Academic Conference Crisis Management

The types of crises that can occur at an academic conference vary significantly, so being prepared for them is crucial. While everyone hopes that a conference will go off without a hitch, it is always better to be safe than sorry. Preparing for any number of events can ensure that your conference is viewed as well-organised and carefully planned rather than a poorly run nightmare.

As the organiser, it is your responsibility to ensure that the conference is a safe, positive, and memorable experience for attendees. That doesn’t mean that your event will run smoothly, but the odds of a successful event increase significantly if you plan things carefully. To help guide organisers, here we’ve broken up potential issues into five separate categories:

• Planning an academic conference;
• Logistics and tech issues;
• Social and financial challenges;
• Behaviour and safety;
• Factors beyond your control.

While we won’t be able to cover every possible situation that can go wrong, we’ll provide a general overview of the types of crises you might face when managing a conference and how to avoid them.

Planning an academic conference

Any large-scale event can be fraught with problems. But the planning stage for a conference is one of the first places where crises can occur. Making sure you plan carefully can help to ensure that minor issues do not turn into massive crises. When planning a conference, several things should be considered. First of all, and perhaps most important: “What is your theme?” Knowing what the conference is about can help to ensure clarity throughout the planning stages. You will know what the conference is about and who you can invite. Crucially though, planning a conference needs time.

Planning a general timeline for your conference is a great first step. While a conference can conceivably be put together somewhat quickly (on a scale of a few months, to be clear), the more time you have to prepare, the better the conference will be. We recommend, ideally, a year or so to plan your conference.

What to plan and when?

One of the biggest problems in the organisation stage of a conference is failure to plan for necessary events in advance. For example, something as simple as catering might require several months of notice. Missing these deadlines can cause serious issues, increase costs, and even something as simple as “mislabeled ingredients” can lead to serious problems.

So, how does one plan to succeed?

A good rule of thumb is to start the planning at a year or more out. You can define the event’s theme, where to host it, how to secure funding, and put together a committee of colleagues to divvy up the responsibilities and more. To avoid potential crises in communication and misunderstanding, it’s critical that roles be well-defined and that a system for final decisions be established. This could range from having one person make final calls to arranging a group vote. Whatever is decided, though, should be adhered to.

When do you set up your website? When do you invite speakers? How long will you leave the call for papers/abstracts open? These are all important questions and are best addressed early rather than later (often up to a year out from the event).

For a more detailed breakdown of what you should focus on and when, you can read further on the matter.

Logistics and tech crisis management

Tech issues are, hands down, one of the most common types of crises that you’ll run into with a conference. Projectors break, microphones stop working, laptops get dropped, and more. These sorts of problems can cause significant problems at an academic conference—imagine if the keynote speaker’s laptop falls off a table and there’s no backup for the presentation.

Establishing redundancies and backup plans can help to avoid a major crisis. A cancelled keynote is not what you want people to remember about your academic conference management.

Related to tech issues, but distinct from them, are logistical issues. Is a conference venue big enough for the number of guests? Does it have enough rooms? Are there hotels nearby? Is it in the middle of a city with poor access due to construction? These are all questions related to the logistics of preparing for an academic conference.

Social and financial crisis management

When it comes to running conferences, one of the biggest crises that can happen is running out of money. These sorts of financial issues in running an academic conference can spell disaster. Running out of money can result in a weak and forgettable conference. As the planner of the conference, the buck (so to speak) stops with you, so make sure that you’re budgeting correctly.

While running out of money for catering can be, at the very least, embarrassing, not being able to pay vendors or the venue would be even worse.

Social issues, however, are a bit more complicated. These can arise in many different forms. For example, if your conference is planned in a way that it limits the number of academics that can attend due to costs (after all, not all institutions have access to the same resources), this can create the impression of purposefully excluding people from different regions.

Is the venue wheelchair accessible? Do they have quiet spaces? Are bathrooms gender neutral? Do you have an inclusivity policy?

As an individual, you might not feel like these are necessary. People are there to attend the conference, not worry about the policies, right? At the end of the day though, how you choose to handle (or not) social and inclusion issues will also potentially impact the budget—and will definitely impact the reaction to your conference.

Issues related to behaviour and safety

While not the first thing that you might think of, behaviour and safety is something you absolutely must consider. In some circles, this is referred to as “crowd management”. When it comes to safety, you need to be aware of fire protection and emergency procedures. Who do you contact if someone collapses? Do you have support staff that can help in the event of belligerent guests?

These sorts of issues can quickly cascade into a significant crisis. Planning for the safety and comfort of your guests is critical.

Factors out of your control in crisis management

In the end, there will always be things that are out of your control. Adopting a “what’s the worst thing that could happen” approach to a potential crisis is a good way to avoid being caught unprepared. As noted above, planning should start early, but it also needs to be clear-eyed and pragmatic. While many potential crises can occur at an academic conference, ensuring you can address those issues should they arise is incredibly important.

It’s important for the attendees but also for your reputation. After all, your name is on the conference.

There are always going to be cases where factors that are out of your control can impact your academic conference. Weather might have an impact. It could be a health-related matter (many conferences had to go fully digital for quite a while during the COVID-19 pandemic). So it is important to ensure you have a backup. Which of your deposits are or are not refundable? What is the fine print on contracts you sign? Are flights that you organise refundable? Some careful research and a bit more money can save a great deal in a crisis.

Remember, the more you plan, the better your odds of a memorable and wonderful conference.