Guide to conferences and workshops

Hosting meetings requires plenty of preparation

If your department or unit is thinking about hosting a convention or conference in the near future, you should be prepared to do your homework and make some pretty tough decisions. There are the obvious decisions to be made, such as choosing a site and planning program content, a budget, a marketing strategy and details ranging from audio/visual support to ADA compliance. And then there are the not-so-obvious, like entertaining spouses or families traveling with those attending a conference.

Feel like you may need to consult a professional? The Office of Continuing Education's Department of Conference Management and Professional Development, 225 Mount Hall, specializes in planning and organizing conferences and workshops for Ohio State faculty and local businesses, and has hosted organized events for international businesses such as Honda, AT&T and NASA.

Jean Morris has been program manager since 1992.

"We probably organize and plan anywhere from 20 to 30 conferences a year ranging from 2,000 down to 50 attendees," Morris said. Although booking campus facilities such as the Fawcett Center and University Plaza Hotel is a priority, hotel arrangements are made all over the city, according to the client's desires, she said.

Morris said her department became self-funded and reduced staff from 45 to 10 in 1992 to adjust to University budget cuts; consequently, many of Ohio State's colleges now handle their own conferences. But the demand for assistance has always been high, illustrated by a 1984 "Planning and Conducting Successful Conferences" seminar hosted by the department.

"The amazing thing to us is 136 different offices were represented throughout campus," Morris said.

She said the first thing conference planners should do is design the program concept, and then establish a date and choose a site. If a commitment is made to hosting an event at a certain time of year, Morris advised, it's best to book ahead of time for space availability.

"It's not unusual to book the facility one to three years in advance," Morris said.

When booking campus facilities, Morris works closely with the University Conference Corridor, a collaboration between Ohio State and the local hospitality industry to expand conference capabilities for educational, scientific and professional groups.

Next, planners should firm up the program content, identify and contact speakers, prepare a budget and develop a marketing strategy.

The first step in marketing is to determine how much promotion is needed. "If this is a first-ever meeting, you may need more hype than if it is the 12th Annual Conference for Birdwatchers International," Morris said.

Promoting an event via the Web is cost-efficient, she said, eliminating enormous printing and postage costs.

"Right now, we're on the cusp of new marketing innovations using the Internet that are going to be a total revolution in conference registration," Morris said.

While a site should be booked one to three years in advance, a hotel site inspection should take place six months to a year before the conference, before day-to-day conference planning begins, Morris said. If an on-site inspection is not feasible, she suggests a detailed telephone conversation with the sales manager. A checklist should It's not unusual to book a facility one to three years in advance be prepared, listing goals and concerns, as well as information needed to proceed through the planning stages.

An important item to assess: whether the size of the facility can comfortably accommodate the group and other organizations scheduled for the same date. "Having one of the larger groups probably will guarantee good service during your stay, while a smaller group may not get the same level of service," Morris said.

She also said this is the time to meet with sales staff to initiate contract negotiations. Also important is to assess the attitude of the staff, check on airport transportation costs, available restaurants and other facilities in the area, and make sure no construction is scheduled immediately before or during the selected conference date.

The final steps in planning a conference include finalizing the program and confirming facility arrangements. A week or two before the conference, confirm menus and meal count with the site.

The Department of Conference Management and Professional Development will assist in marketing and managing exhibitor trade shows and grant proposal development, and will help access University personnel as program resources. The department's staff also offers professional development workshops covering topics such as business, management and supervision, computer literacy, communication and foreign languages. These workshops are usually held once a week over a 10-week period or are packaged into a one-day seminar.

For details or assistance with planning a conference or training event, call the department at 292-8571 or consult www.uvc.ohio-state.edu/ced/noncred.html, or visit the University Conference Corridor's Web site at www.osuconferencecorridor.com.

From conference goals to special activities for spouses, everything should be carefully planned

While careful consideration should go into selecting a site and following up with a hotel site inspection, there are many other details to work out prior to hosting a successful convention or conference, said Jean Morris, program manager with the Office of Continuing Education's Department of Conference Management and Professional Development.

Morris outlines other points to consider:

Planning

The first step in planning a meeting is determining goals and objectives: What is the purpose of this meeting? What is the organization trying to accomplish? What message(s) should be communicated?

• Determine the best medium to communicate the message. Options include live speakers with simple slide or video presentations, elaborate multimedia presentations, interaction with the audience or a combination of approaches.

• Define the audience. Determine who will be interested in or may benefit from the message, and whether the audience will be local, statewide, national or international.

• Estimate the number of participants. Offering University credit or continuing education units for participation could boost attendance considerably, Morris said.

Marketing

While registration brochures remain a good medium to convince people to attend a conference, the Internet is quickly becoming a valuable marketing tool. Planners should make sure brochures or Web sites spell out in plain English what potential registrants will get out of the program, Morris said. Tell the target audience about the special program features that set it apart from similar conferences.

"Dig deep into your planning ideas and brainstorm with your planning/advisory committee to come up with realistic and honest features, then highlight them in your brochure copy," Morris said.

Marketing via the Web is gaining popularity because it is cost-efficient, she said, eliminating enormous printing and postage costs.

Food and beverages

A great meeting and excellent speakers will quickly be forgotten if participants do not enjoy a pleasurable dining experience, Morris said. Here is a checklist for food and beverage planning:

• Make sure the hotel can provide vegetarian meals, if requested.

• Indicate the type (buffet, sit-down, etc.) and time for each meal/snack.

• Assure that the kitchen staff remains quiet when speakers are presenting during meals.

• Ask for a beverage count. Organizations should not have to pay for unused cans of soda.

• Offer a variety of drinks, with and without caffeine and sugar, and natural options such as bottled water and juices.

• Put sauces, creams and dressing on the side.

• Keep lunches light so participants remain alert and focused after the meal.

Specialized services

Some of those attending a conference may travel with a spouse or family, so don't overlook providing entertainment during the day for them. Morris said planning should include spouse tours that range from visits to the Columbus Zoo or German Village to day trips to Amish country or the home of Longaberger Baskets in Dresden.

Courtesy of the Office of the ADA Coordinator Earlene Sesker of the U.S. Access Board gives a presentation during "Multiple Perspectives On Access, Inclusion & Disability," a two-day workshop held at Ohio State in late February. In all, 272 individuals from across the state participated in the event.

Facilities, meeting sponsors share responsibility of ensuring access to all

Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is an important consideration and is a responsibility shared by a facility and conference sponsors, said Jean Morris, program manager with Ohio State's Department of Conference Management and Professional Development.

Suggestions to keep in mind include:

• Familiarize yourself with the ADA legislation and stay on top of the issues.

• Aim for total accessibility.

• Know your audience. Encourage your registrants to specify their needs at the time they register.

• Assure that there is physical access to and within the facility, including public restrooms and sleeping rooms.

• Consider factors such as sign language interpreters and access to print materials, and be ready to arrange for such accommodations if requested.

• Explore alternatives. New technology makes the virtual meeting a barrier-free venue for all participants.

Ohio State ADA Coordinator L. Scott Lissner said that including a statement about the availability of accommodations is a way to invite individuals with disabilities to participate in creating a more accessible event.

"By encouraging advance inquiries, you can identify any needed accommodations early so that they can be implemented in a seamless fashion that normalizes rather than draws attention to access," he said.

If you receive questions about accessibility or an accommodation request but are not sure how to respond, contact Lissner at 292-6207, 688-8604 (TTY), ADA-OSU@osu.edu or http://ada.osu.edu.

By Kevin Fitzsimons The Fawcett Center is one of the many members of the Conference Corridor, a group of businesses seeking to attract conference, meeting and workshop business to the University area.

Conference Corridor

Inns, other facilities join forces with OSU to encourage University-area business

While Columbus has the Columbus Visitors and Convention Bureau, one might say that the University area has its own visitors bureau to bring convention and conference business into the University area and to showcase Ohio State.

The University Conference Corridor is a collaboration between Ohio State and the local hospitality industry intended to expand conference capabilities for educational, scientific and professional groups. Members pool resources in order to attract local, national and international business meetings, training seminars, shareholders meetings and staff training.

The corridor consists of the Fawcett Center, Blackwell Inn at Fisher College, Longaberger Alumni House, Office of Continuing Education, Buckeye Hall of Fame CafŽ, Jerome Schottenstein Center/Value City Arena, Ohio Union, Drake Performance and Event Center, University Plaza Hotel, Cross Country Inn, Red Roof Inns, Holiday Inn on the Lane, and Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott.

The alliance benefits both Ohio State and the corridor members, said Melodie Crall-Reed, sales account manager with University Plaza Hotel, a corridor member which is owned by the Ohio State endowment fund.

"This is an opportunity for us to bring larger events to this area that would typically go downtown," Crall-Reed said. "It's an opportunity to showcase Ohio State and show that it is more than an athletic institution."

In turn, corridor members benefit from opportunities to participate in multifacility events, to fill in times that wouldn't otherwise be busy, to offer clients additional services and to increase revenues, Crall-Reed said.

And pooling resources dramatically increases conference potential.

"It allows us to go after a big business or a conference that we could not handle on our own," said Daren Lehman, director of revenue management for the Fawcett Center and the Blackwell Inn.

By being linked with Ohio State, corridor members can not only accommodate with conference quarters, but also provide educational resources such as classrooms, computer labs, libraries, auditoriums and theaters, he said.

The corridor promotes itself and the University area through cooperative advertising and marketing, and by participating in trade shows across the country. Members are also pursuing conference business right at home.

"We'll be targeting Ohio State professors to see if the organizations they belong to would like to host a convention or conference within the conference corridor," Crall-Reed said.

Formed in the early 1980s, the corridor was active throughout the 1980s, but went through a hiatus until being reactivated in 1995. Crall-Reed said members are just starting to hit their stride after the reactivation. The corridor hosted the U.S. Transplant Games in 1998, and will be bringing in 30 Ohio meeting planners June 6-7 to showcase what the campus area has to offer.

Much new business can be generated just by making people aware of the hidden benefits of some of the high-profile campus-area facilities, such as the Schottenstein Center and Fawcett Center, said Steve Smith, Ohio State's assistant director of housing services.

"For example, you drive by the Schottenstein Center, and that is easy to sell for a large arena or sports event, but most people don't realize that they also have meeting space," he said. Also, there's the Fawcett Center -- people don't realize they can stay there even without a University affiliation, he said.

"You have a full-service hotel literally within a five-minute walk from major events, with high-speed Internet connection in every room," Smith said.

Drackett Tower on north campus is the headquarters for the summer conference housing office.       By Jo McCulty

Columbus campus hosts 20,000 conference, orientation guests in summer housing

Ohio State's residence halls do not lie dormant during the summer months.

In fact, the hustle and bustle condensed into 12 weeks of the summer season will keep a staff of 40 working day and night as hosts to an estimated 20,000 guests attending more than 100 camps -- conferences, athletic training events, orientation and a variety of other meetings.

And that's not to mention the students who live on campus during the summer in Jones and Morrison towers. Even Morrison will function as lodging for a few meeting attendees before students move in for the summer session beginning June 18.

Steve Smith, assistant director of Housing, Food Services and Event Centers (HFSEC) and head of summer conference housing, is the first to admit that residence hall rooms don't offer all of the extras that a hotel might. But what the accommodations may lack in luxury, he said, is compensated by quality service and a number of amenities: high-speed Internet connections, access to stellar meeting facilities such as the new Pfahl Hall in the Fisher College complex, recreation center privileges and, for most, an air-conditioned two-room suite complete with a private bathroom and a microwave.

"I've got great dorm rooms," Smith said. "But they are still dorm rooms."

That doesn't seem to bother the thousands who travel to Ohio State year after year to attend the variety of events hosted at Ohio State during the summer -- some groups use OSU housing for their off-campus meetings, too. This year, among the major groups staying on campus will be an African Christian Fellowships meeting, drawing international visitors; the Christian Missionary Alliance, meeting at the Columbus Convention Center -- a group so large it will occupy a number of the city's hotels as well as 4,000 of the approximately 5,000 beds available at Ohio State during the summer; and an international track and field camp to be hosted by Olympic star Carl Lewis. OSU also has become the annual host to the Hudson Bay Canvassers, a group that holds a training camp for political activists, complete with mock demonstrations. The first camp to arrive every summer: a molecular spectroscopy international symposium of scientists. The last: City Year, a weeklong training program for urban-area volunteers.

Some groups, such as those scientists, have been visiting Ohio State in the summer for decades. Smith said the summer conference housing program burgeoned in the 1970s, and now is established enough to ensure 90 percent occupancy all summer long. Summer housing rotates among all available residence halls; typically, one to the north and one to the south is undergoing renovations or maintenance work during the summer.

In addition to generating more than $2.5 million in revenues that are returned back to HFSEC in the form of housing improvements that benefit students, the summer conference program allows for stable year-round employment for food service and housekeeping employees, and provides a number of student employees valuable industry experience in finances, booking, accounting and other elements of running a lodging "business," Smith said.

Accommodating these camps means more than making reservations and feeding and housing guests, Smith noted. For example, last year, the staff equipped the campus with Braille signs and installed a "blue line" -- striping and ropes -- to allow conference participants at the American Association of the Deaf-Blind national conference to walk between residence halls and the Ohio Union. And when groups of Jewish visitors arrive, for instance, the staff ensures that kosher offerings are available in the dining halls.

It's all a part of providing Buckeye pride to Columbus visitors, Smith said.

"When you stay with us, you're going to get the Buckeye pride experience," he said. "People know Ohio State, and they want to come here because of that."

More information about summer conference and orientation housing is available on the Web at www.summerhousing.com.

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