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First of all, be prepared for changes. Circumstances change and speakers might not be available at all any more or only at certain times. Other speakers might be able to fill existing gaps.

[Edit]1 Required information

To be able to plan the schedule you need the following information:

• Opening times.
• Time slot length: Usually 45 min, followed by a break of at least 15 min so the audience can go to other rooms, have a drink, or chat with the speaker.
• Times for coffee and lunch breaks.
• Number of seminar rooms.
• Size of seminar rooms: number of seats.
• Number of presentations.
• Length of presentations: one or more time slots.
• Importance of presentations: Some presentations shouldn't be held at times people might find unattractive, and some might be so important that no other presentations should be held in parallel.
• Estimated size of audience for presentations.
• Special equipment requirements for presentations that are not met by all seminar rooms.
• Availability of speakers.

Once you have that and a sufficient number of presentations has been confirmed, you can start planning. At least two third of the available slots should be covered.

[Edit]2 Rules

A number of rules apply. Some of these simply cannot be ignored, some need be followed for a decent result, and some might be broken under certain circumstances. The rules are listed with decreasing priority.

• Speakers can do more than one presentation, but they can't do that at the same time. Exclusive criterion!
• Speakers can team up. Make sure speaker team members are not individual speakers of different presentation that runs at the same time. Exclusive criterion!
• Every presentation should be held twice. Exceptions are longer workshops and panel discussions. This is so visitors can attend as many presentations as they find interesting.
• Two presentations shouldn't be held in parallel twice. This is to avoid competing for the same audience twice.
• No speaker should hold more than two presentations unless in a team with another speaker. This is to avoid overstraining as speakers should have a pleasant stay, too.
• Speakers shouldn't have to hold their presentations at inconvenient times twice, i.e., first thing in the morning or last in the evening. This is to avoid overstraining as speakers should have a pleasant stay, too. In addition, such time slots are likely to be less popular among visitors.
• Presentations of the same category shouldn't be held in parallel, e.g., avoid two presentations about applications running at the same time. This is so visitors can attend as many presentations as they find interesting.

Last changed: 13.10.2008 18:38 (CID: 165) by Christian Hennecke -