Overcomplicating Conference Content Confuses Attendees September 10, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Is your conference content like an encyclopedia, a textbook or a report? Does your conference promote content-centric or learner-centric design? Unfortunately, most conferences default to content-centric design without even knowing it. SMEs Do It Difficultly If your conference prides itself on securing subject matter experts (SMEs) to present information, then consider the following. Your attempt … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , adult education, adult learning, adult learning principles, conference best practices, conference education, conferences, meeting professionals, presentation best practices, presentation strategies, speaker tips
Old Guard Conferences Vs. Cutting Edge Conferences September 6, 2012 by Jeff Hurt When the winds of change blow, some people build walls. Others build windmills. ~Chinese Proverb Conferences are divided today between Old Guard and Cutting Edge Conferences. Old guard conferences build walls when the winds of change blow. Cutting edge conferences build windmills to capture and leverage the winds of change. Old Guard And Cutting Edge … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference education, conferences, EPIC conferences, participatory culture, participatory learning
Creating EPIC Conferences For Connected Times September 5, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Name two words that describe the web today. Connected and community are two that come to my mind. Conferences Are In The Connexity Business Amazon and eBay say they are in the connexity business-making connections and building communities. Both companies demonstrate that the web is less an information source than a social medium. Conferences need … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Experience Design Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference education, conferences, EPIC conferences, participatory culture, participatory learning
Metaphors, Stories And Images Are Important For Conferences: The I In EPIC Conferences August 30, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Try this. Next time you are in the grocery store, ask the seafood clerk for fresh sardines. Guess what most seafood clerks say? “There is not really one fish called a sardine.” Most of us are used to seeing sardines in a can. In reality, the name applies to twenty-one species of small fish that, … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Experience Design Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference education, conferences, EPIC conferences, participatory culture, participatory learning
Considering The Learning Journey At Conferences August 29, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Many years ago I taught school during the day and high school dropouts preparing for their GED exam at night. It was a grueling schedule. Yet, it was extremely rewarding. On The Road To GED Every evening, after a long day of teaching, I spent another five hours on my second job at Students For … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , adult education, adult learning, adult learning principles, conference best practices, conference education, conferences, meeting professionals, presentation best practices, presentation strategies, speaker tips
What Do Yearbooks Have To Do With Presenters And Audiences? August 28, 2012 by Jeff Hurt During my three years in high school, I diligently worked on our school yearbook. I even served as assistant editor and editor of our yearbook. I enjoyed the design process including creating each two-page spread layout. I also spent many hours making sure that as many of my peers were pictured in candid shots as … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , adult learning principles, adult learning strategies, conference best practices, conference education, presentation best practices, presentation strategies, speaker tips
Creating Participatory Conferences, The P In EPIC August 23, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Do you remember Pop Rocks candy? It was the candy that exploded and jumped in your mouth. Or perhaps you recall Zotz, the candy that fizzed in your mouth. Interactive Candy If you walk the aisles of a local department store today, you’ll find a new host of interactive candies. You’ll see Armageddon Asteroids, Big … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Experience Design Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference education, conferences, participatory culture, participatory learning
Conferences Need To Focus On Creating Experiences, The E Of EPIC Conferences August 22, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Imagine it’s 2084. You are craving a new experience that you’ve not had in the past. You decide to visit Rekall to get a memory implant of a new vacation experience. This is the setting of the 1990 movie Total Recall with Arnold Schwarzenegger or the 2012 remake with Colin Farrell. While Total Recall is … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning, Experience Design Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference education, conferences, participatory culture, participatory learning
Five More Fresh Innovative Game Changer Conference Ideas August 2, 2012 by Jeff Hurt The best conference organizers are proactively looking for fresh, new ideas to implement at their next annual meeting. They work hard at coming up with the next big idea. Shattering Status Quo The most innovative conference organizers are not satisfied with creating ordinary, mundane conference experiences. They have no patience for the status quo. As … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , adult learning strategies, brain science education, brain-friendly conferences, conference best practices, conference education, conferences, participatory class, participatory culture, participatory learning
Which Would You Rather Attend: A Speech Or A Movie? August 1, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Which would you rather attend: A ninety-minute speech or a ninety-minute movie? You’ve got to be kidding, right? The majority of us would rather go to a movie than a speech. Now, let’s put this into a conference context. Given a choice, would you rather go to a two-day film festival or a two-day conference? … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference education, conferences, participatory culture, participatory learning, presentation best practices, presentation strategies, speaker tips
