ON THE FRINGE

There are five basic questions to ask in planning a conference: Why are we holding a meeting; what do we want to achieve; who should attend; when will the meeting be held; where? The answers to what and who will virtually determine the sort of venue needed. An educational meeting for junior executives will indicate one style of venue, and the incentive conference for a successful salesforce will indicate another. Similarly, the programme content, types of session, audio‐visual content and so on will do much to specify the meeting room, and the who will determine the size and standard of accommodation needed. The answers to these questions can then be turned into a specification for what is wanted in considerable detail and the probable direct costs thereof.