There’s a place for sponsored content in conference programs, if you’re thoughtful in your approach. The seventh of the TED Commandments — “Thou shalt not sell from the stage: neither thy company, thy goods, thy writings, or thy desperate need for funding; lest thou be cast aside into outer darkness” — is especially timely advice. Why? As more sponsors embrace content marketing or thought leadership as arguably the most powerful strategy for improving attitudes and perceptions of their brand, … [Read more...]
Why Your Conference Should be Target-Audience Obsessed
In order to design relevant education and networking experiences at our conferences, we need to be focused to the point of obsession with our target audience. Over the past 18 months, we’ve carefully scrubbed and analyzed the attendance of 20 major conferences. These projects had an aggregate attendance of 110,000-plus participants with registration revenue in excess of $30 million. Peter Fader, professor of marketing at Wharton, and author of Customer Centricity: Focus on the Right Customers … [Read more...]
Configurable and Personalized Conference Experiences
The mass-personalization wave that is dramatically changing what and how we buy as consumers has application to conferences. I’ve been doing a lot of research and have learned that personalization can be achieved in a number of ways: Individualized — The customer gets exactly what meets their preferences or needs. In other words, they can order a tailor-made shirt to fit their body measurements perfectly in the style, fabric and color of their choice. Configurable — The customer can make … [Read more...]
The Rise of the Gig Economy and What It Means for Conferences
Work and life are transforming at a rapid rate. When considering long-term conference or organizational strategy, it’s wise to future-cast the impact major workforce trends may have on your profession, particularly because conferences are about people first and content second. You need to determine who (target audience) you’re designing for before you address the what (content) and how (experience design). Here are three workforce mega-trends that I believe will significantly impact our … [Read more...]
How to Improve Your Call for Presentations Process
When Velvet Chainsaw Consulting conducted speaker research with 120 associations with research and consulting company Tagoras Inc. in 2013, we found that nearly 77 percent use a call for speakers/sessions process. Associations value member input. One-third of these organizations accept 60 percent or more of the proposals, indicating either a low number of submissions or very forgiving quality filters. About 62 percent close off submissions eight months or longer before the conference. These … [Read more...]
Conversations, Collaboration and Chemistry
Judith E. Glaser, an author, business executive, and self-described “organizational anthropologist,” says science has now proven that the chemical nature of relationships, conversations and collaboration is more than an attraction metaphor: it’s a reality. So the quality of our conversations — especially those participants have with others at conferences and meetings — has a direct chemical impact on them, those around them, and therefore on the organizations they belong to. Glaser, who … [Read more...]
20 Ways to Remake Your Annual Meeting – Part 2
We outlined the first 10 things you need to kill — from making your annual business meeting part of your general session to promoting invitation-only events — in order to bring your meeting up to speed. Here are the next 10 elements to knock off. 11. Your distinguished-lecture series does not engage. Many associations have awards or honorary lectures named after a pioneer. For most conference committees (and next-gen participants), they’re a snore. Put the lecture online and take 60 seconds to … [Read more...]
20 Ways to Modernize an Annual Meeting – Part 1
Most annual meetings have used the same template agenda for decades. They just replace the filling each year. If you want to breathe new life into your conference, and increase relevance for next-generation attendees, start with this kill/change list. Part two of this series will include the remainder of the list. 1. Annual Business Meeting Don’t do this as part of a general session. Publish committee reports and financials online. Transparency is critical for growing trust. Meet bylaw … [Read more...]
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