The same program has a separate tear-out sheet for the incredibly descriptive schedule. Again, the presenters and their presentation titles are listed. Four different presentation "tracks" are represented with different colors and every presenter gets their own box with a brief description. In order to create the squares with text boxes quickly, I used the STEP AND REPEAT tool. This trick is great for anything that needs to be repeated. Create your first object, in my case, it was a simple square with a text box in the center. Select the objects and go to Edit > Step and Repeat. A dialogue box will pop up. Repeat count is how many objects you want and the horizontal or vertical offset is how far the objects will move and in which direction.
Another tool I use constantly at work is DATA MERGE. I use this for company mailings and labels for postcards, letters, etc all the time. First you have to create a data source. I use a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The first row of the document should be used to enter the names of your data fields or titles. Make sure to export your excel document in a comma-delimited or tab-delimited format, using the CSV or TXT file type. In your InDesign file, designate which text areas you want to customize with the data drawn from your CSV or TXT file. Next, go to Window > Data Merge. Click in your InDesign text where you want the variable data to appear. Click on the name of the desired field in the Data Merge panel, or drag and drop the field name onto your layout. Always make sure to preview your merge before you combine its data with your layout. In the Data Merge menu choose Create Merged Document.
Now that was the very brief date merge run-through. There's so much more involved, so if this is something you're interested in using I suggest reading or watching a thorough how-to tutorial. Such as this one:
http://www.gcostudios.com/2012/how-to-data-merge-in-indesign-cs6-tutorial/
