Association Conference
Location: Austin, TX
Even the best-laid plans can go awry! It’s the nature of conference and meeting planning. I’m so proud of our team for jumping into action, making swift decisions, and planning/executing what was essentially an entirely new conference just four months before doors opened!
- 3Days
- 4 MonthsTo Replan the Venue
The brand-new hotel originally slated to host the conference would not be ready in time, leaving only four months to find a new venue and essentially replan everything: editing all marketing materials, informing guests, vendors, and VIP speakers, adjusting VIP travel plans, learning a new AV system, and rescheduling programming to fit the new hotel’s spaces.
Coterie Spark moved the conference to the Hotel Van Zandt, whose management team accommodated the monumental last-minute change, and delivered a program celebrating Austin’s culture: a day of sailing and swimming on Lake Travis, musical entertainment every night, speakers including Brené Brown, Kendra Scott, and Ari Weinzweig, and a collegiate entrepreneur competition.
Coterie Spark was engaged to produce a conference in Austin, TX for global entrepreneurs. Understanding that attendees and speakers would be invited from all over the world, we set out to celebrate the best of Austin’s unique history and culture while achieving our client’s goals of increased networking among attendees and large-crowd-drawing educational sessions.
After a day of sailing and swimming on Lake Travis, the three-day conference kicked off at the Hotel Van Zandt - but it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing to get to that point. The conference was originally slated to be held at another hotel, a brand new one that would open shortly before our conference’s doors opened. As we got closer to the big day, it was clear that the hotel, despite its many promises, would not be ready. We only had four months to find a new venue.
While changing venues might not appear to be a huge burden at first glance, serious last-minute planning is required to ensure the conference experience remains seamless. Our team had to essentially replan everything. We edited all marketing materials; informed guests, vendors, and VIP speakers of the changes while adjusting VIP travel plans; learned a new AV system; rescheduled programming to fit within the confines of the new hotel’s spaces; and more. We felt lucky to connect with the Hotel Van Zandt management team, who accommodated a monumental last-minute change of plans.
After all that scrambling, the conference was a major hit. Austin is often coined the “Live Music Capital of the World,” so we booked musical entertainment every night. Infusing cultural events into the program played a major role in encouraging networking and building excitement toward the educational sessions. With speakers like Brené Brown, Kendra Scott, and Ari Weinzweig, as well as a collegiate entrepreneur competition in the program, the energy had to stay soaring all conference long.
Despite being completely uprooted from one location to another, we tackled the challenge head-on and came up with creative solutions for our client. The result was a happy and relieved client, wowed attendees, impressed VIPs, and one of our favorite projects to date.