There are many aspects to organizing a successful Statewide or Regional Meeting that can sometimes feel overwhelming. To make planning and organizing your event a breeze, here are some things to think about:
- Team of Volunteers Needed
You can never have enough helpers. There is not a place for “I” because you can’t do it alone; you need a team to pull off a great conference. Make sure you make everyone feel valued and heard. It was brought to my attention last year that a team member felt as if their ideas and suggestions were not recognized or heard, and they finally were able to bring it to my attention as the conference leader. Make sure you stay open to suggestions and listen to your team members. On the Virginia Statewide Payroll Conference Committee, we currently have chairs for several committees like Registration, Speakers, Sponsors/Vendors, Social Media, Hotel, Charity, Marketing and Communications, and Gifts and Donations. All these volunteers play a huge role in ensuring our conference goes off seamlessly.
- Prepare a Detailed Budget
The Virginia Statewide Payroll Conference (VSPC) Treasurer builds a budget for the team each year based upon what we think our attendee count will be. It can be a guessing game to determine how many attendees you expect to register. During our current conference, we budgeted for 120 attendees, and we ended up having quite a few more than that. The Treasurer works with each committee to determine what their needs are going to be for this year’s conference. It is important to consider everything when building a budget. Bouncing back from the pandemic has been difficult because costs have risen, especially for the hotel and food costs. The budget can help you to determine what you need to charge attendees for the conference, so you are able to at least break even.
- Advertising on Social Media
Have a great group who post about the things going on with your conference, your theme, and especially your vendor sponsors. Use all avenues of social media like Facebook, LinkedIn and X (formerly known as Twitter).
- Vendor Support
Reach out and get your vendors involved. Their sponsorship and support are invaluable. By teaming up together, we can make sure that the vendors get the contacts and possible clients they are looking for and we get to learn about new products as well as financial support to help defray costs of the conference.
- Develop a Conference Theme
Make sure you continually advertise your theme to attendees so that they can be part of the event. Years ago, we had a 1920’s theme and everyone dressed up in costumes. One of the best themes we had recently was a medical theme. You wouldn’t think that would be fun; however, when you have creative people like Stephanie Salavejus, CPP on your team, she comes up with great costume ideas and you have fun. What was my costume, you ask? I was a prescription pill bottle. We had a photo booth opportunity for the attendees, so we had a lot of fun and lots of pictures. It’s important to get everyone involved in the theme.
I hope you find these tips helpful when you are leading a chapter meeting or conference. I am thankful for the great team members I have worked with over the years at the chapter and conference levels. Remember your hiccups will happen but smile through it and don’t let your attendees know anything is wrong. It will be a great meeting/conference, and everyone will enjoy the education and hanging out with payroll friends. I hope your conference or meeting turns out great.
Linda Dailey, CPP is Payroll Manager at Bowman Consulting Group and serves as PayrollOrg’s Region 7 Board of Advisor and various committees including the National Speakers Bureau, GRTF Garnishments Subcommittee, and SPLTF Government/ Public Sector Best Practices Subcommittee. On the chapter level, Linda has served in various chapter officer roles for the Richmond Chapter, Charles Town West Virginia Chapter, and Washington Metro Area Chapter. These roles include Study Group Coordinator, Education Director, Statewide Coordinator, Treasurer, and President.
Visit the ‘Grow Your Chapter’ page to view guides, references, forms, and support created by PAYO staff, chapter officers, and Board of Advisors to help all PAYO chapters thrive.
