November 9, 2010 by Jeff Hurt
Image by Robert Scoble.
Breakouts, concurrent sessions, forums, general sessions, Ignite, lectures, Open Space, panels, Pecha Kucha, peer to peer, plenary sessions, round tables, seminars, workshops. Conference education.
No matter what we call them, they all have one thing in common: sharing of information with the goal of education and learning.
So why do conferences offer education sessions?
For a majority of conference organizers, it is a mix of the above.
Ultimately, conference organizers offer education sessions to persuade people to change.
What’s the desired outcome of a conference education session? To move an audience from being uninformed to informed. From being uneducated to educated. To help attendees learn relevant new information. To move from awareness to action.
Usually, the audience is supposed to do something with the information that is presented. That alone makes the presentation persuasive.
Generally conference education is offered to persuade attendees to change their minds and behavior. Rallying conference attendees to move together in a common direction is part of advancing an industry.
Presentations are the currency of conferences today. Done properly, presentations can move an audience forward to make a concentrated effort to change their actions. In the hands of a skilled presenter, an education session can be an effective tool to transform an audience. Those sessions are like gold.
Yet bad presentations are the norm of most conferences. They are like currency that has lost its value.
Most are dreadful attempts at communicating the kitchen sink without any clear direction or calls to action. Most are on life support, hanging on by a thread of a few accomplished speakers that can move an audience to tears and laughter, invite them to become willing participants to change their minds and give them the keys to better future.
If presentations are the currency of conferences today, why is so little time spent on improving them? Why don’t more organizations coach their presenters on providing meaningful, interactive education experiences?
If education sessions help drive conference revenue and attract customers, why do conference organizers schedule them like appointments? Very little thought is given to their effectiveness. Little time is spent helping speakers be better catalysts for meaningful change. Very little attention is devoted to breathing new life into those near death speakers and presentations.
If the education session has a pulse, conference organizers schedule it. Never mind the quality of life in that presentation.
It takes energy, time and a focused effort to breathe new life into conference education. Creating a conference full of effective and interesting presentations requires a more thorough and thoughtful process than taking speaker proposals and scheduling those approved by committees.
Why are so many conference education sessions boring and near death? What do you expect from conference education?
Filed Under: Business Model, Conference Education
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jeff Hurt, Joe Rominiecki, Leslie White, Zerista Pro, Melissa Reisinger and others. Melissa Reisinger said: RT @JeffHurt: Why Do Conferences Offer Education Sessions? #eventprofs #pcma http://ow.ly/36RZG […]
Right on. This is why I’m so convinced event organizers have been sold a bill of goods when it comes to event customizations and “unique experiences.” A unique experience is a conference that nailed the fundamentals.
Hey Jeff, great discussion, as usual.
I’d add that a number of conference organizers view education as a tool to convince attendees to attend a conference in order to secure sponsors and tradeshow exhibitors. After all, without those numbers, who is going to invest?
There has seemed to be minimal QC on speakers, content and educational format. But in days past there was minimal competition because of the high cost of entry into the conference market and the risk involved. Today, there is more educational competition than ever before and I see the tide shifting. Conversations like this one help tremendously.
‘@Tony I love what you said, “A unique experience is a conference that nailed the fundamentals.” Great line.
@Lara Thanks for reading and great addition: Conference organizers view education as a tool to convince attendees to attend so they can secure sponsors and tradeshow exhibitors. It’s sort of like match-making for a fee and chargng both parties. 😉
Why Do Conferences Offer Education Sessions?…
Here at World Spinner we are debating the same thing……
I have to say that I agree with Lara, all to often it seems (and more so now given the economy) conference planners are using education and content to drive sponsorship revenue.
I will take it a step further and say that many conference planners have had to sell out to the sales department by allowing sponsors to give sessions and speak during programs.
What planners need to do is take a step back and move education and content to the front burner and understand that by bringing in the brightest and the best, they are setting themselves up for success because people will return year after year if they are getting the tools that they need to be successful in their niche.
Why are sessions so boring? There’s plenty of blame to go around from conference organizers/planners who aren’t skilled in creating proper learning environments to speakers who aren’t skilled in instructional design to review committees who aren’t skilled in evaluating quality education to consumers who tolerate the status quo. Collectively, these stakeholders either don’t care enough about education sessions or don’t realize what’s possible. There’s little that can be done to address the former. The later requires the application of new skills that aren’t prevalent in the industry but, fortunately, can be learned and applied. I’d like to see more industry events address what it takes to create superior education. There’s much at stake.
‘@Keith I so agree and am getting increasingly frustrated with the bias that is happening in conference education. More and more sponsors are paying the organization to speak. Revenue is driving the host conference organization’s decisions, not their customers. I think conference participants should start demanding associaiton boards to stop allowing paying sponsors to present their biased content at the expense of the conference experience.
Thanks for reading and commenting.
@John Yes, yes, yes. I like your statements, “I’d like to see more industry events address what it takes to create superior education. There’s much at stake.” Great comments. Thanks for adding them.
[…] was just reading Jeff Hurt's post about conference education titled "Why do conferences offer education sessions" and it got me thinking about the good old days and how conference sessions have gone down […]
[…] Hurt thinks your conference may need a stimulus package (we […]
[…] Why Do Conferences Offer Education Sessions? […]
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Comment *
Name *
Email *
Website
Δ
