I bet you’ve heard this before: “An object at rest, tends to stay at rest.” Oh, yeah, it’s Newton’s first law of motion: any object will stay at rest or in motion unless acted on by an external force. It’s also referred to as the law of inertia. Yes, an object at rest, tends to stay at rest. However, a conference at rest, tends to die. The … [Read More...]
The Physics Of Conference Entropy
In physics, the second law of thermodynamics says all things—bodies, businesses, conferences, energy, organizations, relationships—move toward chaos and disorder. This is also known as the state of maximum entropy. In one sense, entropy is a measure of uncertainty or randomness. It is the amount … [Read More...]
We Prefer Stories To Stats—The Dark Side of Stories
We love stories. They connect on a personal and emotional level. We trust them more than statistical evidence. Unfortunately, we tend to overgeneralize from others’ stories, from anecdotal information and from small sampling sizes. We tend to confuse now with “what always is” as if our … [Read More...]
The Right Rewarding Student Strategy For Your Conference
Many associations struggle with the right strategy for involving students in their organization and events. Some attract students to join and participate in the organization’s programs and services while still in college. They offer significant membership and registration discounts as well as … [Read More...]
Practicing Conference Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit Of Less And Better
It’s hard for conference organizers to stick to planning the essential elements of their events. We are bombarded from every side from people who want us to add their components to the schedule. Various departments and committees see the event’s gathering of people as an opportunity for them to … [Read More...]
Empowering Conference Registrants To See Learning As A Journey Not A Finish Line
Do your conference learning opportunities—from the general session to networking to breakouts to deep dive workshops—empower registrants to participate in their own learning journey? Or do your conference education sessions motivate participants to see the finish line? Their learning stops once … [Read More...]
Conference Reform Requires Cultivating Leaders With Moral Purpose To Make A Difference
Many conferences are stuck in the rut of legacy routines, age-old rituals and cloned programming. Conference organizers and its advisors replicate the past maintaining the traditions and well-established procedures of yesteryear. The event is nothing more than a zombie conference—a conference … [Read More...]
The Tension Between Content And Process In Facilitated Conference Learning Experiences
Have you ever attended a conference education session because of the presenter and not the content? (I think most of us have.) Have you ever been surprised when a full day workshop ended? You were so engaged that time flew by without you realizing it. If you’ve had these types of experiences, … [Read More...]
Has Your Leadership Evolved For The New Normal?
Change is hard. Foresight—looking forward—is hard. Why? Because we prefer certainty and concreteness to ambiguity and abstraction. Becoming a new normal leader requires shifting your perspective. It means becoming biased towards consistent, persistent evolution, not inclined to keep things the … [Read More...]
