Guide
Planning a conference with official attendance: a checklist
When ministers, ambassadors or senior officials attend, the programme has to work for two schedules at once: one for the audience and one for the guest. This checklist follows the order the work usually happens in, from the first confirmation to the day itself.
Before the confirmation
Official guests confirm late and sometimes change their timing on the day. Build the programme so that the official segment can move without breaking the rest: a fixed opening, a flexible block for the official address, and sessions that can shift by half an hour.
Agree early who speaks for the host with the office of the guest, and keep one contact on each side for every change.
Protocol and arrival
- The arrival route from the car to the holding room and the stage, walked in advance
- A holding room near the stage, with a separate entrance where possible
- The order of precedence for seating and speeches, approved by the office of the guest
- Reserved front-row seats with name cards, and a person to guide each guest
- Flags, the lectern and the backdrop checked against the protocol request
- Security coordination: who checks the hall, when, and which areas close
The run-of-show
- A minute-by-minute schedule with a cue for every change on stage
- Walk-in and walk-out music, and what plays if the guest is late
- Names and titles on screen checked letter by letter, in both languages
- One stage manager who calls the cues, and one channel for the whole crew
Press, interpretation and recording
- A press area with a clear view of the lectern and its own power
- Simultaneous interpretation booths and headsets when speakers use more than one language
- Photography and video planned around the moments of the guest: arrival, the address, the handshake
- A short list of approved photos ready for the press within hours
The rehearsal
Rehearse the opening and the official segment with the real cues, the real music and someone standing in for the guest. Walk the arrival route at the same time of day, and test every microphone on the lectern and the panel. This is where most of what needs fixing before the day comes to light.
Questions we are asked
- How far ahead should a conference with official guests be planned?
- As early as the date allows. The venue, the programme and the invitations come first; the protocol details follow once the office of the guest confirms.
- What changes when a minister attends?
- Timing becomes flexible, security coordination is added, and the order of seating and speeches follows protocol. The programme is built so that it can move around the official segment.
- Who should call the cues on the day?
- One stage manager, working from a minute-by-minute run-of-show, with one channel to sound, lighting, screens and the camera crew.