Who Is The Conscience Of Your Conference? January 3, 2011 by Jeff Hurt A thin, transparent sheet of ice is how I would describe some of today’s annual meetings and conferences. The line between education, promotion and sales has blurred. That ice cracks as attendees experience conference sessions that have been sold to the highest bidder. Sponsored education sessions have become blatant promotions of services and products. Attendees … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , association, conference ethics, conferences, ethics, meetings ethics
From The Mixed-Up Files Of Association Conference Misguided Behavior December 29, 2010 by Jeff Hurt It was an opening general session with a marquee headliner. I was anxious to hear him. The session started to great fanfare and hoopla. The Minute By Minute Replay Fifteen minutes later, I felt like I was watching those hideous commercials that theaters play before the movie trailers start. I was Waiting For Godot. The … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design Tagged With: , association, conference tips, conferences, general sessions
What Would Happen If? How To Eat Your Own Dogfood December 27, 2010 by Jeff Hurt “If you want to be disruptive, don’t start with your best practices,” says Unmair Haque. “Try instead with your industry’s worst practices and take tiny steps–or better yet, giant leaps–towards bettering them.” Umair Haque’s post, “Why You Should Focus On Your Worst Practices” got me thinking. His statement “Diet on your own dogfood” resonated with … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , annual meeting, conferences, meeting best practices, meeting planner, meeting planning best practices
14 Conference And Event Trends That Will Shape The Next Decade December 20, 2010 by Jeff Hurt What do the next ten years have in store for conference and event organizers? Plenty. 14 Conference And Event Trends That Will Shape The Next Decade As 2010 comes to a close, many conference and event professionals have been looking ahead to the 2011. Here’s a look into 2011 and the next decade. 1. Increased … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conferences, engagement, meeting, meeting planner, trends
Seven Things You Should Stop Doing At Your Conferences December 17, 2010 by Jeff Hurt I’ve attended more than my share of conferences this year both as speaker and as attendee. Here are seven conference things that annoy the heck out of me! 1. Branded PowerPoint Templates For Speakers Really, I mean really! We know the name of your conference. We know what your brand looks like. Do you want to … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conferences, event, meeting
Five Important Psychological Advantages Of Stories For Your Conferences And Events December 16, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Stories have important psychological advantages that help keep people engaged. Good conferences provide many opportunities to hear and share stories thus increasing engagement. Facts Coupled With Stories Connect Your conference can be full of factual information presented logically and sequentially. But facts alone fall short. They usually don’t persuade someone to change. Information is static. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , adult learning, conferences, Education & Adult Learning, engagement, stories, storytelling
Information Dump Or Learning Facilitator? December 13, 2010 by Jeff Hurt It’s time to decide which one your conference is: information dump or learning facilitator. Is there a difference between information and education? Education and learning? A quick review of the definitions for each within the context of meetings helps provide clarity. Information Information is concepts, data, facts and research. Communicating information is normally show-n-tell lectures … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , active learning, active participation, adult learning, conferences, content, delivery, Education & Adult Learning, engagement
Designing Content For The Big Tent General Session December 9, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Finding the right keynote presenter that has content specific for your conference audience is frequently as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack. Many times the content experts are not the greatest presenters. Yet the good presenters don’t have any content of value to the attendees. So what do you do? How can you design conference content … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Experience Design Tagged With: , conference, conferences, general session, keynote, speaker, Speaker Emerging Practices
Obituary For A Conference Education Session December 7, 2010 by Jeff Hurt It was a wasted ninety minutes of life. 5,400 seconds of possibility that are now gone forever without a shred of hope, learning or motivation. It had such potential. It died so quick and so young. No one understood a single thing that was said. The barrage of PowerPoint slides with small fonts, too many … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , active learning, adult learning, conferences, content, delivery, Education & Adult Learning, engagement, meeting planner
Calculating ROI For Your Tradeshow Booth December 6, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Was exhibiting at that tradeshow worth your time and resources? How would you know? In today’s world where so much business is conducted on the phone or digitally, meeting customers, prospects and other stakeholder face-to-face is extremely important. At the same time, you want to effectively keep your costs down and use your time and … [Read more…] Filed Under: Sponsorship & Exhibits Tagged With: , conferences, exhibitor, ROI, tradeshow, tradeshow best practices
