I have been struck by the disparity in how an association’s organizational culture translates (or doesn’t translate) to the on-site implementation or planning of its live events. There are many associations that tout their open and supportive cultures. But when it gets to “go time,” does that culture manifest at your conferences and meetings? Online forums have tackled this issue in recent weeks and it is clear that not all organizations support their on-site operations effectively or … [Read more...]
Why You Need to Adopt a Sharing Economy to Keep your Conference Relevant
It’s smart. It’s social. It’s green. It’s a movement towards a sharing economy. And the direction your next-gen attendee is headed. Collaborative consumption is about shared access to products and services. Sharing goods and services is considered smart, social, green, and aligns with the values of your next-generation conference participants. Time magazine has identified it as one of the “10 Ideas that will change the world.” The sharing movement is having — and will continue to … [Read more...]
Your Conference Is Not As Unique As You Think
I’ve got news for conference organizers and hosts. Your conference is not as unique as you think. For the past three years, the team at Velvet Chainsaw Consulting has been reviewing, evaluating and analyzing annual meetings and conferences. Almost every one of our 30+ clients has started our review process with the following statement, “Our conference and audience is not like other conferences. We are different from all the others.” In those 30+ clients, how many of those conferences … [Read more...]
Stop Sabotaging Your Conference Innovation Planning Process
Are we failing to cultivate innovation in our conference planning process? Do we focus so much on the details and logistics that we unknowingly sabotage our brains’ potential to cultivate innovation and creativity? Keeping our minds engaged and inspired in the creative process is critical to conference innovation. Yet too often, we default to following the same process to create our conferences year after year. We even replicate the same schedule and change only the filler thinking we will … [Read more...]
Strategies For Attracting And Growing The Right Conference Audience
You seldom awake in the morning with people waving money in your face to register for your event. There comes a time in every conference's history when there is a need to identify and pursue the right markets for conference growth and sustainability. Instead of trying to be all things to all people and offer something for everyone, organizers need to focus programming and services that attract the top three audience segments of economic buyers and decision makers. Here is the PowerPoint Slide … [Read more...]
Co-Locating Your Conference Can Be Risky And Rewarding
Co-locating your conference can be a high-risk, high-reward proposition. Before you decide to co-locate your conference with another conference, you need to view the decision through a strategic long-term lens. Defining Co-Location At the basic level, co-locating a conference is placing two or more conferences at the same location, at the same time. Some organizers blend both conference experiences together seamlessly. Others have two separate conference experiences allowing attendees to attend … [Read more...]
Do You Plan Meetings With 500+ People?
Do you plan meetings with 500 or more people? Do you secure both professional and industry speakers for your events? If yes to both questions, would you give us about 10 minutes of your time to complete this survey? Velvet Chainsaw has partnered with Tagoras, a leading market research and learning consulting company to capture trends and statistics about industry and professional speakers. We are also looking for some of the standard speaker selection practices used by most … [Read more...]
Three Infographics On Conference Content And Delivery
Dare to color outside the lines. Have the courage to take risks. Let go of outdated, dead sacred cows. These were just a few of the overarching themes from Experient's e4 2011 Conference "Outside the Lines." Bye, Bye Breakouts! Hello Innovation Labs! The Experient team always delivers a stellar conference that's engaging. They are willing to take risks, experiment and push the boundaries. It's one of the best planned experiences both logistically and strategically. This year they created a … [Read more...]
