Who Is Your Conference Really Attracting? February 11, 2013 by Dave Lutz Attracting first-class, first-rate, quality attendees is one of the most complex and important keys to your conference’s business model. Too many conferences attempt to be all things to all people and end up with a watered-down offering. You need a process to help you identify your various attendee segments and who your target market is. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Attendance Marketing, Business Model Tagged With: , attracting attendees, conference best practices, conferences, decision makers, economic buyers, market segmentation, target market
You Have The Power To Super Charge Your Attendees’ Brains January 30, 2013 by Jeff Hurt What if you as a conference organzier had the magical ability to literally change your attendees’ brains for the better? Guess what! You do have that power. Wow, that’s an awesome responsibility and one that should not be taken lightly. Our Brain’s Plasticity For more than 400 years, mainstream medicine and science believed that our … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , brain science education, brain-friendly conferences, conference best practices, conferences, lecture, meeting planner, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals
Status-Quo Is A No Go! Become A Conference Outlaw January 29, 2013 by Jeff Hurt All progress takes place in the outlaw area. ~ paraphrase Buckminster Fuller. You can’t improve and reform your conferences where you currently are. You have to take some risks. You have to move away from doing things the way you’ve always done them. You can’t make improvements to your attendees’ conference experience by playing it … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, meeting planner, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals
Five Strategies To Improve The Common Conference Lecture January 18, 2013 by Jeff Hurt All learning IS experience. Everything else is just information. ~ Albert Einstein Talking is a critical part of that learning experience. We talk so we can understand. We talk so we can remember. We talk so we can learn. But who does the majority of talking at a conference and who does the majority of … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , active learning, active participation, adult learning, adult learning principles, adult learning strategies, conference best practices, conferences, lecture, presentation best practices
SlideShare: The Largest Professional Content Sharing Community In The World [Infographic] January 11, 2013 by Jeff Hurt According to comScore, SlideShare has 5 times more traffic from business owners than Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn (which now owns SlideShare). Is this the social media tool that is missing from your tool box? More conferences should consider using SlideShare as a way to share content and information with those outside of their … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Technology Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, content marketing, SlideShare
Jedi Master Yoda Shares 14 Inspirational Quotes For Meeting Professionals January 8, 2013 by Jeff Hurt You’ve probably seen Star Wars. You may even have a boxed set of the videos. Now for the first time, Jedi Master Yoda shares inspirational quotes for meeting professionals, conferences and meetings. Read them, you must. As participants, successful meeting professionals must see registrants. Conference success depends on size not. Hmmmmm. Hard to see, even … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, meeting planning best practices, meeting professional
Are You Designing For The Four Stages Of Conference Experience? January 3, 2013 by Jeff Hurt As a conference organizer, are you designing for the four stages of a conference experience? Or are you only designing for attendees to consume information? If you are planning only didactic, one-way, information transfer such as lectures and panels, you are missing some great opportunities to give your attendees a more robust experience. Four Stages … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference tips, conferences, meeting planning best practices, participatory conferences, participatory culture
Five Energy Hungry Brain Functions We Use At Conferences December 13, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Have you ever started your day by trying to read emails while listening to your voice mails? If you’re like me you have. And it just doesn’t work. At the slightest whim, you get distracted and before you know it, you’ve deleted an important voice mail. Or you’ve overlooked an urgent email. While the brain … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , adult learning, adult learning principles, adult learning strategies, brain science education, brain-friendly conferences, conference best practices, conference education, meeting planning best practices
Understanding Your Attendees’ Goldilocks Leads To Conference Success December 11, 2012 by Jeff Hurt We’ve all experienced it: that overwhelming sense of dread! A tsunami of emails. Total exhaustion from too many meetings. The constant barrage of urgent texts from colleagues, family and friends. Change piled upon change, often when we can’t or won’t tolerate it. Our brain has its limits! Too much stress and pressure and it gets … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , adult learning, adult learning principles, adult learning strategies, brain science education, brain-friendly conferences, conference best practices, conference education, meeting planning best practices, presentation best practices
Conference Lessons You Can Learn From Apple December 3, 2012 by Jeff Hurt I walked into the newly expanded Apple Store at Knox Henderson on the day of the release of the next version of the iPhone. I hesitated at first thinking it would be packed with crowds but my iPhone was stuck in the middle of an upgrade. I needed help and I needed it fast. There … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference marketing, conferences, content marketing
