Gelos has decided that they would like to host an annual conference to showcase both upcoming and existing products, technologies, and consultancy capabilities. The speakers that will be invited are Gelos representatives, as well as industry and academic leaders who are well known and respected within the industry. The conference project has not yet been finalised, and it will run in about six months.Although the CEO has ultimate responsibility for the conference, as Project Manager, you will be responsible for the ongoing development of the conference in cooperation with several other staff members, who will use their expertise in different areas to support your project management. Project scope This project will cover all aspects of the conference, including planning and follow-up. It is restricted to the conference itself, and will not affect, or be accountable for, any other Gelos Enterprises products or services. Project objectives The objectives of this project are: . to deliver a conference that showcases Gelos' upcoming and existing products, technologies, and consultancy capabilities attract new customers to Gelos Enterprises, particularly in Western Australia . to deliver the conference on budget.Project stakeholders The project's stakeholders include the following: Gelos Enterprises' staff and management, including the project team Gelos Enterprises' clients all of the invited speakers . the venue project manager.Project team You are the Project Manager for this project. You are responsible for co-ordinating this project and establishing effective project governance.Donna Chisholm, who is the Project Co-ordinator, will help with contacting and lining up the speakers. She has already drafted the Conference Program in Table 1 which can be used until the speakers have been finalised. Ben Streep, the Administration Manager has had experience with the ground level work required for a conference, and he will help to determine and prepare the venue. One of his Administration Assistants, Dan Lee, used to work in event management, and will be supporting Ben with the venue preparation and management. Alex Ingham, the Accounts Manager will be in control of the finances of the congress. One of Alex's Accounts Assistants, Cindy Ling, will be helping with the data entry, and will be mentored by Alex during the project, as Alex wants her to take over this role in the Project Team next year. Aditi Gupta, the Marketing Manager, will co-ordinate the marketing material, registration and send out invites to attendees through Gelos' new CRM system. The Marketing Assistant, Zaid Assis, will be carrying out most of the design and commissioning of the marketing material under Aditi's guidance.Conference detail The participant target group is managers across a wide range of industries. This group will be targeted by email using the Gelos' new CRM system and publicised through social media such as LinkedIn. As this is Gelos' first annual conference, there is limited information to determine attendance numbers and profits. The annual conference will be held in Perth, where Gelos Enterprises' Western Australia office is located. It is hoped that attendance by managers in Perth will lift the company's brand awareness in Western Australia. Perth has also been chosen due to its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lesser restrictions on gathering numbers. Conference facilities require a centrally located venue that has a conference room that can accommodate up to 150 people. Invited speakers will want to be accommodated nearby, so there will need to be an appropriate hotel in the vicinity. The venue will also need to be able to provide on-site catering for the meeting attendees. Everyone is hoping the conference will go ahead in person, but there is still uncertainty as the pandemic is not yet over, so an online option needs to be considered as a backup plan.Budget The total budget for the conference is $100,000 but it's expected to make that back in revenue from the tickets and make a profit also. The projected attendee numbers are 150 people, and the suggested conference price for participants is $500 plus GST. There will be ten speakers in total. Speakers are to receive $400 each for their participation.Donna Chisholm The conference was a great success. The feedback that I received from the speakers was very positive, and I think that I will be able to convince two of them to work with Gelos Enterprises in the future. I am sure that each of the speakers would be prepared to speak at our annual conference in the future, but I know that we want to keep moving our speakers and topics to reflect changes in the industry, so I will only contact them for this purpose if their experience matches our needs. Aditi Gupta The Conference was a great success! I heard nothing but praise from the attendees. I am very satisfied with the marketing material that Zaid and I prepared. Having someone new on the task presented the opportunity for it to be looked at through new eyes, and the results speak for themselves. We designed the marketing material using a new colour palette and a new font for the text, which made it all look very modern. I will be making a presentation at the next Senior Management meeting that will propose changing all of Gelos Enterprises' marketing material to reflect the marketing material for the conference. We haven't changed our basic designs for five years, so this is the perfect time to re-assess it. This will help us improve our brand recognition by tying our new design to the conference's success.Ben Streep The venue proved to be ideal for the conference, and we should consider using them again in the future. Despite the issues with catering at the beginning of the project organisation, the catering at the conference has met our standards. Dan proved to be absolutely indispensable during the conference. His background in event management really helped the whole thing run smoothly. In fact, I would suggest that Dan takes on the Administration Manager role next year, with me as back-up. As you know, I have just taken on the new position of Corporate Relations Manager for Grow Management Consultants, and I will have less time to devote to this project in the future. Alex Ingham The conference ran at a profit. Please see the figures below, which are a summary of the financial report, which I will submit within the month. Cindy was able to handle the project financial issues while I was away, with the help of the Project Manager and (in one case requiring the counter-signing of a cheque) the CEO. I was in attendance at the conference and received very good feedback from the attendees. I would be very surprised if the publicity generated didn't improve our work in the Perth area by 300% at least.Table 2 - Conference expenditure details Expenses Income Venue $50,000 Registration fees - individuals $350,000 Catering $20,000 Speaker fees $10,000 Speakers travel $4,520 + Publicity $7,250 Courier $1,595 Entertainers $6,400 Printing $3,500 TOTAL TOTAL +