UKCSJ - UK Conference of Science Journalists

I am keen to feature different points of view and different types of conference on Conference Cast. This post encompasses both of these aims, UKCSJ is not a classic academic conference but is a gathering of science journalists and other science writers organised by the Association of British Science Writers (ABSW) to discuss and review the big scientific issues that are of interest to the public. It was written by Sallie Robins, the conference director, who offers her thoughts on putting together a successful conference.

To find out more about the actual goings on at UKCSJ see the posts over on the Of Schemes and Memes blog here and here, including storifys from all of the sessions. You can find my own thoughts on my first attempt at conference organisation on the Soapbox Science blog as part of the recent 'Beginnings' series, here.

Name: Sallie Robins

Date: 25th June 2012

Location: Royal Society, London, UK

Website: http://www.ukcsj.org/

The secret to successful conference organisation is to be almost invisible in keeping everything running smoothly. Delegates and speakers should be blissfully unaware of the highs and lows behind the scenes. So how do you achieve this? Well to be honest, by getting the right people on board early, plenty of elbow grease and by always having a plan B, and sometimes a C, D and E.

The UK Conference of Science Journalists (UKCSJ) took place for the second time in June this year, as Director of the Conference I am of course biased, but feedback has given the impression that everything did ‘work’ and of course if things don’t you usually get to hear about it pretty quickly. So what is involved in organising a one day conference for 250 delegates? The two key elements are content and logistics and both have an equal part to pay in the final success of the event.

Content

Content comes first and for this you need to identify your primary audience. For the UKCSJ it is Association of British Science Writers (ABSW) members and other science journalists. You can have secondary audiences, in the case of the UKCSJ those with a key interest in science and the media, such as press officers, but identifying a clear primary audience will really sharpen the focus of the event.

Once you have an audience you need to encourage them to pay for an event and take a day away from their desk. This involves combining three aspects guidance from the host – the ABSW, the interests of the audience and the ideas of your planning committee. Luckily, ABSW members are continually involved in other events and online discussions which highlight the key issues that they are interested in. By monitoring the ABSW discussion list, and social media you can get a good feel for the issues that might attract them to a conference. The President of the ABSW gave a clear steer on three themes that formed discussion strands at the UKCSJ this was combined with impressions from online discussions mentioned above and used to generate a long list of sessions.

These ideas were supplied to our stellar planning group of science journalists and others with their fingers on the pulse of science in the media. This included representatives from broadcasting and print, bloggers, specialist press and national media. The committee only had one long and lively meeting during which a short list of sessions was agreed on and members of the group took ownership of specific sessions. This was followed up with many online discussions where the committee worked up each session focus, populated the panels with speakers and skilled science journalist chairs.

Logistics

This is probably the harder task as it is a bit of a solo journey for the Director who just needs to make it happen. First the budget, what will the event cost in terms of the venue, catering, audio visual requirements, print needs, the list goes on but you do need to spend time at the outset to identify all costs and then perhaps add 10% as contingency. What will your income be, through delegate fees and sponsorship? You need to set clear targets for delegate numbers and income and for sponsorship income and then monitor them to see if you are on track at various key points. You may be able to reduce costs or perhaps even the size of the event if you need to avoid a financial loss.

Then the work begins on meeting your target income. Early bird delegate rates, social media, a website with continuous updates on the programme all play their part in drawing in delegates and income. Finding sponsors is almost a dedicated job in itself, but at the heart of it is identifying what your conference has to offer a sponsor that they can’t get elsewhere. A ‘set menu’ of options for sponsors based on financial commitment is always but you must be flexible and creative, working up individual benefit packages with each sponsor. It also helps to be well connected, as it is always those that are already aware of your organisation or activities or who know your planning group, or speakers that are far more willing to come on board than those you approach ‘cold’.

Final preparations

So you have done a variety of publicity pushes and delegates are coming in at the rate you need; your programme is all but set and you have made the tricky decisions on the final timetable to avoid speaker clashes; you have enough in sponsorship to ensure break even; then it is time to ice the cake but don’t underestimate how this final stage will make all the difference to how the event runs on the day.

The final stages are all about lists and just working methodically through them. It may sound odd but I totally recommend a bit of visualisation, walking the day through in your head. Think of each stage, what is needed and what you still need to do to make this happen. At its most basic your conference comes down to three groups: speakers/chairs, sponsors and delegates. What do they need in the run up and on the day to ensure they get the most from the Conference?

Speakers and chairs need to be briefed so they know exactly what is expected of them, particularly in terms of the structure and timings. Always get your speakers discussing the session in advance as this leads to a far better debate on the day and will prevent too much overlap in presentations. For your sponsors you must ensure you deliver on everything promised - from branding to advance information on delegates - if you promised it you must make it happen. Your delegates have paid to attend and have expectations of the event, so you need to ensure you meet those expectations. Provide them with the information and help they might need on the day to make the most of the event. Don’t forget to draw up your own all important day plan with timed reminders at key points leaving your head clear to deal with the inevitable unexpected.

Wrap Up

After the event things move into wrap up which includes evaluation but most importantly must include genuine thanks and acknowledgement for all those involved from volunteers, to speakers, sponsors to delegates, AV technicians to caterers. You can then draw up your final figures and take time to reflect on the ‘if I could have done it differently’ – keep this on record as you never know you may well be doing it all again in a year’s, or in the case of the UKCSJ, two year’s time.

Sallie Robins was Co-Director of the World Conference of Science Journalists in 2009, and the UKCSJ in 2010 and Director of the UKCSJ in 2012. Sallie works as a freelance science publicist.

(Images courtesy of Lou Woodley, Laura Wheeler and Heather Doran, respectively)