Why Your Conference Is Stuck In A Rut April 8, 2011 by Jeff Hurt The greatest wonder in the world lies in a three-pound mass of cells, with 1,000 trillion connections and the consistency of oatmeal, located in our skulls. The human brain. It controls your annual meeting. It controls your planning. It controls your attendees’ onsite actions. It has more impact on your planning and onsite implementation than … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , brain-friendly conferences, conferences, Education & Adult Learning, meeting industry trends, meeting planning best practices
Enough Of Slow Death Conferences! April 4, 2011 by Jeff Hurt “It’s like attending a slow death. Once you’ve been to one conference, you’ve been to them all. They are boring!” Those words echoed in my ears like a YouTube video continuing to loop. They stung. Resonated. Pricked my brain. They sat on my heart like concrete blocks tied to my feet and sunk in the … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , annual meeting, conferences, improving annual meetings and education, meeting, meeting planning best practices
Why Your Conference Needs Meeting Anthropologists March 24, 2011 by Jeff Hurt Your annual meeting needs a couple of meeting anthropologists! No, not a couple of people in Raiders of the Lost Ark clothing, carrying shovels and picks. You need curious people, preferably outsiders, to observe your meeting participants’ actions, behaviors, decisions and group culture. You need to know how your attendees interact with each other, respond … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning, Experience Design Tagged With: , conferences, meeting planner, meeting planning best practices
Marketing Your Event To Prospects And Past Attendees March 23, 2011 by Jeff Hurt Is there a difference in the way your market your event to prospects and past attendees? You betcha! There’s a huge difference. Past Attendee Event Marketing Wants Past attendees have already built a relationship with you. Assuming that they had a great conference experience, they are biased in favor of your event. After attending your … [Read more…] Filed Under: Attendance Marketing Tagged With: , conferences, event marketing, influence, influencers, 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
8 Pre-Conference Strategies To Engage Your Participants March 10, 2011 by Jeff Hurt A lot of energy, time and passion is put into planning a conference. Many focus on all the onsite logistics running smoothly. Seeing Conferences In A Ecosystem Of Customer Touchpoints Conference participants focus on their experience. Their emotions range from the pre-conference anticipation and hype to the post-conference blues and exhaustion. And often the … [Read more…] Filed Under: Attendance Marketing, Experience Design Tagged With: , conferences, ecosystem of touchpoints, engagement, event technology, meeting planning best practices
Life Long Learning: In Pursuit Of Our Dreams March 9, 2011 by Jeff Hurt What d’ya know? Not enough. We can never know enough in the modern workplace. At least, that’s how I feel. Lifetime Learning A Path To Success Good education serves as the foundation for productive work. Lifetime learning offers a well-marked path to success. It’s up to us to follow it. On average, Americans spend just … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , adult learning, conferences, Education & Adult Learning, learning, meeting planning best practices
Six Meeting Engagement Takeaways From Chris Brogan February 18, 2011 by Jeff Hurt Recently, Chris Brogan presented “Fitting Community Engagement Into Your Event Design” at EventCamp Chicago 2011. Here are six gems that he shared from his personal experience as a conference attendee, event organizer (he helped start Pod Camps and works in tradeshow space) and speaker. 1. Push experience over flow at the event. The attendee’s experience … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conferences, engagement, meeting experience, meeting planning best practices
What Would Happen If? How To Eat Your Own Dogfood December 27, 2010 by Jeff Hurt “If you want to be disruptive, don’t start with your best practices,” says Unmair Haque. “Try instead with your industry’s worst practices and take tiny steps–or better yet, giant leaps–towards bettering them.” Umair Haque’s post, “Why You Should Focus On Your Worst Practices” got me thinking. His statement “Diet on your own dogfood” resonated with … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , annual meeting, conferences, meeting best practices, meeting planner, meeting planning best practices
Leveraging Six Right-Brain Aptitudes For Successful Conferences November 11, 2010 by Jeff Hurt “The future belongs to a different kind of person,” Dan Pink, A Whole New Mind. It belongs to “…creative and empathetic right-brain thinkers whose abilities mark the fault line between who gets ahead and who doesn’t.” Pink claims we are living in a different age. A different time that demands different thinking. According to Pink, … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , association, conferences, meeting, meeting planner, meeting planning best practices
