Exceeding Conference Attendee Expectations July 5, 2012 by Jeff Hurt What would it take for your conference attendees to call your annual meeting the greatest event on the Earth? Animal acts? High wire tightrope acrobatics? Clowns? Three rings of ongoing entertainment? A live band? It’s challenging to keep annual meetings fresh and exciting while maintaining integrity. Yet it’s very easy to duplicate last year’s event … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, emotional experience, event experience, loyalty, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals, wow experience
Are You Using Up Your Event Customers? July 3, 2012 by Jeff Hurt The scarcest resource you have is a customer. You can’t manufacture them. You can’t outsource them. You can duplicate them. You can’t make them from a recipe. Your conference and event attendees are the scarcest resource you have. Money Or Customers? Which Do You Need? Which do you need more to have a successful event? … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, Event ROC, Event ROI, loyalty, meeting professionals, return on attendee, return on customer
Measuring The Value Of Your Conference Attendee July 2, 2012 by Jeff Hurt One of the purposes of a business to business event is to build and strengthen customer relationships. Just as one of the purposes of a trade association’s annual meeting is to build and strengthen member relationships. So how do you quantify the value this brings to your organization? How do you quantify the value of … [Read more…] Filed Under: Business Model Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, Event ROC, Event ROI, loyalty, meeting professionals, return on attendee, return on customer
From Boring To Beneficial Conference Education June 29, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Let’s face it. Most conference education is yawn-stirring, sleepy-eyed, ho-hum, day-old soggy Melba-toast tasting boring. It makes root-canals seem fun! Regardless, the human brain loves to learn. In spite of our age, culture, gender and race, our brains are designed to always be on the prowl for new things to discover and experience. The brain … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Experience Design Tagged With: , adult education, adult learning, adult learning principles, conference best practices, conference education, conferences, meeting professionals, presentation best practices, presentation strategies, speaker tips
Conference Presenters Can Literally Change Attendees’ Minds June 28, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Conference attendees generally want to learn. Presenters generally want attendees to learn. Conference organizers and hosts generally want attendees to learn as well. So why does so little learning actually occur at a conference? Good Intentions Pave The Way To Learning Fail The conference organizers’ and presenters’ intentions are good. Unfortunately, their intentions go awry … [Read more…] Filed Under: Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , adult education, adult learning, adult learning principles, conference best practices, conference education, conferences, presentation best practices, presentation strategies, speaker tips
Five New Meeting Trends That Will Rock Your Next Event June 27, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Mood rings, pet rocks, the Cha Cha Slide, Red Bull, Tickle Me Elmo, the Thighmaster, awareness bracelets, Flash Mobs, reality TV shows, Starbucks, planking, Zumba and more. These are all fads and trends that have occurred during the past. A large segment of the population adopted these trends and followed them with great enthusiasm for … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conferences, meeting planner, meeting professional
Creating An Emotional Arc Within Your Conference Experience June 26, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Attendees experience a variety of emotions during a typical conference experience. Their short two- or three-day experience rivals that of any fictional drama. Hopes and dreams fill their minds. Anxiety, anticipation, excitement and fear jerk their emotions like a tilt-a-whirl. Egos and status posture for the lead emotional position. Emotions go from frustrations to fulfillment … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals
Getting Your Sponsors To Trigger Their Sponsorships June 21, 2012 by Dave Lutz A trend we’re seeing is that exhibitors are requiring less square footage and shifting dollars to other sponsorship opportunities. Conference organizers need to think about how to convert exhibitor’s marketing dollars into sponsorship opportunities that benefit attendees. The Shift From Exhibiting To Sponsorships This shift requires a more strategic and consultative sales approach. Many conference … [Read more…] Filed Under: Sponsorship & Exhibits Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, content marketing, exhibitors, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals, sponsor activation, sponsor leverage, sponsorship
Why Conferences Should Try To Recapture The Campfire Experience June 20, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Many of us have been to summer camp. We sleep in bunks in cabins. Swim in lakes. Row canoes down the stream. Take adventure walks through the forest. Eat meals family-style in log cabin lodges. Make lots of crafts. Our day typically ends with everyone sitting around a campfire as we tell stories and sing … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , adult learning, adult learning principles, adult learning strategies, conference education, conferences, learning
Conference Share-A-Thons Are A Learning Illusion June 19, 2012 by Jeff Hurt It all started in preschool and kindergarten. Every week, our teacher would ask us to bring something to class for show-n-tell. We would bring our beloved stuffed animal or a coin from a foreign country or a favorite toy or whatever caught our eye on the way out the door to school. The purpose of … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , adult learning, adult learning principles, adult learning strategies, conference education, conferences, learning
