advance at a popular hotel. He gave a down payment of several thousand dollars. It is not unusal to book a venue this far in advance. Unfortunately, he had no idea what he was going to do with it. When the time came, he still did not have any plans. Fortunately, the venue allowed him to use the deposit at another time, most would have just taken the money when he cancelled.


It is very enticing to grab available dates at a popular venue but never do it unless you have your seminar plans in place. If you quickly throw together a seminar because you happen to have a venue, you will not get the qualified attendees you need to be successful. If you cancel the date, you risk losing your entire deposit.