If You Design Conference Experiences, Read This! June 4, 2018 by Jeff Hurt We design experiences for our customers. So why don’t we design experiences for ourselves? Have we missed the obvious? (I confess: I have!) As conference organizers, why can’t we also have a fun, fulfilling, and collaborative experience planning and designing the conference? Well, we can and should! And our planning team members should too. Six … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference as a giving field, convergence, convergent thinking, design conference experiences, design conference participant experience, design conferences, divergent thinking, experience-driven feedback, inscaping, practive divergence, reflective thinking, role hacking
Avoid These Hazardous Conference Planning Thinkholes [Part 2] July 20, 2016 by Jeff Hurt Ever run your car over some severe potholes? It can do some major damage to your tires. And to your vehicle too. Potholes can be an expensive problem for both drivers and cities. Just like potholes, conference planning thinkholes can be an expensive problem for your event. They can create some major cavities and damage … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference planning thinkholes, reflective thinking, strategic thinking, thinkholes, thinking
Common, Yet Hazardous, Conference Planning Thinkholes That Inhibit Uniqueness July 14, 2016 by Jeff Hurt Why do so many people rate the conference experience as stale, predictable and average at best? Why do conference leaders miss the mark at preparing their own unique DNA conference experience? Why do so many conference organizers miss the opportunity to create a matchless thumbprint on their event’s identity? We as conference organizers often have … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference planning thinkholes, reflective thinking, strategic thinking, thinkholes, thinking
Time To Face This Ironic Truth: We Do Not Learn From Experience September 10, 2014 by Jeff Hurt 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, … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , adult learning, adult learning principles, debriefing, education best practices, presentation strategies, reflection, reflective thinking, Speaker Emerging Practices
Practicing Strategic Thinking To Strengthen Intellectual Capacity September 5, 2014 by Jeff Hurt It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that. ~ The Red Queen, Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass Strengthening Strategic Thinking Muscles Becoming a strategic thinker is not as difficult as it … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , reflective thinking, strategic planning, strategic thinking, thinking
Boost Your Strategic Thinking While Improving Your Memory Of Minutia August 26, 2014 by Jeff Hurt How strategic is your thinking? Do you crave information? Do you believe that more is actually better? Do you desire data, data and more data? If you hunger after more and better ideas at all cost, your info-craving habits actually zap your brain’s energy. The persistent pace of focusing on details makes it more difficult … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , adult learning strategies, conference best practices, education best practices, reflective thinking, strategic planning, strategic thinking, thinking
Your Conference Needs More Joyful Silence June 23, 2014 by Jeff Hurt Most conferences emphasize the spoken word. Usually, the aim of a conference is to provide stimulating speakers, fun entertainment, engaging networking, new business leads, great music and healthy food. The conference experience is typically geared to an extrovert, Type-A Personality. But how often do we use the power of silence and solitude in a conference … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference contemplation, reflection, reflective thinking, silence, solitutde
Why Your Conference Needs A Listening Space June 14, 2013 by Jeff Hurt I decided it was a cold coffee type of a morning. A Starbucks Carmel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino would do nicely. Play That Funky Music White Boy! On the drive to the coffee shop, a new funky song came on the radio. It immediately transported me to my high school days. It had that Soul Train … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design Tagged With: , conference education, conferences, learning, listening, reflection, reflective thinking
5 Reasons Why Learning To Disagree Without Being Disagreeable Is Hard August 16, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Recently I’ve written about learning to disagree without being disagreeable. Sometimes I ask hard questions. Sometimes I’m willing to ask the question that everyone is thinking but won’t say. Some accuse my questioning of being negative to the process. (What process?) Some say I have a hidden agenda. Some say I’m just attacking. When did … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education Tagged With: , communication, conversations, disagreeing without being disagreeable, diversity in thought, open dialogue, reflective thinking
