A biennial conference held in regional and rural Western Australia. WA Country Health Service (WACHS) is the host organisation and one of the area services organises the conference. In 2013 the baton was handed to WACHS South West. We had 15 months to plan and deliver a conference for around 250 delegates. There were 3 days of conference papers, 3 social functions and delegates from around the state
Meeting monthly with a core committee of around 7, we set about working through the building blocks of the conference: budget and timeline. Quotes were sought for key areas of the conference such as venues and catering, social function venues, printing, entertainment and transport.
The committee members each had an area they were in charge of – financials, social functions, sponsorship, program. The committee worked really well together and undertook their subcommittee roles efficiently.
Our plan was to get 200 delegates to the conference.
We ended up with 275 delegates. The most sponsorship support this conference had ever received. We secured three amazing keynote speakers from WA, interstate and internationally. And overwhelming positive feedback around the program and overall delivery of the conference.