Effective ways to increase conference attendance and improve your events
The CPD Certification Service helps organisations obtain CPD accreditation for conferences and events to complement the Continuing Professional Development policies of professional institutes and associations. Please find below a simple guide to increasing conference attendance and improving your events.
People really do enjoy attending professionally managed conferences and events. Attendance to CPD conferences and events enables participants to learn specific information, receive industry updates and also provides a platform to build stronger business relationships with fellow professionals.
Established in 1996, The CPD Certification Service is the leading and largest independent Continuing Professional Development accreditation service working across all sectors, disciplines and further learning applications.
Our unique experience working with conference providers, training companies, professional bodies, academic institutions and corporate organisations enables us to support organisations seeking recognised CPD accreditation for their conferences and events.
Thousands of CPD conferences, events, training courses, e-learning programs, workshops and seminars are formally accredited by us every year adding significant value for audiences and providers alike, helping to improve events and increase conference attendance.
Provide CPD hours for conference and events
In the UK alone, there are over 450 professional bodies all of whom oblige their members to make an ongoing commitment to Continuing Professional Development. As the business environment continues to evolve the need becomes more increasingly apparent for a structured approach to further learning.
Over the past 25 years this commitment to CPD has spread beyond those affiliated to institutional bodies and is now embraced throughout all industry sectors.
There is an increasing expectation for professionals to undertake Continuing Professional Development regardless of industry, job role and responsibilities. Continuing Professional Development exists to ensure that an individual enhances their skills and abilities once they have formally qualified.
Simple ways to increase conference attendance and improve your events
Start your invites early
Get your conference invites sent and the date of the event in people’s calendars as soon as you can so they can set aside the day and time. One of the key ways to increase conference attendance is to start as early as possible and ensure you follow up. Send event reminders at appropriate time periods and generate excitement as it get closer to the day of the conference. Personalise your event invitations to improve email read rates as well as enquiries levels for the conference.
Include agenda highlights in your invitations and explain simply the value of attendance to your guests. Ensure your invitations are being sent to the appropriate target audience to improve your event interest. Allow your conference attendees to invite colleagues of theirs, or perhaps recommend people they think might of interest for you to invite.
Other options to increase conference attendance includes offering incentives for early registrations. An early discount is a great way to improve your event registrations, as well as extending your early discount registration at the last minute to give latecomers a second opportunity.
Find the right location
Choose an event location that is convenient, memorable and suits your budget. Venues that are too far away or too expensive for attendees will not help you increase conference attendance. Find an event location that is convenient but also suits the style of your conference. Select an event location that your guests would want to go.
Create an inspiring agenda
The conference agenda should be focused on a core theme to help marketing the event and not to confuse the purpose of attendance for delegates. The conference agenda should have topical variety to drive event interest.
To really improve your events the most successful conferences go beyond just providing keynote speakers and knowledgeable presentations. They create an enjoyable and friendly environment that makes them stand out from other conference providers and events organisers.