Agenda Builder

What an agenda builder does

At its simplest, an agenda builder holds a list of sessions with a start time, an end time and a location, and shows them as a schedule. Better ones go further: they group sessions by track, link them to speakers, let attendees choose their own sessions and tell people when something changes.

The point is one source of truth. If the schedule lives in a document, a web page, a printed program and an app, each one drifts. A builder that feeds the places attendees look reduces that drift and the confusion at the door.

An agenda builder is not the same thing as a plan for what the event should contain. For the content side, see the guide to the conference agenda. For a blank schedule layout, see the event schedule template guide.

Features to look for

Check these against the shape of your own event. A one-room workshop needs fewer than a multi-track conference.

• Sessions

  Title, description, start and end time, type of session and any materials. Easy to add, duplicate and move.

• Tracks

  Group sessions by topic or audience so attendees can follow a theme and filter the schedule.

• Rooms and locations

  Assign each session a place, including virtual links for online sessions, and see all sessions in a room.

• Speakers

  Link speakers to sessions, with names, photos and short bios, so one update appears everywhere.

• Personal agendas

  Let attendees pick sessions and build their own schedule to carry on their phone.

• Changes and notifications

  Edit a session after publishing and tell attendees about it, rather than hoping they check the page.

• Conflict checks

  Warnings when a speaker or an attendee is double-booked. Not every builder has this, so ask.

• Capacity limits

  Room or session caps, and what happens when a session is full. Again, ask whether the builder supports it.

• Export and sharing

  Print a program, export to a spreadsheet or share a link, so people without the app can still read it.

How to build an event agenda, step by step

Do the thinking on paper first, then enter it. Builders are quick when the decisions are already made.

1. 1

   Set the frame

   Write down the dates, daily start and end times, rooms and number of tracks. Everything else fits inside this.

2. 2

   Fix the anchor points

   Place the sessions that cannot move first: opening, keynotes, meals and closing. They define the rest of the day.

3. 3

   Add the content sessions

   Fit talks, panels and workshops around the anchors. Keep similar sessions out of the same time slot so people are not forced to choose.

4. 4

   Build in breaks

   Add time between sessions for moving rooms, coffee and conversation. A tight schedule runs late and stays late.

5. 5

   Assign rooms and speakers

   Match each session to a room that fits its size and a speaker who has confirmed. Note any speaker with limited availability.

6. 6

   Check for clashes by hand

   Look for a speaker in two places, a room used twice and a session starting before the previous one finishes.

7. 7

   Preview as an attendee

   Open the agenda on a phone, then follow the path of two typical attendees through the day.

8. 8

   Publish and keep it current

   Share the agenda, then update it as things change and tell attendees when you do.

Planning tracks, rooms and speakers

The hardest part of an agenda is rarely the tool. It is deciding how sessions share rooms and how speakers share time. A few rules make the builder work for you instead of against you.

• Use tracks for audiences, not for filling space

  A track should help a type of attendee find the sessions meant for them. If a track has only one session, merge it.

• Match room size to expected interest

  Use what you know from past events or from registrations to guess which sessions will be popular, and give those the big rooms.

• Keep speaker time realistic

  Ask each speaker for their availability before you place them, and note anyone who must leave early or arrive late.

• Separate virtual and onsite sessions where needed

  For a hybrid event, say clearly which sessions are in a room, which are online and which are both, so attendees pick sessions they can actually join.

• Leave a buffer slot

  One spare slot in the day gives you somewhere to put a session that moves, and gives the schedule room to recover if it runs late.

Agendas for virtual and hybrid events

A schedule for a virtual or hybrid event has extra decisions. Online attendees live in different time zones, and onsite and remote attendees may follow different paths through the day.

• State the time zone everywhere

  Show the time zone beside every time, and offer a way for people to see sessions in their own local time where the tool allows it.

• Mark each session as onsite, online or both

  People should know before they pick a session whether they can join it. Use a clear label, not a note buried in the description.

• Plan recordings

  Decide which sessions will be recorded, where the recordings will live and when they will be available, and say so on the agenda.

• Keep online breaks short but real

  People on screens need breaks as much as people in rooms. Schedule them, and give remote attendees something to do in them, such as a chat or a poll.

• Give remote speakers a tech check

  Add a rehearsal slot to the plan for any speaker joining remotely, and list a backup contact for each session.

Scheduling mistakes to avoid

Most schedule problems come from squeezing too much in. These are the ones to look for.

• No time to move

  Back-to-back sessions in different rooms leave no time to get there. Add transition time.

• Competing sessions for the same audience

  Two sessions that suit the same people at the same time force a choice. Spread them out.

• Speakers double-booked

  A person on two panels at one time is a common slip when several people edit the schedule.

• Rooms too small for popular sessions

  Put the sessions you expect to be popular in the biggest rooms, and have an overflow plan.

• No meals or breaks

  People who are hungry and tired stop listening. Schedule meals and breaks as firmly as sessions.

• A late agenda

  An agenda released only days before makes planning hard for attendees. Publish early, even if it is marked as draft.

• Changes with no notice

  A room swap that attendees do not hear about causes missed sessions. Always notify.

A session planning table you can copy

Fill this in for every session before you enter it in a builder. It also serves as the brief for speakers and room managers.

SESSION PLANNING TABLE
Event: [Name]   Day: [Date]   Track: [Track name]

SESSION 1
Title: [Session title]
Start: [Time]   End: [Time]   Room: [Room or link]
Type: [Keynote / talk / panel / workshop / break / meal]
Speaker(s): [Names and roles]   Confirmed: [Yes / No]
Expected attendance: [Number]   Room capacity: [Number]
Materials or equipment: [Slides, microphone, projector]
Sign-up needed: [Yes / No]
Notes: [Accessibility, setup time, overflow plan]

SESSION 2
Title: [Session title]
Start: [Time]   End: [Time]   Room: [Room or link]
Type: [Type]
Speaker(s): [Names and roles]   Confirmed: [Yes / No]
Expected attendance: [Number]   Room capacity: [Number]
Materials or equipment: [Needs]
Sign-up needed: [Yes / No]
Notes: [Notes]

BREAKS AND MEALS
[Time to time]  [Coffee / lunch]  [Location]

CHECKS
No speaker in two places: [  ]   No room used twice: [  ]   Moving time between rooms: [  ]
Publish date: [Date]   Person who updates changes: [Name]

Agendas on Eventdex

Eventdex does not present a standalone agenda builder as a product. Its pages describe agenda features inside the mobile event app, registration and the hybrid platform. These are the claims its pages make.

• Program agenda in the app

  The mobile app page describes a program agenda that gives attendees the latest schedule on their phone, lets you make changes on the go and lets guests create a personalized agenda.

  Mobile event app

• Push notifications

  The app page says push notifications can tell attendees about last-minute changes.

  See push notifications

• Session selection at registration

  The registration page lists session selection as part of the registration path, so attendees can choose sessions as they sign up.

  Event registration software

• Hybrid agendas

  The hybrid page describes customizable schedules for in-person and virtual participants, sessions split by online or onsite registrants and recordings for repeat viewing.

  Hybrid event platform

• Not described

  The pages do not describe an automatic check for speaker or room conflicts, or room capacity limits on sessions. Check clashes yourself and ask Eventdex about any limit you need.