Conference Room Setup Guide: 10 Things to Pay Attention to



Your conference room setup significantly impacts the overall success of your conference or presentation. If you simply throw some chairs and tables together, you’re likely not going to experience nearly the amount of engagement you could with a comprehensive conference room setup. If you’re falling victim to ineffective conferences, you’re probably not considering the top 10 things that go into making a great conference.

If you didn’t even think there were 10 things to consider for a conference room set-up, you’re in the right place. At DEXON systems, we acknowledge that conference rooms and their setup are key ingredients for a successful presentation or display, so that’s why we’ve created this guide to help you get it right every time!

In this article, we discuss the importance of an effective conference room setup and provide you with the top ten things to consider when you’re arranging your conference room.

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Conference room setup: why is it important to do it right?

Before we discuss exactly what you need to consider for your conference room, let’s first go over why you need to consider these factors in the first place.

Firstly, one of the key reasons why conference room setups are so important is that they have a significant impact on engagement. Engagement is everything to presentations and is a critical component in ensuring that the message of your display resonates with your audience.

If you place your attendees in a hot, poorly setup conference room, you may experience a lack of engagement. That means your hard work and investment in the perfect equipment will have been for nothing!

On a more simple level, it's important to get your conference room setup right, as this will impact whether your audience can see and hear the presentation.

Suppose you’re communicating important updates about company progression or new business opportunities. In that case, you’ll need to set up your conference room to ensure that each attendant can hear and see you clearly. Without this, your message quickly loses its impact, and people leave with more questions than they did when you started.

Another reason why you need to prioritize your conference room setup is that your attendees need an environment that facilitates productivity. In a distracting, poorly setup conference room, your attendees may be less able to concentrate on their work or what you’re staying.

That means they fail to absorb the information and misinterpret messages which can be very detrimental to productivity in the future.

Conference Room Setup

Conference room setup guide: what to pay attention to?

To help you create an optimal conferencing room, we’ve compiled the top 10 things to consider before your presentation. Keep reading to find out how you can create the perfect conference room!

1. Find the right style

Before you begin, you’ll need to find a conference room with the exact right style. There’s a few different ways you can set up your conference room to be a productive and collaborative environment. Consider the U-Shape setup, for example.

This setup seats each attendee side-by-side in a U-Shape, allowing everyone to see your display system and presenter. This shape easily facilitates group working and allows everyone to see the speaker at all times. Here are some other examples of conference room styles that you may be interested in:

  • Hollow square style (guests seated in a square with the presenter in the middle)
  • Boardroom style (attendees sit in rows facing each other from opposite sides)
  • Auditorium (suitable for larger events with little interaction between attendees and presenters)
  • Classroom style (multiple tables with small groups of attendees in rows)
  • Banquet style (small group of round tables around the room with a few attendees seated at each)

Conference room right style

2. Accessibility is important

When you’re selecting a venue, you’ll also need to consider accessibility. Some attendees may require additional accessibility features such as wheelchair access, access to assistive hearing services or sight impairment aids. These are all things you need to consider before choosing a venue, especially if you haven’t met your attendees previously. You might even experience higher returns and increased business success if you improve accessibility in your conferencing strategy.

So, ask yourself the following questions before you choose a venue:

  • Is the venue easily accessible via public transport?
  • Is the conference room big enough for wheelchair access?
  • Does my audio and visual equipment help the hearing or visually impaired?
  • Could I offer virtual attendance to attendees with accessibility concerns?

 

3. Use a room scheduler

There’s no feeling quite like realizing that your meeting or conference room has been double-booked. This leads to a host of problems such as your presentation or conference being canceled, delayed or staging your presentation in an unsuitable room, negatively impacting your engagement and attendance capacity.

If this is a big concern of yours and you’re likely to experience double-booking, then consider using a room scheduler tool. This allows you to book your room in advance, stopping you from experiencing last-minute disappointment. These are especially useful for larger companies with many people who may need access to a room. Gone are the days of double-booking!

Room Scheduler

4. Use good quality video displays

Good quality video displays can help you convey your message more clearly, keep your audience engaged and help you transform a standard presentation into a high-production value event.

To do this, you’ll need to use the correct equipment to support your video quality. For example, if you’re using a video wall, you’ll need to use the corresponding equipment such as a video wall controller, matrix switcher and processors. This equipment can help you isolate different screens to distribute a higher volume of information, increase image quality, and easily display content from multiple sources.

Check out the Dexon website where we cater to all your video display needs!

5. Use good quality audio equipment

Similar to having the correct equipment for video displays, you’ll also need to ensure that your audio equipment is up to scratch for your conference. Here’s a list of audio equipment you might need for a good quality conference:

  • Microphones (wired or unwired)
  • Speakers
  • Back-up generators
  • Audio recorders

Audio Equipment

6. Your conference goals

Believe it or not, your conference room setup will dictate a significant amount of your success when trying to achieve your main conferencing goals.

When designing your conference room setup, you should always think about your goals and whether your setup is conducive to this.

For example, if one of your goals is to spark a debate or general conversation about the conference content, then you should choose a seating arrangement that facilitates group work.

7. Audience needs

While commonly overlooked, your audience needs are potentially the most important part of your conferencing setup. When thinking about your audience needs, you should be considering their comfort.

For example, consider choosing a conference room with air conditioning, easy access to facilities like toilets, having water available, WiFi and easy access to amenities like train stations or restaurants and cafes!

Although these are small details, they can make a big difference to your audience experience, engagement, levels of participation and thus, success!

Audience Needs

8. Budget

We try not to think of it too often, but your budget will significantly impact your ability to stage an impressive conference or presentation. This is because your budget will dictate what audio-visual equipment you can invest in, the size and location of your venue, connectivity and much more.

If you’re concerned about budget, consider asking the venue where you’re planning to host your conference if they have any AV equipment that you can use during your stay. In some scenarios, they may have access to equipment like microphones, projectors, interactive whiteboards and speakers which may be included in your room rental fee,

9. Virtual attendees

As the in-person events landscape has evolved over the last few years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it's important that we always consider remote access when staging live events. This can make it much easier for people with geographical, transport, or accessibility concerns to attend your conference.

You should ensure that your AV equipment and conferencing software facilitate virtual attendees and allow them to interact with in-person attendees.

Virtual Attendees

10. Connectivity

Last but not least, you’ll need to consider connectivity. This refers to your ability to connect to the WiFi in your venue. While it might seem obvious, the internet, more specifically its speed, can greatly impact your conference.

This is especially important to consider if you’re planning to have virtual attendees that rely on a stable internet connection to watch and interact with your conference. If you’re planning to use your visual display systems to stream web-based content, then you’ll need to think about finding a venue with super-fast broadband speed to avoid any awkward buffering!

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Final thoughts

We hope you now feel more prepared to start creating an impressive and engaging conference with the help of this checklist. Before you go, why not check out the rest of DEXON’s blog where we discuss more tips and tricks for optimizing your AV displays?

We also stock a full range of video wall equipment that can help you transform your display into a dynamic and thrilling experience, so you can rely on us for all your conferencing equipment needs!

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DEXON Systems

+36 23 422 804
+36 23 445 199




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