Multi-room conference allocation checker
Your programme runs in parallel rooms and you need to know whether the allocation holds together before it is published.
…
The short answer
The checker reads the sessions in each room in time order and tests the gap between one ending and the next starting. The gap must be at least the turnover time you chose, plus the layout-change time when the two layouts differ.
A session may start the minute another ends in the same room only when the turnover time you chose is zero, and the layout change is zero or the layouts match. It also matches people across sessions, so a speaker in two overlapping sessions, or in two roles of one session, is flagged.
What to enter
- Rooms, with the usable limit the venue has confirmed for the layout you plan to use.
- Sessions with room, layout, start, end and expected attendees. Use one day and the 24-hour clock.
- The turnover time between sessions in a room, and the extra time when the layout changes, taken from the venue or the setup crew.
- People and roles per session, using a short label or initials rather than a full name.
What gets flagged
- Double-booking: two sessions overlapping in the same room, with the minutes of overlap.
- Turnover or layout gaps shorter than the time you entered. A blank turnover is unknown, so overlaps are still found but no gap is called acceptable.
- A person in two overlapping sessions, or entered in two roles in one session.
- Expected attendees above the usable limit you confirmed with the venue.
Reading the result
Fix double-bookings first, because they cannot be solved by turnover time. Then look at the short turnovers, and decide whether to move a session, add time or change a layout.
People who move between rooms with no gap are listed as a note, because the tool cannot know how long the walk takes.
Limits
This is not a legal capacity calculator. Room limits are numbers you confirmed with the venue, and the tool only compares attendees with them.
To confirm capacities and layouts in writing, use the event venue capacity confirmation page, and keep the rooms you need in the event venue requirements matrix.
Worked example · Fictional example
A fictional two-room day
Fictional organisation and figures, to show the calculation.
A fictional forum chooses 15 minutes turnover and 20 minutes extra for a layout change. Hall A runs a plenary and a panel in theatre style, then a classroom session 15 minutes later, so the last change is 20 minutes short.
Room B has a workshop and a clinic back to back with no gap, which fails the 15 minutes. One workshop expects 55 people against a limit of 40, and one speaker is in two sessions at the same time.
Use this yourself
Room allocation worksheet
List each room's sessions in time order and check the gap to the next one.
| Room | Session | Layout | Start | End | Gap to next | Time needed (turnover plus layout) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Handle it in-house, or bring in help?
Your team can usually handle this when
- Two or three rooms, a short programme and the same layout in each room all day.
- Speakers appear once and the venue has already confirmed the limits.
Outside planning help earns its fee when
- Many parallel tracks, changing layouts and speakers in several roles that must be reconciled as the programme moves.
- Venue turnover times, AV changes and speaker confirmations all need one person to keep the allocation consistent.
- The programme is published before rooms and limits are confirmed, and late changes need quick re-planning.
Want the programme and rooms coordinated?
A conference project lead can keep the room allocation, speaker roles and venue turnover times in one schedule, check each change against it and agree the layouts and limits with the venue in writing. The scope is agreed first, and programme decisions stay with your committee.
Questions organisers ask
Can two sessions end and start at the same minute in one room?
Only when the turnover time you entered is zero, and the layout change is zero or the layouts are the same. Otherwise the gap is flagged as too short.
Does the tool decide how many people a room can hold?
No. It compares expected attendees with the limit you confirmed with the venue. It is not a legal capacity or safety calculator.
What if I leave the turnover time blank?
It is treated as unknown. Overlaps are still found, but no gap between sessions is called acceptable.
Related resources
Content record: Draft. Written from the cited sources and checked by automated rules; not yet independently reviewed.