Well, the conference was a success. 46 Delegates arrived fro around europe, and 17 talks were given, along side a number of posters. We recieved very positive feedback from the delegates regarding the conference, and from the public regarding our open day at the museum.
We would like to thank all our sponsors and those that attended the meeting.
Not a lot to report. We have confirmed our lunch provider and set the menu, we have sent out invitiations to the conference to local groups such as the Manchester Geological Association, and we have begun circulating emails to post-grad students (emailing lists were based on abstract books from previous years and our personal contacts).
Already we are getting people signing up and submitting abstracts.
We’d like to drop a few links in for our readers.
Firstly is the Careers service weblog, with whom we are writing this blog. Their RSS can be found to the right.
Next up is our society website, along with a page for joining online.
Well, we can now be found on the University Student’s Union webpages as a society. The advantages of this with regards to hosting progressive palaeontology are two-fold. Firstly we can organse sponsorship funds with a university society bank account (which looks a little more professional than asking money to be sent to us individually), and secondly we can advertise the conference through/to our members as well.
We would also like to say thanks to the Manchester Geological Assocation for sponsorship. You can visit their website here:
The business plan – what is it and why?
Well, it’s basically a summary or statement of the conference, outlining current progress and acheivable goals. It should evolve as progress is made with regards to booking facilities and attendee resistration.
The business plan is therefore central to your own organisation of the conference. It can also be used as a formal means to communicate the conference to internal and external groups where necessary, in instances where a flashy poster or website are not appropriate. For example, it may be necessary to seek funding for your conference – the cost of receptions, coffee breaks and meeting facilites soon add up (take our word for it!!). This business plan is the place to formally establish the budget for your conference and communicate the importance of achieving it to potential sponsors.
With regards to the business plan, we won’t say what you should and shouldn’t include, as it will probably vary a lot from case to case. What we will do though is provide you with a generic plan we use. It should be noted that this plan is always tailored specifically to the potential sponsor, varying between academic and private companies. The version available here was tailored to a University Faculty and is therefore heavy on the science. Private companies probably won’t be as interested in this level of detail so its probably better to keep it shorter and punchier in such cases.
You can download the business plan below.
Karl and Peter
So we’ve convinced you that organizing a conference is a good idea – but where should you start?
Well you’ve probably got two options. One, you can contact an organization or funding body who have annual conferences and ask to host the next available meeting. Those who have read our earlier posts will remember that this is exactly what we did…..on a drunken dare! Alternatively, if you’re really brave you can invent your own conference, probably with a specific theme. If you decide to go down this route its probably a good idea to contact colleagues in your field to make sure enough people will be interested.
Think about what you will have to provide – if you’re hosting a new conference you need to decide what you will require – a lecture theatre will probably be a necessity, but aside from this you might want to host a function such as a dinner or reception? How many days will the conference run for? Will any special equipment be needed for presentations? A room for posters perhaps? How will attendees be accomodated? What dates will it run on (and will it clash with any other major conferences in your field)?
In the case of continuing a regular or annual conference, as we are doing, many of the specific requirements are already clear: we know from previous prog pals that the conference runs for 1 day, with an annual meal in the evening, usually a reception the night before, and that attendees generally find their own accomodation, and that it generally runs sometime between April and June. In the past oral sessions have been the main focus, with poster sessions during coffee breaks. One advantage of continuing a regular conference is that you know where the bar is set in terms of quality. Whether you want to accomplish something near that bar, or try and go above and beyond it is upto you.
Knowing what you will need will let you get a general idea for venues and equipment, and the associated costs. You can then start putting together a business plan. This will provide you with a focus and definite goals and deadlines to meet, and allow you to begin to address the big matter of funding!
Karl and Peter
So why go to all this trouble? What are the benefits to a group of post-grads for organising a conference?
Well, it’s good experience! Skills and experience relevant to organizing meetings and conferences is valuable in any future careers and universally attractive to employers. As PhD graduates we’ll be competing with bright researchers from the worlds top academic institutions and something like organising and hosting a well known conference (at least within one’s own fields) provides a nice edge over competitors. In other words, it looks very good on your C.V.s!
Hosting the conference is also an opportunity to enhance one’s reputation by spreading your name around, both at the conference and after in reports for newsletters, conference abstract books, word of mouth etc. It will also do wonders for the Univesity of Manchester. It presents an opportunity to showcase not only your own research but also your institution to your peers. This might be particularly important if your research group has a specific focus or unique strength that might be emphaized in the conference (For instance, our group specializes in high performance 3D modelling, hence the visualisation session in our conference). This will have a knock-on effect for us in that we will be obtaining PhDs from a University well known for excellence and innovation in palaeontology.
Finally (and most importantly) – it should be fun and rewarding! Make no mistake, it will be hard work but when things start to fall into place its a great buzz!
Karl + Peter
