Do your conference learning opportunities—from the general session to networking to breakouts to deep dive workshops—empower registrants to participate in their own learning journey? Or do your conference education sessions motivate participants to see the finish line? Their learning stops once the session ends. Authentic learner-centered conferences foster a connection between the participant and the learning taking place. The participants develop a deep understanding that they are … [Read more...]
The Tension Between Content And Process In Facilitated Conference Learning Experiences
Have you ever attended a conference education session because of the presenter and not the content? (I think most of us have.) Have you ever been surprised when a full day workshop ended? You were so engaged that time flew by without you realizing it. If you’ve had these types of experiences, you’ve witnessed firsthand skilled facilitation. A great facilitator moves back and forth between content and process engaging participants in their own learning journeys. We need more conference … [Read more...]
Four Personalization Strategies Conferences And Associations Can Adopt From Education
Let’s separate reality from fiction regarding personalized conference experiences and personalized learning. Fact: Meeting professionals and conference vendors frequently confuse personalization with configurable conference experiences. They are not the same thing. Fact: Conference planners and association leaders are easily persuaded by the puffery of conference personalization. Those that want to pursue personalization need to be savvy consumers. “They have to ask the tough questions … [Read more...]
A Cautionary Word From Research About Personalization
Personalization—it seems to be the 2017 buzzword for nonprofit associations and conferences. Everyone seems to be talking about it like here and here. Yet, personalization is more than technology. It means more than our past purchases or posts in social media. We have likes, dislikes, preferences, strengths, weakness, emotions, experiences and knowledge that do not show up in organization data systems. We are much more than recorded data when it comes to personalization! Data and … [Read more...]
What Type Of Learning Experiences—Shallow, Advancement Or Deep–Are You Serving Customers?
The world has drastically changed in the past several decades. But most conference experiences have changed very little, if at all. They compete with the Internet to distribute content and deliver information. So what type of conference education are you serving your customers—shallow learning, advancement learning or deep learning? Do you even know the difference between the three? Do you know which would lead to authentic, transformative learning experiences? The Initial Research On … [Read more...]
Successful Conference Professionals Understand, Design And Offer Deep Learning Experiences To Attendees
Most conferences offer some type of learning opportunities for their participants. From informal peer networking to roundtable discussions to formal expert lectures and panel discussions. The education opportunities abound. Traditionally, the goal of conference education is to deliver as much information as possible as fast as possible to as many people as possible. Today, many meeting professionals focus on distributing content through traditional and unusual formats—TED style, Ignite, … [Read more...]
Designing 21st Century Conference Learning Experiences And Spaces
Our conference learning spaces affect our audience. We must learn to think like designers. Then we can focus on changing our conference participants’ learning spaces with the right goal in mind—nurturing their learning. Be forewarned! We are not decorating learning spaces. We are designing them to foster, nurture and amplify our participants’ learning. (Hat tips Rebecca Louise Hare and Dr. Robert Dillon authors of The Space: A Guide for Educators.) Are You Putting Lipstick On Outdated … [Read more...]
Evolve into a Caretaker of Content
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 content for events and start thinking about designing events for the content.” That’s a quote from Sourabh Kothari, director of advocacy, … [Read more...]
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