Organizing a business conference is harder than it sounds. You can’t just rent a room and expect people to mingle without awkwardness or uncertainty. If you want your conference to be truly successful, you’ll need to follow these four tips.

1. Find the Perfect Venue

For starters, don’t just rent a room. Rent an entire hall. This will give people the chance to spread out as they socialize and network, and it will also make your event seem large and prestigious even if it’s the first of its kind. If you don’t know where to begin with the rental process, look up meeting room rental MA and expand to venue rental from there.

2. Invite People from Outside of the Industry

You’ll want a full house for a successful conference, so don’t be afraid to pad the guest list a little. You can entice people to come by offering them the chance to hold a lecture or sell their goods at business stalls. It’s okay if they’re not from the same industry as the majority of the conference-goers; this will allow them to make contacts from multiple fields.

3. Keep People Entertained

You don’t want to hold mandatory events that might annoy or interrupt people when they’re networking. However, there’s no harm in hosting special events or activities for those who are interested. For example, you might have workshops about business leadership or lighthearted trivia games once the cocktails start circulating. It’s up to you to decide how to entertain your guests.

4. Give Away Freebies

Everyone loves a freebie, so make a point of handing out goodie bags and raffle prizes. You might even allow your guests to hand out freebies of their own; they can promote their businesses with pens, key chains and coffee mugs. Everyone wins when the “swag” comes out.

These are just a few tips for organizing a business conference. No matter what your industry, you’ll want your guests to be entertained and engaged by the proceedings, so use these suggestions to make your event a slam-dunk success.