Moneyball For Conferences: You Want Your Meeting to Mean Something October 15, 2015 by Jeff Hurt We just won twenty games in a row, said the fictitious Peter Brand, advance scout for Oakland A’s. And what’s the point? said Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane. We just got the record, said Brand. Man, I’ve been doing this for… listen, man. I’ve been in this game a long time. I’m not in … [Read more…] Filed Under: Business Model Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference indicators, conference metrics, conference performance indicators, KPI, KPIs, lagging indicators, leading indicators, measurement, shatterpoints
Using Human Sciences To Navigate Your Conference’s Future Through The Fog September 11, 2015 by Jeff Hurt Our linear and rational conference business models are our default thinking. Unfortunately, those traditional models cause us to navigate in a fog when the conference challenge is less straightforward. There are better ways to understand how to grow your conference than what you’ve done in the past. As conference professionals, we are inclined to continue … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , anthropology, big data, big insights, conference best practices, conference evaluation, education best practices, human sciences, measurement, phenomenology, Qualitative measures
An Anthropologist Walks Into A Conference September 9, 2015 by Jeff Hurt As your conference grows, it faces increased complexity. According to a recent IBM study of 1,600+ CEOs, the biggest challenge their companies face is the complexity gap. Eight out of ten of those CEOs expect their business environment to grow in complexity but less than half are prepared to face that change. Your conference’s growth … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design Tagged With: , anthropology, big data, big insights, conference best practices, conference evaluation, education best practices, human sciences, measurement, phenomenology, Qualitative measures, speaker evaluations
What Is Your Conference ROM? July 10, 2015 by Jeff Hurt You’ve probably heard of ROI-return on investment. You may have heard of ROE-return on equity (not return on event). Or you may have heard of ROA-return on assets. Successful businesses depend upon ROI, ROE and ROA. So have you heard of ROM-return on mission? It’s critical to moving the mission of your organization forward. So … [Read more…] Filed Under: Business Model Tagged With: , attendee satisfaction, conference return on mission, conference ROM, conference survey, measurement, return on mission, ROM, transformational conferences
Measuring What Matters To Your Conference July 11, 2014 by Jeff Hurt If the only conference numbers you care about are attendance, exhibitors, revenue and profits, you will never be able to understand why those numbers fluctuate. You’re only guessing and planning conference programming through a shot-gun approach if you don’t get serious about measurement. It’s time to stop relying on your gut. Or your volunteer conference … [Read more…] Filed Under: Business Model, Event Planning Tagged With: , Attendee Acquisition, conference best practices, conferences, empathy mapping, measurement, target market