Onsite staffing:

Review your onsite staffing needs and ensure all staff members or volunteers have been assigned appropriately.  Prior to leaving for the event, ensure your staff has reviewed the event schedule, understand their responsibilities and expectations and who to their primary onsite POC is.

Staffing might include:

• Planner team
• Registration team
• Office coverage
• Information counter / booth
• Greeters
• Room monitors
• Badge checkers
• Floaters / runners
• Student volunteers
• Convention Visitors Bureau desk personnel
• Coat or Bag Checkers
  

Final Run Through:

Approximately a week prior to the conference, gather your key players and hold a final conference run-through meeting.  In addition to having each project champion review their final details, walk-through your agenda step-by-step to ensure all planning is complete and no detail has been missed.

Final Verification Calls:

Call each of your vendors to “touch base” and to review any final details.  Vendors would include:

• Venue contact
• Banquets contact
• Audiovisual producers
• Entertainment
• Décor 
• Activities
• Transportation
• Keynote presenters
• Registration staffing
• Offsite Event or Dinner venues
  

Planner Checklist: ensure all the following are accessible to you at all times while onsite:

• Full Conference schedule
• Full Production schedule, including all onsite team assignments
• Venue Banquet Event Orders (BEOs), finalized and signed
• Meeting space specification sheets and diagrams
• Downloaded Conference app
• Master copy of all shipments, including tracking numbers
• Rooming list
• Venue contract
• All vendor contracts
• Contact list of all key players
• International power adapters, if necessary
• USB storage
• Business cards
  

Packing and Shipping:

• Obtain accurate address and content information for shipping and receiving
• Establish deadlines for shipping materials, supplies, signage, etc.
• Research any customs or international issues if you are shipping abroad
• Determine how many days in advance of your event your materials can arrive without penalty
• Investigate any policies or storage fees involved with shipping to the venue
• Determine whether the venue requires you to use custom shipping labels or forms
• Insure your materials 
• Create a consistent labeling method and make sure boxes are clearly marked
• Mark your boxes “1 of 20” (or appropriate total number) and create a shipping manifest, which details box numbers and their contents
• Keep all package tracking numbers
• Ask for confirmation that your shipping materials have arrived
• Once onsite, identify the storage location, identify each box against your shipping manifest, and make arrangements for the boxes to be delivered to the appropriate location
• Consider storing or saving shipping boxes to use at the end of the conference

‍