When you begin thinking about how you want to organize your next conference, it’s important to consider how you are going to attract a variety of attendee demographics. One easy way to start is by curating varying educational tracks that could interest a range of professionals to your event.

While these will vary depending on your industry, we’ve highlighted four types of educational tracks that will help you cover your bases for attracting both veteran and newcomer attendees alike!

1. Technology Track

Every year, new technology is being released to an unknowing public (including your ideal attendee market!). This means that your potential attendees could be looking to your conference as a way to be kept in the loop, especially when it comes to learning how to integrate these new technologies into their everyday work life.

While you can focus on this track in a variety of ways, we recommend by requesting topics that cover:

  • Integrating mobile into your events
  • Clean and responsive software design for your event’s landing pages
  • Using chatbots to automate your customer service on-site

Also, don’t hesitate to use this track as a way to explain some 101 technology basics to attendees about popular technology already used in your field.

2. Leadership / Culture Track

Whether you’re a new leader or a seasoned pro, it’s important to keep up-to-date on the best ways to engage with your employees and volunteers. Typically these tracks have a heavy HR presence and focus on current trends in:

  • Volunteer management (including acquisition, engagement, and retention)
  • Learning current hiring expectations in the field
  • Injecting energy into their office culture

It will be to your conference’s benefit if you also include a session outlining some tried-and-true tips from experienced CEOs and leaders in your industry. Who doesn’t love hearing some real world truths?

3. Professional Development Track

Across the board, every professional has a skill they can improve that will benefit them in the professional arena. This makes a professional development track a must for your conference, as it will allow you to highlight some of the soft and hard skills that can really boost your attendee’s resume and everyday workflow.

You will usually find these sessions describe how to:

  • Become a more proficient worker in organizing your time
  • Become better at dealing with difficult people
  • Figure out your next career move

Generally, these sessions allow for your attendee to take a second away from thinking “what’s best for my company?” and instead think about “what’s best for me?”  

4. Customer / Attendee Experience Track

Over the last couple of years, expectations are higher than ever of a customer (or attendee) experience. By establishing a customer experience track, you’ll be able to cover topics like:

As your industry grows, so will the need for varying sessions, so start considering the growing pain and passion points in your field to see what your attendees want to see more of in coming years.

When it comes to planning an event, you OBVIOUSLY want people to attend, especially considering how much time and money you’re putting into it. But event promotion…that’s a full-time job in itself! Check out some top tips in our free guide, Event Marketing: Promotional Tactics to Amplify Attendance! 

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