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It rarely happens to organizers, but when it does, it puts everyone involved on high alert within seconds. We are talking about that phone call informing you that a speaker scheduled for the event has to cancel at the last minute. What do you do now?

"The internet forgets the things it should remember, and remembers everything it should rather forget." And: "Artificial intelligence is not the problem; the software behind it is." Two sentences from Vinton Cerf that likely stuck with the audience at the 2017 Princeton-Fung Global Forum in the Berlin Congress Center. The keynote during which these two sentences were spoken undoubtedly provided a powerful start. But how do you find the people who can set the stage so well for an event?

What is the formula for calculating conference ticket prices? Unfortunately, we don't know it either. As we know, conferences have a habit of differing from one another in too many ways, making it difficult to find a common denominator. Who can say for sure in advance how many visitors will eventually find their way to you? Reading on will still be worth your while, because with a few fundamental considerations, you can manage pricing without any sophisticated mathematics. There is, however, a formula for a rough orientation.

Conferences should be open to everyone. As good as this approach may sound, it almost always falls short in practice. Not so with re:publica, which is often cited as a model for accessible events. What exactly do the organizers there do differently? When does a conference become attractive to people with disabilities?

Why do conferences often feature interesting sessions that end up with only a few people in the audience? Why do some scientists even feel out of place during a session? And why does the program committee firmly reject some proposals? The reason can often be found in the session description. Whether it raises false expectations, misses the conference theme, or is written so dryly that even colleagues find no joy in it—things could have gone better. But how do you write a session description that impresses everyone?

How do you host successful Q&A sessions at conferences? Many Q&A sessions fall short of their potential: no questions, disorganized flow, or technical glitches. To ensure Q&A sessions become a conference highlight rather than an awkward pause, you need solid preparation.