one of the departments in my nonprofit is putting together a conference, and i overheard the responsible parties making plans for nametags, presentation folders and the like, and i popped my head up and said, “hey, can i join in?” in my head, however, it was a car crash sound and my voice saying over the sound of the car crash “my gods i have to help these people before serious damage is done” and then it was me scrambling rapidly toward them across the neon-lit macadam.

there’s only going to be 100-150 people attending their conference, so i told them no, not a good idea to get those perforated “name badge” kits like they sell at office depot. it’s rather pricey that way, and it’d be much cheaper for me to do a quick nametag design (in indesign, though i have learned not to use the names of the programs i use when talking to laypeople, as they just stare at me blankly), i can automate the creation of the badges for them, and then it’d take 5-10 minutes to cut them using our papercutter. i already had paper in stock, but if we needed to buy more, it’s $10 for a ream from kelly paper 4 blocks down.

someone’s hand motioned to a prototpe presentation folder (from another, similar conference) sitting on the director’s desk, in which was contained a bunch of pieces of paper, and she mentioned there were going to be a wide variety of fact sheets and related inside the folder. i told her that i could create a basic template they could base all their fact sheets and the presentation materials within the folder on, and tie it all together, so the design on the folder, the nametags, the fact sheets, it all pulled together, looked really impressive.

will you have signage? i asked. they looked at each other blankly. “you should talk to (the other 2 members of my dept),” i told them, “they’re really good at throwing events and knowing if signage and the like is needed.” they nodded their heads.

the conversation ended soon after, and we agreed that before they go to print anything, they’ll come talk to me, and i’ll create some very basic, easy templates for them, and automate it as much as i can, so they can give a very polished presentation, and impress the heck out of their conference-goers.

but soon after i wondered as to what went into throwing together a successful conference/symposium. also, what kind of collateral is typically needed? what are things to do, what are no-nos? i googled various keywords, but am finding it’s a hard topic to research. as far as i know, basic elements include signage, possibly table tents, namebadges, presentation folders, possibly a brochure, some fact sheets, and a few other print pieces. is there more though?

these are semi-helpful links i’ve found so far:

this design firm seems to’ve done design work for conferences

a magazine for event designers. they have a page on their site that lists out vendors by categories, giving me an idea of the kind of signage and items needed for a much bigger event.

a college in australia advices staffmembers producing events to consult a graphic designer to help with their event

y’know, this event isn’t until april, and i need to focus on other more pressing design jobs, but this is a mental note for me to keep this in mind, let my subconscious think about it, and then do some more research at a later date. i’m meeting up with an event designer in a couple weeks (something unrelated, a social event), so maybe i could slip this into the conversation, ask her what her usual design needs are. it seems to me that it would be a good thing for a designer to think outside the box. one can keep economics in mind while still creating entirely innovative presentation materials that leave conference goers saying “wow, that conference was worth going to.”