Who Is Your Conference Really Attracting? February 11, 2013 by Dave Lutz Attracting first-class, first-rate, quality attendees is one of the most complex and important keys to your conference’s business model. Too many conferences attempt to be all things to all people and end up with a watered-down offering. You need a process to help you identify your various attendee segments and who your target market is. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Attendance Marketing, Business Model Tagged With: , attracting attendees, conference best practices, conferences, decision makers, economic buyers, market segmentation, target market
Three Guaranteed Ways To Kill Your General Session Attendees February 6, 2013 by Jeff Hurt Is your general session like bug repellant only repelling attendees and attracting crickets? Is it a sure-fire way to keep attendees in their hotel beds? Here are three fail-safe strategies that are guaranteed to kill your general sessions and create the walking dead! 1. Be A Chest-Thumping Legacy Gorilla Male gorillas beat their chests to … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , attendee engagement, conferences, engagement, general sessions, meeting planner, meeting professionals
You Have The Power To Super Charge Your Attendees’ Brains January 30, 2013 by Jeff Hurt What if you as a conference organzier had the magical ability to literally change your attendees’ brains for the better? Guess what! You do have that power. Wow, that’s an awesome responsibility and one that should not be taken lightly. Our Brain’s Plasticity For more than 400 years, mainstream medicine and science believed that our … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , brain science education, brain-friendly conferences, conference best practices, conferences, lecture, meeting planner, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals
Status-Quo Is A No Go! Become A Conference Outlaw January 29, 2013 by Jeff Hurt All progress takes place in the outlaw area. ~ paraphrase Buckminster Fuller. You can’t improve and reform your conferences where you currently are. You have to take some risks. You have to move away from doing things the way you’ve always done them. You can’t make improvements to your attendees’ conference experience by playing it … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, meeting planner, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals
Five Strategies To Improve The Common Conference Lecture January 18, 2013 by Jeff Hurt All learning IS experience. Everything else is just information. ~ Albert Einstein Talking is a critical part of that learning experience. We talk so we can understand. We talk so we can remember. We talk so we can learn. But who does the majority of talking at a conference and who does the majority of … [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
SlideShare: The Largest Professional Content Sharing Community In The World [Infographic] January 11, 2013 by Jeff Hurt According to comScore, SlideShare has 5 times more traffic from business owners than Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn (which now owns SlideShare). Is this the social media tool that is missing from your tool box? More conferences should consider using SlideShare as a way to share content and information with those outside of their … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Technology Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, content marketing, SlideShare
Jedi Master Yoda Shares 14 Inspirational Quotes For Meeting Professionals January 8, 2013 by Jeff Hurt You’ve probably seen Star Wars. You may even have a boxed set of the videos. Now for the first time, Jedi Master Yoda shares inspirational quotes for meeting professionals, conferences and meetings. Read them, you must. As participants, successful meeting professionals must see registrants. Conference success depends on size not. Hmmmmm. Hard to see, even … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, meeting planning best practices, meeting professional
From Details To Strategy: How Meeting Planners Can Change Their Filters To View New Success January 4, 2013 by Jeff Hurt Many meeting planners feel that the conference experience and content is not their job. They are responsible for the logistics and details, not the attendees’ overall experience. That’s where those meeting planners are wrong! If Meeting Planners Cannot… If a meeting planner cannot focus on the big picture and goals of the event, then all … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conferences, meeting logistics, meeting planner, meeting planning best practices, strategy
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
