Leveraging Team Learning at Conferences May 22, 2019 by Betsy Bair Traditionally teams from organizations attend a conference with a divide-and-conquer game plan, as they split up and attend as many different sessions as they can. The challenge with that strategy is that it’s very unlikely any real change will occur when the one team member who experienced the learning returns to work. Will they share … [Read more…] Filed Under: Attendance Marketing, Experience Design Tagged With: , collaboration, design for teams, leverage teams, organizational learning, team discounts, teamwork
Developing An Association Community That Evolves Into Action February 9, 2018 by Jeff Hurt Belonging precedes believing. It’s true for our association members. It’s true for our organization’s leaders. The ways we include or exclude others influences their thoughts and actions. It’s more than what we say or write. It’s how we invite others to join and belong, how we greet them, how we appreciate them, how we accept … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , authentic community, belonging, co-creation, collaboration, community development, cultivating connection, deep connections
What Participants Expect From 21st Century Conference Experiences January 30, 2017 by Jeff Hurt Everything we take for granted about conferences, and planning them, faces disruption. Participants from all generations and cultures increasingly expect conferences to mirror their work and personal lives. They expect conferences that are authentic, connected, contextual, mobile, participatory, work-related and transparent. Savvy conference organizers meet these disruptions head-on. They know how to segment their target … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning, Experience Design Tagged With: , 21st century conferences, cognitively stimulating, collaboration, conference experience, conference experience design, engagement, learning spaces, mental engagement, participants, purpose-driven
Even More Buckaroo Breakaway Cadillac Conference Programming Trends – Part 2 January 19, 2017 by Jeff Hurt Expect the unexpected…just as Buckaroo Banzai did in the 1980s movie of the same name. Buckaroo and his merry band of cavaliers were ready to save the world from whatever came their way. They would embrace the context of each dimension much like you need to embrace these current conference programming trends. While these trends … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning, Experience Design Tagged With: , attendee experience, collaboration, conference organizer, disruption, future-focused conference programming, leadership, meeting planner, strategic thinking, systems thinking, trends
Our Increased Distrust Of Institutions And What It Means To Your Association, Conference November 8, 2016 by Jeff Hurt “I’m done with __________________!” Go ahead and fill in that blank with any type of institution. Big business, conferences, education, government, medicine, membership associations, nonprofits, professional societies, religious organizations, trade organizations, etc. We are witnessing the rise of the Dones, as Dr. Josh Packard calls them. Groups of people that are done with traditional, outdated … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design Tagged With: , association trends, co-creation, collaboration, conference best practices, conference planning, conversations, institutions, Josh Packard, participation, The Dones
Great Questions Define Great Conference Experiences September 15, 2016 by Jeff Hurt It is much more effective to provide opportunities for conference participants to solve their own problems, then telling them how to solve it. (Paraphrase Dr. A. Gidget Hopf, President & CEO of The Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired—Goodwill Industries.) Conference organizers automatically assume that if someone is attending their event, they expect the … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , better conference experiences, collaboration, conference best practices, curiosity, learning design, problem solving, questions
Becoming A Conference Possibilist And Foster Mind-Share Collaboration Event Experiences July 13, 2016 by Jeff Hurt What is the breakthrough you most want to see happen in your conference in the next year? What do you imagine could be possible if you were truly collaborating with your conference planning team, leadership and volunteers? What effect would leading through collaboration have on those who follow you? In order to do so, you … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , co-creation, collaboration, collaborative intelligence, conference collaboration and co-creation, conference possibilist, mind-share mentality, webinar
Nurturing Conference Experiences That Foster Skillful Collaboration To Create Progress February 4, 2016 by Jeff Hurt We can’t solve today’s and tomorrow’s problems with yesterday’s thinking says Dan Pink. Most of us only know one way to address our challenges. Our problem solving skills, our communication strategies and our capacity to bend our ideas as we bridge gaps have not evolved fast enough. We think there is only a right and … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , collaboration, collaborative learning, conversations, fearless conversations, transformation, transformational conferences, transformational learning
Conferences During Hinge Times January 11, 2016 by Jeff Hurt We are living in a world of hinge time. Our conferences are planned to educate attendees for an era that no longer exists. The challenges our attendees face are vastly different from the ones of the past. Most of our conference attendees were educated on how to be right. We focus on individual and collective … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , collaboration, collaborative learning, conversations, fearless conversations, transformation, transformational conferences, transformational learning
21st Century Leadership Skills Require Collaborative Learning August 25, 2014 by Jeff Hurt Are 21st Century conference organizers trying to create success using outdated 20th Century skills? According to a 2012 Skillsoft survey, too many professionals today are trying to lead with last century’s abilities. Then they wonder why their business, or in this case their conference, is not thriving. Skillsoft’s findings illustrate that 21st Century leaders must … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , collaboration, collaborative learning, education best practices, learning trends, organizational learning, professional development
