Putting together an attractive schedule is every organizer’s duty — after all, it’s the activities you define that first spark the audience’s interest in attending. A schedule is one of the most fundamental steps in event planning, which is why you need to carefully choose the speakers and moderators, the types of activities, and the topics for your event. When planning a schedule, keep in mind that activity topics need to spark real interest from your audience while still making sense for your type of event. Here are amazing tips for organizing an attractive schedule that will considerably boost the number of participants at your event and turn it into a true success.
5 Tips for Creating an Attractive Event Schedule
1. Define the Types of Activities
Early in the planning stage, think about the types of activities that will make up your event’s schedule — especially for larger events, which usually run several activities at once. Another important thing to keep in mind is that some activity types take longer than others, like panel discussions and courses, while workshops and talks can be shorter and fit into more strategic time slots. It’s best to define the type of each activity first, then think about its topic, and finally build the schedule around how long each one takes. To make the schedule as clear as possible for participants, try organizing rooms and activity times by subject area — this helps you avoid scheduling conflicts and confusion during the event.
2. Choose Current, Relevant Topics to Make Your Schedule More Attractive
It’s essential to choose a topic that’s trending in your field and appeals to your invited audience — something students and professionals in the area are actively looking to learn more about and are interested in. You can find out which topics are trending in your field through Google or social media, like Big Data or UX Design, for example. Tools like Google Trends can help with this process, as can LinkedIn, based on trending hashtags — the more people post about a topic on social media, the more visibility and relevance it gains. Researching the topics your competitors are using can also be a great source of ideas.
3. Invite Reference Speakers and Moderators in Their Fields
During event planning, it’s very common for the organizing committee to already have speaker or moderator names in mind well before defining topics and activity types — but it’s not that simple. You need to pay attention to details like the speaker’s audience, teaching style, and subject matter. Is the audience this speaker usually reaches the same as your event’s audience? Is their teaching style right for the profile of the participants who’ll attend your event? These are some of the questions you should ask before inviting someone to moderate or speak at an activity. The best approach is careful curation — choosing good names and trending subjects that genuinely interest your audience. These factors are essential for making your schedule more attractive and, as a result, increasing the number of registrations.
4. Create Networking Breaks
It’s a good idea to divide your event’s schedule into blocks, especially if it runs for multiple days or a full day. Breaks are essential to keep participants from losing focus or interest in the topic being discussed, and they’re also when you help foster networking among attendees. You could, for example, offer a coffee break at the start of the day or in the late afternoon — a great opportunity to promote interaction and encourage the exchange of ideas and knowledge.
5. Promote Your Event’s Schedule to Attract More Attendees
A great way to attract even more people to your event is by promoting your schedule through strategic channels — social media, your event website, and any other media where your audience is present or can easily access.
