Aligning Conference Schedules With Neuroscience To Avoid The Attendee Overwhelm Epidemic March 14, 2013 by Jeff Hurt Too many conferences foster attendee information overload. The plethora of presenters pushing information at warp speeds cause fragmented attention, overburden brains and data excess. It’s a silent epidemic that cause stagnate mental engagement. And our conference schedules stretch attendees in ways that may have bigger implications than just unhealthy eating. They cause mental disconnection. Seven … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Experience Design Tagged With: , adult learning, adult learning strategies, andragogy, associations, conference best practices, conferences, presentation best practices
Zombie Conferences Create Dead Leaders Walking March 12, 2013 by Jeff Hurt Is your annual meeting nothing more than a zombie conference? Zombie conferences provide schedules packed full of informative presentations and sessions that try to consume your brain. Presenters rapidly shovel content at attendees. Their goal is to cram as much information as possible into a person’s mind. They stuff more information into their presentation aiming … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conferences, content, delivery, Education & Adult Learning, Information Indigestion, short term memory, working memory
Why Participant-Centered Education Rules March 11, 2013 by Jeff Hurt Participant-Centered Education from Jeff Hurt Our current association adult education is a victim to an outdated teacher- and expert-centered model. It has its roots in puritan beliefs that wisdom is evil and the less we know, the more innocent we are. To succeed we must move out of the didactic traditional training box. We must … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , adult learning, adult learning strategies, andragogy, associations, conference best practices, conferences, presentation best practices
Can Your Conference Really Be Personalized? March 7, 2013 by Jeff Hurt It seems to be a regular part of our normal life today — the personalization of content, programs, products and services. Yet, our conferences still serve up generic content for the masses. We Notice When Personalization Is Absent Recently I observed an annual conference committee meeting of a major association. Staff and volunteer leaders were … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning, Experience Design Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, Education & Adult Learning, event, meeting, meeting planner, meeting planning best practices
How Predictable Is Your Annual Conference? March 1, 2013 by Jeff Hurt Has your annual conference become predictable? Do attendees show up to the general session late because they know it starts with business for 20-30 minutes before the keynote? Predictable Meetings, Routine Conferences Predictable: behaving in a way that is expected and can be predicted; can be prophesied; can be foretold; to declare or indicate in … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning, Experience Design Tagged With: , conferences, Education & Adult Learning, event, meeting, meeting planner, meeting planning best practices
Is Your Conference Wounding Its Attendees? February 27, 2013 by Jeff Hurt Are you perpetually wounding your conference attendees with a one-way controlled experience that demands obedience over engagement? Do you view your attendees as a threat that can disrupt the controlled conference experience that you have designed? Enforcing Obedience Over Engagement I was reading the March/April 2012 Harvard Education Letter on school culture by Meira Levinson. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, engagement, meeting best practices, meeting planning best practices
It Is Time To Reinvent The Meetings Industry And The Meeting Professional February 19, 2013 by Jeff Hurt I think the meetings and conference industry has reached a plateau. For years the industry has focused on the logistical side of the meeting including registration, food and beverage, contracts, venue space, room sets, schedules, SMMP and more. The industry has matured and many meeting professionals have become very good at the details. Yet, the … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, engagement, meeting planner, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals, tradeshow, tradeshow best practices
Four Essential Elements To An Incomparable Face To Face Conference And Tradeshow Experience February 15, 2013 by Jeff Hurt What type of experiences do you crave? Have you ever had any of those types of experiences at a conference or tradeshow? Conferences and tradeshows have a long way to go to merge the experiences we crave and want with those that actually occur at the event. Four Critical Elements To Success The recent report, … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, engagement, meeting planner, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals, tradeshow, tradeshow best practices
Fostering An Extremely Powerful Tool At Your Conference: The Session Discussion February 14, 2013 by Jeff Hurt Can we talk? I certainly hope so! Two-way communication is an extremely powerful tool that your conference needs to foster. Discussions are critical to cement learning in the brain. Without peer discussions, your conference education sessions are nothing more than audio voices blowing in the wind. Let’s Talk Talk! We can’t get enough of it. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , active learning, active participation, adult learning, adult learning principles, adult learning strategies, conference best practices, conferences, lecture, presentation best practices
Are You Using Your Headlights Effectively To Guide Your Future Meetings? February 13, 2013 by Jeff Hurt When you drive on a road at night, you depend upon your headlights to help you see. Without those headlights, you would depend upon the light of the moon or street lights to guide you. Frequently, neither of those is available and without headlights you would crash. With low beams, you can see a little … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, meeting planner, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals
