Are we witnessing a digital revolution? Or digital evolution? Can we simply adapt and apply old skills to new contexts? Or do we need to learn new ways of thinking, doing and being? One thing is certain. Our nonprofit institutions are dynamic, complex systems embedded within an even more dynamic, complex übersystem: human society. The … [Read more…]
Do you remember the children’s activity connect the dots? This paper and pencil puzzle contained a sequence of numbered or lettered dots. Your task was to draw a line connecting dots in the right series so that the outline of an object was revealed. As we got older, the dot to dot activities became more … [Read more…]
Imagine going to a party where you meet a bunch of new people. Which faces will you remember? Which names will you recall? You’ll probably remember the woman who made you laugh. The man who accidentally spilled his drink on you. The man who made your face turn red from embarrassment. And the women who … [Read more…]
Is your conference experience one that hurts your participants’ brains or one that helps their brains learn? In other words, is your conference brain-adverse or brain-friendly? Does the experience align with how your attendees’ brains work? Or does it work against the brain’s natural systems, shutting it down from learning? Two Critical Conference Factors To … [Read more…]
To paraphrase cognitive scientist and author Cathy Davidson: Our nonprofit institutions, for the most part trade and professional associations as well as professional societies, are acting as if the world has not suddenly, irrevocably, cataclysmically, epistemically changed. Learning Is Changing Learning is changing. Anyone. Any time. Anywhere. By the end of 2011, 2 billion people … [Read more…]
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…]
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…]
There’s good news, and there’s bad news, on the horizon for meetings and events. Take a look at these statistics released from current research reports. 1. Meeting Spend Up; Satisfaction With That Spend Down Meeting spend was up 22% for 2010 as compared to 2009. Yet, 66% of respondents say that their number one concern … [Read more…]
Like potter’s hands on clay, social technologies continue to shape our world. We are witnessing one of the greatest cultural revolutions in some time. It’s impacting everything from our personal lives to our families to our work to our relationships. The Social Network Era has arrived. From Things To Ideas Society has shifted from a … [Read more…]
The majority of conference and event organizers are not monitoring social media. Are you? According to a 2011 Social Media & Events Report released by amaindo, more than 60% of event organizers do not use social media to listen, connect and collect data about their customers and potential customers. Event organizers are overlooking a lot … [Read more…]
