Back to School for Trade Show Organizers: Build In More Ways to Learn and Connect August 2, 2016 by Betsy Bair This is the second in a series of posts on the findings of reports published by the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) based on research recently conducted on attendee retention strategies. The way we buy has evolved for both the B2B and B2C sectors. Trade show organizers who have re-imagined their expo floors into … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Sponsorship & Exhibits Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference education, Education & Adult Learning, tradeshow
Sagacious And Substantive Gists We Should Appreciate, Comprehend And Respect Regarding Learning May 25, 2016 by Jeff Hurt Learning: it is probably one of the most misunderstood and misapplied concepts today. Many of us assume learning results from attending a class. We believe that our brains are like sponges that just absorb whatever it hears or sees. We presume that learning is a byproduct of listening to a lecture. We’ve even given names … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , active learning, adult education, adult learning principles, adult learning strategies, andragogy, conference best practices, conference education, conference learning model
Disrupting Our Own Conference Learning Models [Webinar] March 2, 2016 by Jeff Hurt The demands of our 21st Century conference participants mandate that we change our traditional event experience. Today’s workforce requires that our participants interact, think and work in collaborative ways. Yet our conferences persistently promote expert-directed, one-way passive monologues and panel dialogues. Our conferences continue to resemble the routines of the 19th and 20th century school. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , adult learning, conference best practices, conference education, conference learning model, networking, peer-based learning, peer-to-peer, peerology, webinar
Why Bother With Conference Education Peer Discussions? February 17, 2016 by Jeff Hurt How many conference speakers have you seen that don’t want attendees asking, answering, commenting or participating during their presentations? From the speaker’s point of view, the presentation seems to be moving along nicely as the content is covered. The room is silent except the speaker’s voice. And surely that means that the audience is attentively … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , adult education, adult learning, adult learning principles, adult learning strategies, conference best practices, conference education, discussions, lecture, paragogy, peer-to-peer, peerology
The Conference Lecture Paradox October 1, 2015 by Jeff Hurt When talking about conference education, most people think about the traditional lecture. It is perceived as the holy grail of much of the conference. Many attendees swear they learn a lot from those subject matter expert speeches. It’s a paradox. Attendees flock to general sessions and breakouts to hear a lecture. Yet science says they … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , adult education, conference best practices, conference education, conference lecture, Education & Adult Learning, lecture, participatory learning
Business Improvement Conference Education Trends September 29, 2015 by Jeff Hurt Does your conference education drive attendees’ business performance? Or are your offerings more a roll of the dice, leaving it up to chance that they impact the attendees’ job performance. The most effective and successful conferences focus their learning opportunities on sustaining attendees’ critical strategic skills, building evolving organizational capabilities and linking conference education to … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , adult education, building organizational capacity, business improvement, business performance, capacity building, conference education, conference evaluation, conference strategy, institutional capabilities, learning metrics, organizational learning
Exposing Your Mental Model For Conference Education August 14, 2015 by Jeff Hurt Most conference organizers are not even aware of the mental models that drive their decisions—especially when it comes to conference education. Rarely do we openly examine or actively process our mental models. We just act. So those beliefs continue to govern our thoughts and decisions, without our awareness or knowledge. As a conference organizer, your … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , adult learning, cognitive bias, conference best practices, conference education, conference learning model, education best practices, facilitator, mental model, speaker tips, thinking
More Dangerous Assumptions About Your Conference Education Part 2 July 24, 2015 by Jeff Hurt The research* shows that much of what we do in our conference education is actually counterproductive. (*See partial list of research and books at the end of Dangerous Assumptions Part 1 post.) We spend too much of our conference time on delivery of information. The web is a better information delivery model than our events. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , adult education, adult learning principles, adult learning strategies, brain friendly strategies, brain-friendly conferences, conference education, conference strategy, education best practices, learning myths
Dangerous Assumptions About Your Conference Education Part I July 23, 2015 by Jeff Hurt It’s a very dangerous assumption. We assume that if our speakers are talking, our attendees must be learning. We equate telling from the stage with audience education. Telling does not equal learning. We’ve placed a value on experts talking instead of a value on attendees’ learning. It’s backwards thinking and it’s one of our conference’s … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , adult education, adult learning principles, adult learning strategies, brain friendly strategies, brain-friendly conferences, conference education, conference strategy, education best practices, learning myths
Creating Sticky Learning: Complimentary (Sales Free) VCC Webinar July 30 July 20, 2015 by Jeff Hurt As adults, we are rather lazy learners. Much of what we hold as fact regarding learning is actually illusion. We waste a lot of effort, time and resources with common-sense accepted educational practices that are rooted in intuition, tradition and myth. The most effective learning strategies and education programming are counter-intuitive. We need to build … [Read more…] Filed Under: Ramblings Tagged With: , adult learning principles, adult learning strategies, brain-friendly conferences, conference best practices, conference education, learning
