Tag: conference best practices


Your Training Programs Are Preposterous And Fail Miserably To Foster Learning

Training is for dogs. Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m educating my dogs” or “I’m instructing my dogs.” Of course you haven’t. That’s because most training programs are for dogs. The Education Semantics Challenge Many people use the words training, education, instruction and learning interchangeably. However each conveys a unique message and meaning. Individually … [Read more…]

Creating Compelling Experiential Spaces For Conferences

Steelcase, a global office environment creator, was invited by TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) Conference organizers to create immersive environments for their conference. (Did you click on that link to watch the short video clips showing some examples?) TED wanted compelling spaces that sparked great attendee conversations and nurtured community. 5 Principles For Designing Compelling … [Read more…]

How To Create A Sticky Conference

Just how sticky is your conference? Sticky conferences create experiences that last beyond the two to three days of the conference. They focus on creating real relationships with strong connections. It’s about more than speed networking where people just exchange business cards or speed sessions to see how much info people can cram into their … [Read more…]

Your Senses Are Your Raw Information Learning Portals

Quickly, name your five senses. That’s easy! Right? Sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste. Now, what percentage of information comes though each sense? That one is not so easy. Here’s another way to think about this. How much information do we gather from each sense in the same amount of time as compared to the … [Read more…]

Creating Community, Identity And Reflection With Your Conference Space

Have you ever seen a movie that starts with a fast action scene? Immediately, you are pulled into the middle of things. Screenwriters call this media res or in the middle of a plot. They know that they can pull their viewers into the story by placing the action at the beginning. This same principle … [Read more…]

Horseshoe Groups: Merging Two Buzz Groups To Increase Audience Discussion

Lectures are a barrier to the listener’s thinking. The constant one-way transfer of information is like a dripping faucet. The information keeps coming and coming and coming. And that constant drip of new data, facts, figures and info keeps the brain overwhelmed with new information. The listener is faced with a choice: listen to the … [Read more…]

Creating Planned Serendipity For Your Conference Success

Networking: there’s more to it than business professionals speed handshaking while exchanging business cards. It’s an opportunity to connect and link with others as you share information, services and ideas with each other. Attendee Networking Expectations Increase There is no doubt about it. Conference attendee networking expectations are on the rise! Your conference is often … [Read more…]

Creating Buzz Groups To Add Audience Participation To Traditional Lectures

Lectures are good for sharing information. They are not good for learning and getting listeners to think! Nor are the good for getting listeners to remember and apply the information they hear. Audience discussion methods are more effective for learning than the lecture. Lectures are the equivalent of distributing a report and asking people to … [Read more…]

Foster These New Participant Attitudes For Your Next Conference Experience

I’m feelin’ good from my head to my shoes Know where I’m goin’ and I know what to do I tidied up my point of view I got a new attitude! Patti LaBelle, New Attitude As a conference organizer, when was the last time that you had a new attitude about your participants’ conference experience? … [Read more…]

You Need These Six Actions At Your Next Conference

Do you design your conference meeting space with participants’ behaviors and actions in mind? Or do you design meeting space based on what is the most efficient and not necessarily the most effective? Regardless, you have the unique ability to motivate and stimulate your participants’ specific behaviors during your event. Orienting The Room For Specific … [Read more…]