Conferences Should Mirror These CEO Employee Expectations July 13, 2012 by Jeff Hurt 1,700+ CEOs in 64 countries identified collaboration, agility, mining connections and relationships, and innovation through partnering as the top critical traits that their employees need today. According to CEOs, the top four personal characteristics most critical for employees success were: collaboration, communicative, creative and flexible. CEOs seek employees who will thrive in an open environment. … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , collaboration, conference best practices, conference education, conferences, meeting planning best practices, networks, Social Media
Turning Attendees Into Repeat Loyal Customers July 6, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Most conference organizers focus on meeting their paid attendee goals for their upcoming annual event. They are so focused on that one event that they rarely take time to step back and think about the sustainability of the event for the next several years. They concentrate all of their energy, time and resources on meeting … [Read more…] Filed Under: Attendance Marketing, Experience Design Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, Event ROC, Event ROI, loyalty, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals, return on attendee, return on customer
Exceeding Conference Attendee Expectations July 5, 2012 by Jeff Hurt What would it take for your conference attendees to call your annual meeting the greatest event on the Earth? Animal acts? High wire tightrope acrobatics? Clowns? Three rings of ongoing entertainment? A live band? It’s challenging to keep annual meetings fresh and exciting while maintaining integrity. Yet it’s very easy to duplicate last year’s event … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, emotional experience, event experience, loyalty, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals, wow experience
Creating An Emotional Arc Within Your Conference Experience June 26, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Attendees experience a variety of emotions during a typical conference experience. Their short two- or three-day experience rivals that of any fictional drama. Hopes and dreams fill their minds. Anxiety, anticipation, excitement and fear jerk their emotions like a tilt-a-whirl. Egos and status posture for the lead emotional position. Emotions go from frustrations to fulfillment … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals
Getting Your Sponsors To Trigger Their Sponsorships June 21, 2012 by Dave Lutz A trend we’re seeing is that exhibitors are requiring less square footage and shifting dollars to other sponsorship opportunities. Conference organizers need to think about how to convert exhibitor’s marketing dollars into sponsorship opportunities that benefit attendees. The Shift From Exhibiting To Sponsorships This shift requires a more strategic and consultative sales approach. Many conference … [Read more…] Filed Under: Sponsorship & Exhibits Tagged With: , conference best practices, conferences, content marketing, exhibitors, meeting planning best practices, meeting professionals, sponsor activation, sponsor leverage, sponsorship
Creating Compelling Experiential Spaces For Conferences June 1, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Steelcase, a global office environment creator, was invited by TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) Conference organizers to create immersive environments for their conference. (Did you click on that link to watch the short video clips showing some examples?) TED wanted compelling spaces that sparked great attendee conversations and nurtured community. 5 Principles For Designing Compelling … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , collaboration, conference best practices, conferences, meeting planning best practices, meeting space, Steelcase, TED
How To Create A Sticky Conference May 25, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Just how sticky is your conference? Sticky conferences create experiences that last beyond the two to three days of the conference. They focus on creating real relationships with strong connections. It’s about more than speed networking where people just exchange business cards or speed sessions to see how much info people can cram into their … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , active participation, attendee engagement, conference best practices, conferences, engagement, meeting planning best practices, networking, sticky conference
Creating Community, Identity And Reflection With Your Conference Space May 17, 2012 by Jeff Hurt Have you ever seen a movie that starts with a fast action scene? Immediately, you are pulled into the middle of things. Screenwriters call this media res or in the middle of a plot. They know that they can pull their viewers into the story by placing the action at the beginning. This same principle … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , collaboration, community, conference best practices, conferences, horizontal peer learning, meeting planning best practices, meeting professional, meeting space, peer-to-peer, reflection
Creating Planned Serendipity For Your Conference Success May 15, 2012 by Dave Lutz Networking: there’s more to it than business professionals speed handshaking while exchanging business cards. It’s an opportunity to connect and link with others as you share information, services and ideas with each other. Attendee Networking Expectations Increase There is no doubt about it. Conference attendee networking expectations are on the rise! Your conference is often … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Networking, Experience Design Tagged With: , accelerating serendipity, conference best practices, conferences, meeting planning best practices, networking, planned serendipity
Foster These New Participant Attitudes For Your Next Conference Experience May 9, 2012 by Jeff Hurt I’m feelin’ good from my head to my shoes Know where I’m goin’ and I know what to do I tidied up my point of view I got a new attitude! Patti LaBelle, New Attitude As a conference organizer, when was the last time that you had a new attitude about your participants’ conference experience? … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , collaboration, conference best practices, conferences, horizontal peer learning, meeting planning best practices, meeting professional, peer-to-peer
