Transition Becomes Your New Conference Threshold July 24, 2018 by Jeff Hurt What’s your favorite room in your home? I have two: my front porch with its porch swing and my master suite that looks out into my backyard. I cross the thresholds of those spaces daily without much thought. We rarely think about thresholds. Yet, we spend a lot of time traversing them—both literally and figuratively. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning, Experience Design Tagged With: , conference improvement, conference threshold, conference transition
Encouraging Words For Professionals On An Association Journey Including Stay Curious And Hungry July 20, 2018 by Jeff Hurt Nothing we do is inevitable. Our success as association professionals is not inevitable. Achieving a thriving conference and burgeoning membership is not inevitable. We are not guaranteed that our association will stay small or that it will grow big. Nor are there any assurances that if we do everything right, at the right time, with … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , association journey, association professionals, authenticity, curious, encouraging words for association professionals, life long learning
Abandon All But Tomorrow When Planning Your Conference July 18, 2018 by Jeff Hurt When do you stop pouring resources into things that have achieved their purpose? asked management guru Peter Drucker. It’s one of Drucker’s signature strategies: abandoning the past for tomorrow. He called it the concept of purposeful abandonment. Purposeful abandonment doesn’t sound very attractive. Few leaders brag about the product, service or idea that they abandoned. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning, Experience Design Tagged With: , abandoning the past for tomorrow, conference growth, conference growth policy, conference growth policy of abandonment, conference purposeful abandonment, Peter Drucker, purposeful abandonment
Six Conference Paradigms To Bust Immediately July 13, 2018 by Jeff Hurt If there’s something strange in your conference-hood Who you gonna call? (paradigm busters) If there’s something weird And your event don’t look good Who you gonna call? (paradigm busters) I ain’t afraid of no paradigm I ain’t afraid of no paradigm (Adapted from songwriter Ray Parker Jr. Ghostbusters lyrics.) Who You Gonna Call? Paradigm Busters … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , cognitive maps, conference mental models, conference paradigm busters, conference paradigm busting, conference paradigms, conference target market, frameworks, mental models, paradigm busting
Conference Innovation Through Paradigm Busting July 12, 2018 by Jeff Hurt A strong driving force lies just beneath what you do on a daily basis. It is the unspoken, unrecognized, and unquestioned assumptions that steer your thinking, decisions and actions. These views developed over time and through education, experiences and interactions with others. These mental models are deeply embedded in our conference planning and management practices. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , cognitive maps, conference mental models, conference paradigm busters, conference paradigm busting, conference paradigms, frameworks, mental models, paradigm busting
Challenging Our Conference Mental Models To Build Future Effective Events July 9, 2018 by Jeff Hurt How do we think? And just as important, how and what do we think about our conferences and events? How do we understand our conference planning processes, its underlying assumptions, and our customers, partners, exhibitors, and stakeholders? How do we create knowledge about our conferences that serve as our cognitive maps and meaning structures during … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , cognitive maps, conference mental models, frameworks, mental models
Steps To Minimize And Prevent Your Conference Organizational Debt July 6, 2018 by Jeff Hurt To be successful in the 21st Century, we have to become comfortable with ambiguity and contradiction. We must learn to reframe our questions and rise above conventional mental models. We have to embrace experimentation and try new things. We have to adopt strategies that encourage us to abandon ingrained, comfortable ideas and employ new ones … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , Bounty Program, conference experimentation, conference improvement, conference organizational debt, culture of experimentation, growth policy, interest, organizational debt, purposeful abandonment, refactor, refactoring conference organizational debt
You’re Paying Too Much Interest On Your Conference Organizational Debt July 5, 2018 by Jeff Hurt Most organizations pay for it without knowing it. What is it? Conference organizational debt. Your conference organizational debt includes the static roles, traditional structures, outdated models, long-established practices, antiquated procedures and legacy policies that prevent your organization from adapting to evolving markets, technology and society. Your conference pays the interest on this debt in the … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , accumulated organizational debt, conference improvement, conference organizational debt, interest, obsolete organizational debt, organizational debt, refactor
Refactor Your Conference Archaic Planning Routines June 29, 2018 by Jeff Hurt Conference organizers and their planning teams should understand, identify and quash organizational debt. Once they pinpoint and distinguish it, they need to refactor it. “Refactor it?” you say. “What does refactor mean?” Refactor is a technology concept that meeting professionals can use as a metaphor. Software programmers refactor their code once they develop a better … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference legacy code, conference organizational debt, hackitecture, organizational debt, petrifed hackitecture, petrified design, Refactor refactor your conference, refactoring
The Conference Debt You Cannot Afford June 28, 2018 by Jeff Hurt There is one debt every conference organizer must face and vanquish. It can cripple a conference. It doesn’t show up on your profit and loss statement. What is this debt? Organizational debt—the interest your conference pays when its structures, policies, procedures, practices, committees and leadership roles stay fixed and accumulate even as the world around … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference organizational debt, hackitecture, organizational debt, petrifed hackitecture, petrified design
