Have you ever attended a conference education session because of the presenter and not the content? (I think most of us have.) Have you ever been surprised when a full day workshop ended? You were so engaged that time flew by without you realizing it. If you’ve had these types of experiences, you’ve witnessed firsthand skilled facilitation. A great facilitator moves back and forth between content and process engaging participants in their own learning journeys. We need more conference … [Read more...]
Attract With Content; Keep Them With The Experience
The internet has made world-class content front, center, mobile and affordable—often free. Anyone can hear the best experts for free (or nearly free) on almost any device they own. Anyone can get thought leadership at their fingertips. And your conference audience does. They have access to the same information you do. They can hear, watch and read the greatest speakers anytime. Technology Disrupts Traditional Content-Driven Conferences So why should someone pay a registration fee, book a … [Read more...]
Avoiding Personal Agendas and Pay-to-Play In The Speaker Review Process
We’ve seen it happen in almost every organization where we assessed their speaker review process. Someone on the conference committee blackballs a great presentation or speaker. Or someone approves a presentation proposal and speaker that has had poor scores in the past. Why does this happen? Conference committee members put personal agendas and friendships above what is in the best interest of the paying attendee. The Primary Focus When Reviewing Presentation Proposals Staff and … [Read more...]
Changes In The Information Cycle Are Driving Conference Education Reform
Conferences (and associations) used to be the go-to source for information and content about a profession or industry. Today, the tools of content creation and distribution actually rest in the hands of individuals. Anyone can create and share content. While not everyone wants to be a content creator, everyone has an interest in organizing and packing information in their own, unique way. We Relate Differently To Information Today Today, we relate to information differently. We can receive … [Read more...]
The Function Of Content Changes In Revolutionary Conferences
Conference organizers strong commitment to content actually blocks the path to more attendee-focused and learner-centric conference experiences. This focus on content as the core of the conference creates a barrier that obstructs presenters. Most speakers freely acknowledge that the need to cover content strongly influences, and often dictates, their presentation decisions. Our allegiance to content has been dominated by one assumption: more is better. It is time to challenge that … [Read more...]
Is Your Conference Guilty Of Content Bulimia?
Is your conference guilty of creating content bulimia for its stakeholders? You attendees binge and purge information at great speeds as your presenters race to cover content. They enter a room and receive a shovel load of content pushed at them at warp speeds. They think they are consuming as much as possible. As soon as they leave the room, they quickly purge it because the brain sets to default and dumps the information because no learning occurred. Research has documented thousands of … [Read more...]
Is Your Conference Churning Out Junk Information?
We live in world where overconsumption is the norm. We over consume things to keep up with the Jones and Smiths. We over consume food at all you can eat smorgasbord buffets and 24 hour drive thrus. We over consume information from a variety of sources. Today, we have factory farms that churn out junk food. We have factory farms that churn out junk gadgets and stuff. We have content farms that churn out junk information. We have conference committee content farms and call for speaker … [Read more...]
Zombie Conferences Create Dead Leaders Walking
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 to cover as much content as possible so that attendees feel like they got your money's worth. Here's the problem. Zombie … [Read more...]
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