Conference program builder
- Breakout slots per day
- 6
- Breakout sessions across the event
- 33
- Breakout room hours to book
- 33.0
- Minutes of content per delegate per day
- 338
Every figure on this page is worked out from the inputs you enter, by the method stated below it. Lanyardo publishes no venue directory, no speaker list and no industry cost per head: the defaults are a worked example to replace with your own numbers, and the delegate count is always yours.
The figures above start from a worked example (6). Change any input and the answer updates as you type.
Download the Conference program builder worked example (CSV)
A conference program is a grid, and the grid is arithmetic before it is content: programme hours per day less lunch and the keynote minutes, divided by a session plus its break, is the breakout slots per day, and slots times tracks times days is the sessions the committee has to fill and the room hours the venue has to provide. This builder works that from what you type and prints the content minutes per delegate per day and the share of the day that is breaks, because a programme that fills every minute is one that delegates leave at three o'clock.
The slot count decides the call for speakers
Two days, eight programme hours, 45 minute sessions with 15 minute breaks, an hour for lunch and 90 keynote minutes a day gives five breakout slots a day, thirty sessions across three tracks, and thirty speaker slots to fill from the call for papers plus the keynotes. Run the builder before the call opens and the committee knows how many to accept.
Room hours are what the venue charges for
Each breakout slot occupies a room for the session plus its break, so thirty sessions at an hour each are thirty room hours across the breakout rooms, before setup and strike. The venue contract is written in room hours or half days, and the builder's figure is the one to negotiate from.
The break share is the delegate's experience
Breaks and lunch in the worked example take up about a fifth of the day, which is where the networking and the exhibition visits happen. Squeeze the breaks to fit another slot and the content minutes rise while the reason people came falls. The builder prints the share so the trade is made on a number.
Conference program builder: common questions
How do I handle sessions of different lengths?
Work the grid on the most common length and then hand-place the exceptions, or run the builder once per format and add the slot counts. A grid with more than two session lengths is hard for delegates to read whatever the arithmetic.
Should keynotes be in the same rooms as breakouts?
Keynotes are in the plenary and the builder takes their minutes off the breakout day for everyone, since nobody is in a breakout during a keynote. If your keynotes run in parallel with breakouts, set the keynote minutes to zero and add a track.
Does this save the programme anywhere?
Not on its own. The builder computes in your browser and sends nothing anywhere. Lanyardo Pro turns the slots into sessions against the event, each with its speaker, room and status, and prints the programme under your event name.
Where the constants in this tool come from
NFPA 101, Life Safety Code: room occupancy behind the track and room count.