You might decide that you want to make your own conference. You realize that a conference is a great way to publicize your service or product. It's a good way to boost sales. It's a good way to teach things. It's a good way to put yourself on the map. So, you want to use this opportunity to create your own conference.

Here's my best suggestion for you on what to do. Don't.

Go to organizations that specialize in these things and a successful conference is much more complicated than it may seem. The best advice therefore is, there are professionals out there that can do it. Let them do it right. Go to a few conferences yourself, conferences that are run by different organizations. Pick a conference that you decided was organized well. Find out who the organizer is for that conference and let them organize it for you. It won't be cheap. However, if you're going to have a conference you're going to want it to be a success. Better to spend more money on it and have it a success then to try to do it yourself and to fall on your face.

Do make sure that you have carefully identified your target audience and make sure that all the people in your target audience know about your conference either by direct mailing, by newspaper advertisements, by a combination of resources, because the reason for making that conference is for those people to attend.

Does this mean that you are going to get some schleppers in the conference who really don't belong?

Perhaps. Who cares? There is no reason to worry about having the people who don't belong and in so doing lose out on the people who do belong. Better to have a few extras who come along. Let them enjoy the free entertainment, meal, or whatever else you're going to do and make sure that you have all of the important people that you do want.

Teachers will be happy to come if there's something in it for them, give them a free meal, give them some handouts, keep the atmosphere happy, and they will listen to your lectures. It will be worth it to them.