Effective Organizational Change Requires Engagement and Empowerment September 26, 2018 by Jeff Hurt I’m still getting my head around what does and doesn’t work with organizational development and change. After eight and half years of consulting at Velvet Chainsaw, one would think I would have figured out this change management stuff. But I haven’t. I have more questions than answers. I have seeds of ideas in need of … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , change, change management, content and process, organizational change, organizational growth, process
Our Preoccupation With Solutionitis, Hammers And Nails September 25, 2018 by Jeff Hurt If all you have is a hammer, everything else looks like a nail. The hammer nail analogy is a common business idiom. It describes the bias that we bring to solving problems based on our personal experience and background. Well, hammer meet nail. Nail says to hammer, “Hammer, meet screwdriver, pliers, wrench, saw and the … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , attendee curiosity, fixing things, hammer and nails, participant perspective, problem solving, solutionitis, understanding your target market
When History Is Weaponized To Keep Your Conference Stuck In The Past September 13, 2018 by Jeff Hurt We’ve always done it this way and it’s worked. So why should this time be any different? It’s a classic proclamation used to silence any discussion about changing directions. History becomes weaponized and used as a machete to clear the path for personal agendas, influencing others and legitimizing staying the same. Ultimately, weaponizing your conference’s … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference conventional wisdom, conventional wisdom
Making The Common Conference Uncommon July 27, 2018 by Jeff Hurt Who wants to attend a common, ordinary, ho-hum, everyday, I’m-just-like-all-the-others traditional conference? Even worse, who wants to pay to attend one? And who wants to plan or sell one? Your conference growth and revenue depends upon repeat paying attendees year after year. Customer loyalty is the cornerstone for your event’s success. And your customer loyalty … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , common conference uncommon, conference customer loyalty, customer loyalty, designing conference experience, making your common conference uncommon
Meeting Professionals Anxiously Want To Start Their Improvement Planning Process Yesterday July 26, 2018 by Jeff Hurt Conference and meeting professionals like action when planning their events. They are accustomed to juggling multiple demands. They have long to-do lists that require their attention and often exceed their available time. So, they have the tendency to want to hurry up and check-off items on their to-do list–yesterday. Herein likes one of their challenges … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , backward design, conference organizers, conference planning, conference professionals, future-back planning process, long-term trends planning mindset, present-forward planning mindset
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
