The future belongs to the curious! Curiosity is the key to success both now and in the future. When curiosity is combined with passion, aspiration and accomplishment it creates a winning formula resulting in achievement. Conference organizers that create a culture of curiosity gain both a short and long term competitive edge. Those that exhibit curiosity tend to be more creative, more successful, and more fulfilled say researchers. Cultivating a culture of curiosity is good for business … [Read more...]
Lather Up Curiosity, Rinse, Repeat!
Children are curious creatures. They explore, question and wonder, often through play. In this context, they learn. We are naturally inclined to learn new things; thus reaping curiosity’s benefits. From the moment we are born until we die, learning is hardwired into our brains. As adults, our challenge is to embrace curiosity instead of viewing it as a childish behavior that should be restrained and suppressed. The Curiosity Cycle As we grow from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, … [Read more...]
How Do We Know Curiosity Killed The Cat? (Allegedly.)
Curiosity allegedly killed the cat. How do we know curiosity killed that cat? Were there any eyewitnesses to that crime? Did anyone hear strange cat calls? Did you see what curiosity was wearing? Do you know any reason why curiosity wanted to kill the cat? Were curiosity and the cat family, friends, enemies, frenemies, or strangers? What color was the cat? What was that cat’s name? How old was it? Is there a carcass or any evidence? Did the cat die from poking its paws through holes in a box? … [Read more...]
Conferences Can Serve As Friendly Frontiers For The Insatiably Curious To Play
Your conference could be a place for your customers to experience unrestricted curiosity and play. But most of the time it's not. Curiosity becomes codified into bureaucratic traditional expert-centric instructional models—lectures and panel discussions. And that passive sedentary process actually controls and squelches most curious thinking. And forget play! Authentic curiosity does not come from an external force. It comes from within. Ultimately, curiosity serves as the gateway to … [Read more...]
Great Questions Define Great Conference Experiences
It is much more effective to provide opportunities for conference participants to solve their own problems, then telling them how to solve it. (Paraphrase Dr. A. Gidget Hopf, President & CEO of The Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired—Goodwill Industries.) Conference organizers automatically assume that if someone is attending their event, they expect the conference to help them solve their problems. They believe that the conference should provide the answers. Telling … [Read more...]
Letting Go Of Past Conference Planning Experience To Foster New Ideas
I have a fairly inquisitive mind. I like to ponder things and ask tough questions. Wondering who, what, why, why not, how and when. I’m always chewing the cud so to speak. Thinking about how to improve things. Make them better. Thinking About Questions And Experiences I think a lot about how to improve a conference attendees’ education experience. I know that the traditional conference lecture doesn’t work. The research and science says so. Still, lectures are the currency of … [Read more...]
Too Many Conferences Provide Plop, Placate And Pay
Have conferences become too enthralled with experts and attendees swapping solutions? Have conference organizers resigned themselves to the inertia of the way we’ve always done it? Is the traditional conference experience in danger of being institutionalized which devalues individual expression? Are we addicted to providing passive plop, placate and pay* experiences? Are conference organizers sitting on a ticking time bomb doomed to repeat their past experiences because they don’t know of … [Read more...]
Conferences Can Cultivate Curiosity Or The Cult Of Expertise Groupies
Everyone seems to be looking for the next sure thing. We like answers. We seek quick remedies. We attend conferences looking for shortcut solutions with big payouts. We expend a lot of energy to find tips to the trade, keys to success, or hacks that provide instant results. The less we have to work at it, the more we like it. Cult Of Expertise We crave and want quick cures and successful tonics to our dilemmas. We spend $1,500-$2,000 for conference registration, lodging, travel and … [Read more...]
