Seminars are typically specialised conferences that present exclusive learning opportunities to attendees. Whether it’s your first or your hundredth, planning a seminar is always easier with a good checklist.
To make sure nothing slips through the cracks, use this 16-step seminar checklist. Refer to it at any point in your planning process to reduce stress and make sure no detail is left out.
How to plan an engaging seminar
Once you’ve got the green light on your event (at the very minimum, four to six months ahead of it), it’s time to start the tasks below. The sooner you can check these tasks off your planning list, the better! Some of the items you’ll need to plan a seminar effectively include:
- A good web conferencing platform for virtual seminars
- An appropriate venue for in-person seminars
- Appropriate access to both if planning a hybrid seminar that includes both virtual and in-person options
Follow these steps to ensure that your plan goes off without a hitch.
What are the benefits of hosting a seminar?
Hosting a seminar comes with all kinds of amazing benefits. Learn how to plan a seminar in order to show off subject matter expertise, cement your brand, create networking opportunities both within and outside of your immediate industry, build valuable relationships with potential clients, and more. It’s also a great way to generate overall visibility, and hopefully, drive sales while staying ahead of your competition.
Step 1: Define your purpose and goals
Break this one down into easily digestible steps:
- First, write down your seminar’s purpose
- Then, set goals for how many people you want to attend in person or to watch your livestream
- Finally, set a clear profit goal, which will help you calculate how much to charge attendees
Step 2: Put together a rough budget
With your profit goal in mind, set your ticket prices. Reflecting on the expenses of past seminars or webinars will help you price your event competitively without sacrificing profit. If you’re not sure about some of the details, you can fill unknown budget categories with educated guesses based on some quick research. This extra step ensures you create a realistic budget so that you aren’t caught off guard by surprise expenses as your event approaches.
Step 3: Choose a date and venue
Choose two dates – an optimal and a second-best for backup just in case. Having a Plan B is crucial, given the variables and unexpected circumstances that can pop up during the course of event planning.
You’ll also want to make sure you do ample research into selecting an appropriate venue for your seminar. You’ll want a space that has plenty of accessibility options, lots of space to avoid overcrowding, and the appropriate facilities and tools on site for any lectures or presentations.
- Setting an appropriate date is crucial to the overall success of the event, especially since event timing can affect your final head count. Event planners must do their homework on the availability of the venue, logistics for securing your ideal speakers or presenters, and the schedules of potential seminar attendees.
- Ultimately, your seminar plan will benefit from scheduling the seminar at a time when most of your potential guests will be available to attend. Take into consideration also how long the event will last, as this also impacts timing.
- Make sure you do your due diligence on the schedules and head counts of other events in a similar geographic location – as well as those that might appeal to your target demographic – to shut down otherwise avoidable scheduling conflicts that will leech your audience. And remember to be considerate of holidays and weekends, since many of your potential attendees may be reserving these periods for leisure time or family.
- Whenever possible, plan your seminar well in advance, so that attendees can mark the date in their calendar and start planning their travels accordingly, particularly if they’re dealing with a long-distance journey.
- The smooth running of the seminar will depend heavily on confirming key logistics such as venue, date, speaker schedule, and partnerships where relevant – and doing so as soon as possible.
Step 4: Decide on your event format
Determine whether you should host your event online or in person. A webinar can be a practical alternative that isn’t bound to travel or event restrictions. Consider a hybrid format if you want to reach both online and in-person attendees.
Step 5: Research your audience, speakers, locations, and vendors
Identifying your audience is key to fulfilling their needs and wants, which should also ultimately inform how the seminar is structured. Once you’re confident in your understanding of their needs and interests, you can target your research into other aspects of your seminar planning in accordance with that information.
Start by identifying speakers who’ve appeared at similar seminars or webinars. Research each one’s previous talks and seminar topics to determine your top picks. If you’re planning a webinar, keep in mind that your speaker selection isn’t bound by location, since everyone can livestream from their home base. Once you’ve targeted your top speaker, reach out to them and solidify details like the date, their compensation, and the type and length of their talk.
For an in-person seminar, you should shop around for locations and vendors. Take these steps to narrow things down:
- 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 and ask questions before signing
Don’t forget to finalise important details with your scheduled speakers in advance, so that accommodations can be made for their logistical needs as well.
6. Start your sponsor search
Sponsors can help fund your seminar or webinar, letting you do more than you would if you had to fund everything yourself. Determine what kind of sponsorship activations you can offer. You can research sponsors who’ve partnered with similar seminars and brands who are trying to reach the same target audience to get ideas of who to contact. Compile a list of your top choices and begin with a cold email campaign. When preparing your pitch, our workbook will help you determine the market rate of your sponsorship packages.
Research your speakers’ backgrounds in order to determine which sponsors might be the best match for supporting your seminar.
Three months before: Digging into the details
Once you’ve got a framework in place, it’s important to keep budgets up to date 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. Finalise speakers
As your event approaches, you’ll need to nail down some details, like finalising speaker fees and getting contracts signed. It’s also a good time to ask participants for their bios and photos to update your website and event description. Arrange travel and accommodations for in-person events and share these details with your guests as needed.
If your first-choice speakers can’t attend, consider having backup speakers waiting in the wings.
8. Organise financials
Keep your financial information under control to avoid any budget surprises and stay on track with your spending. Choose a ticketing or registration technology for your event so attendees can start booking their tickets. Reach out to your confirmed sponsors to finalise sponsorship contributions, so you know how much support you’ll have.
9. Utilise your website
A website for your seminar can generate buzz and attract attendees. Consider updating yours accordingly. Decide whether it merits a redesign as an all-inclusive website, or whether it should just direct traffic to a registration page. If you need to update your website, do so with these steps in mind:
- Get sign-off from stakeholders on the design
- Update your site (if you have one) or build a new site once you have stakeholder approval
- Double-check that your site infrastructure can handle increased traffic when tickets go on sale
- Make sure your website is mobile optimised
10. Start seminar promotion
Seminar and webinar best practices require promotion of your event to establish your brand and build your audience. Promote your upcoming event with these steps:
- Develop a messaging doc aligned with your brand
- Incorporate your seminar promotion into your email and social media schedules
- Create a Facebook Event and promo videos to post on social media
- Distribute your seminar to online event calendars
- Use our event marketing template to plan your marketing calendar if you need help scheduling
11. Finalise venue details
Dive into the venue details as your seminar date approaches. For in-person events, you may need to work with your caterer on a menu, taking into account any special dietary needs of attendees. Book the necessary audio equipment for in-person speakers or a video setup for livestreaming. If necessary, review any security needs and design a security plan.
The top items to remember when finalising the small details include:
- Catering
- Schedules
- Appropriate signage
- Head counts and contact details
This is also the time to apply for any special permits or licenses that your venue may require. Create signage and an attendee communication plan to simplify communication before and during the seminar.
If you’re webinar planning, research livestreaming options to find a platform that works for your needs. Test out different platforms to identify the right fit and learn what features you’ll be able to use.
12. Plan your seminar agenda
Outline your seminar’s schedule and decide who’ll speak when. Make sure every speaker has enough time to provide their input before you finalise it. Incorporate breaks into the agenda for attendees and speakers. Once you’ve completed a draft of your agenda, share it with decision-makers for approval.
Two months before: Finalising details
With your seminar or webinar in sight, the days will start flying by, and you’ll need to really hone in on logistics like transportation and parking instructions, maps, and more. Here’s what you need to focus on in the two months leading up to your event.
13. Convince interested event-goers
It’s time to start attracting your attendees. Send regular emails over the next three to four weeks to let anyone who’s on the fence know that they have a limited time to register. Use retargeting ads to target people who started the registration or purchase process but failed to complete the process.
14. Finalise schedule, scripts, and materials
Distribute a schedule to your speakers and participants to ensure your seminar or webinar runs smoothly. Get sign-off on any scripts from speakers so they can finish preparing their remarks. Prepare handouts, brochures, and other physical materials that your guests may want to bring home from the seminar.
15. Update your stakeholders
Email your company stakeholders, speakers, and sponsors with final registration numbers so that they know what to expect at the event. Remember to include key logistics like directions on where to go and how to get there.
16. Confirm the timings of your vendors
Follow up with your vendors to ensure everyone arrives at the right time. Reach out to your caterer, AV vendor, decorating company, and speakers and provide a detailed timeline in advance and answer any last-minute questions. For online or hybrid events, test your livestreaming equipment and do a dry run to make sure you’re ready to go live on the event day.
The day before
With the tactical advice in this post, you’re set to plan a successful seminar or webinar. As your event approaches, use this comprehensive event checklist to make sure your seminar plan has everything in its right place – so you can rest easy.
After the seminar
Follow up with your guests to identify potential areas for improvement. Learn what worked and what didn’t.
Ready to plan a successful seminar?
The key to how to plan a seminar is all about doing your homework and ironing out any key logistics with plenty of time to spare before your big day actually arrives. With Eventbrite’s guide on setting up your event on hand, planning a seminar for your next event should be a piece of cake.
