7 tips for my future self on how to organize a conference - a blogpost by Varbina Ivanova

I have always enjoyed going to conferences - hearing about others' research, showing my work and participating in scientific discussions and networking events. Still, I didn't realize quite how much planning it takes to organize such an event until June this year when the ALLODD 1st Training School & Networking Meeting took place in Barcelona, Spain. As prof. Xavier Barril’s ALLODD ESR, I had the chance to be part of the organization of the Barcelona meeting events - the Allosterism & Drug Discovery Conference and the ALLODD Training School. Being on the organizational team, I learned all about the little details of scientific meetings and experienced a real organizational process - from having a well-planned program and interesting speakers to thinking about coffee breaks and networking events; from counting numbers and budgets to sending organizational emails to participants. After successfully going through the ups and downs of conference organization, I decided to prepare myself a list of important points on how to plan scientific events. Here are my 7 tips for future conference organization:

1. Always think about the budget. Whatever your budget is, you always have to think about how to fit the event expenses in it. There are many ways to expand a budget but if it is limited you need to make sure to cover as much as possible with it. This always includes expenses for speakers, coffee breaks, conference rooms and spaces and other networking events. If finances are running short you can try to reduce the bills by choosing the basic coffee break offer or inviting speakers who are closer to the conference location. There are many ways to fit into the budget and you should always keep a track of it.
2. Plan the program early on. Conference program planning is definitely not a straightforward process. Now I am seeing it more as a never-ending cycle. First, you think about the theme of the meeting, build the ideas of the talks on diversity and relevance and contact potential speakers. But then things get interesting - people already have other conferences to attend, they are not available or simply not answering their emails. And then you have to rearrange the program on availability again and again. A lot of things can go sideways and finding suitable speakers takes time so the earlier you start planning this the better!
3. Good advertisement is important. Making your event and its program known to as many people as possible will not only increase the interest in it but also the participants’ list and, if applicable, your budget. Having an interesting program and putting it in the announcement of the event is essential! Also, don’t forget to post about it on various and relevant social media.
4. Think about the participants. When you get the advertisement up and going, that’s your cue to concentrate on the participants’ registration. Preparing registration forms, sending confirmation emails and updating the registered on organizational details are good practices that speak well about the conference. Keep in mind that this also helps you keep track of the numbers and set a limit for the number of conference participants, if needed. After the event, it is also valued if you provide attendance certificates to the participants.
5. Booking places has its surprises. As soon as you have a general idea of the conference numbers, it is essential to start booking rooms and conference spaces. Still, you might stumble on unpleasant surprises - the rooms you prefer might be unavailable, the perfect venue for your networking event could be already taken, or there might be problems with air conditioning and space for the coffee breaks. Whatever unplanned things happen along this process, don't stress and be open to alternatives. There is always a way to build a great conference!
6. Don't forget the small details. I cannot even list all the small things you have to keep in mind while organizing a conference but I will mention my favorite ones. Name tags for the participants, gifts for the speakers, water and other amenities; Registration desk, microphones and multimedia in the rooms; A chairperson for every session, poster session organization and networking event planning. You can always think of ways to make the conference experience better, and learning about it comes with practice and even more so from being on the other side as a participant.
7. Enjoy the event. The best advice I can give my future self for conference organization, apart from planning earlier and taking care of the people, is to be present and appreciate the event itself. Probably, mistakes will be made and things may go wrong along the way, but instead of stressing out, fix them as you can, and don’t forget to be proud of your organizational work. On this note, I have to say that being part of the organization of the second ALLODD meeting has been a great experience for me and I am thankful to my supervisor prof. Barril and to prof. Curutchet for including me and ESR4, Özge Ergun, in the planning process - teaching us the essentials of conference organization. Putting in all these efforts made being part of the meeting even sweeter and I cannot wait for the next ALLODD events and planning the next conference.

Happy moments from the ALLODD 1st Training School & Networking Meeting included below!