Experience Design


Being More Innovative: Acting And Thinking Differently

You can learn to be more innovative! That’s right. You can learn to think differently. You can also learn to act more like an innovator. Your ability to be innovative is not only a function of your mind. It is also a function of your behaviors! If you change your behaviors you change your creative … [Read more…]

Six Uber Important Conference Connections

During school, we focused on what was in our heads. We took exams, got grades, received diplomas and worked towards degrees. During work, we focus on doing the job right. Our work is an open-book exam and we access lifelines from our colleagues to the Internet. Accessing our networks is encouraged and welcomed. Success today … [Read more…]

Bite-Sized Conference Sessions: Do They Work?

Shorter education sessions are not the secret sauce for making boring or ineffective conferences appetizing. They may be more innovative and less predictable. They are even more entertaining. Unfortunately, rapid-fire five-to-18-minute presentations don’t improve learning. Unless you intentionally add time for context and meaning making. Shorter Conference Session Trends There is a growing trend for … [Read more…]

The Top Reason Your Virtual Presentation Failed

I remember the first time I gave a virtual presentation. I was in a small conference room with six other panelists. A camera on a stand faced me. To my left was a computer that looked like a mashup of the old overhead projector and a touch screen. A large screen displaying six feeds at … [Read more…]

Innovative Conferences Are Led By Innovative Leaders

Innovation. It’s the heartbeat and lifeblood of today’s economy. Innovation. It’s a strategic priority for most executives around the world. Innovation and creativity. 15,000 CEOs identified it as the number 1 “Leadership Competency” of the future. (IBM, CEO Study, 2010) Innovation. It’s where you as a conference organizer need to focus your attention, time and … [Read more…]

Using AGES To Design Brain Friendly Conferences

Is your conference experience one that hurts your participants’ brains or one that helps their brains learn? In other words, is your conference brain-adverse or brain-friendly? Does the experience align with how your attendees’ brains work? Or does it work against the brain’s natural systems, shutting it down from learning? Two Critical Conference Factors To … [Read more…]

Is Your Conference Like A Five Course Meal Or A Smorgasbord Buffet?

If you had a choice and money was not a concern, which would you prefer? A fine dining five course dinner or an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord buffet? I prefer a fine dining five course meal anytime. Smorgasbord All-You-Can-Eat Buffet Smorgasbord buffets are usually prepared fast, easily and inexpensively. They are a popular method for feeding a … [Read more…]

Top Creativity Tips To Think Outside Your Box

Ever been stuck and feel like you can’t get out of your box? Maybe even backed into a corner? I have. And I suspect you have too. Routine Thinking Leads To Being Stuck I believe that often we do the same thing so much that we can’t see another way of proceeding. Our minds really … [Read more…]

Dying, Boundary And Emerging Meeting Practices: Barbecuing The Sacred Cow

Does your organization have any meeting planning practices that are sacred cows? Don’t you wish you could grind them up for a barbecue? Well, it’s time to kill those traditions and make way for new, emerging ideas. e4 2011 Innovation Labs Recently I attended Experient’s e4 2011 conference, “Outside the Lines” as one of their … [Read more…]

Are You Prepared To Lead Your Organization Into The Future?

Many organizations continue to view the future as a linear progression from the past. Their leadership thinks they can predict what happens next. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Myth Of Organizational Linear Progression Authors Jeanne C. Meister and Karie Willyerd discuss why this belief is fiction in their book The 2020 Workplace: … [Read more…]