The Conference Big Idea Road Less Traveled That Harvests Success May 3, 2017 by Jeff Hurt Most conferences are stuck in a rut! The experience has not changed in three, five and even ten years. They are predictable and often commoditized. So how do you create a conference experience that is not like all the others? Start by considering one or more of these conference big ideas. They are the conference … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , Big Ideas, conference trends, emerging practices, meeting industry trends
How to Improve Your Call for Presentations Process April 12, 2017 by Dave Lutz When Velvet Chainsaw Consulting conducted speaker research with 120 associations with research and consulting company Tagoras Inc. in 2013, we found that nearly 77 percent use a call for speakers/sessions process. Associations value member input. One-third of these organizations accept 60 percent or more of the proposals, indicating either a low number of submissions or … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Event Planning Tagged With: , adult learning, adult learning principles, call for presentations, conference best practices, Education & Adult Learning, presentation strategies, speaker practices
The 21st Century Meeting Professional: Act Strategically, Think Both Functionally And Strategically April 6, 2017 by Jeff Hurt What’s the role of the 21st Century meeting and conference professional? In the past, the answer was easy. Perform very straight forward, transactional, functional tasks related to the logistics of conferences, meetings and events. S/He fulfilled the same types of tasks on a daily basis. When asked to make improvements, s/he focused on efficiency and … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , ambidextrous organization, conference organizer, conference strategy, meeting professional, strategic planning, strategic thinking, strategic value
Super Control Freak Tendencies Stunt Your Conference Growth March 28, 2017 by Jeff Hurt Ok, admit it! You’re good at the details. You have an eye for minutia. You live and breathe by the motto, “A place for everything and everything in its place.” You wear as a badge of honor that the devil is in the details. You take great pride in creating a sense of order out … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , control freak, control issues, mental model, top down control
Specific Strategies To Take Your Conference Full Frontal! March 22, 2017 by Jeff Hurt You can make your conference the purple cow of all conference experiences. That is if you want to be seen as unique and different. So how do you do that? By creating conference experiences that help your participants think smarter! This means designing conference experiences that go full frontal! Going full frontal means engaging the … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , brain friendly strategies, brain health, brain-friendly conferences, brain-friendly meetings, cognitively stimulating, conference best practices, executive functions of the brain, full frontal, higher order thinking skills, lower order thinking skills, neuroscience
Take Your Conference Full Frontal March 20, 2017 by Jeff Hurt It’s time to take your conference full frontal! No, not a full frontal lobotomy. Nor a behind the scenes look at the private parts. It’s time to challenge and encourage your conference stakeholders to focus on engaging their brains at a higher level. It’s time to develop conference experiences that help your stakeholders think smarter. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , brain friendly strategies, brain health, brain-friendly conferences, brain-friendly meetings, cognitively stimulating, conference best practices, executive functions of the brain, full frontal, higher order thinking skills, lower order thinking skills, neuroscience
Mediocrity Is Your Biggest Conference Competitor March 6, 2017 by Jeff Hurt Your real conference competition is not that event held six months after yours. Nor is your competitor time, money and resources. Your real competitor is mediocrity to paraphrase authors Karin Hurt and David Dye. You’re In A Difficult Position: Look Backwards Or Forwards For Programming? Today’s technology driven, hyper-connected, instant gratification, real-time world puts you … [Read more…] Filed Under: Business Model, Event Planning Tagged With: , audience expectations, average, conference best practices, conference experience, mediocrity, originality
Evolve into a Caretaker of Content March 2, 2017 by Betsy Bair Imagine designing your next conference or annual meeting from scratch around content instead of picking up the template you’ve been using for years and tweaking it. Not just your education programming, but your breaks, meals, even your exhibit hall (which we advocate for evolving into a solutions center, including changing the name). “Please stop designing … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , 21st century conferences, audience-centric, conference best practices, conference design, conference education, engagement
20 Ways to Remake Your Annual Meeting – Part 2 February 21, 2017 by Dave Lutz We outlined the first 10 things you need to kill — from making your annual business meeting part of your general session to promoting invitation-only events — in order to bring your meeting up to speed. Here are the next 10 elements to knock off. 11. Your distinguished-lecture series does not engage. Many associations have … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning, Experience Design Tagged With: , kill conference elements, remake annual meeting
20 Ways to Modernize an Annual Meeting – Part 1 February 20, 2017 by Dave Lutz Most annual meetings have used the same template agenda for decades. They just replace the filling each year. If you want to breathe new life into your conference, and increase relevance for next-generation attendees, start with this kill/change list. Part two of this series will include the remainder of the list. 1. Annual Business Meeting … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning, Experience Design Tagged With: , annual meeting changes, conference improvement, conference sacred cows
