The demands of our 21st Century conference participants mandate that we change our traditional event experience. Today’s workforce requires that our participants interact, think and work in collaborative ways. Yet our conferences persistently promote expert-directed, one-way passive monologues and panel dialogues. Our conferences continue to resemble the routines of the 19th and 20th century school. Our own models actually inhibit our participants’ authentic learning. We have to break free … [Read more...]
Why Bother With Conference Education Peer Discussions?
How many conference speakers have you seen that don’t want attendees asking, answering, commenting or participating during their presentations? From the speaker’s point of view, the presentation seems to be moving along nicely as the content is covered. The room is silent except the speaker’s voice. And surely that means that the audience is attentively listening and learning. Right? However, look at the audience and you’ll see from their body language that the speech is far from … [Read more...]
Creating Sticky Learning To Combat Our Illusion Of Knowing
Much of what we take for gospel about how to learn is wasted effort. Learning is grossly misunderstood. The most effective learning strategies are counterintuitive. We believe that attending education and listening to a presenter leads to learning. Just give me the crib sheets, the list of tips, the high level takeaways and I have it. It's easy and I don't have to work for it. So instead we fleece them. We give them what they want even though it doesn't lead to job … [Read more...]
Encourage Conference Experiences That Lead To Practice-Rich Lives Not Knowledge-Rich Brains
Your conference doesn’t have to be the place that only offers expert lectures. It doesn’t have to only offer authorized, approved speeches. Or one-way monologues and panel dialogues. You have the opportunity to pave the way for rich, two-way, peer to peer dialogue. You can create education offerings that provide time for audience elaboration, discussion, doubts, push back and questions not just passive listening. Those conversations lead to ownership of takeaways and authentic … [Read more...]
Your Conference Attendees Utterly Deep Driving Need To Share Experiences
My sister likes to talk! Saying she like to talk is an understatement. I don’t think she ever stops talking except when she sleeps. She is not that much different from my father. He likes to talk and talk and talk. And a couple of my very close friends are like that too. They all like to talk about their experiences—good and bad. And after some reflection, I guess I like talking about myself too. I’m doing it right now in this blog post. Sharing Information Gets Us High There is a … [Read more...]
Changes In The Information Cycle Are Driving Conference Education Reform
Conferences (and associations) used to be the go-to source for information and content about a profession or industry. Today, the tools of content creation and distribution actually rest in the hands of individuals. Anyone can create and share content. While not everyone wants to be a content creator, everyone has an interest in organizing and packing information in their own, unique way. We Relate Differently To Information Today Today, we relate to information differently. We can receive … [Read more...]
Bringing Authentic Conference Conversations To Life
Peer conversations are more important to your conference than you know. I’m not talking about one of your attendees serving as a speaker talking at the audience. That’s a lecture. I’m referring to peer conversations in pairs, threesomes and small groups. You know when it’s happening at conferences because the rooms are buzzing with discussions. Everyone is talking to someone else. The Industrial Conference Is Dead Most of us still depend upon and expect an outdated model of conferences: … [Read more...]
Improve Your Conference Lecture By Using These Questions For Peer Discussions
Today, most conference audiences would prefer to engage in one-on-one peer-to-peer discussions than listen to another panel or lecture. It is also clear that employers today place more emphasis on securing employees that are good at engaging others in face-to-face interactions to problem solve, work together and interpret data. Ultimately, peer learning is highly valued and needed in the 21st Century. Transitioning From All Lectures To A Mix Of Lecture And Discussions Many conference … [Read more...]
