Great care must be taken when trimming the conference budget NOT to skimp on
the critical items. If you are comparing prices, remember, you must compare like
with like. In most cases cheaper solutions are less effective.
Consider Technical Support
Take pity on your presenters. Consider having a Technical Operator on site. A presenter talking to an
informal gathering of twenty people, operating their own presentation is fine. For a large audience, no
presenter could be expected to fade lights, play tapes or CD's, operate a notebook computer and still
make a coherent speech.
A Technical Operator, on site, can handle all the switching and button-pushing for you. The resulting
presentation will be far more polished. An on site operator is also trained to handle technical
emergencies. This may be as simple as a member of the audience kicking out the power cord, but given
the stress of the moment, it takes a level-headed expert to get things moving again.
Some presenters like to turn up five minutes before they go on. Make them arrive early and rehearse.
Professionals always rehearse it is only the amateurs who don't rehearse!