Do You Really Have Them at Hello? Rethinking Your First-Timer Strategy November 6, 2019 by Sarah Michel 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 … [Read more…] Filed Under: Attendance Marketing, Conference Networking, Experience Design Tagged With: , connections, connexity networking, first-timer, first-timer event, onboarding, solo attendee
Transform Your Expo into a Networking and Learning Destination August 28, 2019 by Sarah Michel 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, … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Networking, Experience Design, Sponsorship & Exhibits Tagged With: , exhibit hall, expo, market place, solutions center, solutions circles
If You Build It, Will Teams Come? May 28, 2019 by Sarah Michel This is the second installment of a two-part blog on team learning. In the first, we looked at why it’s a smart conference strategy. In this post, we’ll explore how to design, promote and execute it for your next conference. Since our work culture is mostly team-based, it’s about time we reflected it in our … [Read more…] Filed Under: Attendance Marketing, Business Model Tagged With: , conference learning, design for teams, group discounts, group strategies, team learning
The Crisis of Connection February 2, 2018 by Sarah Michel We’re lonely. And not just a little lonely. We’re experiencing a global epidemic level of loneliness. Last week, the U.K. appointed Tracey Crouch as the Minister of Loneliness after the British parliament released a five-year study on loneliness that found more than 9 million people in the country reported they often or always feel lonely. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Networking, Experience Design Tagged With: , association insights, attendance marketing, conference planning, connexity, cultivating connection, epidemic of loneliness, face-to-face connection, networking, radical hospitality.
Embracing Otherness for Conference Uniqueness [Webinar] October 20, 2016 by Sarah Michel Think about the last time you approached a stranger and asked if you could help them? Now ask yourself; Did that person look like me? Robert Putnam, Harvard Political Scientist claims that when most of us are faced with diversity, we retreat and close our doors. As a species we are attracted to sameness and … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , hospitality, hostmanship, radical hospitality.
How Conference Networking Improves Participants’ Brain Health [Webinar May 11] May 6, 2016 by Sarah Michel Brain science research continues to prove that our brains function best when we’re engaged in meaningful We-centric conversations. We are a highly social species. This research illustrates our need to design conferences that promote deeper and more meaningful conversations, especially in our networking. These We-centric conversations, as organizational anthropologist and author Judith Glaser states, move … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , community, conference best practices, connexity, conversational intelligence, engagement, event website, I-centric, levels of conversations, networking, We-Centric
Creating Powerful Panels That Engage Your Audience April 8, 2016 by Sarah Michel Panel discussions are still a commonly used format for conference organizers. They’re easy to program and put the kids in the show, but rarely add learning value to the paying participants. Some of the reasons panels fail to connect include: Lack of preparation and take-charge leadership in the learning design. Watered down content due to … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , panel discussion
Conference Connexity: Deliver Your Networking Promise Webinar September 9 September 1, 2015 by Sarah Michel We spend the majority of our day in front of screens and media (digital, print & TV) says eMarketer. No wonder we are starved for face to face interactions! Your organization can help satisfy our cravings for community and connections by delivering conference experiences that foster connexity. Connexity is more than speed networking. It is … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , community, conference best practices, connexity, engagement, networking
Want To Help Your Attendees? Stop Calling It Networking! May 19, 2015 by Sarah Michel Attendees value the connections they make at your conference. It’s one of their most treasured intangible benefits of attendance. They come to your event looking for their people. They meet many of your attendees at receptions, meals, sessions and in the hallways. Unfortunately, many of those introductions are nothing more than empty interactions. They don’t … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Networking, Experience Design Tagged With: , community, conference best practices, connections, connexity, engagement, networking, networthing
NetWORTHing: The New Way to Network At Conferences January 15, 2015 by Sarah Michel Have you ever been a victim of a network drive-by at a conference? Violated by someone who only talks to you if they think you can do something for them? The whole time they’ve got one eye searching for a more influential target to move to. Everyone has been burned by someone who in the … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Networking, Experience Design Tagged With: , conference best practices, networking, networthing
