What to Expect
As a conference organizer, you will work closely with the IEEE UFFC VP Symposia and the Conference Catalysts Team to plan and execute a seamless and impactful event. This collaboration includes detailed guidance and support throughout the entire conference planning process, from initial setup to post-conference wrap-up. You can expect:
- Regular Communication and Support: We will schedule periodic meetings to review progress, discuss challenges, and align on next steps. Our team will provide clear updates and ensure all tasks are on track.
- Access to Expertise: Our team of experts at Conference Catalysts will share best practices, tools, and resources tailored to the specific needs of your conference. This includes templates, guidelines, and customized recommendations to make the planning process efficient and stress-free.
- A Partnership Approach: You will be an integral part of the organizing committee, and we are here to support and guide you at every stage. We’ll collaborate on everything from budget creation and program design to venue logistics and marketing strategies, ensuring your vision aligns with UFFC standards.
- Step-by-Step Planning: Each stage of planning will be carefully mapped out. From organizing committee roles and responsibilities to financial oversight and logistical arrangements, our process ensures no detail is overlooked.
Our team is here to empower you to deliver a world-class symposium that reflects UFFC’s commitment to excellence and innovation.
Key Resources
- UFFC Conference Guidelines: Detailed information on committee roles, publicity, social media, meetings, financials, and more.
- Sample Conference Timeline: A timeline outlining key milestones and deadlines from the initial planning stages through to the post-conference wrap-up.
- Sample Conference Budget: Example of a complete budget from IUS 2023
Getting Started
Conference Catalysts’ Role:
Conference Catalysts’ Conference Management team is UFFC’s selected PCO for all Flagship Conferences. Conference Catalysts will manage the conference’s budget, virtual platform ‘CONFlux’, website, registration through ‘Cvent’, contracting, graphic design, marketing emails and social media, committee meetings, paper management through ‘Epapers’, exhibitor and sponsorship processing, publication production, and onsite management.
Conference Catalysts’ Operations Management team is the UFFC Society’s administrative team. The Operations Manager will collaborate with the Conference Manager to ensure all UFFC guidelines are followed, as well as plan UFFC-sponsored events such as the President’s Reception, Women in Engineering Event, Student Events, Industry Engagement Events, and more.
Local PCO’s:
In addition to Conference Catalysts’ support, some teams choose to hire a local team to assist with local venue arrangement. While this is not a requirement, it can be required by certain locations.
Preliminary Planning:
The first step is to organize a meeting between you, the UFFC President, President-Elect, VP Symposia, VP Finance, and the Conference Catalysts team. Once this has begun our next step will be to conduct an initial site visit to assess the venue, develop a preliminary budget and financial plan, and post organizing committee volunteer positions to the UFFC volunteer webpage and begin recruiting.