I’ve just spent the last two days at a conference trying to write and balance my notepad on my knees because the organizer chose to set the room theater style with no tables. It has become my biggest pet peeve in the conference industry lately.

Attention all organizers: if you are charging upwards of $1,200 for a two day conference I am declaring it illegal for you to set your rooms anything but classroom style! Our highest price point for the Podcast and New Media Expo is $299 and we set every room at least 50% classroom-style with tables. The front half of the room that has tables also have electrical outlets every three feet for laptop users. Does it cost more and take additional setup time? Of course, but your attendees will thank you for it. Conferences that cost a whole lot more have no excuses NOT to do this. If you can’t fit the tables in because you have too many attendees, then you should stop taking registrations.

I’m not naming the conference, because some might consider it a competitor to our own. But just one more tip - if you jam a bunch of chairs into a small room just so you can say there was standing room only, it doesn’t count. Anybody can say you needed an overflow room but that’s not how I judge success. Success = pleased attendees and exhibitors - anything else is just window dressing. At the first Podcast and New Media Expo, our first day keynote had standing room only in a room that held 700 because the keynotes are open to both free exhibit hall attendees and conference attendees. I was stressed big time because several paying conference attendees couldn’t get in and we were unprepared - it won’t happen to me again. Most people would say, “that’s a good problem to have” but I don’t see it that way. When your paying attendees can’t get into a session because it’s too full, that’s a bad problem, not a good problem.

When I attend conferences, I’m always learning. But why does it seem like I always learn what NOT to do instead of what I should do?

Update: Oh, I forgot to mention the pornography at the conference. During the web video screening last night, two of the videos were straight up hardcore pornography. Obviously none of the conference staff had pre-screened what was going to be shown. It was excruciatingly uncomfortable and all I could do was turn to the woman who was sitting next to me and say, “You don’t see that everyday at a business conference.” I saw at least one woman stand up and walk out when the second video started and I wasn’t far behind. Note to self: Be sure to pre-screen everything someone outside the company has picked out to run on our keynote big screens. We don’t need to be competing with the hotel’s on-demand, in-room adult movies.