Your Seminar Planning Checklist: 16 Steps to Success
Starting your seminar planning as early as possible
Once you’ve got the green light on your seminar (at the very minimum, four to six months before your event), you need to start the tasks below. The sooner you can check these tasks off your seminar planning list, the better!
1. Establish your goals and objectives
- Write down your seminar’s purpose
- Set goals for how many people do you want to attend in person or watch your live stream
- Set a clear profit goal
2. Put together a rough budget
- Borrow similar figures from past seminars for a baseline
- Fill in the holes with educated guesses
3. Select a date
- Choose two dates — an optimal and a second best for backup, since you may have to be flexible to get your venue of choice
4. Choose a location, venue, and vendors
- Select your ideal geographic location and identify venues in the area
- Determine how many people will be attending your seminar to set your capacity needs
- Ask each venue if they provide WiFi and have the infrastructure you need
- Learn if your venue of choice has preferred vendors, and if not, identify local vendors you can rely on
- Review your contract with these questions in mind before signing
5. Research speakers
- Start by identifying speakers who have spoken at similar seminars
- Watch recordings of their talks and compile a list of ideal picks
- Solidify your ask (date, compensation, and type/length of talk) and reach out
6. Start your sponsor search
- Determine what kind of sponsorship activations you can offer
- Research sponsors who’ve partnered with similar seminars to yours and brands who are trying to reach your target audience
- Compile a list of your top choices and begin your cold email outreach
- Use this workbook to determine the market rate of your sponsorship packages
Three months out: Digging into the details
Once you’ve got a framework in place, it’s important to keep budgets updated as you receive estimates and quotes. That way, you can get a clearer picture of your expected revenue. This is also when you need to begin your seminar marketing efforts.
7. Finalize speakers
- Finalize speaker fees and contracts
- Get bio info and photos
- Arrange travel and accommodations
8. Organize financials
- Choose a ticketing or registration technology
- Finalize sponsorship contributions
9. Build your seminar website
First, decide whether you’ll need a website or direct traffic to your registration page
- If you need a website, get sign-off from stakeholders on design
- Once you have stakeholder approval, update your site (if you have one) or build a new site
- Double check that your site infrastructure can handle increased traffic when you go on sale
- Make sure your website is mobile-optimized
10. Start promotion
- Develop a messaging doc aligned with your brand
- Incorporate your seminar promotion into your email and social media schedules
- Don’t forget to create your Facebook Event
- Distribute your seminar across online event calendars
- Create promo videos to use on social media
- If you need help scheduling, use this template to plan your marketing calendar
11. Finalize venue details
- Work with a caterer on the menu
- Secure A/V equipment
- Review security needs and plan
- Apply for any special permits, licenses, etc.Create signage and an attendee communication plan
12. Draft your seminar agenda
- Outline your seminar’s schedule and decide who’ll speak when
- Don’t forget to give your attendees breaks!
- Once you’ve completed a draft, share it with decision makers for approval
Two months before: Finalizing details
With your seminar in sight, the days are flying by. Here’s what you need to focus on in the two months leading up to your event.
13. Convince interested event-goers
Space out emails over the next three to four weeks to let those on the fence know that they have a limited time to registerUse retargeting ads to target people who started the registration or purchase process, but failed to complete the process
14. Finalize schedule and scripts
Make sure everyone has the same scheduleGet sign off on any scripts from speakers
15. Update your stakeholders
Email your company stakeholders, speakers, and sponsors with final registration numbers
16. Confirm timings of all your vendors
- Caterer
- A/V
- Decorations
- Speakers
The day before
With the tactical advice in this post, you’re set to plan a successful seminar. As your event approaches, use this day-of checklist to make sure everything is in its right place — so you can rest easy.