More Conference Physics: Inertia January 31, 2019 by Jeff Hurt 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 … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , cognitive inertia, cognitive shortcut, conference inertia, confirmation bias, inertia, organizational inertia, resource rigidity, routine rigidity
The Physics Of Conference Entropy January 21, 2019 by Jeff Hurt 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 of confusion, disorganization and disequilibrium. As your conference matures, it experiences … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference chaos, conference entropy, conference physics, disequilibrium, disorder, disorderly, disorganization, entropy, physics, randomness, second law of thermodynamics, thermodynamics, uncertainty
We Prefer Stories To Stats—The Dark Side of Stories January 17, 2019 by Jeff Hurt 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 immediate situation consistently represents the entire universe of similar … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , narratives, stories, stories over stats, story arc, story sharing
Practicing Conference Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit Of Less And Better January 10, 2019 by Jeff Hurt 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 showcase their programs, services and agendas. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design Tagged With: , all things to all people, conference essentialism, conference essentialist, essence, essential, essentialism, less but better, someting for everyone
Empowering Conference Registrants To See Learning As A Journey Not A Finish Line January 9, 2019 by Jeff Hurt 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 the session ends. Authentic learner-centered conferences foster a connection between the participant and the … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , certification, CEs, conference education, Continuing Education, education sessions, learning, learning as a finish line, learning as a journey, learning for life, life long learning, professional development, professional learning, relearning, reskilling, unlearning, upskilling
Conference Reform Requires Cultivating Leaders With Moral Purpose To Make A Difference January 8, 2019 by Jeff Hurt 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 that appears to be alive yet in reality creates the walking undead. If you … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference purpose, conference reform, conference vision, leaders, leadership, make a difference, moral purpose, restructuring, transformation, transformative, trasaction, walking undead, zombie conference
The Tension Between Content And Process In Facilitated Conference Learning Experiences January 4, 2019 by Jeff Hurt 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, you’ve witnessed firsthand … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , active learning, conference education, content, facilitated learning experiences, facilitator, learning, passive listening, process
Has Your Leadership Evolved For The New Normal? by Jeff Hurt 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 way they are which results in stagnant-status-quo-sameness. Your organization’s sustainable success depends upon you transforming … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design Tagged With: , 21st Century mindset, ambigious, association leaders, board, board of directors, complex, exponential change, leadership, new normal, uncertain, volatile, VUCA
On Becoming A New Normal Leader January 3, 2019 by Jeff Hurt It’s a common, well-accepted, well-worn and overused term: the New Normal. It’s also stealthily deceptive and destructive. It’s critical that successful leaders understand that linear thinking is just an exit ramp in a world of exponential change. Many of today’s leaders, especially association board of directors and CEOs, think that the new normal will eventually … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design Tagged With: , 21st Century mindset, association leaders, board, board of directors, curate experiences, curate the future, curation, exponential change, hockey stick curve, leader as curator, linear thinking, new normal
Developing Your Conference Story Arc To Activate Participants’ Brains November 8, 2018 by Jeff Hurt Applying a story arc to the conference can activate participants’ brains. And you want stimulated, motivated engaged brains during your event for sure! A story arc is an extended, continuous storyline in episodic storytelling media such as television series, comic books, video games, films etc. Each episode follows a dramatic arc with the story unfolding … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference as episodic storytelling, conference narrative, conference story arc, episodic storytelling, framing, narrative, stories, story, story arc, story sharing, storytelling
