The Fantastic, Super-Sized, Research Proven Benefits Of Curiosity June 22, 2018 by Jeff Hurt The future belongs to the curious! Curiosity is the key to success both now and in the future. When curiosity is combined with passion, aspiration and accomplishment it creates a winning formula resulting in achievement. Conference organizers that create a culture of curiosity gain both a short and long term competitive edge. Those that exhibit … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference culture of curiosity, culture of curiosity, curiosity, curiosity cycle, curiosity's benefits, curious, curious participants, discover, explore, questioning, right answers, search for solutions
Conference Purpose With Power And Participants Leads To Profitability June 14, 2018 by Jeff Hurt Does your event have a clear and inspiring purpose? (If you’re shaking your head yes, then what is it?) Now imagine someone asking your conference participants that question. How would they respond? I suspect they would say “Yes, of course it has a purpose!” Then they would launch into a passionate description of your event’s … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference organizer, conference professionals, conference purpose, lead with purpose, meeting professionals, purpose, purpose-driven, purpose-driven conference organizers, purpose-driven conferences
If You Design Conference Experiences, Read This! June 4, 2018 by Jeff Hurt We design experiences for our customers. So why don’t we design experiences for ourselves? Have we missed the obvious? (I confess: I have!) As conference organizers, why can’t we also have a fun, fulfilling, and collaborative experience planning and designing the conference? Well, we can and should! And our planning team members should too. Six … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference as a giving field, convergence, convergent thinking, design conference experiences, design conference participant experience, design conferences, divergent thinking, experience-driven feedback, inscaping, practive divergence, reflective thinking, role hacking
Your Conference As A Giving Field May 29, 2018 by Jeff Hurt We are used to thinking of our conference and its planning process as a one-way transaction from the company to its customers. Sometimes we view the planning process as a backbreaking, arduous, life-draining experience. We may even dread working with a new conference advisory committee due to our negative past experiences. If this sounds like … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference as a giving field, giving and receiving, transactional experience, transfromative experience
The Market Shifts That Led to Commission Cuts May 21, 2018 by Dave Lutz Marriott, Hilton and IHG have announced reductions in group-booking commissions from 10 percent to 7 percent for their North American hotels, to take place over a period of time this year and next. Marriott’s has already begun for most intermediaries. A 30-percent cut in one’s business model is a tough pill to swallow for any … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , group-booking commissions, hotel commissions cuts, influencers, influencers with less influence, lead-to-close rate, market shifts, prepaid commissions, revenue sharing, RFPs, tarnished commission model, third party meeting planners, third-party sourcing, trusted-advisor status
Three Core Conference Planning Tenets To Master And Skillfully Apply May 18, 2018 by Jeff Hurt Does your conference committee practice organized abandonment and avoid no-bottom-line-mindsets? What is their capacity to see opportunities in the mist of change? How are they at focusing on the purpose, goals and target market of the conference when making decisions? These three principles are vital to maintaining a healthy, strong conference. Often conference planning members … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Networking, Event Planning Tagged With: , conference emerging practices, conference tenets, no-bottom-line-mentality, no-bottom-line-mindset, organize for opportunity, organized abandonment, strategic alignment
Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes: From Industrial Revolution Work Models To Knowledge Economy Models May 11, 2018 by Jeff Hurt Is your organization stuck in a 20th Century time warp and on the endangered list? Are its structures, business models and operations using outdated methods resembling a relic of the past? Or are your organizational work processes thriving in today’s increasingly hypercompetitive, fast-paced and interconnected marketplace? In order to be a successful 21st Century organization, … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , 20th century work model, 21st Century work model, association best practices, change, industrial revolution, intent to transformation, Knowledge economy, managing hands, managing minds
An Association Committee’s Three Responses To Change And Innovation May 10, 2018 by Jeff Hurt Here’s your Who Wants to be A Millionaire million dollar question: What are the three states of association committee change? Is that your final answer? I’m sorry but solid, liquid and gas are not the right responses. And no, the State of WADITW (we’ve always done it this way), the State of WFIIINB (why fix … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , association, change management, committees, Constrained State, Dynamic State, nonprofit, Resisted State, responses to change, state of organization change
The Achilles Heel Of Association Leadership March 7, 2018 by Jeff Hurt One of the ironies of associations is that the strengths that led to their initial success may actually be detrimental to their ongoing growth. Most associations start with a group of passionate volunteers that serve in many roles. They are intricately involved in all the functions of the association. These core volunteers oversee the organization’s … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , association leaders, board of directors, leadership, volunteer leadership, volunteer resource capacity, working boards
Developing An Association Community That Evolves Into Action February 9, 2018 by Jeff Hurt Belonging precedes believing. It’s true for our association members. It’s true for our organization’s leaders. The ways we include or exclude others influences their thoughts and actions. It’s more than what we say or write. It’s how we invite others to join and belong, how we greet them, how we appreciate them, how we accept … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , authentic community, belonging, co-creation, collaboration, community development, cultivating connection, deep connections
