Some of you may be lucky enough to get a connection from other airports (typically Narita) to the Osaka (Itami) airport (alas, this page is in Japanese only). You must have gone through the immigration and customs already, so you need only get your baggage and take a limousine bus to Kyoto.
There are two arrival terminals: North and South. Here are the respective exits: North terminal exit and South terminal exit.
You should go out and try to find a bus ticket vending machine. If you are uncertain, try to find an information desk.
Here are pictures of North and South ticket vending machine areas: North and South. The fares are 1,280JPY/person for adults and 640JPY/person for children.

Here is the Web page for the airport limousine. Click the departure location: Osaka (Itami) airport, and then click the destination point: Kyoto.This will show you a map showing various stops. Choose the link: Kyoto sta. (South Exit). Then it will show a time table. I'm attaching this table. There is no need for reservation. It's a non-stop bus to Kyoto Station (except the one at the north terminal). It will take 45-70 min (depending on the trafic) to Kyoto. (By the way, this page also shows a map of bus ticket machine areas at the Osaka airport.
Here are pictures for the North and South bus stops: North and South.
There are some buses that go further, even to Miyako hotel, but it's much more convenient to get off at the Kyoto Station. You can then take a taxi or subway to your hotel.
Once you arrive at the Kyoto Station bus stop, there is a taxi pool, about 20m away from the stop. There is a big department-store-like building (Avanti) in front of you, and the taxi stop is on your right (to the West). For the rest, please see the link for "Kyoto Station to Conference site".