Before Conference
- Confirm conference speakers as soon as possible to give them sufficient time to prepare their talk, book travel, and get permission for any sensitive material they might be covering
- When speakers are confirming participation, ask that they share additional metadata to be used in introductions. Specifically, be sure to know how to prounounce their name, their preferred pronouns, and any biographical information they wish to have mentioned
- Clarify topic and timeslot and whether stated session time includes questions
- Set clear expectation of speakers staying within alloted time or being cut-off, for the sake of other speakers and attendees who need to stay on track
- Collect consent to be included in photos / videos
- When possible, offer option to record (and/or stream?) each speaker's talk. Even if you don't plan to mass distribute, it will be useful for them to have a copy to watch or share as they see fit.
- Offer the optional opportunity for speakers to practice their talk or show their slides to a conference planner or someone else before the conference
- Request that speakers upload their slides to internet, email to organizers, or bring on physical drive as a back-up in the case of computer problems
- Make speakers social media handles available on website or conference collateral so it is easy for people to live-tweet their talk or otherwise engage with their content
- Establish and communicate a single speaker point-of-contact and provide both phone and email options to reach. This person should be the touch stone for any questions or concerns before or during the conference.
At Check-In
- Have a separate check-in table for speakers so they can rest assured
- If possible, have the single speaker point-of-contact at check-in to great speakers. This may not be possible if that person has other responsibilities, but regardless make sure that person is available via the contact methods given to speakers (e.g. text)
- Provide a "speaker lounge" for speakers to step away from conference, practice presentation, or get "in the zone" as desired
- Make it easy to identify speakers with a different color of lanyards or nametags versus attendees. This will help speakers network more effectively and be more available to interested audience members after their session
In Opening Remarks
- Foster a constructive environment by defining what does and does not consitute a question. (For example, rstudio::conf does a nice job of this, defining questions up front as a single sentence ending in a question mark.)
- Be sure to recognize speakers for the tremendous time investment that they have made
During Speaking Slot
- Clearly communicate the following about their speaking slot to speakers via email:
- Type of laptop connectors (e.g. HDMI, VGA) available
- Type of microphones available (e.g. wearable, podium)
- Slide progression options (e.g. from laptop, clicker)
- Room set-up (e.g. stage or flat)
- A time they can come ahead of their session for an equipment check (e.g. computer projection, microphone, etc.)
- Room number and recommended time to arrive before session
- How timing will be communicated during sessions (e.g. at what intervals will there be warnings? Who will give them that signal?)
- Follow through on everything communicated in above:
- Provide an opportunity (as communicated above) for speakers to see the room and test their equipment before their session
- Help speakers stay on track by an active session moderator in an easy to see location giving time warnings
- Empower session facilitators to cut-off speakers at time. This is not to be rude to one speaker but rather to be fair to all of the others
- Encourage session facilitators to step in and call-out "non-questions" in a positive way that keeps the session on track
- Ensure room will have water available to speakers
After the Conference
- Encourage speakers to write up their talk as a blog post and help them publicize
- Share their materials (decks, videos, GitHubs, etc.) to whatever extent you are able and they are comfortable
- When the budget allows, provide a speaker gift. This does not need to be economically valuable, but a momento and token of gratitude is a nice touch
Miscellaneous
- Make sure than infrastructure (e.g. bio/photo collection, publicity, feedback, etc.) allows for co-presenters if conference allows this