Conference and Meeting Planner

Who this is for

The programme and the money on one sheet. A line per session with time, speaker, room and AV needs, and a costs table with estimate against actual.

Whoever has been asked to organise a team away day, a members' conference, an AGM or a training day and needs the running order and the budget to agree.

What this helps you track

• What happens when, where and with whom, in one running order
• What each session needs — a projector, a microphone, a flip chart, a laptop
• Which speakers and rooms are confirmed
• What the day was estimated to cost and what it actually cost, line by line

How to use it

1. Write the event, the date, the venue, the organiser and the number you expect at the top.
2. List the sessions in order with a start time, the title, the speaker and the room. Breaks and lunch are sessions too — they need a room and a time.
3. Write what each session needs in the AV column, and tick confirmed when the speaker and the room are both booked.
4. List the costs — venue, catering, speakers' travel, printing, equipment hire — with an estimate, and fill in the actual as invoices arrive.
5. The difference column, the totals and the summary are worked out in the browser and the workbook; on paper, subtract and add at the foot.
6. Print the finished sheet for the front desk and the AV desk on the day, and keep the costs half for the report afterwards.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

How long should each session be?

That is for you and the speakers to decide. The sheet takes whatever times you write and does not suggest a length for a talk, a break or a lunch.

Can I plan a two-day event?

One sheet per day is the cleanest. The browser version saves in your browser, so open a second tab for the second day, or print two copies and write the day at the top.

Where do I put the delegate list?

Not here. This is the programme and the budget. The guest accommodation and travel list handles who is coming, where they are staying and how they get there, and the catering numbers sheet handles the meals.

Does the costs table include income from ticket sales?

No — it is costs only. If the event has to pay for itself, the fundraiser event planner sets income against costs and works out the net.