Conference Education


The Need For Speed And Learning Agility

Your organization’s enduring competitive advantage rests on learning agility. It must be able to respond to new challenges, opportunities, threats and crisis. New, unprecedented complex challenges constantly present themselves. Learning At The Speed Of Change Experienced leaders used to claim that they had seen every problem several times in the past. That’s no longer true … [Read more…]

Old Conference Education Memes Die Hard

What does it mean to learn at a conference? What tools does it take for learning to be successful in that environment? Most people say that successful learning occurs when a speaker presents to an audience. It requires a subject matter expert (SME) or panel of SMEs, research, content and a lecture. It must have … [Read more…]

Why Conferences Need More Peer To Peer Talking And Less Monologues

Hardwired into every one is the desire to communicate! We crave and need communication with each other. Listening to conference lectures is one-sided. It doesn’t provide the same fulfillment as two-way dialogue with our peers. As long as our attendees participate in speaker monologues and panel dialogues, they lack the ability to grow social bonds … [Read more…]

Conference Attendees Remember What They Think About

Conference speakers make assumptions every day about how their attendees comprehend, remember and apply the information they hear. These assumptions, as well as their presentation decisions, are based on a mix of theories, trial and error, past experiences with their own teachers and professors, and instinct. Yet are these theories, experiences and instinct serving the … [Read more…]

Becoming Conference Brain Changers

Never in society have we known so much about how our brains operate and how we learn. Today, we know what to do to foster successful learning at our conferences and events. Becoming A Brain Changer Research in cognitive neuroscience or mind, brain and education science is providing exciting new insights into how the brain … [Read more…]

Why Do We Start Conferences With General Sessions?

Most conferences kickoff with an opening general session. Why? What’s the point? What’s the purpose of a general session? Back To Presentation Basics What’ the purpose of a speaker for any presentation? Nancy Duarte, author of Resonate says it best, Presentations are most commonly delivered to persuade an audience to change their minds or behavior. … [Read more…]

Uses And Abuses Of The Common Lecture

Few people agree about what makes a good lecture. It’s like asking about what is good art or great music. Our personal tastes are all over the map. Some researchers have found that individuals want different and often conflicting things from a lecture. Since lectures will be evaluated and assessed at extremes of a rating … [Read more…]

What Really Happens When We Listen To A Lecture

The ubiquitous lecture. On any given day thousands of lectures occur across the globe. People gather in arenas, board rooms, city halls, colleges and universities, conferences, conference rooms, churches, general sessions, libraries, meeting rooms, schools and theaters to hear lectures. It is the most common method used when teaching adults. Unfortunately, it is also ineffective … [Read more…]

Creating Customized Conference Learning Experiences

Dave Lutz and I recently presented for ASAE’s Great Ideas Conference 2012 on Creating Customized Conference Learning Experiences. We shared our philosophy and process for planning the content for PCMA’s 2011 and 2012 Learning Lounge. The Learning Lounge was a joint project between PCMA, Freeman and Velvet Chainsaw. Here are the slides from our presentation. … [Read more…]

Leveraging Professional Speakers For Conference Impact

Most conference expense budgets are tight and limiting. Technology innovations, including Skype, Snagit, DIY screen capture and affordable video editing tools, can help you bring more thought leaders to your conference experience. Increasing Conference Value With Professional Speakers Professional speakers are often the most remembered, valued and polished elements of a conference. Typically they are … [Read more…]