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 Ways To Design Your Experience Too Here are six ways to focus on designing your team’s experience during your next conference planning process. … [Read more...]
Avoid These Hazardous Conference Planning Thinkholes [Part 2]
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 to your participants’ conference experience. Adapted from author Will Mancini’s writings on organizational leadership. Defining Conference Planning Thinkholes A … [Read more...]
Common, Yet Hazardous, Conference Planning Thinkholes That Inhibit Uniqueness
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 the common habit of neglecting what makes our event’s experience unique. Instead, we gravitate towards programs and mindsets that work … [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...]
Practicing Strategic Thinking To Strengthen Intellectual Capacity
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 sounds. Although if we’re not careful, it may mean running-in-place, twice as hard. It just means practicing different behaviors than what you probably already do. Being more strategic … [Read more...]
Boost Your Strategic Thinking While Improving Your Memory Of Minutia
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 for your brain to decipher and understand the big picture. Details Or Big Ideas According to cognitive neuroscience expert and author Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman, when you … [Read more...]
Your Conference Needs More Joyful Silence
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 experience? How frequently do we encourage contemplative thought? How common is it for the conference to provide opportunities for … [Read more...]
Why Your Conference Needs A Listening Space
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 kind of funk that makes you want to get up and move to the grove and do the bump! I found myself “car dancing” where you only shake your hips and throw your hands in the air as you drive. On the … [Read more...]
