You can never get enough of what you really don’t need says Eric Hoffer. To paraphrase Hoffer, you can never get enough of conference fads, gimmicks and trends. We want more, more, more! (Unless your a conference participant and we often have had enough!) Fads and trends are often about gaining attention. They also want access to your conference budget. Evergreen conference practices that have promising results are often obscured by our obsession with fads and trends. Seven Emerging … [Read more...]
Do Not Be Seduced By Meeting Fads Or Conference Trends
Most conference and meeting professionals want the coolest, hippest, latest ideas and trends for their events. We are on the hunt for the next meeting, seating, session format, technology, and food and beverage fad. We want to know what unique things other conferences are doing so we can borrow their ideas. We pursue fads, gimmicks and trends as the silver bullets of our conference woes. We expend resources searching for the mysterious conference trend panacea. These fads and trends appear … [Read more...]
These Conference Big Ideas Are Not For The Trendy Meeting Professional
Do you remember this Sesame Street song? One of these things is not like the other. Which of these things just doesn’t belong? This list of conference big ideas just doesn’t belong to the traditional, average conference planning process. These ideas are not for the faint-hearted. Nor are they for the meeting professional looking for the next trendy trend to implement. Big Conference Ideas On The Road Less Traveled Part 2 Here are the remaining five conference big ideas to create a … [Read more...]
The Conference Big Idea Road Less Traveled That Harvests Success
Most conferences are stuck in a rut! The experience has not changed in three, five and even ten years. They are predictable and often commoditized. So how do you create a conference experience that is not like all the others? Start by considering one or more of these conference big ideas. They are the conference planning road less traveled that harvests success! Big Conference Ideas On The Road Less Traveled Part 1 Here are the first five big conference ideas you should might … [Read more...]
Use These Conference Cures For Outdated Mindset Thinking
We have a tendency to return to the way things have always been done. When we repeat the same process over and over again, the brain says, “Hey, we’ve done this many times. Let me automate it and you don’t have to think about it anymore.” That’s not always good when it comes to conference planning. We get stuck in mental models that may have worked in the past and are usually out of step with today. We have to work hard at shifting out mindsets and creating new MindShifts that cure old … [Read more...]
Use These Healthy Conference MindShifts To Thwart Poisonous Thinking
Sometimes, we just have to stop using old-school thinking. We have to move beyond this thought, “Well, it’s worked for us in the past so it must be the right thing to do now or in the future.” Some of our thinking is out of context with the today’s world. When it comes to conference planning, we need a new hat, a new attitude and a new dress to give Patti Labelle a nod. We need new thinking. We need healthier MindShifts. Three More Conference MindShifts Read about the first two … [Read more...]
Three More MindShift Antidotes To Poisonous Toxic Conference Mindsets
Antidote: a substance that can counteract a form of poisoning (and in the case of conferences, ingrained, fixed, established methods of thinking). An antidote neutralizes or prevents something harmful, damaging or dangerous. Some antidotes require antivenom used to treat a lethal situation. Many conference planning teams need antidotes to their panacea outdated thinking processes. They need new conference mindshifts. These conference mindshifts can serve as antivenom to prevent … [Read more...]
Creating Some Astonishingly Noble Meeting Mojo With Forward Leaning Conference MindShifts
As a conference organizer you have the amazing opportunity to create some noble and transformative meeting mojo! We just need the right thinking tools to do conferences better. We have to reframe our lens, filters and thinking so that we can propel our customers into the future advantageously. We have to move beyond gathering and reviewing our surface stats from the past. We have to let go of the attitude that the old way is better. And we can’t fall into the routine of only looking at the … [Read more...]