Creating The Highly Energized And Engaged Conference Participant September 16, 2016 by Jeff Hurt Are 50%-80% of your conference attendees in your programming at any given time? Or are they filling the hallways, hotel spa and lounge, local restaurants, coffee shops and bars conversing with others? Or are they visiting the local tourist attractions? One thing is certain, if your conference attendees are not fully engaged in the experience … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , attendee engagement, conference best practices, engagement, participant, participant-centric
Too Many Conferences Provide Plop, Placate And Pay November 19, 2014 by Jeff Hurt Have conferences become too enthralled with experts and attendees swapping solutions? Have conference organizers resigned themselves to the inertia of the way we’ve always done it? Is the traditional conference experience in danger of being institutionalized which devalues individual expression? Are we addicted to providing passive plop, placate and pay* experiences? Are conference organizers sitting … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , attendee engagement, conference exper, conferences, curiosity, engagement, meeting planner, presentation best practices, presentation strategies, traditional conferences
Conferences Can Cultivate Curiosity Or The Cult Of Expertise Groupies November 18, 2014 by Jeff Hurt Everyone seems to be looking for the next sure thing. We like answers. We seek quick remedies. We attend conferences looking for shortcut solutions with big payouts. We expend a lot of energy to find tips to the trade, keys to success, or hacks that provide instant results. The less we have to work at … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , attendee engagement, conferences, curiosity, engagement, meeting planner, presentation best practices, presentation strategies
Increase Your Conference Attendee Engagement By Increasing Relevance July 18, 2014 by Jeff Hurt “How can I increase engagement at my conference?” It’s a question I hear a lot. “How can I help my attendees increase their engagement?” What’s my answer? Increase the relevance. Increase the relevance of the content. Increase the relevance of the learning experience. Oh and by the way, what type of engagement are you talking … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , adult learning strategies, attendee engagement, conference relevance, education best practices, engagement, presentation best practices, speaker selection
Crank Up Your Conference Emotional Intensity With Bright Lights April 3, 2014 by Jeff Hurt Forget about turning down the lights to set the mood for your opening general session. Why? It’s the perfect way to disengage and dial back your attendees’ emotions. If you want to emotionally connect and increase your audience’s emotional intensity, a University of Toronto study says you need to turn lights up bright! Bright Lights … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , attendee engagement, conferences, engagement, general sessions, meeting planner, meeting professionals
Three Guaranteed Ways To Kill Your General Session Attendees February 6, 2013 by Jeff Hurt Is your general session like bug repellant only repelling attendees and attracting crickets? Is it a sure-fire way to keep attendees in their hotel beds? Here are three fail-safe strategies that are guaranteed to kill your general sessions and create the walking dead! 1. Be A Chest-Thumping Legacy Gorilla Male gorillas beat their chests to … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , attendee engagement, conferences, engagement, general sessions, meeting planner, meeting professionals
Creating Conference Engagement With These Seven Social Spaces October 22, 2012 by Jeff Hurt People participate in a variety of behaviors at a typical conference. They enter the conference with specific expectations of what they can do at the event, who they can do it with and what’s expected of them. So how often do we plan conferences with a focus on the behaviors and types of spaces that … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Networking, Experience Design Tagged With: , adult learning, attendee engagement, conference best practices, conferences, engagement, meeting space, participatory class, participatory conferences, participatory culture
How To Create A Sticky Conference May 25, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Just how sticky is your conference? Sticky conferences create experiences that last beyond the two to three days of the conference. They focus on creating real relationships with strong connections. It’s about more than speed networking where people just exchange business cards or speed sessions to see how much info people can cram into their … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , active participation, attendee engagement, conference best practices, conferences, engagement, meeting planning best practices, networking, sticky conference
Horseshoe Groups: Merging Two Buzz Groups To Increase Audience Discussion May 16, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Lectures are a barrier to the listener’s thinking. The constant one-way transfer of information is like a dripping faucet. The information keeps coming and coming and coming. And that constant drip of new data, facts, figures and info keeps the brain overwhelmed with new information. The listener is faced with a choice: listen to the … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , active learning, active participation, attendee engagement, conference best practices, conference tips, conferences, engagement, lecture, participatory learning, presentation best practices
Creating Buzz Groups To Add Audience Participation To Traditional Lectures May 10, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Lectures are good for sharing information. They are not good for learning and getting listeners to think! Nor are the good for getting listeners to remember and apply the information they hear. Audience discussion methods are more effective for learning than the lecture. Lectures are the equivalent of distributing a report and asking people to … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , active learning, active participation, attendee engagement, conference best practices, conference tips, conferences, engagement, lecture, participatory learning, presentation best practices
