If you missed our recent webinar on Cracking the Code on Digital Networking, you can watch it on-demand. It is well worth your time to learn from two masters: Amanda Kaiser (pictured, top right) and Arianna Rehak (pictured, bottom), co-founders of the 2021 Virtual Networking Incubator. We had a lot of ground to cover and didn’t get to all of the questions. I had an opportunity to follow up with Amanda to get them answered. Be sure to check out all the great resources and ideas, with links you … [Read more...]
[Webinar] INFLUENCE 2020, National Speakers Association Virtual Experience
Meet the brains behind the design of the highly successful National Speakers Association’s INFLUENCE 2020 Virtual in August. Discover how they created memorable experiences, facilitated networking and delivered inspiring general sessions. Understand the strategy behind transforming a 3-day event into an 8-week virtual experience that launched their new digital vault. Hear testimonials from first-hand attendees--experts in the meeting and event space--who can’t stop singing the virtual … [Read more...]
Do You Really Have Them at Hello? Rethinking Your First-Timer Strategy
One of my biggest pet peeves is the way some conferences approach first-time attendees. Being intentional and having a plan for how you welcome someone who is experiencing your conference for the first time is not only the right thing to do, it’s also a smart attendee acquisition strategy. It’s a pivotal time to onboard and help them make connections that will last throughout the conference, and, hopefully, throughout the years as they become repeat attendees. No One Should Eat Alone Take a … [Read more...]
Cultivating A Conference Culture Of Community
To think about a conference is to think about community, networking, peer learning, food and table. In reality, if you are attending a conference and you are not getting hungry for more learning and peer sharing, that conference is missing the mark. Successful conferences provide ample opportunity for attendees to finger tasty ideas and feed their brains, their souls and each other. Your conference needs to introduce a whole new set of table manners. We need to encourage attendees to … [Read more...]
Using The Power Of Stories To Transform Conference General Sessions
We are a story driven world. We are each a story wrapped in a skin says Dr. Leonard Sweet. When we begin to share our journeys, our stories intersect. Our conferences need to create more story people. We need to transition from speakers talking at audiences and experts telling their stories. We need to move from storytelling to story sharing each passing our stories and narraphors to each other like we pass food around the table. Framing General Sessions With Important Stories Here is … [Read more...]
Morphing Attendees into Story People Through Narraphors and Frames
We are wired for stories. Every person you meet is a story wrapped in a skin says author, futurist and sociologist Dr. Leonard Sweet. As our lives intersect, so do our stories. We can encourage conference attendees to transition from story listeners to story sharers. Then our attendees become story people participating in a bigger story. The conference with the best narrative and story sharing experiences wins. Story Driven World Our brains are hard wired for stories. When we listen … [Read more...]
Treating Attendees As Human Beings Not Machines
Creating a conference culture of connection is a robust competitive advantage. One of the most powerful and often misunderstood aspects of successful conferences is authentically connecting with others. Too often our conference networking experiences disintegrate into ego driven, self-promotional, self-exploiting opportunities. It is irrational not to intentionally create conference experiences that nurture and promote authentic connections. Especially given the evidence about the … [Read more...]
Want To Help Your Attendees? Stop Calling It Networking!
Attendees value the connections they make at your conference. It’s one of their most treasured intangible benefits of attendance. They come to your event looking for their people. They meet many of your attendees at receptions, meals, sessions and in the hallways. Unfortunately, many of those introductions are nothing more than empty interactions. They don’t really connect with others. Then loneliness creeps in. They feel isolated and alone in a sea of others. That loneliness makes … [Read more...]
