Thursday 15 July 2010

What should be the duration of your conference in Leicester?

1 – 2 hours

When a conference drags out over a long period of time the audience generally tend to lose interest and therefore do not pay attention to what you are saying. Taking this into consideration, planning a short and concise conference in Leicester allows you to pass on your information and leave. The audience have no time to switch off and so no time is wasted on your part or theirs.
However, by having such a short conference it may be hard to fit in all the extra elements besides the presentation(s), such as networking, refreshments, a break. Also some people may see it as more of a seminar in Leicester, rather than a conference.

3 – 4 hours
This is often the typical length of a conference in Leicester. With this amount of time available, it allows you to be quite flexible when it comes to fitting in presentations and networking. It also offers you the option to fit in a guest speaker and even an interactive section.
Opting for 4 hours also enables you to offer food and therefore keep us the energy levels of the audience and encourage them to network.
However, do be careful to not completely fill the allocated time with presentations. Although it may be tempting to employ all this time to pass on information and try to sell your services to your attendees, this will simply put them off.
Aim to make the Leicester conference fun and interesting to keep your attendees interested and alert.

4 hours +
It is quite rare to find a conference in Leicester that lasts for longer than 4 hours. Not only does this mean that you will have to require food for two meals but it is also probable that your attendees with either leave before the end or become extremely bored and not pay you any attention at all.
However, choosing to host a conference in Leicester that does run over 4 hours can offer some very interesting alternatives. For example, you may be able to have a conference that runs over night and thus organise a game of laser quest, a pub quiz or a meal out. You could also apply a far more relaxed approach and have an exhibition section with intervals of presentations, question and answer sections and even a raffle of some business services.
But, if you do choose this option you will need to offer several elements to ensure your attendees will not leave early as asking for more than 4 hours of people’s time is quite ambitious.

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