B2B customer and user conferences
Coordinating hands-on software labs with conference operations
The product team wants attendees to work on the software themselves, and the venue, registration desk and run order were all planned for people sitting and listening.
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The short answer
A hands-on lab changes the operating needs of a session: fixed seat numbers, power and connectivity for every seat, helpers on the floor, longer room turnover and a way to deal with people who arrive unprepared. The lab content belongs to the product team. The event owner makes sure the room and the conference around it can support it.
Write the lab's needs as a short requirements sheet that product, venue and technical suppliers can all answer, then check each answer in writing before the lab is advertised.
Who owns what
| Area | Owner | What the event owner coordinates |
|---|---|---|
| Lab content, exercises, sample data | Product or training team | Dates for materials, rehearsal and any speaker brief |
| Accounts or access for attendees | Product team | When accounts must be ready and how attendees receive them |
| Room, seating, tables, power | Venue | A written layout and power requirement, confirmed by the venue |
| Network and wireless for the room | Venue or appointed technical supplier | The requirement and the evidence that it was tested under realistic load |
| Devices, if supplied | Product team or a hire supplier | Delivery, set-up, security and collection times |
| Seats, waitlist, check-in | Event owner and registration supplier | Rules for sign-up, no-shows and walk-ins |
Decisions that shape the lab
- Bring your own device or supplied devices. Own devices need a clear prerequisites list. Supplied devices need delivery, security and setup time.
- Seats per lab. Use the venue's written confirmation of usable room capacity, not an estimate from a floor plan, and allow space for helpers to walk between tables.
- Helper ratio. Ask the product team how many experienced helpers a group of that size needs and who they are.
- Pre-work. If attendees must install or sign in beforehand, decide when it is sent and who answers the questions that follow.
- Repeat sessions. A second run of the same lab can reduce waitlists but doubles room and helper time.
Connectivity and power: the questions to ask
Do not assume that venue Wi-Fi that works for email will work for thirty people running software at once. Ask the venue and any technical supplier for the evidence, not reassurance.
The technical design is theirs. Your job is to write the requirement from the product team's needs and see that someone is accountable for testing it. The technical requirement gathering guide gives a structure.
- How many devices will connect at once, and what does the software need from the network?
- Is a wired or dedicated network an option for the lab room?
- How many power points are at each table, and is any extension cabling approved by the venue?
- What is the fallback if connectivity fails mid-lab, and who decides to switch?
Operations around the lab
- Add labs to the master schedule with a turnover time before and after. See the room turnover plan.
- Open lab sign-up as a separate registration option with a seat limit. Use capacity controls and waitlist rules so people are not left unsure.
- Check the room, seats, devices and accounts the evening before, with a named person from product and from the venue.
- Brief registration staff and floor helpers on how to handle late arrivals and people who cannot sign in.
- Run a short rehearsal in the actual room. Use the multi-room allocation checker to check the lab does not clash with speakers or rooms elsewhere.
Common failure points
- The lab room is booked from a capacity figure for theatre seating, then used with tables and laptops.
- Accounts are created late, so the first twenty minutes go to sign-in problems.
- Connectivity is tested with three people, not thirty.
- No decision about walk-ins, so helpers are overloaded or doors are blocked.
- Lab content runs long and pushes the afternoon plenary.
Worked example · Fictional example
A fictional analytics-platform lab day
Fictional organisation and figures, for illustration only.
Data Segar, a fictional analytics-platform company, offers four 90-minute labs of 30 seats each on the second day of its user conference. The first plan puts the labs in a ballroom section that holds theatre seating for 80.
The event owner asks the venue to confirm in writing how many people can work at tables with laptops, which is fewer than 30 in the proposed section. The labs move to two smaller rooms, product commits to two helpers per lab, the venue and technical supplier agree a connectivity test with 30 devices the evening before, and the schedule gets a 20-minute turnover after each lab.
Use this yourself
Lab readiness brief
Copy this per lab. Each line needs a named owner and a written answer before the lab is announced.
- Lab title, product owner and date and time:
- Seats offered and how sign-up works (limit, waitlist, walk-ins):
- Venue-confirmed usable capacity for work at tables, in writing:
- Device approach (own or supplied) and prerequisites sent by:
- Account or access readiness date and who checks it:
- Power points per table and cabling approved by the venue:
- Connectivity requirement, who tests it and when, with the result:
- Helpers: names, number and briefing time:
- Turnover before and after, with who resets the room:
- Fallback if the network fails and who decides:
- Accessibility needs asked at registration and passed to the product team:
Handle it in-house, or bring in help?
Your team can usually handle this when
- One or two small labs in a room the product team has used before.
- Attendees bring their own devices and the product team handles access.
- The venue has already confirmed layout, power and connectivity in writing.
Outside planning help earns its fee when
- Several labs run in parallel with their own seat limits, helpers and room resets.
- Venue, technical supplier, registration and product each assume another owns the lab requirements.
- Labs sit between keynotes and executive sessions in a tight schedule.
Need the labs tied into the venue and the run order?
A conference project lead can write the lab requirements, collect the written answers from the venue, technical suppliers and product team, and keep seat limits, turnovers and rehearsal dates on the master schedule. The network design and device set-up stay with the specialists you appoint.
Questions organisers ask
Can the event team check that Wi-Fi is good enough?
The event team can ask for evidence and see it is tested, but only a qualified supplier can judge the network design. Ask for a written test result under the expected load.
Should labs be separate registration items?
Usually yes, if seats are limited. It stops the room filling beyond the confirmed capacity.
What if people arrive without the prerequisites?
Decide beforehand. Options include a help desk before the lab, a short setup period or a pair-up arrangement, but not an unplanned delay for the whole room.
Do labs need a repeat session?
Only if demand is clear from sign-ups. A repeat doubles room, helper and turnover time.
Related resources
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