Quality Program at a Reasonable Cost

A few weeks ago I blogged on the low turnout at rural conferences. There is some good news on that front from Missouri. Ray Patrick, Executive Director of the Missouri Association of Rural Education, reports that attendance at their 2009 conference was up a bit from last year and they had 10% more exhibits. Ray credits MARE's success to their ongoing goal of providing a quality program at a reasonable cost. He has some good advice for anyone organizing a conference.

Quality Program. Our program presentations suggestions go through a committee who select who will present. Our breakout sessions are divided between those presented by our Associate Members and those with educational programs backgrounds. The main thing we tell Associate members is that their program presentation can NOT be a "selling a product" program.

Reasonable Cost. Our registration rate for the conference is $115 for the first two and $100 for all additional attendees from the same district. This rate includes three meals at no additional charge. We also work with the hotel to make sure the rates are as reasonable as possbile. This year's rate was $76 per night double or single.

Value for Presenters & Exhibitors. For presenters, we do not charge the registration fee (unless they are attending the entire Conference as a participant) but there is a meal package for those wanting to have their meals on site. For the exhibitors, the registration rate is $200 per booth with the exception, if the exhibitor is a MARE Associate member whose annual dues ($275 yearly) is up to date, there is no additional charge for the booth.

Keeping these three things in mind when planning your conference will help maintain, and possibly even increase, attendance levels during a down economy.