You have questions about the Creative Educator Conference and I have answers. In today’s episode, our 2024 emcee, Akua Konadu takes the mic to ask me questions submitted by our audience about planning and hosting the Creative Educator Conference! Listen in as we dive into fears, expenses, and what you can expect for the next round. Plus I’m sharing three tips for budgeting for large events!
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What was the biggest necessary expense when putting on the conference?
While there are so many expenses that come with putting on a conference, one of the biggest expenses that we ran into for the conference was transportation. Since we held the event off-site from our host hotel, it was important for me as a host to eliminate the pain point of getting to the event.
Three Tips for Budgeting for Your Event
As I shared, large scale events are a big investment and you assume a lot of risk when you host events. Here are my top three tips for budgeting for your event:
Understand what a budget looks like and know how to stay within that budget.
If you can’t do step one, bring in an expert (finance expert, planner, coordinator, etc.)
Be aware and stay true to what you set in your budget.
Building a Conference Crew
I personally couldn’t do this without my conference crew. Not only does a conference set up take a lot of hands, but it also takes a lot of brain power. Having additional people to contribute and help leading up to the conference is key in creating a seamless and successful event.
This crew was made up of team members, volunteers, and past speakers and attendees. When choosing these, I chose people who I trusted, who were honest, and who were a good fit to spend time with.
What scares you about hosting another conference next year?
Ironically, you already know I have fears and hesitations about hosting another round of the conference. One of the biggest fears I’ve face in the coming round is moving it to September of 2025—which leaves a large gap between the two events (about 20 months). Honestly, I faced the following questions:
Will I be forgotten?
Am I enough for people to remember?
Is this too long of a gap?
Will I be competing with more people/events in the fall?
Additionally, I want to make sure that I’m not just staying in my comfort zone and push that by being inventive and continuing to iterate year after year.
How do you handle things that are out of your control?
Not everything is going to run perfectly when you’re putting on an event this large, which comes with a lot of overcoming and releasing control. For example, we had some major weather issues that caused delays for attendees, it impacted special things we’d planned for the conference, and more. In many situations like these, I always want to look at it as people over profit—which can be hard when the money has already been spent.
My husband, Tim, always says, “If it’s out of your control, there is no point in worrying about it. Focus on the things you can actually do.”
When things didn’t go as planned, people stepped up to help out. Most people probably didn’t even realize it wasn’t planned the way that it was. No one is as harsh of a critic on us as we are. Focus on what matters to the attendees and if it doesn’t impact them, mov on from it.
Anything you would do differently?
There are always going to be more things that I wish I could do, but ultimately, there is nothing that I regret doing.
What can we expect for the third round?
I’m beyond excited for what’s to come in 2025! I have a dream list of what I want to do, but also don’t want to get ahead of myself. I will be looking at revamping the curriculum and schedule based on the feedback from attendees. You can still expect an amazing and fun event built of passion and dedication to our community.
If the Creative Educator Conference sounds like the right fit for you, make sure you’re on the waitlist for 2025!
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