Conference Organizers Should Be Great CEOs: Chief Experience Officers! September 16, 2013 by Jeff Hurt What do conference organizers really do? They organize all the aspects of the conference experience. I believe that title—conference organizer–doesn’t serve us anymore. It doesn’t convey the right information as putting together logistics is like putting together quilt pieces without any plan. It’s just stitching pieces together and crossing your fingers that it will result … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference experience, conferences, event experience, Innovation, meeting planner, meeting professionals
Bringing The Sexy Back To Conferences [And Conference Planning] September 12, 2013 by Jeff Hurt If you have ever attended a conference, you know how most of them feel. They start with a general session, followed by a break, followed by concurrent breakouts, followed by a lunch, followed by exhibits followed by an evening activity. Rinse. Lather. Repeat for a couple more days. They all feel the same and follow … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, Innovation, meeting planner, meeting professionals
It Is Time To Reinvent The Meetings Industry And The Meeting Professional February 19, 2013 by Jeff Hurt I think the meetings and conference industry has reached a plateau. For years the industry has focused on the logistical side of the meeting including registration, food and beverage, contracts, venue space, room sets, schedules, SMMP and more. The industry has matured and many meeting professionals have become very good at the details. Yet, the … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, engagement, meeting planner, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals, tradeshow, tradeshow best practices
Four Essential Elements To An Incomparable Face To Face Conference And Tradeshow Experience February 15, 2013 by Jeff Hurt What type of experiences do you crave? Have you ever had any of those types of experiences at a conference or tradeshow? Conferences and tradeshows have a long way to go to merge the experiences we crave and want with those that actually occur at the event. Four Critical Elements To Success The recent report, … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, engagement, meeting planner, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals, tradeshow, tradeshow best practices
Are You Using Your Headlights Effectively To Guide Your Future Meetings? February 13, 2013 by Jeff Hurt When you drive on a road at night, you depend upon your headlights to help you see. Without those headlights, you would depend upon the light of the moon or street lights to guide you. Frequently, neither of those is available and without headlights you would crash. With low beams, you can see a little … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, meeting planner, meeting planning best practices, 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
You Have The Power To Super Charge Your Attendees’ Brains January 30, 2013 by Jeff Hurt What if you as a conference organzier had the magical ability to literally change your attendees’ brains for the better? Guess what! You do have that power. Wow, that’s an awesome responsibility and one that should not be taken lightly. Our Brain’s Plasticity For more than 400 years, mainstream medicine and science believed that our … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , brain science education, brain-friendly conferences, conference best practices, conferences, lecture, meeting planner, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals
Status-Quo Is A No Go! Become A Conference Outlaw January 29, 2013 by Jeff Hurt All progress takes place in the outlaw area. ~ paraphrase Buckminster Fuller. You can’t improve and reform your conferences where you currently are. You have to take some risks. You have to move away from doing things the way you’ve always done them. You can’t make improvements to your attendees’ conference experience by playing it … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, meeting planner, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals
Onsite Scheduled Appointments Are Changing The Event Landscape [Infographic] September 21, 2012 by Jeff Hurt One-to-one onsite appointments are changing the event landscape. Here’s how. More on Event Management Software Filed Under: Attendance Marketing Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals
Your Conference Is Like One Of These Types Of Restaurants September 20, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Some of my friends call me a foodie. I prefer the term connoisseur as it sounds more sophisticated. There’s no doubt about it. I am devoted to the enjoyment of good food. Three Types Of Restaurants One of the things I’ve learned in my scouring for good and unusual foods is that there are three … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference marketing, conferences, event marketing, marketing, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals
