A Toolkit for Planning a Virtual Conference

This article describes the experience of planning a national conference, Engaging in Dialog-Educating for the Future, an annual meeting of the Professional Nurse Educators Group that was held virtually in November 2024.

The Professional Nurse Educators Group is unusual in that it has no internal structure and operates through a volunteer group of educators. The conference provides a platform whereby academic educators (school of nursing faculty), clinical educators (professional development practitioners in health care organizations), and continuing education providers learn from each other.

Challenges faced by the planning and steering committee included selecting conference goals and objectives and developing the program; working with a learning management system to provide content delivery, performance tracking, reporting, and interactive tools such as discussion forums; obtaining sponsorship; and promoting the conference. Attendees completed evaluations after the conference, which were very positive for speaker effectiveness and relevance to practice.

The conference was well received, educationally valuable, and financially viable because of a collective effort, detailed planning, and institutional support. Lessons learned included allowing enough time for planning and estimating the time necessary for each step and ensuring that all partners are clear on their responsibilities.