Most of the time, we don’t have a good handle on who is truly attending our conference. Seriously, we don’t. But there is a way to glean insight just by using emails provided at registration. Mining Registration Data for Insights One way to mine attendance data is to scrub and normalize company names based on … [Read more…]
We’ve been hearing it for years. Conference organizers have been on a quest to create a 365-day community around their big annual event. As a result, industry education sessions and event technology products have adopted the year-round concept and branding. But there’s a problem, attendees and exhibitors aren’t falling in line. They’ll give you their … [Read more…]
“It was awkward and painful,” my friend said. That’s how she described attending a professional meeting where she didn’t know anyone. She was at a loss for how to melt the ice and warm up to others. Especially professionals she perceived to have more experience and knowledge than her. Sound familiar? Here was someone who … [Read more…]
Is it time to end the speaker call for proposals? Does the traditional open call for topics and speakers actually meet the conference audience’s needs? The traditional call for volunteer and professional speakers is a roll of the dice that the submissions meet the needs of the conference attendees. Too often staff and committees rely … [Read more…]
The Zimmerman trial and CBS’ Big Brother racial scandal have put the discussions about race and discrimination front and center. Racism and discrimination are sensitive and delicate topics for sure. So how do you ensure that your conference speakers avoid racial and discriminatory language? How do you protect your organization from inappropriate behavior of a … [Read more…]
We live in world where overconsumption is the norm. We over consume things to keep up with the Jones and Smiths. We over consume food at all you can eat smorgasbord buffets and 24 hour drive thrus. We over consume information from a variety of sources. Today, we have factory farms that churn out junk … [Read more…]
Every first quarter I receive a string of emails from my undergraduate school inviting me to annual Homecoming and reunion. A couple months later, I start receiving emails from my high school inviting me back for my annual reunion. I decided a long time ago that I really didn’t want to relive my high school … [Read more…]
Activism, advocacy, associations, boardrooms, battlefields, churches, education, faith groups, governments, media, nonprofits, philanthropy, retail, technology and work are all being reinvented. We are rethinking and reimagining all of our traditional institutions. This includes the meetings industry’s traditional conference. Our conferences are being reinvented by people who don’t follow the accepted practices and unspoken rules. They … [Read more…]
Are you perpetually wounding your conference attendees with a one-way controlled experience that demands obedience over engagement? Do you view your attendees as a threat that can disrupt the controlled conference experience that you have designed? Enforcing Obedience Over Engagement I was reading the March/April 2012 Harvard Education Letter on school culture by Meira Levinson. … [Read more…]
As a meeting professional, you have the power to identify and manipulate the properties of a space to foster specific behaviors and attitudes. These spatial characteristics can be fine tuned to create a unique attendee experience. And it all rests within the power of your planning. Six Properties That You Can Adjust Properties are the … [Read more…]
