Name two words that describe the web today. Connected and community are two that come to my mind. Conferences Are In The Connexity Business Amazon and eBay say they are in the connexity business-making connections and building communities. Both companies demonstrate that the web is less an information source than a social medium. Conferences need to shift to become more of a connexity business. They need to transition from information channels to being a catalyst for making connections and … [Read more...]
Metaphors, Stories And Images Are Important For Conferences: The I In EPIC Conferences
Try this. Next time you are in the grocery store, ask the seafood clerk for fresh sardines. Guess what most seafood clerks say? "There is not really one fish called a sardine." Most of us are used to seeing sardines in a can. In reality, the name applies to twenty-one species of small fish that, they moment they hit the can, can be labeled sardines. FishBase, an online database of fish, lists 18 fish species that qualify as sardines and many more that are described as sardines. The name, or … [Read more...]
Creating Participatory Conferences, The P In EPIC
Do you remember Pop Rocks candy? It was the candy that exploded and jumped in your mouth. Or perhaps you recall Zotz, the candy that fizzed in your mouth. Interactive Candy If you walk the aisles of a local department store today, you'll find a new host of interactive candies. You'll see Armageddon Asteroids, Big Bangs, Glow Pops, Mega Warheads, Nuclear Chocolate (chocolate and pop rocks combined), Shock Tarts, Skull Suckers, Spin Pops and Tongue Splashers. Try some of them. Or eat that candy … [Read more...]
Conferences Need To Focus On Creating Experiences, The E Of EPIC Conferences
Imagine it's 2084. You are craving a new experience that you've not had in the past. You decide to visit Rekall to get a memory implant of a new vacation experience. This is the setting of the 1990 movie Total Recall with Arnold Schwarzenegger or the 2012 remake with Colin Farrell. While Total Recall is set in the future, it is a perfect illustration of today's society that is consumed with collecting experiences. Traditional Conferences Are About Collecting Knowledge Most conferences are … [Read more...]
Five More Fresh Innovative Game Changer Conference Ideas
The best conference organizers are proactively looking for fresh, new ideas to implement at their next annual meeting. They work hard at coming up with the next big idea. Shattering Status Quo The most innovative conference organizers are not satisfied with creating ordinary, mundane conference experiences. They have no patience for the status quo. As a matter of fact, they seek to shatter the status quo. Conference organizer game changers create unique ah-ha moments for attendees. They create … [Read more...]
Which Would You Rather Attend: A Speech Or A Movie?
Which would you rather attend: A ninety-minute speech or a ninety-minute movie? You've got to be kidding, right? The majority of us would rather go to a movie than a speech. Now, let's put this into a conference context. Given a choice, would you rather go to a two-day film festival or a two-day conference? Again, many of us would choose the film festival over the conference. Unless you just hate films. Why Movies Over A Speech? Why would many of us choose attending a movie over a … [Read more...]
Is Your Conference EPIC?
The challenge of many conferences today is that they are like local, indigenous populations using their native tongue trying to talk to foreign immigrants. The traditional conference experience is out of touch, disconnected and using an outdated model. It fails to connect with today's generations. Well, it's time your conference went EPIC! Four Stages Of EPIC Conferences Sociologist, professor and former college president Dr. Len Sweet says that today's generations want EPIC … [Read more...]
You Need These Conference Learning Game Changers
We need more game changing, transformative learning at our conferences! We need more learning. Deeper learning. More effective education that leads to transformative, productive, professional change. We need more peer sharing and peer learning. We need more education experiences based on scientific evidence of how the adult brain learns. We need conferences to be the channel that leads to positive metamorphosis in our professional lives. We need conference learning game changers! We … [Read more...]
