What a CEO Can Do For Your Conference December 15, 2015 by Dave Lutz Wanted: An individual with a laser focus on, and advocate for, the conference customer. Someone to educate leadership on the advantages of being customer and experience focused. A silo buster. A strategic professional with a high empathy quotient. Many conferences are planned and implemented leveraging a variety of departmental silos and often, several volunteer committees. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design Tagged With: , community, conference best practices, conference tips, meeting planning best practices
Your Conference Logo Needs Policing September 15, 2014 by Wendy Holliday Ok, you get it – Your Conference is a Brand. You’ve moved beyond the “annual meeting” into something more meaningful to your attendees. You’ve got your conference mission. You know how your conference will advance the profession and what’s in it for your participants. Now it is time to put your hard work into action. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Attendance Marketing Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference marketing, conference tips, event marketing, meeting planning best practices, visuals
365-Day Conferences Are Unrealistic September 3, 2014 by Sarah Michel We’ve been hearing it for years. Conference organizers have been on a quest to create a 365-day community around their big annual event. As a result, industry education sessions and event technology products have adopted the year-round concept and branding. But there’s a problem, attendees and exhibitors aren’t falling in line. They’ll give you their … [Read more…] Filed Under: Business Model, Hybrid & Virtual Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference ecommunity, conference tips, meeting best practices, meeting planning best practices, social networking
Conference Education List Sessions Are Deliciously Temptatious February 6, 2014 by Jeff Hurt “37 Mobile Apps In Less Than 60 Minutes!” Tina Brown’s “12 Tips For Engaging Events.” “15 Industry Trends You Need To Know.” Lists! We love them! We are drawn to them. We fancy them. The Lure Of The List Conference session titles that contain a numbered list have become ubiquitous ways to attract a crowd … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Event Planning Tagged With: , brain-friendly conferences, conference marketing, conference tips, conferences
Six Tips To Create The Conference Introvert Advantage February 3, 2014 by Jeff Hurt Are you an introvert or an extrovert? If you’re an introvert, you’re trendy right now. There is a lot of media buzz about introversion and their inner strengths in a primarily extrovert world. One In Four… At least one in four people tends to listen more than they speak, often feels alone in large groups, … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Experience Design Tagged With: , adult learning strategies, andragogy, conference, conference best practices, conference tips, education best practices
Three Conference Speaker Ahas You Need to Know November 6, 2013 by Dave Lutz How does your conference speaker selection process compare to other organizations? What’s working and what isn’t when it comes to selecting and securing industry and professional speakers? The Use Of Professional And Industry Speakers The past summer, Velvet Chainsaw partnered with Tagoras, a leading market research and consulting company for learning, to survey conference professionals … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , association trends, conference education, conference tips, conferences, industry speaker, meeting industry trends, speaker
5 Conference Conditions That Lead To Attendee Focused Attention July 30, 2013 by Jeff Hurt Note: This post was originally published on July 11, 2011 and has been slightly edited. Attention is a payment of the brain’s resources. It requires that we adjust, engage and sustain each of our nine brain areas involved in attention. We must also exclude, suppress or ignore external and internal distracters–and often that’s the real … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference tips, conferences, engagement, meeting planning best practices
Are You Designing For The Four Stages Of Conference Experience? January 3, 2013 by Jeff Hurt As a conference organizer, are you designing for the four stages of a conference experience? Or are you only designing for attendees to consume information? If you are planning only didactic, one-way, information transfer such as lectures and panels, you are missing some great opportunities to give your attendees a more robust experience. Four Stages … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference tips, conferences, meeting planning best practices, participatory conferences, participatory culture
Five Top 2013 Conference Trends To Watch January 2, 2013 by Jeff Hurt It’s that time of year again. Time to think of what trends might have an impact on conferences and meetings in 2013. So what can we expect to see as far as demands from our participants this year? Five Trends To Watch Here are five trends to watch during 2013 1. The Participation Economy From … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference tips, conferences, meeting industry trends, trends
Four Basic Conference Principles You Must Adopt September 19, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Brain drain or brain fuel? Which would you rather create for your conference attendees? Brain fuel for sure! Unfortunately, most conferences are nothing more than brain drains. The Traditional Conference Tension Conference organizers have to balance a common tension: fill seats versus creating a unique attendee experience. Usually, conference organizers land on the side of … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , brain science education, brain-friendly conferences, brain-friendly meetings, conference best practices, conference education, conference tips, conferences, meeting industry trends, meeting planning best practices
