Conference Curiosity Didn’t Kill The Proverbial Cat. It Awakened The Attendee March 31, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Imagine a conference where every attendee was learning, a world where what the attendee wondered was more interesting than what the expert presenter knew, and curiosity counted for more than certain knowledge. (With nods to a quote from The Cluetrain Manifesto.) I don’t know about you. I certainly want to attend a conference where what … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Experience Design Tagged With: , association, conferences, content, Education & Adult Learning, engagement, formal learning, GenY, informal learning, Millennial
We Are The Problem: We Are Selling Conference Snake Oil March 30, 2010 by Jeff Hurt 80 percent of what we learn comes from informal learning.* Ironically, 60% to 80% of a conference attendee’s time is spent in formal learning, passively listening to a presenter. Unfortunately, 14 days later we only recall 20% of what we hear in those presentations. (John Medina, Brain Rules; E. Dale, Audio-Visual Methods in Teaching). 30 … [Read more…] Filed Under: Business Model, Conference Education Tagged With: , association, conference learning model, conferences, content, Education & Adult Learning, formal learning, informal learning, professional development
The Conference Session Is Dead March 25, 2010 by Jeff Hurt The conference session is not the appropriate shell for most learning experiences. The sixty- or ninety-minute presentation was created for the convenience of the institution, not the learner. The conference session is a triumph of standardization and it is so ingrained in our thinking we still buy and sell seat time rather than performance improvement. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , association, blended learning, conference session, conferences, content, Education & Adult Learning, formal learning, informal learning, learning, Unconference
Two Reasons Why Crowdsourcing Your Conference Content Won’t Work March 24, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Let’s put children in charge of their own meals. Being the forward thinking leaders that we are, we’ll allow kids to decide what they want to eat. We’ll use an online voting system similar to Digg so kids can crowdsource the suggestions. They’ll even be allowed to announce to their friends which food items they … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , association, conferences, content, crowdsourcing, crowdsourcing conference content, Education & Adult Learning, meeting planner, professional development
The Wal-Mart Conference Experience: Why It Doesn’t Scale March 23, 2010 by Jeff Hurt We’re not in Manhattan anymore. That’s the tagline for the Sarah Jessica Parker, Hugh Grant movie Did You Hear About The Morgans? The plot: An estranged New York couple observes a murder and is relocated to a small town in Wyoming as part of a witness-protection program. In the movie, Parker’s character did not pack … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , association, boutique conference experience, conferences, content, Education & Adult Learning, mass of niches, meeting, meeting planner, Wal-Mart conference experience
Emotional Connection, Brand Loyalty & Cinemas: The Art Of Storytelling March 8, 2010 by Dave Lutz A little over four years ago, I left the C-suite to begin the next chapter in my life. During my first few months, I had the opportunity to do some serious soul searching and self discovery. Like many of you, I have a passion for learning. I initially focused much of my reading around increasing … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , association, conferences, content, delivery, storytelling
The American Idol Strategy Of Picking Conference Speakers March 5, 2010 by Jeff Hurt America has a love-hate-relationship with American Idol. We boo the negative naysayer and painfully honest founder and judge Simon Cowell. Although we often secretly agree with what he has to say. We applaud the effervescent Ellen DeGeneres when she says she likes a finalist and compares them to an unripe banana. Although we know she … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , association, conferences, content, delivery, Education & Adult Learning, event, meeting, speaker, Speaker Emerging Practices
Does Your Conference Content Resemble New York City Or A Ghost Town? March 4, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Consider your association’s education and conference content. Does it resemble a vibrant, youthful, buzzing community, like the always open 24-7 New York City? Or does it resemble an old ghost town with dust and tumbleweeds, a city stuck in the past refusing to change with the times? Now let’s take that further. So, which do … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , association, conferences, content, Education & Adult Learning, event, meeting
13 Things You Can Do Now To Improve Your Conference Content March 3, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Imagine you are going to hear Martin Luther King’s memorable “I’ve Got A Dream” speech for the first time, live and in person. You grab your time machine manual and follow its instructions. You step into your time machine and set the location for the steps of the Lincoln Monument and the date for August … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , conferences, content, delivery, Education & Adult Learning, meeting planner
An Open Letter To Association Board Members, Committees, Executives March 2, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Dear Association X (insert your association name here): I have been a member of your association for several years. I am writing this open letter to you about your annual conference and event speakers, and how they map to my professional development needs. For the past several years, I have attended your annual meetings and … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , association, conferences, content, Education & Adult Learning, meeting, Speaker Emerging Practices
