Time Capsules, Time Machines And Evolution Of Traditional Meeting Planners September 27, 2018 by Jeff Hurt Is your annual meeting more like a time capsule or a time machine? Conferences that are like time capsules promote and preserve nostalgia and the past. Conferences that are like time machines teleport people to the future so they can discover what’s next. Conferences that resemble time capsules defend the status quo and traditions. Events … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conferences as time capsules, conferences as time machines, Innovation, meeting planning evolves
Hone Your Radar To Seize These Conference Innovation Invitations June 26, 2018 by Jeff Hurt Innovation may be a tired word. There is no doubt that innovation has become an overused and confusing buzzword. It is riddled with an excessive number of meanings from authors, dictionaries, experts and our personal experience. Ask ten people to define innovation and you’re probably going to get a dozen or more responses. Innovation is … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design Tagged With: , experimentation, information liberation, Innovation, innovation invitations, science integration, sensemaking
Why Your Conference Needs An Intrapreneur February 2, 2017 by Jeff Hurt Are you making some changes to your annual conference? Trying to upgrade your participant experience? Or introduce some new innovations? If you are, you need a conference intrapreneur! More than just one intrapreneur, you need a conference planning culture of intrapreneurship. Ultimately, you’ll want to develop a conference team of intrapreneurs. Perplexed About Intrapreneurs? Ask … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference intrapreneurship, conferenceplanning culture of intrapreneurship, implementing conference change, Innovation, intrapreneurs, intrapreneurship
Innovators Network Differently November 13, 2015 by Dave Lutz After studying a whole bunch of professional conferences, it’s very clear to me what separates a thriving event from one on life support. For multi-day conferences, a growing number register and return because of who else will be there. Our attendees have more choices than ever for professional development and acquiring purchasing intelligence. Today, it’s … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Networking, Experience Design Tagged With: , active participation, conference best practices, engagement, Innovation, innovators, networking
In Today’s Economy, Significance Precedes Momentum October 9, 2015 by Jeff Hurt So many people ask me, “If ______________ (fill in the blank) is so important for conferences, why aren’t more conferences implementing it?” “So you wait to make changes to your event once you see other conferences are already doing it?” I respond. “You wait to copy someone else instead of being the leader?” Frequently, conference … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , change management, conference, conference organizer, conference planning team, Innovation, meeting planning best practices, meeting professional, tipping point
Your Conference Needs A Customer Vision Statement July 17, 2014 by Jeff Hurt What is your vision for your conference customer? In case you are confused by the term conference customer, I mean your paying attendee or registrant. What is your vision for your conference customer, the paying attendee? How do you hope to help your paying attendee to grow, evolve or transform? What traits and characteristics do … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , Attendee Acquisition, attendee growth, attracting attendees, conference audiences, conference best practices, customers, Innovation
Designing Conference Customers, Not Just Traditional Conferences July 16, 2014 by Jeff Hurt We are thinking about conference innovation from the wrong perspective. We usually think about conference innovation as something we create for our paying attendees. Or we think about innovation as something we design with attendees through crowdsourcing. We need to make a critical leap. Conference innovation is a way to design attendees! Innovation should be … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , Attendee Acquisition, attendee growth, attracting attendees, conference audiences, conference best practices, customers, Innovation
Using Empathy Mapping To Create Conference Target Market Personas July 10, 2014 by Jeff Hurt We could all use a little more empathy…and a little less yelling! And your organization could definitely cultivate more empathetic team members who help plan and design your conference and education offerings. Why We Need More Empathy For Our Stakeholders Empathy is walking in another person’s shoes and understanding life through their eyes. It is … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning, Experience Design Tagged With: , conference, conference best practices, customer, empathy mapping, Innovation, target market
Confirmation Bias And Why Conferences Need To Become Innovation Labs July 3, 2014 by Donna Kastner No matter how open minded people profess to be, we’re all hard-wired to some degree for confirmation bias. It is a filter that we use to see reality that matches our thinking. It can cloud our thinking and distort our pursuit of facts. Confirmation Bias And Change Confirmation Bias is our default preference for consuming information … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, confirmation bias, Innovation
Your Conference Needs An Innovative Strategy May 22, 2014 by Jeff Hurt Executives and conference organizers need to train themselves to look for change! Innovative organizations look out the window, away from the organization as well as look inside the organization for opportunities. They embrace change as an opportunity to innovate. Not as a threat. Your Success Can Be Your Failure Many conferences that have got into … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, Innovation
