A Journey Down Conference Street February 6, 2015 by Jeff Hurt 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 … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference experience, emotional experience, event experience, meeting experience, user experience design
Our Screwed Up Thinking About Creating Conference Experiences January 28, 2015 by Jeff Hurt 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 … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference experience, emotional experience, event experience, meeting experience, user experience design
Establishing A New Model To Select Conference Content And Programming December 4, 2013 by Jeff Hurt 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…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , association best practices, conference best practices, conference curator, content-strategist-curator, curate, meeting best practices, meeting experience, meeting industry trends
Does Your Conference Promote The Wrong End Of A Telescope? May 10, 2013 by Jeff Hurt “How much are our attendees willing to pay?” It is a question that many conference hosts and organizers frequently ask when they begin planning their events. It’s like asking the question, “What topics do you want to hear at next year’s conference?” Instead of asking, “What’s keeping you up at night?” Challenge is that this … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , attendee, conference best practices, conference experience, conferences, experience economy, meeting experience
Does Your Conference Foster These Five Core Attendee Experience Principles? May 8, 2013 by Jeff Hurt The experience matters! It is one of the most (over?) used business phrases today. Most business professionals agree that the experience matters to consumers. As consumers, we even agree that our experiences with brands and organizations drive our future buying decisions. So why is it that most conference organizers do not focus on designing the … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference experience, conferences, experience economy, meeting experience
Why Conference General Sessions Should Be More Like The Olympics August 15, 2012 by Jeff Hurt 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 … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , conferences, emotional experience, event experience, general sessions, meeting experience, meeting professionals
The Next Big Conference Job Of The Future: Conference Content-Curator-Strategist August 19, 2011 by Jeff Hurt Most organizations receive hundreds of emails and phone calls asking about their speaker call for proposals. In one of my past jobs, we received 30-50 inquiries a month from professional speakers trying to land a speaking gig. And we were flooded with industry speaker requests as well. We hated those inquires. They were like speaker … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , association best practices, conference best practices, content-strategist-curator, meeting best practices, meeting experience, meeting industry trends, Speaker Emerging Practices
Dying, Boundary And Emerging Meeting Practices: Barbecuing The Sacred Cow August 18, 2011 by Jeff Hurt Does your organization have any meeting planning practices that are sacred cows? Don’t you wish you could grind them up for a barbecue? Well, it’s time to kill those traditions and make way for new, emerging ideas. e4 2011 Innovation Labs Recently I attended Experient’s e4 2011 conference, “Outside the Lines” as one of their … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design Tagged With: , association best practices, conference best practices, content-strategist-curator, meeting best practices, meeting experience, meeting industry trends, Speaker Emerging Practices
Going Viral: Be The Real Thing July 29, 2011 by Jeff Hurt I took my friends to one of my favorite weekend haunts, Kirin Court, a Chinese dim sum experience in far North Dallas. On weekends they offer a special buffet-type affair from 10 am – 10 pm. The Sunday wait time is usually at least an hour. The lines are long even though the restaurant seats … [Read more…] Filed Under: Attendance Marketing Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, event experience, meeting best practices, meeting experience, meeting planning best practices
Make Your Conference More Lady Gaga-istic March 11, 2011 by Jeff Hurt Image by by VJ Alisa! And now, I am just trying to change the world, one sequin at a time! ~ Lady Gaga Whether she’s hatching from an egg at the Grammys, strolling down the red carpet in a meat dress or being photographed in a dress made from stuffed animals, Lady Gaga knows how … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , influencers, meeting experience, meeting planning best practices, Social Media
