When Velvet Chainsaw Consulting conducted speaker research with 120 associations with research and consulting company Tagoras Inc. in 2013, we found that nearly 77 percent use a call for speakers/sessions process. Associations value member input. One-third of these organizations accept 60 percent or more of the proposals, indicating either a low number of submissions or very forgiving quality filters. About 62 percent close off submissions eight months or longer before the conference. These … [Read more...]
The Future Conference Is About Increasing Attendees’ ROI
The future conference is not about the environment, the furniture, the venue, the audio visual or the technology. The future conference is about increasing the paying attendee’s ROI. The future conference is about helping the attendee transfer and apply their conference learning to their job. Actually, the fundamental job of future conferences is threefold: To facilitate and guide the social process of attendee’s learning, To help paying attendees remember their new learning and To … [Read more...]
Most Keynote Speakers Fail At Providing Audience Learning & Performance Improvement
Most keynotes fail at actually providing learning and retention. Sure, many keynotes are inspirational, motivational and provide an engaging story. And if that’s all we’re looking for from a high-paid professional speaker for a keynote, it works. However, when an organization pays $10,000-$75,000, or even a higher fee, for a 45- to 60-minute message, we expect more. Too many keynotes are filled with exhausted clichés, empty entertainment, and low-importance ideas. ~ Dr. Will … [Read more...]
Too Many Conferences Provide Plop, Placate And Pay
Have conferences become too enthralled with experts and attendees swapping solutions? Have conference organizers resigned themselves to the inertia of the way we’ve always done it? Is the traditional conference experience in danger of being institutionalized which devalues individual expression? Are we addicted to providing passive plop, placate and pay* experiences? Are conference organizers sitting on a ticking time bomb doomed to repeat their past experiences because they don’t know of … [Read more...]
Conferences Can Cultivate Curiosity Or The Cult Of Expertise Groupies
Everyone seems to be looking for the next sure thing. We like answers. We seek quick remedies. We attend conferences looking for shortcut solutions with big payouts. We expend a lot of energy to find tips to the trade, keys to success, or hacks that provide instant results. The less we have to work at it, the more we like it. Cult Of Expertise We crave and want quick cures and successful tonics to our dilemmas. We spend $1,500-$2,000 for conference registration, lodging, travel and … [Read more...]
Time To Face This Ironic Truth: We Do Not Learn From Experience
There, I said it. People do not learn from experience. You may think you learn from experience but… People only learn from reflecting on their experience. That’s the point author, facilitator and educator Sivasailam “Thiagi” Thiagarajan drives home in his writings and workshops. The Key To Learning From An Experience If people learn from experience, Thiagi stresses, would they make the same mistake over and over again in their life? The key to learning from an experience is thinking … [Read more...]
Conferences Are Creating Toxic Events With Visual Logorrhea
Most conferences spread verbal diarrhea and visual logorrhea like viral diseases. We create toxic airborne events cluttering the conference experience with an overuse of monologues, panel dialogues and slideuments. Author Garr Reynolds coined the word slideument referring to presentations that have enough text that they can “speak for themselves.” While a presentation that speaks for itself seems like a good idea, the research shows that slideuments are a distraction for the audience. No … [Read more...]
When Speakers Truly Care: From Spouting Witty Repartee To Transforming Lives
Our conferences and association education programming depend upon speakers as experts sharing their knowledge with the crowd. Yet, the education research is loud and clear that people talking at an audience does not necessarily lead to attendees' learning. Actually, there's more likelihood that you'll win a multi-million dollar Powerball lottery than telling leads to learning. Speaking, telling and presenting does not usually lead to learning. Nor does it lead to transforming lives by … [Read more...]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 6
- Next Page »
