Conference Trend: Taste On A Toothpick December 2, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Like moth to the flame, mosquitoes to blood or honey bees to pollen, the mall crowd surrounded the young man. Piranhas Devouring Their Prey They looked like a frenzied group of piranhas, devouring their prey. They were driven by the opportunity for a taste on a toothpick. The chance to sample food. To digest and … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , adult learning, brain-friendly conferences, conferences, content, Education & Adult Learning, professional development
Is Your Conference Guilty Of Incestuous Inbreeding Or Speaker Vanity Publishing? October 21, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Your Conference Is Like Vanity Press Are you charging speakers a full or discounted registration fee to present at your conference? Perhaps they must cover their own travel, lodging and expenses to attend your conference in addition to spending time to develop their presentation. And pay a registration fee. Does your conference do that? If … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , conferences, content, delivery, Education & Adult Learning, speaker, Speaker Emerging Practices
Raining On Your Presentation Parade: Facts Do Not Persuade October 20, 2010 by Jeff Hurt It felt like a scene from Groundhog Day. I was stuck in a time warp loop. Presenter after presenter after presenter started with the same phrase, “I have no financial conflict of interest to disclose.” Then each one launched into a diatribe of data, diagrams, facts and research. Dark, boring PowerPoint slides flashed before my … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , conferences, content, delivery, Education & Adult Learning, presentation strategies, speaker, Speaker Emerging Practices
Nine Essentials To Keep Your Presentation From Becoming A Corpse October 19, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Presentations are the economy of most conferences and business today. Yet most presentations are boring. A majority of them are just uninteresting. They lack humanness, life, passion and emotional connections. Today, many conference participants feel trapped by a parade of monotonous, dreary, insipid presentations. It doesn’t take long to recognize a corpse. It takes even … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , conferences, content, delivery, Education & Adult Learning, engagement, presentation strategies, professional development, speaker, Speaker Emerging Practices
Seven Tips to Get the Most From Your Industry Speakers October 15, 2010 by Jeff Hurt “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” When it comes to selecting industry speakers, that adage is especially sage. You’ve read their speaker proposal, description and bio. They look like the right fit for your conference. But just because they’ve got the right dancing shoes doesn’t mean they can pull off the dance. Here are … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , active participation, adult learning, brain-friendly conferences, brain-friendly meetings, content, delivery, Education & Adult Learning, speaker, Speaker Emerging Practices
Combating Conference Information Indigestion And Filter Failure October 12, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Information Indigestion. You can find it in the new book of conference diseases. Information indigestion is a symptom of the conference organizer’s inability to filter unnecessary topics from the conference agenda. It is a real dis-ease to conference participants. And the culprit is the conference content organizer. One of the biggest challenges facing meeting professionals … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference filter, conferences, content, Education & Adult Learning, Information Indigestion, meeting
What Presentations And Pancakes Have In Common October 4, 2010 by Jeff Hurt I woke up with an intense craving for golden, fluffy, hot, spongy pancakes with a crispy edge. I rarely eat pancakes. But this morning the desire was strong. My mind was deluged with the smell of fresh pancakes on the griddle, the sound of the batter hitting the pan and the sight of a pancake … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , active learning, active participation, adult learning, content, delivery, participatory learning, speaker, Speaker Emerging Practices
The 21st Century Conference Attendee Bill Of Rights September 1, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Here is the heart of why most people attend conferences: learning. Learning about others. Learning new ideas through collaboration and problem solving. Learning what has worked. Learning solutions to our problems. Learning current trends and research to further our careers. Learning is the heartbeat of today’s world. Stop learning and you stop progression, and business … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , active learning, active participation, adult learning, association, conferences, content, delivery, Education & Adult Learning, engagement, professional development
The Modern Meetings Mixologist: What Our Conferences Need Most August 17, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Have you used a mixologist recently? Most people think the term mixologist is a fancy term for a bartender. That’s partially true. Many of today’s mixologist start out as bartenders and transition into the art and craft of creating new drink recipes. A mixologist is a bartender that specializes in the creation of cocktail recipes. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , active learning, active participation, conferences, content, Education & Adult Learning, meetings mixologist
A Conference Attendee Dear John/Jane Letter July 20, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Dear Conference Organizers: This relationship isn’t working out. You know, the one between us, the attendees, and you the conference organizers. It’s time for us to explore other educational, community-building and networking opportunities. We’ve tried to make it work. But it’s not us — it’s you (really). We thought we would do things together. We … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , community, conferences, content, meeting, meeting planner
