A Journey Down Conference Street February 6, 2015 by Jeff Hurt So go downtown Things will be great when you’re downtown No finer place for sure, downtown Everything’s waiting for you* *Downtown as sung by Petula Clark. Take A Mental Stroll It’s time to take a nostalgic journey downtown on Conference Street. Visualize yourself walking down a traditional city lane. Both sides are lined with the … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference experience, emotional experience, event experience, meeting experience, user experience design
Our Screwed Up Thinking About Creating Conference Experiences January 28, 2015 by Jeff Hurt As conference organizers, we need to learn about the power of experience. Well, we already know about experiences. We have them all the time. We’ve had experiences with our families and friends. We’ve had experiences with work. We’ve had school experiences. We’ve had experiences with institutions and organizations. We’ve had vacation experiences. Terrible, Horrible, No … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference experience, emotional experience, event experience, meeting experience, user experience design
Your Conference Audience Matters More Than You Think! January 22, 2015 by Jeff Hurt Having an audience at a conference is no longer a novel idea. It’s expected and a given. Unless you’re a speaker that didn’t resonate with this audience in a past meeting. Then you probably have a very small or limited audience if any. How you define your conference audience defines how you design your event. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , co-creation, community, conference audiences, conference best practices, conference experience, participant-centric
Improving Your Conference Operational Effectiveness Is Not Strategic Positioning January 6, 2015 by Jeff Hurt It’s one of the biggest confusions in the meetings industry today. That improving your conference operations—registration, food and beverage counts, room capacities, room sets, project management, vendor practices, partnering, benchmarking, following industry best practices, conference management tools—improves your strategy. It doesn’t! Improving your conference operations is not strategic positioning! Sure improving your conference operations improves … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference experience, conference strategy, convention operations, operational effectiveness, strategic positioning
Growing Conference Technology Competency To Increase Your Value November 21, 2014 by Dave Lutz As a conference organizer, how would you rank your competency regarding conference technologies like registration, speaker management databases, exhibits, conference apps, wayfinding signage, email marketing, CRM data bases and social media? Technology geek, technophobe or somewhere in between? The most effective and valuable meeting professionals are squarely in the middle. Why Two Tech Extremes Don’t … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Technology Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference experience, conference technology, conferences, meeting professional
Walk A Mile In Your Attendees’ Shoes To Improve Their Experience And Increase Your Empathy October 7, 2014 by Jeff Hurt Improving your empathy is a key to increasing your conference profit. Many conference organizers and hosts think that empathy has no place in their conference business. They believe that registration systems, schedules, speaker management tools, marketing, social media and conference attendee, exhibitor and sponsor forecasts are more important. But their view is wrong. At least … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design Tagged With: , attendee experience, conference best practices, conference experience, customer empathy, meeting professional, strategic empathy
Why Technology Alone Will Not Move The Needle For Conferences September 16, 2014 by Jeff Hurt I’m a fan of technology. I’m usually an early adopter of the next shiny tech tool for individuals. And I typically try to understand if and how that tech tool may help organizations, learning and conferences. But, and it’s a big, big but: technology alone will not truly move your conference needle. Technology Isn’t Your … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Technology, Experience Design Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference experience, conference technology, conferences
Attendee Experience The Next Frontier For Differentiation September 4, 2014 by Jeff Hurt Most conference experiences are very similar. They have similar schedules, receptions, general sessions, breakouts, exhibit halls, lecture-style education offerings, quality and price. They all look and feel alike. Too many conferences are on the verge of commoditization. One of the conference’s main offering—delivery of information disguised as education—is so widely available and mutually interchangeable with … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design Tagged With: , attendee experience, conference best practices, conference experience, emotional experience, event experience, experience economy
Conference Growth Is Connected To Unique Attendee Experiences June 25, 2014 by Jeff Hurt If you want to grow your conference, you need to annually create a unique conference experience. You also need to create an emotional bond with your registrants. We have to remember that our registrants are people too. And your conference experience should help them solve the issues that are keeping them up at night. Our … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , attendee experience, attendee growth, conference experience, conferences, emotional connection
How To Create An Entirely Unique, Clangorously New Conference Experience June 9, 2014 by Jeff Hurt The conference market is saturated with commoditized information-driven attendee experiences. Most conferences are nothing more than status-quo, average, predictable information overloaded experiences. They reek of sameness. After you’ve attended a conference for the first time, it loses its freshness and excitement. It feels too familiar. Focus On Creating The Attendee’s Experience So how can a … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , attendee experience, conference best practices, conference experience, conferences, emotional connection
