How do you pick the perfect conference theme?

1 Know your audience

Before you start thinking of possible themes, you need to know who your target audience is and what they want from your conference. What are their pain points, challenges, interests, and aspirations? What are the current trends, issues, and opportunities in their field or industry? How can your conference help them learn, grow, network, and solve problems? You can use surveys, interviews, feedback forms, social media, and online forums to gather insights and data about your audience. You can also look at the profiles and preferences of your past or potential attendees, speakers, and sponsors.

2 Brainstorm ideas

Once you have a clear understanding of your audience, you can start generating ideas for your conference theme. You can use various brainstorming techniques, such as mind mapping, word association, free writing, brainstorming sessions, or online tools, to come up with as many options as possible. Don't limit yourself by being too critical or realistic at this stage. Just let your creativity flow and write down everything that comes to your mind. You can also get inspiration from other sources, such as books, magazines, podcasts, blogs, events, or experts in your field.

3 Evaluate options

Once you have a list of potential themes, it's important to evaluate them based on some criteria. You may want to use a SWOT analysis, a scoring system, or a matrix to compare and rank your options. Factors to consider include relevance, originality, clarity, appeal, and scope. Relevance refers to how well the theme matches your audience's needs, expectations, and goals. Originality measures the uniqueness of the theme compared to other events in your niche or market. Clarity evaluates how easy and concise the theme is to communicate and understand. Appeal looks at how catchy and attractive the theme is to your audience and stakeholders. Lastly, scope assesses how broad or narrow the theme is to cover the topics, sessions, and activities of your conference.

4 Refine your theme

Once you have narrowed down your options to a few finalists, you need to refine your theme to make it more specific, memorable, and impactful. You can do this by adding a subtitle, a tagline, a slogan, or a visual element to your theme. You can also test your theme with a small group of your audience or stakeholders to get feedback and suggestions. You can then tweak your theme based on the responses and reactions you receive.

5 Launch your theme

The final step is to launch your theme and promote it to your audience and stakeholders. You can use various channels, such as your website, social media, email, press releases, or flyers, to announce your theme and explain its benefits and value. You can also use stories, testimonials, or case studies to illustrate how your theme relates to your audience and speakers. You can also create a hashtag, a logo, or a mascot to represent your theme and encourage engagement and interaction.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?