So go downtown Things will be great when you're downtown No finer place for sure, downtown Everything's waiting for you* *Downtown as sung by Petula Clark. Take A Mental Stroll It’s time to take a nostalgic journey downtown on Conference Street. Visualize yourself walking down a traditional city lane. Both sides are lined with the usual buildings. Each structure houses a long-established institution. What do you see? Think of your conference experience as one of these various … [Read more...]
Our Screwed Up Thinking About Creating Conference Experiences
As conference organizers, we need to learn about the power of experience. Well, we already know about experiences. We have them all the time. We’ve had experiences with our families and friends. We’ve had experiences with work. We’ve had school experiences. We’ve had experiences with institutions and organizations. We’ve had vacation experiences. Terrible, Horrible, No Good Bad Thinking About Experiences Unfortunately, we’ve made some very faulty assumptions from our own experiences. And … [Read more...]
Attendee Experience The Next Frontier For Differentiation
Most conference experiences are very similar. They have similar schedules, receptions, general sessions, breakouts, exhibit halls, lecture-style education offerings, quality and price. They all look and feel alike. Too many conferences are on the verge of commoditization. One of the conference’s main offering—delivery of information disguised as education—is so widely available and mutually interchangeable with other types of information delivery—that potential customers cannot distinguish … [Read more...]
Conference Organizers Should Be Great CEOs: Chief Experience Officers!
What do conference organizers really do? They organize all the aspects of the conference experience. I believe that title—conference organizer--doesn’t serve us anymore. It doesn’t convey the right information as putting together logistics is like putting together quilt pieces without any plan. It’s just stitching pieces together and crossing your fingers that it will result in a great look, product and design. Enter The Conference Experience Officer Much like a conference meeting steward, the … [Read more...]
Some Conferences Are Like Bad Funerals
Many annual meetings are like funerals of the past. Quiet, stoic, painfully long, full of tradition, and extremely passive. It's hard to tell who really died as the audience is just as lifeless as the deceased. Sometimes these traditional conferences have doses of fear and damnation trying to scare people into doing something they don't want to do. That's not the best way to get engagement! Destined To Repeat The Past? Most conferences have clung to outdated modes of thought and action. The … [Read more...]
Why Conference General Sessions Should Be More Like The Olympics
The 2012 London Olympics were an interesting diversion from U.S. politics, the scorching heat and a questionable economy. They captivated our attention as we rooted for our countries, the underdog and individuals that had overcome great odds. Even when an athlete from another part of the world broke some amazing record, we united with our support and awe. Their win was the water cooler discussion in the office and the buzz of Twitter. Being More Olympic-like So why aren't conference … [Read more...]
Exceeding Conference Attendee Expectations
What would it take for your conference attendees to call your annual meeting the greatest event on the Earth? Animal acts? High wire tightrope acrobatics? Clowns? Three rings of ongoing entertainment? A live band? It's challenging to keep annual meetings fresh and exciting while maintaining integrity. Yet it's very easy to duplicate last year's event and only make a few tweaks to the speakers and content. Often, that's just not enough! Your Conference: The Greatest Event On Earth? Adapting a … [Read more...]
Improving Conference Attendee Experiences
Experiences are better when conferences are built around people. The conference experience greatly improves for all stakeholders when they are built around people and their relationships. Traditional Conference Experience The traditional conference is built around logistics and content. The majority of the conference organizer's time is spent selecting and scheduling speakers. Organizers choose speakers based on their submitted session proposals including their content. Then the meeting … [Read more...]
