Big conferences take years to plan

Iowa Women Lead Change's annual Iowa Women's Leadership Conference attracts about 1,000 attendees to its Eastern Iowa conference.

And it holds three more in other areas in Iowa.

The conference has attracted speakers such as Martha Stewart and Suze Orman since the organization was formed in 2006, in an effort to empower women with leadership through education and networking.

'Our organization is a mission-based organization,' said Diane Ramsey, CEO of Iowa Women Lead Change. 'We believe that we're helping to make a difference for women and girls across the state.'

Multiday leadership conferences such as the Iowa Women's Leadership Conference attract large numbers of people each year and can take years to organize. Choosing a site, planning content and finding conference sponsorships is a time-consuming task for many of the conference organizers.

The planning process often varies from conference to conference because of the type or number of attendees.

Location

For some of Iowa's bigger leadership conferences, the first step to planning the event is selecting a host city and a venue. Steering committees or boards of directors for these conferences often choose the sites years in advance and sometimes sign contracts for multiple years at the same venue.

The Iowa Association of Business and Industry usually chooses its location and venue for the Taking Care of Business leadership conference three years ahead, said Holly Mueggenberg, members program director. In addition to adequate space for the conference and smaller workshops for its average 550 attendees each year, the association also looks for a venue with a golf course and other activities to keep the conference-goers active.

The Iowa FFA Association, a student agricultural organization, goes through a different process for its site selection for the Iowa FFA Leadership Conference each year because it serves upward of 5,000 attendees. Scott Johnson, executive secretary of the Iowa FFA Association, called site selection a 'cyclical process.'

He said the conference signs five-year contracts with sites and tries to plan three or four years in advance.

Johnson said cost is the 'still No. 1' factor when choosing a venue because the organization wants to 'get the most bang for our buck.'

The process may be simpler for the Iowa Women's Leadership Conference as the event is held in the same four cities each year. Ramsey said the organization tries to have the venues booked at least two years in advance and has used the same Corridor venue, the Marriott in Coralville, every year since the conference began until the event outgrew the location and moved to the DoubleTree by Hilton in Cedar Rapids for this year's conference in April.

The advantage to booking so far in advance for many of these conferences allows the organizing body to start booking speakers and ensures they have enough time to plan and prepare. In addition, it can announce the next year's conference during the current year's event.

Content

The most critical step is choosing and scheduling speakers and other content for the conferences. The organizers said they will try to book the most ideal keynote speaker as soon as the speaker's schedule allows — usually about a year in advance.

'If you don't have the right content and the right speakers, you don't have to worry about whether or not you'll fill the room,' Ramsey said. 'The selection of the speakers to me is the most critical piece.'

Booking the ideal keynote speaker often is a balance between getting a big name to attract attendees and for the right price to keep registration fees low. Ramsey said IWLC looks for connections to certain speakers or checking if the conference could be a book tour stop.

The process for determining content of its state leadership conference is a little different for the FFA. Johnson said the budget doesn't allow for the biggest names in agriculture and leadership, so speakers it does choose have less demanding schedules and can be booked about six months in advance.

Financing

Sponsorships often are a significant portion of the finances used to stage the events. Sponsorship dollars help keep registration fees reasonable for conference-goers or their employers who may pay for attendance.

Mueggenberg said that while the Taking Care of Business conference's revenue from sponsorships changes each year, the Iowa Association of Business and Industry would not be able to put on the conference as it does without its sponsors.

About 30 percent of his conference's budget comes from sponsorship dollars and support from the FFA foundation, Johnson said. Ramsey said the IWLC's is even higher, as about 55 percent of the conference budget comes from sponsorships.

Ramsey said the cost per day for each attendee is about $200 for the Iowa Women's Leadership Conference. She said the IWLC needs sponsorships to offer lower registration fees for college students and scholarships for those who cannot afford to attend.

Those who put on the conference 'very much believe that any women who would like to attend should have the opportunity,' Ramsey said. 'There are lots of benefits.'