Rooms on a city campus: let the agenda pick them

A university campus in the middle of the city is a lovely place to hold a knowledge-heavy conference. The rooms are built for listening, the breakout spaces already exist, and the setting tells delegates the day is about ideas. The catch is that your event is spread across a building, or several, rather than poured into one ballroom.

Before the doors open

Start with the agenda, not the floor plan. Write out every session with its format and a rough sense of how many people it will draw. Then go looking for rooms. Keynotes and panels belong in a lecture theatre with raked seating, where every delegate can see the speaker. Workshops and case discussions want seminar rooms with tables that move.

• Keep breakout rooms close to each other and to the main theatre.
• Choose one foyer as the front door for badges, sponsor tables and breaks.
• Ask how shared spaces are used by students on your date.
• Find a quiet room near the stage for speakers to rest and check slides.

The academic calendar matters more than people expect. Teaching weeks and examination periods can change which rooms are free and how busy the corridors are.

For a closer look at this step, Get Out! Events' notes on matching SMU campus spaces to a conference agenda go room type by room type, including what to ask about stages, built-in sound and late arrivals.

On the floor

Campus buildings are linked in ways that are obvious to students and baffling to visitors. Put a sign at every junction, and put a person at the two most confusing ones. Check lifts and step-free routes in person rather than from a map. Ask the emcee to announce room locations before each move, not after.

Lecture theatres can make a room shy. Roving microphones or a digital question tool help delegates ask things they would not say into a fixed microphone.

Afterwards

Keep a single sheet that lists which room was used for what and how it went. The next campus conference will start from that sheet instead of from a blank page. Venue rules on catering, branding and setting up vary by space, so check current details with the venue every time.