Explore our roles

The creator, director  and project manager

So, what the heck is a Conference Producer?

In summary, a Conference Producer takes the idea for a conference, researches the market to design an agenda and then finds speakers to bring the conference to life.

It looks a little like this…

The creator

It all starts with a topic brief which details a macro challenge or opportunity facing an industry, market or what we like to call a ‘community of interest’. The topic brief defines the event concept or the big idea for the event; the topic, who it’s targeted at and the benefit of attending.

However, the topic brief is just the seed of an idea. It’s the Conference Producer’s role to bring it to life.

To identify the topics and speakers that someone is willing to pay more than $2,000 to attend, i.e. to create the value that will provide at least a 5X return on that investment, requires deep industry contacts (which we have) and a structured research processes…this is our secret sauce.

Once the research is completed, you then translate your insights into a conference agenda which has topics that no one else is asking.

The director

The next phase is to find a list of #superstar speakers to create a ‘must attend’ event.

Just like someone in public relations, you need to communicate your vision for the conference to other stakeholders such as potential speakers, industry groups and media partners, to gain their buy-in, feedback…and re-engineer the conference along the way, if needed.

The project manager

Once all the speakers have signed on, we design a brochure, website and have a commercial product to go to market. The project is now officially your baby to see through!

Now we need to sell the event which means working with sales and marketing teams to ensure a successful launch and campaign. You will also need to brief the operations team to ensure we deliver a great experience for all attendees. You may also need to “firefight” when speakers drop out or something unforeseen occurs last minute. The conference is your baby to see through to the end…just like one of our values: commit and deliver.

Not for the faint-hearted

Do you have what it takes? Here are a few personal traits that will see you thrive and enjoy this role.

	Passionate about making a positive change on wider social, economic and public issues
	Are curious about how the economy works and have a hunger for knowledge about the latest industry news, trends and events. You enjoy reading a wide array of topics such as tech, social services, business and economic issues etc… Kim Kardashian is welcomed in the mix, too 🙂
	Love challenging the status quo and you don’t give up easily when faced with challenges, pressures and deadlines. You thrive when multitasking.
	Have a genuine interest in people; you enjoy uncovering what motivates and challenges people and want to facilitate opportunities for them.
	Bonus point: A knack for writing in plain English; you have the foundations for using language to communicate complex ideas simply. No essay writing here or trying to be clever by writing ‘sales’ copy.

 

Your journey

There will be some dragons to slay on the journey to become a good Conference Producer. The good news; we will be with you every step of the way.

0-3 months – The Hell Stage

This is your first ever conference and it’s tough. You will feel overwhelmed as you’re likely to be producing an event in a subject area or industry that you’re are not familiar with. You may also find it challenging making research phone calls with super senior people. Hang in there!

How we help: our experienced Conference Directors will set up a tailor-made development plan depending on your strengths and the areas in conference production you need development. We also have an internal playbook with best practices and practical frameworks that guides you through the craft of conference production. Your first event will take around 6-weeks to complete, so you’ll be on your second and third event in no time.

4-6 months – the first taste of success

Your first event will be run five to six months after you started. Seeing your first conference go live is a great achievement so well done…woohoo. You will see how the community, industry or market you’ve brought together, engage at the event. You’ll receive feedback on how you’ve helped make an impact on the careers of the delegates through new networking opportunities and ideas to help them improve their team or organisation. By the time you’ve run your first event, you will be producing your third or fourth conference…things are starting to heat up…your juggling skills will be tested.

7-12 months – Seeing your craft coming together

By now you will have a stronger grasp for how the craft of conference production works. You will begin to take control of the end-to-end process. You’ll be more comfortable synthesising research insights with industry trends and understand how to translate them into a conference agenda. You’ll be less nervous speaking to a government minister, CEO or an industry heavyweight. In fact, you’ll find it meaningful, interesting and a lot of fun.

The purpose for this period is to hone your production skills by producing events in different industries. Exposure to multiple industries will also help identify the industries you want to specialise in the future.

12 months and on – Mastery of your craft

Your knowledge of how to produce conferences should now be quite strong…you may even feel that some kind of superpower has developed. After 12 months, good Conference Producers have a strong purpose for going to work every day and enjoy making a positive change on the communities and industries within which they produce events.

Now your purpose may split down one of two paths. To either produce large scale events or continue producing great events while mentoring new Conference Producers to also do great work. Either path is as valid as the other…the path you take will depend upon matching your skills and goals with our business needs.

After two to three years, your options open up and you might be ready to lead your own team, a bunch of events or even a business unit.