TECHTRAIN 2003
(3-4 July, 2003):Summary of the organising committee activities
(compiled by Kate Noble)Things to consider, things to be done. Not in any order of timing or importance
Venue:
establish early so can determine conference dates & have venue costs
tour several times
Daytime caterers
Resources:
o
Data and slide projectors for each roomo
Overhead projectors for each roomo
A/V (video) for each roomo
Back-up laptops (committee to provide laptops for each room)o
Microphones for each roomo
Whiteboards availableo
Trestle tables & table clothso
Signage for trade displayso
Direction indicator signso
Breakout roomso
IT supporto
Photocopiero
PrinterConference dinner:
numbers
venue
menu include special meals
alcohol
entertainment
Conference daytime caterers:
may be limited by who the venue prefers
sample several (always good!)
get cost breakdown (how much is the lunch component, the morning or the afternoon component) for sponsorship purposes
see if an organisation can sponsor a morning or afternoon tea
Budget: (see also the following budget report and budget tables)
Incoming
How much in the kitty?
Trade Displays ($500/trade)
Sponsors (help to reduce costs eg presenters’ gifts, morning or afternoon teas)
Uni?
Conference fees
Outgoing
Venue cost (depends on number of rooms. May also need extra tables and partitions)
Catering: lunch, morning and afternoon teas
Catering: dinner
Conference dinner venue costs (include menu, alcohol)
Conference dinner entertainment
May need to pay keynote speakers
Photographer
Design of logo (3 designs to choose from)
Promotional items: (find sources)
o
Gifts for keynote and plenary speakerso
Delegate bags & giftso
Presenters’ giftso
Logo artwork setupo
Note pads, penso
Name tagso
Lollieso
Committee jumperso
Courier per product and per batcho
Source: www.skmarketing.com.auPrinting:
o
posters (A3 & A4 = 1000)o
programo
letters to trade displays?Conference CDs, labels, toner
Hire of display panels
Uni parking permits
Bus hire for conference dinner
Marketting and advertising:
o
Adverts eg Australasian Science (3/4 page = $370)Bank fees and Uni charges
Mail/couriers
Casual wages
Promotion of conference:
Advertising
Emails (fortnightly where possible) including to past delegates and TechNet forum on regular basis
Web address in email signatures
Written support from DVC to Heads of School
verbal
Contact list:
o
TechNet email forumo
Other known TechNetso
Past delegateso
Affiliated teaching hospitalso
Nurses associationo
Staff development at other unisWebsite:
URL
Registration forms (include PDF format)
Accommodation
Conference dinner info
venue
call for papers
describe 4 themes
Abstracts
Sponsors/trade displays
Displays
Info about UNSW TechNet
Contact details
Tourist information and info about Sydney
Accommodation info (including conference specials)
Special interest groups (need to allocate co-ordinators, 3-point agendas)
Maps – uni and conference dinner area
links
Program:
number of strands
table of contents
Call for papers (need to know length of talk)
Set deadlines to receive abstracts
Decide number of papers needed (presenters’ gifts needed)
Keynote and plenary speakers – need paragraph and photo about each
Site visits
Trade displays
Creativity displays
Abstracts
Maps and floor plans
Program details:
o
Bindingo
Front and back cover designso
Paper typeo
two sidedo
one abstract per page with room for noteso
Page for people to write contact numberso
Format, layout etcMarketting and advertising:
Adverts eg Australasian Science (3/4 page = $370)
Email past delegates and TechNet forum on regular basis
Ad in publications of the various unis
Miscellaneous:
Initially, suggest a conference fee (based on 100 persons) so can determine approximate overall budget (day 1, day 2, conference dinner)
Come up with a logo, logo colours and conference themes (strands)
List of jobs, allocate and give time frames
Keynote speakers (include correct protocol for order of appearance) – determine length of talk time for plenary and keynote
Possible need for volunteers at various stages
May need to approach people individually to produce papers
Distribution of posters
Set aside a day to stuff bags (day before conference) and take to venue
Need to constantly chase up participants for trade displays, creativity displays, paper presentations, keynote speakers – get committments
In advance, ensure promo company has sufficient number of what you want (include the possibility for needing extra at last minute). Leave the bulk of the promo printing (bags, gifts) until as late as possible because it might not be possible to have a small number of extras printed with the logo at the last minute (might have to accept items without the logo). Know how long it takes to receive goods from the promo company once they get the order.
Accommodation: get conference rates with conference dinner venue
Thankyou notes sent to guest speakers when they’d agreed to do it, plus after the conference
Book bus and nominate driver
Last few days:
Get draft program proofed – pay particular attention to the spelling of peoples’ names
Need floor plan of trade/creativity display set up to venue day before
List of attendees that can be checked off on the day as delegates collect their name tag and bag
Allocate times to man the registration desk, may need extras
Allocate a time keeper and means of communicating ends of sessions
Determine activity of session conveners, what they are to say, how to introduce presenters
Fill bags and take to venue
Registration desk:
Pens, rulers, sticky tape, lollies, water, name tags, spare tags, chairs, scissors, list of contact numbers,
TT03 Organising Committee meetings leading up to 3-4 July 2003:
Scheduled |
Extras |
1. 27 August, 2002 |
|
2. 24 September, 2002 |
|
3. 15 October, 2002 |
|
4. 19 November, 2002 |
|
5. 17 December, 2002 (informal, BBQ) |
|
6. 28 January, 2003 |
|
7. 13 February, 2003 |
|
8. 25 February, 2003 |
|
9. 11 March, 2003 |
17 March, 2003 to collect posters for distribution |
10. 25 March, 2003 |
10 April, 2003 for assistance with contact list |
11. 8 April, 2003 |
15 April, 2003 for program |
12. 5 May, 2003 |
6 May, 2003 for program |
13. 20 May, 2003 |
22 May, 2003 for program and special interest groups |
14. 3 June, 2003 |
|
15. 17 June, 2003 |
|
16. 24 June, 2003 |
2 July, 2003 to fill delegate bags & take to venue |
7 committee members, plus volunteers assisting with registrations/accounts, venue set-up, manning the registration desk and conference ‘gofer’, and 1 volunteer assisting with burning CDs.
TECHTRAIN 2003
Finances and Registration: a Short Report
(compiled by Jennifer Till)Budgeting and Finances - Process in Brief
The committee devised a working operational budget near the beginning of the organization process. This included estimates on what we would need and how much these would cost.
This budget was used to fill out the forms needed to set up a University project to hold incoming funds.
The Staff Development Unit needed to be set up as a vendor in order to receive credit card payments into this project. An Eftpos machine was acquired and staff members were trained on using this machine.
An actual ongoing budget was kept as an Excel spreadsheet as actual financial transactions took place.
Major Challenges
A large amount of time was spent at the beginning of the process determining what we would probably require and approximate costs. Never having done this process before, many committee members found it difficult to make rough estimates, fearing that these would not be exact amounts. Adrianne Harris (UNSW Staff Development, TechTrain 2003 Committee) was responsible for pulling this all together and assuring that the process ran smoothly.
Being the first time we were involved with many of these processes, some including the setting up of the financial project took longer than expected.
Chasing up outstanding payments dragged on for a few months after the conference, together with all internal transfers taking place to eventually finalise the budget. A simple, organized record keeping system helped this run reasonably smoothly.
Registration - Process in Brief
Meetings took place with the University Financial Service to make sure the registration forms contained all the necessary GST information and that all the correct information for both internal and external payments, in particular credit card payments, appeared on these forms.
The forms were downloadable from the conference website. Payments were processed, all details appearing on the forms were recorded in an Excel spreadsheet and the original forms were filed in an expanding file in alphabetical order by surname. Trade display payments were also filed in this folder.
Email details recorded in this spreadsheet were used to confirm registrations. Name and location details were used to create name badges. Mailing details were used at the end of the conference to send certificates of attendance and details of TechTrain 2004.
On the conference days, at least two people were on the registration table to record attendance, give out name badges and the conference packs.
Red jumpers were worn by all the committee members at the conference in order for us to stand out from the crowd. These proved highly successful.
Major Challenges
Keeping everything in a strict order so that a number of staff could work on registrations at different times proved challenging!
The security department not being on hand to assist with distributing parking tickets meant that the registration table was occasionally under staffed. Increased communication with this department could have alleviated these problems. PARKING IS VERY IMPORTANT!
Figure: Registrations at TechTrain 2003 by University.
BUDGET TABLES TECHTRAIN 2003 Estimated budget: |
|
TechTrain 2003 Budget - DRAFT (as of 13/2/03) |
|
Income |
|
2002 Allocated Funds |
15000 |
Registration Fees |
23000 |
Trade Displays |
7500 |
Sponsorship |
|
TOTAL |
45500 |
Expenditure |
|
Advertising (1) |
3000 |
Bank and Merchant Fees (2) |
182 |
Catering - Conference Dinner (3) |
7500 |
Catering - Conference on Campus (4) |
11250 |
Catering - Suppliers and others (4A) |
2700 |
Committee Memorabilia (5) |
700 |
Conference Packs (6) |
5500 |
Display Panel Hire (7) |
1650 |
Logo (8) |
1000 |
Presenters Gifts (9) |
1000 |
University Services Charge (10) |
3000 |
Venue Hire |
7500 |
TOTAL |
44982 |
Notes to Expenditure table |
|
(1) Advertising - logo, magazines, newspapers, posters, banners and direction signs |
|
(2) 7 months at $26 per month) |
|
(3) $60 per head |
|
(4) 2 x lunches, 2 x morning and afternoon tea, tea and coffee on arrival each morning, cold water |
|
(based on $90 per person for 125 people) |
|
(5) Committee identification clothing - e.g., jacket |
|
(6) Conference Packs - Programs, CD Rom, Conference Bags |
|
(7) 33 panels |
|
(8) Logo already paid for |
|
(9) 64 presenters at $15 each |
|
(10) 5% of the total expenditure (payable at the conclusion of the conference) |
|
Actual Budget: TechTrain 2003
Revenue |
Amount |
Details |
Staff Development |
$15,000 |
2002 conference budget |
DVC (Research) Mark Wainwright |
$5,000 |
Internal transfer - 2003 |
Participant registration |
$29,450 |
cheque and internal straight into account plus credit card internal transfer from BA101 PS01989 |
Creativity registration |
$0 |
n/a |
Sponsorship |
$1,300 |
TechNet UNSW - sponsor morning tea (Charles Sturt Uni provided free Cheese and Wine for second day) |
Trade registration |
$6,380 |
cheques |
GST recoverable |
$2,409.79 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
$59,540 |
|
|
|
|
Expenses |
Amount |
Details |
Action Wear - Committee Jumpers |
$523.60 |
Eileen Emmerson credit card - internal transfer to reimburse |
Band - Three Easy Pieces |
$600 |
AP01 |
COFA - Fridge - official logo |
$1,000 |
Internal debit - 2002 |
Crowne Plaza - conference dinner |
$7,982 |
$743 on credit card (GH) balance on AP01 |
Facilities - Bus Hire |
$28 |
Internal transfer |
Harris Technology - toner for Lindsays printer (CD covers) |
$144 |
AH credit card |
Mail Room - courier expense |
$6.09 |
Internal debit - 2003 |
Britta Campion - Photography |
$385 |
AP01 |
Printing and Publishing - Program |
$1,089 |
Internal transfer |
Provin - catering on campus |
$16,397.70 |
AP01s |
Science faculty - posters |
$1,178 |
internal debit |
Scientia - venue balance |
$5,625 |
Internal debit - 2003 |
Scientia - venue deposit |
$1,875 |
Internal debit - 2003 |
Security - parking stickers |
$600 |
internal debit (note - not all of these used. Remainder to staff dev instead of admin expenses - certificate paper, carttidges, evelopes for mail out and other stationary supplies) |
Cabinet - Thank you Lunch catering |
$220.16 |
AP01 |
SK Corp - conference bags, torches, timers, trilighters |
$8,147.05 |
AH credit card (note - does not match invoices) |
SPA - Panels for Trade Displays |
$2,227.50 |
APO1 |
Casual Wages |
$1,874.93 |
Internal transfer |
Internal Admin Charges (Eftpos Machine and Fund charges) |
$4,117.66 |
Internal transfer |
Flowers for Eileen Emmerson - Chairperson |
$30 |
Petty Cash |
|
|
|
TOTAL |
$54,051 |
|
|
|
|
surplus/deficit |
$5,488 |
|
|
|
|
Trade Display Income, TechTrain 2003:
Alltech |
$500 |
cheque |
National Australia Bank Ltd. Cheque no 009007 Alltech Associates Pty Ltd |
www.alltech.com/australia |
Bacto |
$499.99 |
invoice |
UNSW GRP0042467 |
www.bacto.com.au/ |
Bonnet Equipment |
$500 |
cheque |
National Australia Bank Ltd. Cheque no 002610 Bonnet Equipment Pty Ltd |
www.bonnet.com.au/ |
Crown Scientific |
$500 |
cheque |
Westpac Banking Corp Cheque number 070789 13/03/03 Crown Scientific |
www.crownscientific.com.au |
Livingstone International |
$500 |
cheque |
Westpac Cheque Livingstone International Pty Ltd 20/03/03 |
www.livingstone.com.au |
Lomb Scientific |
$500 |
cheque |
Commonwealth Bank Lomb Scientific Aust Pty Ltd 05/03/03 |
www.lomb.com.au/ |
Sigma-Aldrich |
$250 |
cheque |
Westpac Cheque Sigma Aldrich Pty Ltd 06/03/03 |
www.sigmaaldrich.com/ |
UVEX |
$499.99 |
invoice |
UNSW GRP0042464 |
www.uvex.com/ |
Australian Instrument Services P/L |
$500 |
credit card |
|
|
Merck Pty Ltd |
$500 |
cheque |
|
|
Oxoid |
$500 |
cheque |
Westpac Banking Corp Cheque number 008573 Oxoid Australia Pty Ltd |
www.oxoid.com |
Radiometer Pacific |
$499.99 |
invoice |
UNSW GRP0047120 |
|
Corporate Express |
$630 |
invoice |
payment for torches for guest speakers |
|
TOTAL |
$6,380 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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