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# Why is White-Glove Service Important?
### Why do many scientific societies cite our “White-Glove” Service as the reason they come back over and over? 

You have agreed to join the committee - to  volunteer to organize a conference. Congratulations ! 

It is very laudable that you are kind enough to volunteer your time and expertise to the community. 

However, you are also a busy professional with a demanding career. The various competing responsibilities you juggle every day will not simply disappear for the next months while you have graciously added to your workload. 

And the details are never-ending as the tasks multiply. As you get closer to the event, the workload will only increase. 

Which leaves you two choices:

1. Add more time with the learning curve. Learn how to do everything yourself.
2. Find someone who is affordable to whom you can delegate the myriad details. 

Fortunately, Underline Science can be that ‘someone.’ As a specialist in Scientific Conferences, this is all we do. Our job is to sweat all the many details and help you forge new ground and achieve excellence for your conference.

We are very attuned to the needs of presenters, researchers, invited speakers and handing all the increasing tasks required for a successful production.

Our backgrounds are aligned; our CEO is a former robotics scientist. Our staff understands the finer points of what is required to produce and stage an event that leaves the presenters and attendees happy, looking forward to the next event together. 

Many of us came from the world of publishing and we understand production and publicity of papers throughout the scientific ecosystem.

Most importantly, we are dedicated to breaking new ground and finding ways to grow your conference and making it something everyone talks about for months afterwards.

For example, we recently introduced the groundbreaking and affordable “hybrid poster” units, bringing the in-room poster experience to every presenter, whether local or remote. 

We strive to become part of your community; to understand your needs and find ways to grow the attendance, sponsors, finances and ultimately the impact of your conference.

Why do our customers keep coming back? Ask them! We will happily put you in touch with the organisers of ANY of our 200+ conferences and you can learn first-hand of their experiences. 

If you wish to know more, [please contact us for a no-obligation consultation.](https://tiny.cc/uconsult)

### About Underline Science Events
Underline Science specializes in Scientific conferences, having produced more than 200 events. We help to produce a smooth and successful, profitable conference. 
Our aim is to grow your conference and reach. We aim to increase your membership engagement and value to your constituents. 
We are experts in Audio Video (which we do in-house) and technology, usually one of the largest conference costs.
Societies we serve include IEEE, AAAI, ACL, ACM, SEB and many others. 

Don’t take our word for it, contact our very satisfied repeat clients. Let us introduce you to happy associations we serve who keep coming back for more.
Feel free to [contact us for a no-obligation consultation](https://tiny.cc/uconsult).

And I think you will enjoy [this short video](https://screenpal.com/watch/c0j2qrVphYo).


What is White Glove Service? How is it applicable for scientific conferences and why is it important? 

Why is this something you might consider?

Why do many scientific societies cite our “White-Glove” Service as the reason they come back over and over? 


Why is White-Glove Service Important?

# Should You Consider a Hybrid Conference?

Now that we have come back to fully in-person gatherings, the question arises *“What is the future of Hybrid Conference? Shall I consider it for my meeting?”*'

There are several compelling reasons why a conference organizer should consider hosting a hybrid conference with an online option. Here are the top 7:

**1.	Expanded Reach:** By offering an online option, the conference can reach a global audience beyond those who can attend in person. This widens the participant base and boosts overall visibility, impact and revenue!

**2.	Increased Attendance:** Not everyone can afford to attend in person.  Or spare the time. Or get a visa. A remote option helps all of these situations and expands your audience.

**3.	Flexibility for Participants:** Offering both in-person and online options provides flexibility to attendees. Participants can choose the format that suits them best, enhancing their overall conference experience.

**4.	Long-term Legacy and Resources:** Recording and archiving conference sessions from the online component creates a valuable resource library that can be accessed even after the conference ends. This allows attendees to revisit presentations, reinforce their learning, and continue benefiting from the conference content.

**5.	Changing Circumstances:** Hybrid conferences offer flexibility and adaptability to unforeseen circumstances such as natural disasters, health crises, or other disruptions that may limit physical gatherings. In many of our conferences, about 10-15% of the presenters need to change their designation at the last minute and present remotely. In an in-person conference, they either need to find a replacement/stand-in that can present in their stead… or you just miss their presentation.

**6.	Star Speakers:** There are many top-notch speakers that will not be able to take several days to travel and present at the conference – but they can take an hour or two for a remote presentation. Giving them the option provides a win for both of you – the conference gets the star power and the presenter is able to share his/her information with your audience.

**7.	Preserving Your Organization's Legacy:** Recording and archiving conference sessions from the online component creates a valuable resource library that can be accessed even after the conference ends. This allows attendees to revisit presentations, reinforce their learning, and continue benefiting from the conference content.
By incorporating an online option into a hybrid conference, organizers can amplify the impact, accessibility, and sustainability of their event while adapting to the evolving needs and preferences of participants.

Imagine if you could go back and re-live the discoveries of 10 or 20 years ago? It wasn't cost-effective to record everything then, but now, there is almost no excuse NOT to preserve and record everything and reap all these benefits.

These are but some of the ideas – there are many others we can explore in a no-obligation brainstorming session – [just click this link to schedule at your convenience.](https://tiny.cc/uconsult)

### About Underline Science Events
Underline Science specializes in Scientific conferences, having produced more than 200 events. We help to produce a smooth and successful, profitable conference. 
Our aim is to grow your conference and reach. We aim to increase your membership engagement and value to your constituents. 
We are experts in Audio Video (which we do in-house) and technology, usually one of the largest conference costs.
Societies we serve include IEEE, AAAI, ACL, ACM, SEB and many others. 

Don’t take our word for it, contact our very satisfied repeat clients. Let us introduce you to happy associations we serve who keep coming back for more.

And [enjoy this video](https://screenpal.com/watch/c01jq3VB0Yd) - https://screenpal.com/watch/c01jq3VB0Yd

Should You Consider a Hybrid Conference?

# What is a Hybrid Conference?
### Is there only one kind of Hybrid Conference?  We explain the options

The premise starts off quite simply:
*"Any meeting with both a physical presence and some sort of online component can be deemed a Hybrid conference. "*

It is important to realize that you are running two conferences in parallel; both an in-person physical event and a virtual Event. 

The question is – how do these two interact? What is the experience for the remote attendees?

While there are many possibilities, we have streamlined them into these three basic options; the two extremes and the large middle. 

**a)	Completely Equal and Democratic:** In this choice, there is little difference whether you participate in person or remotely. 
* Anyone can participate, either remotely or in-person
* Anyone can present, either remotely or in-person
* Anyone can ask questions, remotely or in-person. 
* The remote questioners have the benefit of everyone being in the ‘front row’ as it were, whereas those who are ‘in the room’ might actually be sitting in the back. 

So, outside of time zone, weather and maybe food, you are participating in real time. 

**b)	On-Demand Conference:** on the other side, there is the “On Demand” conference. In this option, there is NOTHING available remotely during the days of the conference. 

This has the added benefit of motivating anyone who can possibly attend in person to make the effort to be there physically.

Then, a week or so after the event ends, the online component opens up. This allows your in-person attendees to view the videos, interact with the presenters, ask questions… and also allows all the virtual people to attend the sessions and see all the talks. 

**c) The Expansive Center :** In the middle there is the big ‘gray area’ encompassing all the possible options, such as, just streaming the keynotes, making certain sessions available in real time, and many other such combinations. We have seen many such variations and they all depend on your community, the way the conference is programmed and the production you envision.


**Conclusion**: There are many ways to do a Hybrid Conference – and many reasons you want to make the online option available in some form (including recording all your talks. 
If you wish to know more, feel free to [contact us for a no-obligation consultation](https://tiny.cc/uconsult) 


## About Underline Science 
Underline Science specializes in Scientific conferences, having produced more than 200 events. We help to produce a smooth and successful, profitable conference. 
Our aim is to grow your conference and reach. We aim to increase your membership engagement and value to your constituents. 
We are experts in Audio Video (which we do in-house) and technology, usually one of the largest conference costs.
Societies we serve include IEEE, AAAI, ACL, ACM, SEB and many others. 
Don’t take our word for it, contact our very satisfied repeat clients. Let us introduce you to happy associations we serve who keep coming back for more.
Feel free to [contact us for a no-obligation consultation](https://tiny.cc/uconsult) 


What is a Hybrid Conference? Is there only one kind of Hybrid Conference?  We explain the options and reasons to consider them - or not...


What is a Hybrid Conference?

# Ten Powerful Strategies to Grow Your Conference
### Increase Attendance, Submissions (and Revenue)

Growing your conference means accepting more papers. Of course, for this to work you need to have many more submissions.
To increase the submissions and visibility – we have come up with 10 strategies that have worked well for our clients - and then we add an extra bonus idea.

Here they are:

**1. Get the word out everywhere:** Use social media, email lists, and academic networks to spread the news about your conference. Shout it from the virtual mountaintops! 
You can ask your current attendees and members to share it with their friends, perhaps offering them a discount on their registration if they send a number of emails or social posts.

**2. Strength in Numbers:**  It is time to look at other conferences that are similar and figure out creative ways to work together. 
Each of you can promote the other’s conferences your past attendees. 
Find other organizations that are similar and offer to promote each other's activities, in a way to each gain from the increased exposure.

**3. Networking & Community Building:**  Most researchers are really coming for the networking. Highlight all the community building and networking opportunities that you offer, giving them more reasons to submit to your conference versus the competition.

**4. Show off your SuperStars:** Let everyone know about the well-known speakers and exciting sessions lined up for your conference. If you don’t have it for this year, you can highlight the ones from last year as a sample of what to expect. Give them more reasons to want to attend. 

**5. Early bird discounts:** Give researchers an extra incentive to submit their papers early by offering discounted registration fees or special perks. Who doesn't love a good deal?

**6. Make it *super-easy* to submit papers:** Clearly communicate the submission guidelines, formatting requirements, and deadlines to potential authors, making it easier for them to understand and comply with the submission process… and make the process easy.

**7. Extend the Deadlines:** Extend the submission deadline to allow more time for authors: Consider extending the submission deadline if you notice a lower-than-expected number of submissions, allowing authors additional time to prepare and submit their work.

**9. Increase the Awards:** Recognize outstanding research by offering awards, certificates, or special mentions for the best papers presented at the conference, incentivizing researchers to submit their work and compete for recognition.

**10. Success Stories:** Ask your past participants for stories of successes they have had at the conference in years past. This includes people they met, career advancements and other lightbulb moments. 
People are drawn to good stories. Emphasize these stories in your communications, in your call-for-papers, in your social media posts – as additional reasons why they should submit to YOUR conference. 

*Bonus Idea #11*
**11. Greater Visibility.** While many conference offer just the opportunity to present and publish in the proceedings, our clients at Underline offer much more. We offer:

* a) A second DOI for the video presentation
* b) We make the videos available to tens of thousands of researchers at the many libraries around the world. This comes with an interface for people to be able to easily contact the presenter and start a collaboration. 
* c) We promote individual talks as part of ‘theme collections’

This offers each presenter 10 times the exposure they would have at other conferences. 
With these fun and friendly strategies, you can enhance the visibility of your conference, attract a larger number of paper submissions, and ensure the success of your scientific event.

**About Underline Science**
Underline Science specializes in Scientific conferences, having produced more than 200 events. We help to produce a smooth and successful, profitable conference. 
Our aim is to grow your conference and reach. We aim to increase your membership engagement and value to your constituents. 
We are experts in Audio Video (which we do in-house) and technology, usually one of the largest conference costs.
Societies we serve include IEEE, AAAI, ACL, ACM, SEB and many others. 
Don’t take our word for it, contact our very satisfied repeat clients. Let us introduce you to happy associations we serve who keep coming back for more.

[Contact us for a no-obligation introductory consultation.](https://tiny.cc/uconsult)


10 Powerful Strategies to Grow Your Conference

# Why Video is Crucial
### 5 Reasons why Video is Essential to your Conference 

Not too long ago, you went to a conference, went home and it was over. Other than the published papers and proceedings, there was no record of what happened. It was like someone pulled the plug on the projector; all the fun discussions, scholarly discourse, Q&A vanished into thin air. 

Things are different today and post-pandemic, many of us have begun to see the tremendous advantages of video for scientific conferences. Of course, this is why our company (Underline Science) was formed – to preserve and disseminate scientific conference videos – so we know a thing or two about this. 

Now that we have (thankfully) migrated back to in-person events, it is easy to overlook the importance of videos. Here are 5 reasons why video is crucial for your conference success. 

**1.	Younger Researchers Increasingly Demand Video**
You know that we live in a TikTok world. How much time do we spend on Youtube or Instagram? How many videos do you receive from other people on Whatsapp, Telegram, or other social media channels?

If that is not your style, look around at people that are younger; this is what they are scrolling through on their phones all day long.

In the researcher community, we have found that most researchers are demanding videos. They have found it to be a perfect midpoint between the transcript and the actual paper itself. 

According to researcher feedback, they say that viewing the video – or skimming the transcript – is today’s fast-track way to get at the gist of the research and see if this is relevant to what you are 
working on. 

Having the Videos means that you have a greater chance of igniting a collaboration amongst interested parties and expanding the science. 

**2.	Extend Your Conference**
Two or 3 days and we all go home. Or maybe 5+ days for a longer event.  But at some point, it ends. 

Using a platform like Underline enables you to extend the reach and impact of your conference beyond the scheduled days. In fact, in the stats we have seen, tens of thousands of people are accessing conference videos back to when we first began in 2019!

It also extends the value you offer to your members – they can keep engaged throughout the year and between events. 

Recording everything also preserves the digital legacy of your efforts, and your association’s storied history, for the next generation. What would you give to see a video presentation by one of the leading inventors from 10 or 20 years back? 

**3.	Multiply Your Effectiveness – Increase Your Audience & Reach**
A Conference is judged by a number of metrics, including how effective you are at publishing your accepted papers and research. 

You have a set number of people who attend your event. 

Imagine if you had many thousands of additional people who would be able to attend, but on a remote/time-shifted basis?  

In other words, instead of them traveling to the actual venue, they see the videos and paper in the conference library like Underline offers, can ask questions of the presenter who can then respond and begin a collaboration.  This can happen days/weeks/months after the actual event and in greater numbers than you ever thought possible.

Suddenly, your conference becomes much more widely disseminated, cited, talked about and the catalyst for future research breakthroughs. 

**4.	Transcripts – A tremendous New Tool**
Now that many people are using AI generated transcripts in their Zoom/Teams/Meet webcalls, the value of these transcripts are becoming more evident.
There are three major benefits to having the transcripts (and the underlying video) of each presentation:

*a)	Skim: *it is much easier to skim a transcript and get the ‘gist’ of the talk. In the Underline library, when you click within a transcript you jump to that portion of the video. An amazing time-saver.

*b)	Non English Speakers:* For those whom English is not their native language, skimming the transcript is a huge help. Furthermore, having the transcripts translated into their native language (even with an automated translation) will greatly aid in the effectiveness of understanding. 

*c)	Finding New Connections:* You can employ language tools to search for items of interest and even tangentially related subjects that can yield the next big thing. Having the transcripts is that first step to making this happen. 

**5.	Video Generates Revenue**
Used properly, Video will become your next important revenue source. There are many ways you can use video to generate much-needed funds for your society and conference. 

***a)	On-Demand Conference:*** You can offer the videos to people who did not attend in person for a lower price – but don’t make it available until a week or more after the conference. 

***b)	Windowing – post-conference:*** This is done in movies all the time, it’s called a “Windowing Strategy,” – where you pay the highest price in the theatre, then a lower price for the streaming services, then a lower price for cable and then lower for ad-based over the air TV.

You can do something along similar lines: 
* The highest price for conference attendees
* A lower tier for post-conference virtual conference
* A Lower tier after 6 months
* Lower yet after 12 months
And you can even experiment with different ideas and pricing formulas to see what offers the highest yield. Using the Underline platform, this is all built-in and available to you with no additional cost.

***c)	Royalties from Platforms:*** Licensing your videos to a platform like Underline will yield royalties. In the case of Underline, we share 20% of our revenue with our conference video partners. 

***d)	Videos as Promotional Tools:*** You can have volunteers create short snippets of videos highlighting the most dynamic 30-60 seconds and post them on TikTok, Youtube, Instagram, Twitter – and you will be amazed at the traffic. 

### Conclusion
Videos are crucial to your conference for the reasons mentioned above and many more we can demonstrate. Using our services, we can show you how to get these videos and all these benefits at no additional cost to your conference.  

Feel free to [contact us for a no-obligation consultation](https://tiny.cc/uconsult)


### About Underline Science
Underline Science specializes in Scientific conferences, having produced more than 200 events. We help to produce a smooth and successful, profitable conference. 
Our aim is to grow your conference and reach. We aim to increase your membership engagement and value to your constituents. 
We are experts in Audio Video (which we do in-house) and technology, usually one of the largest conference costs.
Societies we serve include IEEE, AAAI, ACL, ACM, SEB and many others. 
Don’t take our word for it, contact our very satisfied repeat clients. Let us introduce you to happy associations we serve who keep coming back for more.

[Feel free to contact us for a no-obligation consultation](https://tiny.cc/uconsult)

Five Reasons why Video is Essential to your Conference. 

We live in a TikTok World. Younger researchers increasingly are demanding  Videos - something they can consume quickly - something between the abstract and the full paper. 

Here is how you can maximize the use and potential of video at your conference. 

Why Video is Crucial

# Does Hybrid = High Cost?
### Many people shy away from Hybrid citing cost factors. Is this true ? How can you make it affordable? 

We have heard this perception before; people think that *“Hybrid” = Higher Cost.*

Or worse – they have had a bad experience with a Hybrid Conference where the organization spent the money but had audio/video problems (could not hear the presenters remotely, or the questioners, etc.)

Where did this come from and is there a solution?

We can explain. 

**The Origins**

Talk to your standard Audio/Video supplier and they will quote you enough equipment to produce a late-night news broadcast with remote reporting from a war zone. 
After all, they need to cover themselves, have enough backup and also make a tidy profit. 

At Underline, we have been very fortunate in that we ONLY produce scientific conferences. All our clients are not-for-profit entities with thin budgets. Therefore, we have come up with ways to optimize the Hybrid experience and make it affordable. 

Actually, this is a continuous process. We are constantly re-evaluating our systems and processes and looking for new breakthroughs to further reduce the costs of the AV, which is one of the highest cost items for your event. 

***Bottom Line:*** If you are not working with a supplier that has successfully done many of these Scientific Hybrid conferences , be prepared for an expensive quote. 

**The Profit Motive**
Most every Audio/Video supplier you might choose will need to make a profit on this event. After all, this is their core business and their earnings come directly from this conference.

Underline Science, however, has a different agenda. Underline has established the first video library for scientific conference videos. Our aim is to make them available to researcher libraries and universities around the world and that is our main market. 

Hence, we only need to cover our costs for the AV portion and can charge less.  Further, since our people are all AV experts with many scientific conferences under their belts, we know the details, pitfalls, challenges and how to produce a flawless stellar event. 

In fact, we offer what we call **“AV PLUS”** – we can supply all the AV and the Hybrid experience for what others might charge just for the AV portion. 

**Conclusion**: it is easy overspend on a Hybrid Conference; unless you are working with experts who have the experience and financial incentive to lower your costs. 
If you wish to know more, [feel free to contact us for a no-obligation consultation](https://tiny.cc/uconsult)  

and you can[ enjoy this short video of Underline in action](https://screenpal.com/watch/c0j2qrVphYo)

**About Underline Science**
Underline Science specializes in Scientific conferences, having produced more than 200 events. We help to produce a smooth and successful, profitable conference. 
Our aim is to grow your conference and reach. We aim to increase your membership engagement and value to your constituents. 
We are experts in Audio Video (which we do in-house) and technology, usually one of the largest conference costs.
Societies we serve include IEEE, AAAI, ACL, ACM, SEB and many others. 

Don’t take our word for it, contact our very satisfied repeat clients. Let us introduce you to happy associations we serve who keep coming back for more.
[Feel free to contact us for a no-obligation consultation](https://tiny.cc/uconsult)



Does Hybrid = High Cost?
Many people shy away from Hybrid citing cost factors. Is this true ? How can you make it affordable? 


Does Hybrid mean High Cost

# 4 More Mistakes to Avoid at Your Conference


### Introduction:
Scientific conferences are crucial for knowledge sharing and collaboration, but attendees often express concerns that hinder their experience. Let's dive into four common complaints and suggest practical solutions. 

In a previous article (link) we discussed the #1 complaint and *[how to lower conference costs.](https://tiny.cc/usoldrip4)*  In this article let’s discuss the next 4 major complaints and how to avoid them. They are:<br>
*  Excessive scheduling conflicts (aka "Too Many parallel sessions")
*  Not enough time for Q&A 
*  Not enough time for community building, networking
*  Navigating the Venue

Let us look at each of these in turn. 

### Excessive Scheduling Conflicts / Too Many Parallel Sessions:
Many times, a successful conference becomes a victim if its own growth. As the number of parallel sessions increase, attendees struggle with conflicting sessions and overwhelming choices. 
There is always the frustration of *“I want to be in both of these sessions scheduled at 2pm!!!”* 

Obviously, to alleviate this, you employ these strategies:
* Organize diverse program tracks to cater to different disciplines.
* Curate sessions carefully to minimize overlaps and ensure coherence.
* Provide clear session descriptions in advance for informed decision-making.

But what happens when these obvious choices still do not work? We know of many events with 20 or 30 parallel sessions, and with the best efforts of the program chairs, you still have people grumbling about the ones they can’t be at?

**A Proven Approach:**  This is where you leverage technology. At Underline, we record EVERYTHING (and can do it at a very low cost). Also, in our platform, one can ask a question of a presenter days, weeks or months later; the presenter is then notified by email and can respond, many times fostering a new collaboration.

### Inadequate Time for Q&A:
Limited time for Q&A during presentations is a frequent issue. Most times, only 2-3 minutes is far too short a period for Q&A.
Obviously, you can always increase the time for Q&A. However, many times from a scheduling perspective this is just not feasible! 

This is where you need to leverage some additional “out of the box” thinking:

**Virtual Q&A:** This is where you can leverage the online platforms to extend Q&A sessions beyond the physical event, allowing attendees to submit questions digitally and receive responses from presenters at a later time.
**Flipped Conference:** You can try something radical. Have the actual talk pre-recorded. Open the site early and ‘educate’ the attendees in their pre-conference homework, to “watch” the sessions and come prepared with questions. 
Then, during the event, the speaker does a 2-minute lightning intro – and opens the floor for questions. In this case, you also want to make sure the moderator or session chair has done their homework and comes prepared with questions in case the attendees are silent. 

It’s radical, but a lot more engaging.

**Community Q&A** at the poster sessions: You can have ‘tables’ for each set of presenters where during the breaks/poster sessions where the presenters can sit – and others can join to ask questions. This would allow for networking, team and community building as well as a longer extended Q&A opportunity.

### Not enough time for community building, networking
People are most motivated to come to a conference by the networking and community building opportunities. It is your responsibility to make sure that you foster this with every creative idea you and the committee can dream up.
Some approaches might be:
* **Dedicated Networking – Birds of a Feather:** You can have dedicated tables for specific topics, assign one or two ‘group leaders’ to each table, keep the beer flowing and start discussions
* **Game Night** – any sort of game night, icebreakers to get people to meet is immensely valuable.
* **Mentoring** – Assign “office hours” to the senior attendees and offer them to others to come and visit with them. Best if these appointments are set ahead of time. If there is limited time, you can schedule this concurrently with other social events or the poster sessions. 
* **Speed Dating:** Yes, you can always do this as regular dating… or do it by “Discipline” 
* **The Unconference:**  This is quite radical but effective. Sort of an “Ask me anything” for a discussion group… the agenda is created on the spot by the attendees themselves. At the beginning of the event, participants propose discussion topics, ideas, or presentations that they are interested in or would like to lead… and off you go.

The bottom line is to keep our eye on the goal: *get people talking*. Get them to meet new people they have not previously encountered. Start discussions and light fires.

### Navigating the Venue and finding Specific Sessions
How much time have you spent in a new facility, figuring out where to go for the session you want to attend? Let us make it easy for the attendees. Here are some approaches that we found have worked for us:

* **Volunteers:** Have knowledgeable volunteers who have studied the layout, know the schedule (and how to use the app to look up the session) and direct people.
* **Have a good conference app** / programmable schedule that is searchable and shows the room locations.
* **Clear Signage:** This can be digital signage to save money, but clear directions are key. 


**Conclusion**: By actively addressing these attendee concerns, scientific conference organizers can significantly enhance the overall conference experience. Let's create an environment that fosters knowledge exchange, meaningful connections, and seamless navigation for all participants.

***About Underline Science Events***
Underline Science specializes in Scientific conferences, having produced more than 200 events. We help to produce a smooth and successful, profitable conference. 
Our aim is to grow your conference and reach. We aim to increase your membership engagement and value to your constituents. 

We are experts in Audio Video (which we do in-house) and technology, usually one of the largest conference costs.

Societies we serve include IEEE, AAAI, ACL, ACM, SEB and many others.  Don’t take our word for it, contact our very satisfied repeat clients. Let us introduce you to happy associations we serve who keep coming back for more.

Or [just click here for a no-obligation brainstorming consultation session.](https://tiny.cc/uconsult)


Here are 4 more mistakes you must avoid when planning your scientific conference. 

4 More Mistakes to Avoid at Your Conference

**It is by far the number one complaint we hear from attendees:** 

“This conference is too expensive!”

How can you charge less to attend the conference? 
There are only two ways:
1. Increase Revenues
2. Reduce Conference Costs
<br>
## Increasing Revenues:

One way to make a conference less expensive is to increase the income.

Increasing the revenue and income opportunities gives you more latitude to offer more services, more scholarships, and of course, make certain that you are profitable and can afford to do this again next year!

Some of the “line items” on the income side that are overlooked include:

1. Hotel Commissions
2. Sponsorships
3. VIP Registrations
4. Grants
5. Virtual Attendees
6. Monetizing the Videos 
7. More Conferences

Each one of these can be expanded to uncover additional revenues.  For example, do you know that *most hotels will pay a significant commission on the people you bring?* 

Many societies don’t know this, or, even worse, give up the commission to someone who negotiates their hotel deals for them.  I think you can do better – and let us negotiate your hotel deals AND return  the commission to your “income” column. 

## Increasing Sponsorships: 
Then there are a dozen ways to increase your sponsorships with some creativity. Some ideas to brainstorm include:

•	Why do companies sponsor? Do they repeat? Why? Have you asked them? Can you learn from this which other companies might want to sponsor?

•	Who is sponsoring a similar conference but not yours? Can we team up with another event and sell both events together as a package? This way you have two sales teams selling higher-value items to their trusted customers.

•	Can we offer “**VIP registrations"**  for twice or 3x the regular price, so that industry executives can “expense” them – and this way support the conference?
… and there are many others we have seen, and used successfully. 

## **Virtual Attendees**
Let us not overlook other ways to increase income. While you may attract a certain number of people in person, ask yourself “how many people want to come but either cannot afford it financially, or cannot get a visa, or clear their schedule… or only want to attend part of the event?”

For these people, we can offer some **“Virtual Attendance”** option, either during the conference, or even after the event concludes. 

All these are ways to get more people paying SOMETHING for the conference.

You also open it up to more students (especially foreign ones) who want to contribute to your community but can’t make it in person. All of this adds up without incurring costs, and we smilingly call that ‘very welcome additional income.’ 

## Windowing Pricing Strategies
Have you thought about other ways you can monetize the videos of your past events? We have done this very successfully for many societies. They do this in the movies all the time, it’s called a “Windowing Strategy,” – where you pay the highest price in the theatre, then a lower price for the streaming services, then a lower price for cable and then lower for ad-based over the air TV.
You can do the same: 
* The highest price for conference attendees
* A lower tier for post-conference virtual conference
* A Lower tier after 6 months
* Lower yet after 12 months

And you can even experiment with different ideas and pricing formulas to see what offers the highest yield. Using the Underline platform, this is all built-in and available to you with no additional cost.
## More Conferences, Really?
Did you say do more events? Are you serious? I can barely get through this one!

Actually, the more engagement you have with your user base and members yields increasingly more income, long-term retention and renewals. 
You don’t need to do in-person extravaganzas every month. How about a monthly or quarterly virtual half-day or full-day symposium?
It is easy to organize, super-inexpensive to execute (especially if we are doing it for you!) and keeps your membership engaged… and feeling like they are getting more value from you every day.

## Reducing Costs

There are many strategies we can employ to help lower costs. 
One mistake is that organizers look to ‘cut costs’ and in the process, cut needed services, thereby diminishing the user experience for attendees. You want to avoid this !

One conference totally cut out all food and coffee breaks – and boy, was there a backlash!

Obviously, we want to increase revenue and cut costs. So let us take a quick high-level look at some of the largest cost and revenue items and some quick-fixes for each. 

### Cost Categories:
On one hand you want to control the costs (and reduce them!) without affecting the fun, spirit and effectiveness of your event. 
The top cost items usually are:
* Venue
* Audio-Visual and related Technology
* Food & Beverage
* Printing / Signage 
<br>
Perhaps there is not much you can do about the Venue at this point (though moving is something many conferences have done quite successfully if there is a contractual ‘out’).

However, you can certainly do something about the AV and other technology. 

The first thing is to have a consultant who knows what you need and will not sell you more than you really require. That is something we specialize in, since Underline does not look to make a profit on the AV we supply.

We can also consult on strategies for each of the other items in the list since each one should require an article of it’s own.

Take Food & Beverage for example. You need to keep the people hydrated, with coffee & snacks. If you can afford a full meal service, that is ideal. 

But you can trim the excesses… instead of a choice of 4 mains, find something acceptable to each category of cuisine (and don’t pick the most expensive thing on the menu just because the hotel suggested it!)

Everything is a balance – and achieving the perfect balance is an art…

**Printing:** How much do you really need to spend on printing? What can be done digitally and accessed on the phone instead of in printed handbook form? 
These are but some of the ideas – there are many others we can explore in a no-obligation brainstorming session – just click this link to schedule at your convenience.

**About Underline Science Events**
Underline Science specializes in Scientific conferences, having produced more than 200 events. We help to produce a smooth and successful, profitable conference. 
Our aim is to grow your conference and reach. We aim to increase your membership engagement and value to your constituents. 
We are experts in Audio Video (which we do in-house) and technology, usually one of the largest conference costs.
Societies we serve include IEEE, AAAI, ACL, ACM, SEB and many others. 
Don’t take our word for it, contact our very satisfied repeat clients. Let us introduce you to happy associations we serve who keep coming back for more.
[Click this link to contact us](https://tiny.cc/uconsult) for a no obligation introductory brainstorming session.



**"This conference is too expensive!"**

It is by far the number one complaint we hear from attendees. What can you do to reduce costs while increasing quality? How can you increase revenues? We explore some tested strategies. 


Reducing Conference Costs

# Avoid these 5 Mistakes at Your Scientific Conference
After some 200 conferences, we have certainly seen our share of mistakes and complaints. Here are some of the most vocal ones from attendees:

1. 	Too Expensive: High registration fees and associated costs
2. 	Scheduling conflicts – Multiple Parallel sessions
3. 	Inadequate Time for Q&A 
4. 	Limited opportunities for community building, discussions, and cross-pollination of ideas
5. 	Poor conference logistics / challenges in navigating large conference venues and finding specific sessions.
<br>
 Are there ways around these issues? Are these problems solvable or are they inherent in the conference experience?
 
Here is the good news - we have found that  many good strategies to solve each of these problems, even to the point of turning them into opportunities. 
Let us share some in this document; we would be happy to discuss this further in a no-obligation consultation.

## **1.	Conference is Too Expensive**
The most common complaint we receive from attendees is the steep cost associated with conferences. So, how can we make conference attendance more affordable? There are only two approaches: increasing revenues and lowering costs.

**Boosting Revenues and Opportunities:** One effective method of reducing conference expenses is by expanding our income sources. By increasing revenue and exploring new opportunities, we can provide additional services, scholarships, and ensure profitability for future events. Often, we overlook certain income avenues, such as:

**a) Hotel Commissions:** Did you know that hotels are willing to pay a significant commission for every attendee you bring? Surprisingly, many organizations are unaware of this, or worse, relinquish the commission to their hotel negotiators. We believe we can do better by negotiating your hotel deals ourselves and returning the commission to your "income" column.

**b) Sponsorships:** Unleash your creativity to attract more sponsors. Take the time to understand why companies choose to sponsor events and whether they are repeat sponsors. Learning from their experiences can help identify potential new sponsors. Additionally, consider partnering with other conferences to create bundled packages, allowing both events to be sold together and enabling two sales teams to target their trusted customers with higher-value offerings.

**c) VIP Registrations:** Introduce "VIP registrations" at a higher price point, allowing industry executives to expense them and, in turn, support the conference financially.

**d) Grants:** Explore the possibility of securing grants to supplement your income.

**e) Virtual Attendees:** Don't overlook the potential of accommodating virtual attendees who are unable to attend in person due to financial constraints, visa issues, scheduling conflicts, or partial event interest. Offering virtual attendance options during or after the event expands your reach and generates additional revenue without incurring substantial costs. It also opens doors for foreign students eager to contribute to your community.

**f) Monetizing your Videos:** Just like the "Windowing Strategy" employed in the film industry, capitalize on your past event videos. Implement tiered pricing options, such as higher rates for immediate access, reduced prices for post-conference virtual conferences, and further discounts after specific time intervals. Experiment with different pricing formulas to maximize revenue.

**g) More Conferences:** Surprising as it may seem, organizing additional events can lead to more income, long-term member retention, and higher renewals. Consider hosting monthly or quarterly virtual symposiums that are cost-effective, easy to organize (we can handle it for you!), and continuously deliver value to your members, thereby increasing their perceived worth.

## Reducing Costs:
To lower expenses, we can employ various strategies. However, it's crucial to avoid cutting necessary services that enhance the attendee experience. Instead, let's focus on these key cost areas:

**Venue:** While changing venues may not be feasible at the moment, it's worth considering if there are contractual opportunities for relocation to a more cost-effective location.

**Audio-Visual and Technology:** Collaborate with a knowledgeable consultant who can accurately assess your AV and technology requirements, ensuring you only invest in what's truly necessary. At Underline, we specialize in this and do not seek to profit from the AV services we provide.

**Food & Beverage:** Providing water, coffee and snacks are essential, but there are ways to trim costs. Instead of an extensive menu with multiple options, consider offering acceptable choices that cater to different cuisine preferences without opting for the most expensive items suggested by the hotel. Striking the perfect balance in catering is an art worth mastering.

**Printing/Signage:**  Evaluate your printing needs and explore digital alternatives that can be accessed through smartphones or other digital platforms. This shift not only reduces printing expenses but also aligns with sustainability practices.

These are but some of the ideas – there are many others we can explore in a *no-obligation brainstorming session – just [click this link to schedule at your convenience](https://tiny.cc/uconsult).*

In future articles we will discuss and expand on the other 4 mistakes… and ideas to help you avoid those mistakes.


**About Underline Science Events**
Underline Science specializes in Scientific conferences, having produced more than 200 events. We help to produce a smooth and successful, profitable conference. 

Our aim is to grow your conference and reach. We aim to increase your membership engagement and value to your constituents. 

We are experts in Audio Video (which we do in-house) and technology, usually one of the largest conference costs.
Societies we serve include IEEE, AAAI, ACL, ACM, SEB and many others. 

Don’t take our word for it, contact our very satisfied repeat clients. Let us introduce you to happy associations we serve who keep coming back for more.

Just [click this link to find out more in a no-obligation discovery session](https://tiny.cc/uconsult).


After some 200 conferences, we have certainly seen our share of mistakes and complaints. Here are 5 that people make most often  - and how to prevent them!

Underline For Conference Organizers

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