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!

My PhD experience as part of the ALLODD network and project started some days before my official working day in late January 2022. Just a few days before, I came to explore the city and start adjusting myself to it. The beautiful and romantic atmosphere, the landscapes that the city of Budapest allows you to appreciate are overwhelming. I had never been in this city before, but I felt not so far from home, maybe this was also due to some companion of trip in the first days, but this is another story.

What I would like to focus on is my 6th month period spend here as a PhD student referring to how we perceive time, as someone once said “a year can be the longest or the shortest of your life” (even though we are talking about a half a year this time). The very first working day seems to be so far now but at the same time these full 6 months filled with tasks and events have passed so fast that it doesn’t really feel like half a year. I remember the first day to be caught by the beauty of the building I am currently working in, and the campus surrounding it: I was excited to start this new adventure. Having travelled for several Erasmus projects I took part in, I understood that just after colleagues and network for me the workplace contributes to appreciate what I do. Entering the lab for the first time I felt welcomed, one of my supervisors here introduced me to the group, and my meeting with lab colleagues was making me think glad and happy.

This first impression turned into something real the following days when starting to work. I can say that even though at the start can be a little shy talking with new people everyone showed to be welcoming and available anytime into answer you and dedicate you part of their time and this I really appreciate, and I thank them for it. The next day the work officially started: a project on HDAC8 inhibitors which revealed to be not as easy as predictable. The challenges I believe are those who shape us or shape our thoughts and if we can find a way of learning from that we maybe really could get to reach something good for our own personal and professional growth. Not just challenges but also having the chance to share and learn from more expert figures is something really important and which in my opinion can really drive the scientific progress. This is what I feel getting through the ALLODD network, to be driven somehow in what we do, which of course is not just internationally expressed but also related to the single labs. That said, so the ups and down of research already made their way toward me, but I liked it and I like the challenges, so I started giving myself to it in order to find solutions to the problems and I think several teachings came to my way.

As the first months passed by university events and responsibilities started to approach: exams courses and dates to establish, educational activities, the first meeting in Vienna for the ALLODD project together with some other small tasks, there was little time for stalling! I was thrilled at doing things, completing tasks and assuming responsibilities and meeting other ESRs like me extending our experiences and connections throughout national borders. From my point of view I could particularly appreciate the first ALLODD meeting cause it allowed us to introduce ourselves and while starting creating a network it give us the opportunity to get to know the people taking part in it, have some practical and also psychological training, lectures and experience whose lessons I will never forget and which I believe were really good to introduce as a start point in the first period of our PhD. I liked we had the chance to get to know more about the project, the scheduled events and exchange periods and other Professor and researcher of the ALLODD network, listen to their ideas and experiences, and of course it was also pretty nice to had a walking tour in the city!

Following this just other 3 months have passed filled with new deadlines, new project starting, webinars, reports, the journal clubs, and a new event from the ALLODD was already on the way: the Barcelona workshop. Two days of conference and three spent between presenting our work, training, and experiencing other scientists’ work and realities. Everything was well planned and organized, and we also had the chance to meet and live a little the city together with the other group members. It felt particularly intriguing even to get somehow in touch with other representatives and partners of the consortium through their intervenes and in break times and to deepen some concepts and approaches, and the contrast of previous and new research approach or strategies, all this especially well highlighted in the round tables.

So far, I am so glad to be part of this consortium I am happy I will have the chance to travel and exchange with the industrial world which I never experienced until now and have taken part to these events. It is nice to have the chance to get to know people from different background working together and share experiences and goals towards the common target which is allostery. I hope and I am sure our contribution in this will be important, and that the resources a network and in particular this network can bring will come up useful for understanding and exploring allostery. I am looking forward to other events and opportunity that this founded project will allow us to experience.