Selecting Topics and Speakers – Part 3 of the Statewide and Regional Meeting Series

The most important aspects of a statewide or regional meeting are the agenda and the speakers. Here is where it pays to do a lot of networking with your chapter and attendees to see what topics they would like to hear. In the third part of our six-part Chapter Leaders Blog series on effectively planning statewide and regional meetings, we’ll cover methods for determining your topics and finding speakers who fit the agenda.

Collecting Feedback

To plan the agenda for the 2019 Wisconsin Statewide Payroll Conference, we started by sending a survey to the 2018 conference attendees right after the event. The survey results helped us determine what they did and didn’t like, and what topics they would like to learn about next year. We also asked our members for feedback on what they would like to hear in a round table setting during the chapter meeting immediately following the statewide. We built our 2019 statewide agenda with the help of that feedback. 

Finding Speakers

There are many routes you can take to find speakers for your selected topics, including:

1. Talking to the contracted vendors and asking if they could provide a speaker. (For example, a workshop on multi-state taxation was requested and one of the vendors provided a speaker for that topic.)

2. Reaching out to the APA and other chapters for speakers on various topics. (Click here for a full list of National Speakers Bureau members and their presentation topics.)

3. Reaching out to local agencies such as the Child Support agency or the local Department of Labor. Typically you will be paying expenses for these speakers, so remember to budget accordingly.

4. Stopping by at the various vendor and agency booths at Congress or attending the “hot topic” classes at Congress. Introduce yourself to the speaker, ask for a business card, and ask if they would be interested in speaking at your statewide or regional meeting.

5. Looking to members of your community. In the past we have reached out to the local police department to talk about cyber security-a very important topic to payroll professionals. Business professionals may also be able to speak on non-payroll topics such as stress management, lean processes, and leadership.

Remember to have a few backup options in case someone needs to cancel. We have a few National APA speakers in our local chapters who we ask to be prepared to fill in if necessary. You cannot predict some schedule changes due to weather, illness, or personal commitment, and thus, it is good to have some backup speakers.

This article is the third of a six-part series on effectively planning statewide and regional meetings, authored by Statewide Coordinator and Past President of the Northeast Wisconsin Chapter, Stephanie Ernsting, CPP. Subscribe to the blog for weekly updates!

Read Part 1 on Finding the Right Venue Using an RFP.

Read Part 2 on Preparing a Thorough Budget.