Creative Conference Consultancy - The Why and the What

building a strong event by knowing your Purpose and your Theme

One part of the Tactile Academia ethos is the sharing of information. And one way to do this is via events, be that a workshop, conference or symposium, or maybe even something more creative, like an Academic Afternoon Tea. As somebody who has been to many of these events as a delegate/participant, I was often frustrated when I came across things that were just not thought about. Maybe they meant frustration signing up or attending at some point, sometimes I just came across lost opportunities. I believe that creative and well-run events are achievable at any budget, and I have therefore started what I call my Creative Conference Consultancy, where I help people design, plan and run the (academic) event of their dreams. And because you are reading my Substack, I am going to share some tips with you. (If you want me to consult for your event, please let me know!)

I started writing these little pieces, planning to do them in no particular order, but then immediately realised that I kept referring back to two things that I believe are crucial to get in place as soon as possible, so it makes sense to start with them. They are the why and the what - your purpose and your theme.

The Purpose

It may seem a very basic question, but I think it is a necessary one (and one that academic event organisers often don’t think about enough when putting together their events), so please bear with me. Here it is:

Why are you having the event?

I have been to plenty of events where organisers told delegates they wanted us to network, but where there was no activity on the schedule that helped with that and there was no time in the schedule to network outside of the sessions. I have heard of workshops where delegates were told that the day was about collecting ideas or feedback to help organisations formulate future plans, that ended in the slick presentation of the future plans that had been clearly put together before the day and therefore didn’t really take any of the work done during the workshop into real consideration. Neither of these events can really ever be successful, because it seems planners just went through the motions of putting together something based on a template, without really considering the actual purpose.

Your event will be stronger if you know why you are doing it, because it will help you decide the type of event it should be, since not all event formats are great for all purposes.

What does that mean for the type of event you should plan?

Here are some purposes that might be at the back of your planning mind, and some ideas of how to honour that purpose in your planning:

• If your overall purpose is to get people together to network, i.e. catch up with each other, maybe meet some new people interested or working in the same area, then plan an event that consists of or at least includes sessions where meeting new people is facilitated (for example a speed dating type session), where there is room in the schedule to actually talk to each other (for example by making the lunch and/or coffee breaks long or scheduling in a ‘free’ period), and using a location that has enough space for people and acoustics that allow people to hear each other.

• If your overall purpose is to introduce people to something new, maybe a new theory, methodology or process, that you are hoping they will adopt in future, make sure that you allow them the opportunity to try it out and to think about how they would make use of it, ideally going home not only inspired but with an action plan that includes a follow-up with you or a new network.

• If you want to give people the opportunity to tell others about their work, a traditional conference set-up with pre-prepared talks might work well.

• If you are broadcasting a new policy or plan (‘broadcasting’ in the sense that you want to tell people about this but aren’t really interested in their feedback at this point), you might want to make it very specific and snappy. You might not need an in-person event for this, maybe something that is recorded would work better.

• If you want to pick people’s brains about a specific issue, consider a workshop set-up - and don’t forget to brief them in advance, so they can start the thinking work before they get there. Also make sure you have a follow-up plan in regards to what will happen to that input - and let your delegates know how and when this is happening and how they could find out more about it.

• If you want to find out about what people are thinking about, consider an unconference session, where delegates suggest topics in an ad hoc manner and then run their own sessions. Include a mechanism to feed back to you.

• If you want to celebrate something you might want to prepare a presentation of the thing you are celebrating and explain why it is the bee’s knees. But then, also have some time for actual celebration.

• If you want to show off a facility or location, make sure you find ways to not just show off but use it and/or include a way to explore the location via a tour or scavenger hunt type activity.

The Theme

One of the best things you can do to build a strong, creative event is to have a theme. Your theme is different to your purpose in that this is not why you are doing it, but rather what it is about. Your theme is different to a subject in that it should provide a focus on a particular aspect of a subject.

Conferences often have a theme which is published as part of the call for papers, so that the different sessions can be linked more easily. By giving people a theme in advance, conference organisers already set the scene of what is going to be discussed. If people aren’t interested in that theme, they will probably not come - and that is OK, the only thing more frustrating than being at an event that you are not interested in is running an event full of people who thought this was going to be about something else.

If you are organising an event that does not have a call for papers, maybe because you are inviting specific people or organising the sessions yourself, you probably already have something in mind that links them. If you don’t it will really help you if you can find a link, or make a link happen by coming up with a theme and briefing your speakers on it. If you can’t make this happen, are you sure this should be just one event? Maybe it is better to split them up?

A theme can be very tightly linked to your subject, or it can be broader. The Playful Learning Association, for example, likes to have playful themes such as ‘Pirates’ or ‘Olympics’ for their conferences. While on the surface these might not have anything to do with learning, they allow the practical exploration of playfulness, and the links to learning are made during the sessions. The Norwegian Forum for English for Academic Purposes likes to pick themes that can seem quite abstract, such as ‘EAP and Time’, ‘Beginnings’, ‘Stages’, ‘Articulations’, or ‘EAP and Positioning’. These really challenge the presenters in advance to consider perspective on their subjects they might not have thought about previously.

You could also pick a theme that relates to a location (maybe the one that it is held in, but maybe not) or a time of year (spring) or festival (Halloween; Christmas; Diwali; etc.). In that case you might have to work a bit harder to link to to your subject.

Why is a theme important?

A theme can make your event more coherent. It is basically the story that runs through your event, linking the different parts of it together. Being really clear on what the theme is will allow you to market it more easily as well as give you ideas for how to organise it. It can suggest ways of engaging with your audience, considering everything from the way you write your joining instructions to the type of catering you choose. And that is how your event will stand out.

However, try not to get so carried away with the theme that you forget your purpose and subject along the way. I once went to a conference that had a ‘Day on the Beach’ theme. We were handed beach towels and were sitting on a beach within a studio theatre space during some of the sessions. We got ice cream cones full of ink and used that to write postcards. I still have the little battery operated fan they gave us. I remember that theming so well, but while I remember the subject area (theatre design), I can not recall what the conference actually was about. If the planners’ purpose was to design a memorable event, it was a full success, if it was to teach me anything, they failed miserably… This is where the link between theme and subject might have been missing.

Whichever way of theming you choose, having a story that runs through provides you with touchpoints for your planning, and if you follow this thread for the whole of the event, it will result in a more memorable event. The trick is to use your theme to enhance your purpose and subject, not to overshadow them.

Can you recall any academic events that might have missed their purpose? Or any with a strong theme that just worked? Please share them in the comments and tell us what you liked and/or didn’t like about them!