Category
Tips for Event Organizers
95 articles in Tips for Event Organizers.
Reporting to Funders: How Innovation Programmes Prove the Impact of Their Events
How cluster organisations and EU programme teams report meetings, follow-ups and cooperation agreements to funders: outputs and results, the evidence that holds up, data protection and a reporting calendar for a three-year programme.
Business Expo Planning: How Chambers Run a Local Expo Where Exhibitors Meet Buyers
A planning guide for chambers, SBDCs and economic development organisations: formats, table prices, buyer recruitment, a business-only window with scheduled meetings and what to measure afterwards.
Speaker Ready Room: How to Set Up Slide Check-In and Tech Support for a Conference
Plan a speaker ready room that keeps every session on time: the upload deadline, workstations and staff, the equipment list and the speaker flow on the day.
Association Event Committee: Roles, Structure and How Volunteers Work With Staff
How to give an association event committee a clear remit: define roles, agree decisions with staff, recruit volunteers and prepare members to host at events.
Business After Hours: How Chambers Run Evening Mixers That Newcomers Come Back To
How chambers plan welcoming evening mixers: agree the host’s role, help newcomers make connections, keep the programme brief and track participation over time.
Conference Code of Conduct: What to Include and How to Enforce It on Site
A practical guide to conference conduct policies: clear expectations, accessible reporting channels, prepared response teams and consistent follow-through on site.
Legislative Receptions and Breakfasts: How Associations Host Lawmakers, Staff and Members
How associations plan legislative receptions and breakfasts: choose the date, invite through lawmakers’ offices, prepare member hosts and follow up on the conversations.
Strategic Meetings Management: What an SMM Programme Needs From Every Event
What strategic meetings management covers, how to connect event spending with outcomes, and which figures B2B event teams can contribute to a useful programme report.
Satellite Symposia: How Congresses Sell, Schedule and Separate Industry Sessions
How medical and scientific congresses run satellite symposia: what the package includes, how slots are priced and allocated, when they take place and which rules keep industry-sponsored sessions apart from the scientific programme.
Young Professionals Programmes: How Associations and Chambers Engage Members Under 35
How associations and chambers build young professionals programmes that last: mentoring matched on written criteria, stable peer circles, speed networking and a YP track at the congress, plus the numbers your board will ask for.
CPD and CME Accreditation for Conferences: How Associations Get Sessions Accredited
How associations and congress organisers get conference sessions accredited for CPD, CME or CEU credits: the differences between the systems, the application and its deadlines, keeping sponsors separate and tracking each attendee's credits.
Speaker Bureaus: How They Work, What They Charge and When to Book Direct
A speaker bureau rarely adds to the fee, but it shapes your shortlist, your contract and your right to rebook. How commission, exclusivity and client protection work, and when organisers should book a speaker direct.
Startup Areas at Trade Shows: How Organisers Plan B2B and Investor Meetings for Startup Exhibitors
Plan meetings for startup exhibitors alongside their trade-show presence. Covers relevant guests, appointment capacity, allocation rules, attendance days and reporting to founders and funders.
Exhibitor Kit and Exhibitor Manual: What to Include and When to Send It
Build an exhibitor kit with clear deadlines and accessible guidance. Decide what belongs in the manual, when to release each part and how to include service orders and the meeting programme.
Investor Roadshows and Capital Markets Days: How to Plan the Meetings
Plan investor roadshows and capital markets days around clear objectives and realistic management availability. Covers meeting formats, travel, disclosure requirements and follow-up.
Conference Swag Attendees Keep: Sponsor-Funded, Sustainable and Worth the Budget
Choose conference swag attendees want to use, make collection optional and order to demand. Compare sponsorship models, evidence for environmental claims and the cost per item kept.
First-Time Attendee Programmes: How Associations Turn Newcomers into Regulars
Help first-time congress attendees find their way and meet people. Plan orientation, buddy matching and follow-up, then track contacts, member conversion and return rates.
Networking Breakfasts: How Chambers and Economic Development Agencies Run a Series That Lasts
Build a recurring networking breakfast that welcomes new guests and helps regulars make fresh contacts. A guide for chambers and agencies to hosting, invitations, funding and evaluation.
Speaker Agreement: The Clauses Conference Organisers Need
Prepare speaker agreements covering deliverables, recording and AI use, fees, travel, cancellation and personal data. Includes a clause checklist and a schedule for confirming terms.
Non-Dues Revenue from Events: What Associations Can Earn Beyond Membership Fees
Membership dues now cover about a third of association revenue, and events carry much of the rest. The event revenue streams associations rely on, what each one really sells, and how to judge them on margin rather than turnover.
Bleisure: What the Trend Means for DMOs and Congress Organisers
Most congress delegates already extend their trip. How DMOs and congress organisers plan pre- and post-congress tours, companion programmes and registration data, so the extra nights are planned and counted.
Booth Pricing: How Organisers Price Exhibition Space and What to Sell on Top
How trade show organisers set booth prices: the cost floor per square metre, surcharges for corner and island stands, space only versus packages, mandatory fees and the add-ons that decide whether exhibitors book again. With published price lists for 2027 and what a booth costs an exhibitor in total.
Event Industry Statistics 2026: The Numbers on B2B Meetings, Trade Shows and Matchmaking, With Sources
The event industry statistics that hold up in 2026: business events, trade shows, congresses, networking, matchmaking and AI, each figure with its primary source, its year and what it means for organisers.
Exhibitor Retention: Why Exhibitors Don't Rebook and How Meetings Change That
Roughly one exhibitor in four does not come back the following year. Why exhibitors leave, how to measure retention by cohort, and why counted one to one meetings are the evidence that survives an exhibitor's budget review.
ISO 20121: What the Event Sustainability Standard Requires and When Certification Pays Off
ISO 20121 certifies how you manage sustainability across your events, not whether one event was green. What the 2024 edition requires, the three ways to prove conformity, what certification costs and when the certificate is worth it.
Member Engagement: How Associations Use Events to Keep Members Active Between Congresses
Members rarely leave after a bad congress. They leave after a quiet year. How associations use regional groups, roundtables, mentoring and online sessions to keep members active between congresses, how a new member orientation carries newcomers through their first 90 days and which three numbers show whether it works.
Paid Meetings for Exhibitors: Should You Charge for Guaranteed Pre-Booked Meetings?
More shows sell exhibitors a fixed number of pre-booked meetings. This guide helps organisers decide whether to charge, what exactly to promise, how to price it and which no-show rule keeps the guarantee honest.
What Is an Association Management Company (AMC)? Services, Fees and Your Annual Meeting
Association management is the work of running an association: members, governance, finance, communication and events. An association management company (AMC) does that work for associations without an office of their own. This guide explains what an AMC does, how it charges and what changes for your annual meeting.
Post-Event Report Template (Free Word and Excel Download): What to Include for Sponsors, Exhibitors and Your Board
A post-event report template you can download and fill in: all eleven sections in Word, a KPI sheet in Excel that does the maths, a separate version for each reader and a timeline from the 48 hour flash report to the debrief.
Trade Missions: Planning B2B Meetings That Turn into Business
What a trade mission is, which formats exist and how chambers, trade agencies and economic development teams plan, qualify and follow up the meetings on the ground. With a backwards timeline, US and UK programme context and the metrics that matter after 6 and 12 months.
Hybrid Corporate Events: Benefits, Costs and When to Choose Them
When does a hybrid corporate event pay off? Compare production costs, travel savings, lead qualification and no-show rates, with practical guidance on formats that work well online and those that need closer consideration.
Hybrid Events for Associations: Benefits for Members and Organisers
How hybrid annual meetings can support member participation, quorum and retention. Explore the evidence, the demands on volunteers and the governance rules to check before planning.
How to Attract Sponsors for Association Events: Packages and Partnerships
Associations attract sponsors by selling verified access to a qualified membership, not reach. Where to find partners, how to package that access, and the tax, independence and approval rules that apply.
How to Make Association Events More Sustainable Without Losing Members
Member travel drives 70 to 90 per cent of an association event's carbon footprint, so reducing emissions also means considering how members stay connected. A practical order for your measures: destination and format first, then catering and materials, then contracts, then measurement.
Event Check-in Apps and Badge Printing: How Many Stations Does a B2B Event Need?
Calculate check-in stations from arrival patterns and processing time. Compare badge printing setups, plan for exceptions and test the app with the equipment your team will use.
What Is a Fam Trip? The Guide for Destinations and Convention Bureaus
Every published answer to the question of how you measure a fam trip counts media impressions. That is the journalist trip. The trade fam, where a destination hosts buyers with real purchasing budgets, needs the selection criteria and the appointment discipline of a hosted buyer programme, and almost nobody runs it that way.
Travel Trade Roadshow vs Workshop: A Capacity Guide for Tourism Boards
A roadshow buys markets. A workshop buys meetings. Most tourism boards pick between them on reach and only discover the difference in appointment volume once the suppliers are already sitting at their tables. This guide puts both formats through the same capacity calculation and the same cost per meeting.
Why Investors Attend Startup Conferences (and How to Get Them to Yours)
Most conference teams sell investors the one deal channel that works least well for them: inbound pitches. This guide sets out what investors are actually buying, how many of them your event needs for the meeting grid to work, and how to recruit them in the right order.
Event Meeting No-Shows: Which Number Are You Measuring?
Ask three sources what a normal no-show rate is and you get 6.5 per cent, 10 to 30 per cent and 20 to 40 per cent. None of them is measuring your event. This guide defines the meeting no-show properly, shows why the denominator moves the number more than behaviour does, and ranks the levers that actually work.
Post-Event Survey Questions: What to Ask Visitors, Exhibitors and Speakers
The industry's own benchmark infrastructure separates visitor, exhibitor and non-attendee surveys. Almost every published question list ignores that. This guide gives you three survey sets with the exact wording, a send schedule, realistic response rates and the four numbers your board will ask for.
How to Write a Sponsorship Prospectus That Sells (+ Free Template)
A sponsorship prospectus has to win a budget meeting you are not invited to. This guide shows organisers what belongs in the document, how to price the tiers, when to publish it and why meetings sell, with a free 12-page Word template to start from.
EES and ETIAS: What to Tell Your International Attendees Now
EES is live, ETIAS is postponed, and border queues are deciding whether day-one meetings happen. A communication timeline and buffer rules for organisers of international events.
Lead Retrieval: Should You Charge Your Exhibitors for It?
Should lead retrieval be included in exhibitor fees or sold separately? Compare delivery models, app and scanner options, revenue assumptions and the handover of data.
Speed Networking at B2B Events: How It Works and When Not to Use It
Speed networking promises 10 to 15 conversations in a single hour, and most guides stop right there. This one goes further: rotation formats with the maths behind them, no-show planning, and the point where pre-scheduled 1:1 meetings become the better tool.
EU AI Act Transparency Rules: What Event Organisers Must Do Now
Article 50 of the EU AI Act has been enforceable since 2 August 2026. Which chatbots, AI visuals and matchmaking tools trigger disclosure duties, which obligations sit with your software vendor, and how to check your event stack in 30 minutes.
How to Get Great Speakers for Your B2B Conference (Without a Celebrity Budget)
The median keynote fee in 2026 is $2,500, according to Talkadot, far below what bureau price lists suggest. This playbook shows organisers what to really pay, how to write invitations that get a yes, and how to turn the lineup into registrations and 1:1 meetings.
Was Your Event Worth It? How to Measure B2B Event ROI
Ninety per cent of event teams say their events influence deals that never get credit in the CRM. This guide shows how organisers build a defensible ROI number: one formula, a 180 day attribution window, 2026 benchmarks with their lens attached, and two worked examples.
How Big Is the Startup Conference Market in 2026? A Data Reference for Organisers
No analyst report isolates the startup conference market. This data reference triangulates its 2026 size from business events data, verified flagship conference numbers and venture funding, and reads the three market signals organisers should actually plan around.
How to Qualify Investors Before a 1:1 Meeting Marathon: A Vetting Framework for Conference Organisers
Six vetting criteria, an application form schema and tier-based request caps: how startup conference organisers keep consultants, tourists and funds without a mandate out of the founder meeting programme.
The 15 Best Startup Conferences in Europe 2026/2027: A Data-Backed Guide for Organisers, Founders and Investors
Fifteen European startup conferences ranked by tier, not just size, with meeting data, investor density and a four-step framework for choosing where to send your budget in 2026 and 2027.
How Big Is the MICE Market in 2026? The Honest Numbers for Event Organisers
MICE market estimates for 2026 range from 1.03 to 1.34 trillion dollars. Why the figures differ, where growth happens and how organisers should quote them.
How to Host a Virtual Networking Event That Produces Real Meetings
Virtual networking events are back on B2B agendas in 2026, but attendees no longer accept breakout-room roulette. This guide covers four formats, a seven-step plan, a 60-minute agenda and the KPIs that separate a tired video call from an event that produces business meetings.
How to Attract International Buyers to a Tourism Trade Show: A Five-Lever Playbook
International buyers choose fewer events and expect more from each one. This playbook covers the five levers organisers use to win them: incentive packages, hard qualification, regional sourcing, guaranteed meeting diaries and published proof, with benchmarks from IMEX, IBTM, WTM and ITB for 2025 and 2026.
25 Networking Event Ideas That Actually Lead to Meetings: A B2B Organiser's Guide
Half your attendees come to meet new people, yet most receptions produce small talk. 25 networking event ideas in six families, from speed networking and games to quiet formats and structured matchmaking, with a framework to choose and the numbers to measure success.
Why ISO 27001:2022 Should Matter to Event Organizers (It Does!)
B2B events involve sensitive attendee, corporate and payment data. Here is why ISO 27001:2022 certification should not be optional when choosing event software, and how to verify it is genuine.
Diversity and Inclusion at Events: A Practical Planning Guide
Inclusion at B2B events rarely fails for lack of good intentions. It fails in three places nobody plans: the registration form, the networking format and the accessibility of the event platform. Here is how to fix all three, what the European Accessibility Act changed in June 2025, and eight practical ways to make your events more inclusive.
The Event Community Trend you don't want to miss in 2023
With 365-day events you create a platform that keeps customers active all year round. Here is what an event community is, why it pays off, and how to build one.
Digital Events in 2026: A Guide to Choosing the Right Format
A 2026 stock-take of digital events: which formats held up, attendance benchmarks, a five-question decision guide, an honest look at hybrid and what an organiser runs in-house rather than handing to an agency.
How to Find and Manage Speakers for Your Event: 8 Tips for Organisers
Most conference agendas are filled by expert speakers, not celebrities. Here is how to find them, run a call for speakers, vet a shortlist and manage your speakers from confirmation to stage day.
A 12 Step Guide To Build Your Event Landing Page On Converve
Create an event landing page that turns visitors into attendees in 12 simple steps. Here's a step-by-step guide to nailing your event website goals with Converve's page builder.
Virtual Event Sponsorship: 7 Tips to Attract and Retain Sponsors
How to win sponsors for virtual and hybrid events and keep them: seven steps from the first call to the post-event report, the sponsor benefits that matter beyond the logo, and the opportunities sponsors actually pay for in 2026.
Hybrid Events: Benefits, Drawbacks and When to Choose One (2026)
Hybrid events reach 2.5 times the audience of an in-person event, and most of them still waste the virtual half. The benefits, the drawbacks and a four-question test for deciding whether your event should go hybrid at all.
5 Hybrid Event Examples from 2025 and 2026, and What B2B Organisers Can Copy
Five hybrid event examples from 2025 and 2026, from Apple WWDC to MWC Barcelona and the ESC Congress: what the online audience got, what stayed in the room, and what B2B organisers can copy.
Live Stream Setup for Virtual Events: What a Professional Event Stream Needs
What a professional live stream setup for virtual and hybrid events needs: audio, cameras, encoder, upload speed, platform and crew, plus the right setup for each session format.
Who Should Meet Whom? The 3 Mistakes Business Matchmaking Organisers Should Avoid at All Costs
Structured matchmaking has arrived at B2B events, but many organisers roll it out too hastily. Avoid these three mistakes around free-riders, participant types, and communication timing to make your platform a success.
37 Creative Sponsorship Ideas for Events (with Examples)
37 event sponsorship ideas sorted by what the sponsor can prove afterwards: visibility, infrastructure, experiences, meetings, content and data. With examples, price ranges and a FAQ for organisers planning 2026 packages.
Why Event Apps can Harm the Success of Your Event
Native event apps seem like the obvious answer to mobile attendees. Here is why they are often more of a barrier than a help, and which alternative actually works.
Event Planning: 5 Reasons Why the Event Programme and Matchmaking Go Hand in Hand
People who visit B2B events want to network and learn new things. The best way to do this is by linking the matchmaking platform and the event programme. Here are 5 reasons why.
B2B Matchmaking Platform: 10 Reasons Why Business Events Need One
What a B2B matchmaking platform is, 10 reasons why business events need one, and how to shortlist a platform for your event. With 2025 and 2026 figures from IMEX, Freeman, UFI and Fáilte Ireland, plus six answers to the questions organisers ask most.
Matchmaking-Workshop Review: 4 Learnings for Your Success!
At Converve's workshop during TechXperience 2018, event professionals developed exciting ideas for successful matchmaking. Four key findings: dramaturgy, casting, monetisation and gamification.
Business Matchmaking at Events: 18 Success Factors for More Meetings
Matchmaking succeeds or fails on decisions you make before the algorithm runs: who may meet whom, when requests open, and what counts as a result. Here are 18 factors that separate a full meeting calendar from an empty one.
5 Reasons Why Experience Design Is So Important For Trade Fairs And Events
The trade fair, event, and conference industry is being reinvented: the customer experience now decides between success and failure. Five reasons why experience design matters for organizers, and how to get started.
Facial Recognition at Events: A Blessing or a Curse?
Facial recognition is becoming part of everyday life, from unlocking smartphones to passport control. What can face detection offer the event industry, and where are the risks?
GDPR for Event Managers: An Expert Opinion
On 25 May the European General Data Protection Regulation comes into force. We asked data protection expert Dr Ralf Schadowski what it really changes for event managers, and how to prepare without panic.
Event Newsletters: 10 Steps to Emails That Bring Registrations
A successful event newsletter does one job per edition, goes only to people who asked for it and is judged by clicks and registrations, not opens. Ten steps for 2026, including the Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook sender rules, five example editions and the numbers worth reporting.
Matchmaking Software: Avoid These 5 Typical Mistakes
Business matchmaking gives exhibitors and sponsors measurable results, but rolling it out comes with common pitfalls. Avoid these five typical mistakes when using matchmaking software at your event.
Offline Reading Tips for Event Managers
Sometimes a printed book just feels good. Four offline reading tips for event managers, from experience design to the Event Canvas.
The Best Event Videos
Event videos communicate impressions of the event, transport emotions and whet the appetite for the following year. Here are 9 examples, from B2C music festivals to B2B corporate events, where this has been achieved particularly well.
The Most Important #Hashtag Rules for Event Managers
#Hashtags brought a system to chaotic social worlds. Follow these easy rules to elevate your social media game and spread the word about your events.
Top Performance under Pressure: Stress Relief for Event Managers
Event managers juggle deadlines, clients and constant conflict. Here are practical strategies to relieve stress and stay centered, even in the biggest chaos.
Mid-year Statement: Exciting Blog Articles for Event Managers in 2017
A small reading and link list for the summer: the most interesting topics in the event blogosphere in the first half of 2017, from live streaming and VR/AR to security and the Oscar fail.
Go home with 30 new business cards from your next business event, guaranteed!
Despite digitalisation, business cards remain a key networking tool. These checklists show what to keep in mind before, during and after a business event so you collect as many new contacts as possible.
The 11 Worst B2B Networking Mistakes at Events
Trade fairs, congresses and events are top occasions to expand your business network. Here are the 11 networking mistakes you definitely need to avoid.
Conference Icebreakers: How B2B Organisers Get Strangers Talking
Practical icebreakers for B2B conferences: choose the right moments, prepare opening questions and offer ways into conversation for both outgoing and reserved attendees.
A Solid Argument: Why Should Your Exhibitors Use a B2B Matchmaking Tool?
B2B matchmaking professionalizes the exchange between exhibitors and trade fair visitors. Here are 8 arguments you can use to motivate your exhibitors to embrace a matchmaking tool.
Conflict Management at Events: How to Deal with Difficult Clients, Exhibitors and Attendees
Most conflicts at events start with a promise that was never made clear. How event teams prevent them, de-escalate in five steps on site and fix the cause afterwards.
More Team Productivity With Podio
E-mails and Excel no longer suffice for managing event team collaboration. Here is why and how Converve uses the Podio online platform instead.
20 Sources for Free Photos, Videos, Graphics and Music: 2026 Licence Check
20 free sources for photos, videos, icons and music, each checked against its licence page in October 2026, plus what free media may and may not do in event ads, social posts and AI visuals.
8 Tips for Sustainable Events
A lot of people talk about sustainable events these days, but few actually know what that really means. Sustainable events are more than just „green“. Here are 8 tips on how to organize your trade fair or congress sustainably.
Hosted Buyer Programme Pitfalls: 7 Mistakes Organisers Still Make in 2026
Hosted buyer programmes rarely fail at the meeting table. They fail months earlier, in the rules nobody wrote down: who qualifies, who may contact whom, what a missed meeting costs, and how a remote buyer is treated. Seven pitfalls, each with the fix.
Work-Life Balance Tips: Especially for Event Managers Plagued by Stress
Do the usual work-life balance approaches even fit the hectic events world? Tips for event managers and their executives to keep stress in check.
Five tips for successful event networking
Whether you are an organiser or a participant: the Converve platform helps you prepare for exhibitions and meetings. Five practical tips for making the most of an event.
Graphics Software Shootout: Where Does Canva Beat InDesign?
The brave new colourful marketing world of content and social media is very demanding for graphic designers and marketing managers. We compare free graphic tools like Canva against pro gear such as InDesign and Photoshop.
Time Management: Don't Get Overwhelmed By Your E-mail Inbox
Drowning in e-mail? With clear routines, fixed inbox-checking slots and the right tools, event and marketing managers can take back control of their working day.
5 Tips to Market Your Event Apps
Building a great event app is only half the job. These 5 tips help you market it well and secure a strong adoption rate.