World Events Forum
Making the best even(t) better.
Scientific meetings, executive forums, association programs, webinars, special events: we plan the moving parts, tame the wild ones, and build the invisible structure that makes an event feel effortless.
Designing & managing meetings since 2000About World Events Forum
World Events Forum has been designing, managing, rescuing, polishing, and occasionally performing minor miracles for meetings and associations since 2000. We work with academic groups, foundations, scientific societies, pharmaceutical and biotechnology leaders, and mission-driven organizations that need more than a vendor.
They need a thinking partner.
They need someone who can read the room before the room exists.
They need the person at the registration desk, the speaker table, the sponsor conversation, the venue negotiation, the abstract platform, the webcast rehearsal, the minute-by-minute run-of-show, and the post-event report.
That would be us.
Our compass
We do not believe in "one-size-fits-all" planning. A 500-person scientific conference with 45 podium presentations, 175 posters, sponsors, scholarships, an abstract book, and international faculty does not need the same machinery as a 30-person executive forum where trust, candor, and timing matter more than spectacle.
So we begin with two questions:
Then we build the passage plan. We help define the route, identify the reefs, negotiate with the harbor authorities, keep the crew moving, and make sure the ship arrives with its dignity, budget, and scientific purpose intact.
You lead. We design, build, steer, troubleshoot, and keep the deck from catching fire.
Our rules of navigation
Perfection is expensive, mythical, and usually hiding in a hotel change order. Perfectibility is better: we keep improving the plan until it serves the meeting.
A successful event is not a monument. It is a living system. We build processes that can grow, adapt, and survive the next committee discussion.
Great meetings are not solo acts. They depend on clients, speakers, sponsors, venues, vendors, attendees, and a planning team that knows how to make all of them row in the same direction.
Rare. Underrated. Absolutely essential.
What we do
We plan and manage meetings, conferences, association programs, webinars, and special events with one governing principle: the event should look calm because the planning was not.
Meeting & Conference Planning
We support the full event lifecycle, from early strategy through final report.
- Strategic planning
- Speaker and faculty management
- Venue/site selection & contract negotiation
- Event website development & management
- Online registration
- Abstract submission & review platforms
- Poster, exhibit & trade show coordination
- Conference syllabus / abstract book
- Sponsor solicitation & fulfillment support
- Marketing & attendee communications
- Mobile app development & updates
- Minute-by-minute event flow
- Audiovisual planning & show-calling
- Onsite registration & administration
- Virtual & hybrid participation support
- Surveys, evaluations, certificates & reporting
Before, during, after, and the part no one admits exists at 11:47 pm.
Association Management
For associations and professional groups, we serve as the steady operational center: membership coordination, communications, renewals, secretariat services, records, reporting, board support, and meeting execution.
We keep the organization moving when everyone else has another full-time job.
Online Events & Live Webinars
Virtual does not mean simple. We manage webinars and online programs with the same discipline we bring to in-person meetings.
- Speaker scheduling & platform setup
- Presenter training & technical support
- Slide coordination & live production
- Attendee support
- Exit surveys, quizzes & certificates
- Recordings & follow-up communications
A good webinar should not feel like everyone wandered into the same Zoom link and hoped for civilization.
Special Events
For special events, we help shape the theme, identify the site, negotiate with vendors, develop the budget, manage food and beverage, coordinate audiovisual production, create collateral, process registration, support VIPs, and manage the room onsite.
The goal is not decoration. The goal is intention. Every detail should know why it is there.
Who we work with
Our clients have included universities, research groups, scientific organizations, foundations, healthcare and aging organizations, pharmaceutical and biotechnology associations, Olympic and sports organizations, and private clients.
Our experience spans scientific conferences, executive forums, webinars, association programs, abstract-driven meetings, public educational forums, sponsor-supported events, and highly specialized convenings where the details are not "details." They are the event.
Our clients
A selection of organizations we have had the privilege of serving:
View client list
- 2006 Torino Olympic Organizing Committee
Transfer of Knowledge - Alzheimer Research Forum
Webinars | Special Events | Exhibits - Alzheimer's Disease: From Molecular Mechanisms to Drug Discovery Conferences
Website | Conference planning - Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation
Conference planning | Website | Mobile app | Virtual Conference - AlzPossible
Marketing and communications | Website | Webinars - American Aging Association
Marketing and communications | Website - Association of Corporate Counsel Indiana Chapter
Event planning - Brain and Behavior Research Foundation
Webinars - Break-In Club
Event planning | Marketing - Brown University
Website | Abstract Intake Platform | Event planning - Case Western Reserve University
Event planning - Columbia University
Event planning - CommonHealth Partners VA
Consulting | Website - FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association)
Consulting - Human Amyloid Imaging Conferences
Conference planning | Abstract intake/review | Website | Mobile app - Illinois Fatherhood Initiative
Event planning - IOS Press BV
Consulting - Int'l Conferences on Alzheimer's Disease & Related Disorders in the Middle East
Conference planning | Website - Johns Hopkins University
Event planning - Kansas State University
Consulting - Laboratory of Neurogeriatrics, Case Western Reserve University
Website | Consulting - Lewy Body Dementia Association (LBDA)
Conference Website | Consulting | Event Planning - Longevity Project for a greater Richmond (LPgRVA)
Website | Consulting | Event Planning - Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Event planning - Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami Beach
Conference planning | Website | Mobile App | Virtual Conference - Nordic Society of Human Genetics and Precision Medicine
Event planning | Consulting - Pharmaceutical Information Systems Association
Event planning | Administration - Pharmaceutical R&D Information Management Executive Forum
Event planning | Website | Mobile app - Pistoia Alliance
Event planning | Project Support - Prevent Alzheimer's Disease 2020
Event planning - The Riverside Center for Excellence in Aging and Lifelong Health
Webinars - Schizophrenia Research Forum
Webinars | Tradeshow/Exhibit | Event planning - Special Olympics
Project management - United Arab Emirates Olympic Committee
Consulting and project management | Tradeshow/exhibit - United States Soccer Federation
Project management - University of Cincinnati
Conference planning | Website - University of the West Indies
Conference planning | Website - Virginia Commonwealth University, Dept. of Gerontology
Webinars | Website - Virginia Department for the Aging
Project management | Webinars - Virginia Department for the Aging and Rehabilitative Services
Webinars - Virginia Geriatric Mental Health Partnership
Webinars | Website - Voyager Pharmaceuticals
Conference planning - Walter Vlad Bolder Photography
- And several other private clients
Where we work
World Events Forum has organized and supported meetings across the United States, the Americas, Europe, and Asia. We are based in the Chicago area. Our map is considerably less modest.
United States
Rest of the Americas
Europe
Asia & Middle East
Why World Events Forum
Because meetings are not made great by checklists alone.
They are made great by judgment, rhythm, diplomacy, timing, taste, memory, nerve, and the ability to solve three problems while smiling at the fourth.
World Events Forum brings the structure of a seasoned planning office, the flexibility of a boutique firm, and the instincts of people who know that the best events feel inevitable only because someone worked very hard to make them look that way.
Contact
World Events Forum
1631 Whitcomb Ave
Des Plaines, IL 60018 USA
Making the best even(t) better.