There’s never been a better time than right now to reimagine your education programming for your first in-person conference in some time, for many—in over two years. All those changes you’ve dreamed of trying can now become a reality. Conference education sessions have long been considered the main course of the event, yet typically they reek of status quo. That simply won’t work anymore. Sense-Making During the last 20 months we have all been a part of a global digital experiment and we … [Read more...]
I Think We Cracked the Code on Digital Networking!
If you missed our recent webinar on Cracking the Code on Digital Networking, you can watch it on-demand. It is well worth your time to learn from two masters: Amanda Kaiser (pictured, top right) and Arianna Rehak (pictured, bottom), co-founders of the 2021 Virtual Networking Incubator. We had a lot of ground to cover and didn’t get to all of the questions. I had an opportunity to follow up with Amanda to get them answered. Be sure to check out all the great resources and ideas, with links you … [Read more...]
My Turbulent Love Affair With Digital-Event Networking
I have been a loyal and passionate disciple of networking for all of my adult life. I have spent decades learning, speaking and writing about it. Yet when our world was turned upside down last March, and all meaningful connection with everyone was forced into a digital world, I suddenly felt like I lost my footing and became very unstable. I learned a lot over the first nine months of the pandemic as I collaborated with clients to design and deliver high-value networking experiences in the … [Read more...]
Does Your Conference Need an Emcee?
Having an emcee at your event was a nice-to-have prior to 2020. Now it’s a must-have. Talk to any meeting owner who has managed a large virtual event this past year using a skilled emcee and he or she will tell you it made all the difference. An emcee ensures that an event flows seamlessly with all of its threads – content, speakers, audience and suppliers – woven together into a cohesive narrative. That’s why we like to refer to this role as a Content Weaver. The event’s flow and energy … [Read more...]
[Video] 5 Tips to Guarantee Engagement at Your Virtual Event
To design a virtual event with the participants in mind, you need to create an engaging, interactive experience that provides relevant content and promotes knowledge sharing and networking value—often the missing link in our new virtual reality. In this short video, we give you five tips to ensure that you’ll achieve amazing and impactful engagement with your next digital event. … [Read more...]
Invest in Your Speakers to Grow Your Value Proposition
The bread and butter of conferences is concurrent education sessions. Keynote speakers and main-room experiences are pivotal for bringing the community together and sharing key messaging, but attendees expect—and deserve—transformational learning (change in ideas, attitudes and behaviors) from curated, relevant and problem-centric educational sessions. Why do we often leave this most critical and valuable aspect of the conference experience in the hands of speakers who are not prepared to … [Read more...]
Do You Really Have Them at Hello? Rethinking Your First-Timer Strategy
One of my biggest pet peeves is the way some conferences approach first-time attendees. Being intentional and having a plan for how you welcome someone who is experiencing your conference for the first time is not only the right thing to do, it’s also a smart attendee acquisition strategy. It’s a pivotal time to onboard and help them make connections that will last throughout the conference, and, hopefully, throughout the years as they become repeat attendees. No One Should Eat Alone Take a … [Read more...]
Transform Your Expo into a Networking and Learning Destination
Expos are the most disrupted element of association conferences today. If you’re still using “tradeshow,” “market place” or “exhibit hall” as names for the area where you feature solution providers—who are there to help your attendees deal with the problems and challenges they’re facing—it’s time for a rebrand. Attendees make buying decisions so differently now, doing most of their purchasing research online before they attend your live event, that they don’t see the value in going into an … [Read more...]
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