Your annual conference is most likely an established part of the calendar: a place to share knowledge, support professional development and bring members together.
But if you’ve outgrown your current offering then the next version might look quite different. Perhaps your online conference is ready for an in-person element, your small gathering is attracting bigger numbers, or a familiar format needs refreshing.
Before booking a bigger room or adding another stream, these six questions can help you decide what should come next.
1. What do we want the change to achieve?
“A bigger event” is a common but sometimes ambiguous goal. It assumes that a larger venue or more delegates is the definition of success. Sometimes, however, you need to get more specific to really shape event decisions into strategic ones. Are you, for example, trying to reach more members, introduce practical learning, attract exhibitors or create stronger connections within your community? Agree what success would look like before choosing the format. If the aim is deeper discussion, smaller workshops might serve members better than a larger space.
2. Who are we hoping to reach?
Look beyond your regular attendees. Which members are generally not showing up, and what might make the event more useful or accessible to them? Early-career members may value introductions and practical guidance; experienced professionals might want specialist discussion. Travel, cost and time away from work also matter. If you’re moving from online to in-person, consider what existing attendees could lose as well as gain, and how you treat these problems as solvable challenges. Oftentimes a hybrid set up gives all your audiences the choice and opportunity they need to participate, and an events team who can manage both streams simultaneously also removes any stress associated with scaling up in this way.
3. What needs to change around the programme?
Adding more delegates or sessions affects the whole day. Will registration cope? Can people move comfortably between rooms? Is there enough time for refreshments, conversation and questions?
In 2025, the Association for Project Management’s Women in Project Management Conference event welcomed its largest volume of delegates to date at a new, larger venue, with three concurrent streams. That meant planning how people would navigate and experience the event within new parameters, alongside what actually happens once you’re in the room. Successfully managing that transition resulted in retaining the venue in 2026, and no longer needing to reimagine the format, freeing up capacity to invest time in evolving the event content so that delegates continued to receive the best possible experience.
4. Can everyone take part comfortably?
A change of venue or format is a useful moment to revisit accessibility. Ask about requirements early enough to act on them and explain the support available before people book. Across APM’s conferences, including at its annual conference where it welcomes its largest volume of delegates across two days, venues are selected based on accessibility criteria, and live captions across all stages, hearing loops, quiet spaces and stage ramps are among the measures we take to support participation. It’s important that these decisions are given space for consideration in the initial plan and budget, alongside the usual elements like speakers and catering.
5. Does our team have the capacity to deliver it?
An event can grow considerably while the internal team stays the same size. Map out who will manage everything from speakers and suppliers to registration and last-minute decisions, including during setup and rehearsals. Think beyond just the physical resource, but also to skill sets, ensuring that you have enough people to do the work and enough expertise to manage the task. This is particularly important if your event has grown from a simple or online format, to one where you may need staging, lighting and AV, for example, where technical support to execute this at a quality level might make all the difference.
6. What should we keep?
Change doesn’t need to mean starting again. Ask members what they value most about your current conference and retain or evolve those elements. That might be quality and range of speakers, a brilliant venue and welcoming atmosphere, or time to catch up and network with peers. Combine feedback with attendance patterns as well as your team’s observations to create a focused brief: what to retain, what to improve and what to introduce. A successful next step should feel like a better event for your members, with a delivery plan your team can confidently support.
Planning a change to your member event? ClinkClink is offering free event consultations at Membership Excellence. Find us at stand E3, or email Rob Uphill, Event Director – [email protected] – to arrange a time at the exhibition or outside it.
Leave A Comment