An Anthropologist Walks Into A Conference September 9, 2015 by Jeff Hurt As your conference grows, it faces increased complexity. According to a recent IBM study of 1,600+ CEOs, the biggest challenge their companies face is the complexity gap. Eight out of ten of those CEOs expect their business environment to grow in complexity but less than half are prepared to face that change. Your conference’s growth … [Read more…] Filed Under: Experience Design Tagged With: , anthropology, big data, big insights, conference best practices, conference evaluation, education best practices, human sciences, measurement, phenomenology, Qualitative measures, speaker evaluations
Frank Conversations On Better Conference Measurement May 5, 2014 by Jeff Hurt Recently, I wrote about how most conference organizers are really bad at measurement. Oh, we’re fairly good at measuring our conference goals. As long as those goals are based on common conference inputs and outputs. You know, expenses/revenue, attendance, exhibitors and sponsors. But rarely do we measure anything else that proves ROI, ROO or ROA … [Read more…] Filed Under: Business Model Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference evaluation, education best practices, speaker evaluations
Conferences Need Quality Measurement Tools And Feedback To Spur Innovation April 23, 2014 by Jeff Hurt Most conferences suck at collecting data. (Oh, were good at collecting registration and fees but that’s about it!) It requires work, intentionality, time and interpretation to get the feedback we need to make improvements and drive innovation. I like what CEO and meetings professional Hugh Plappert says about conference measurement: Measuring requires planning. Planning requires … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference evaluation, education best practices, speaker evaluations
Conferences Suck At Measurement! April 22, 2014 by Jeff Hurt Conference professionals suck at measurement. If you trust your conference smile sheet evaluations as a barometer of how effective your conference education was, you are just being foolish says learning research psychologist Dr. Will Thalheimer. Ouch! The truth hurts! The Emptiness Of Smile Sheets Evaluations Thalheimer points to research that the smile sheet evaluation shows … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference best practices, conference evaluation, education best practices, speaker evaluations
Sculpting Customer Feedback To Design Your Conference December 9, 2013 by Jeff Hurt The voice of the customer is always right. Or is it? When conference organizers look for ways to improve the attendees’ experience, they typically turn to their registrants for feedback. They turn to their customers to direct their investment decisions for conference improvements. Gaining Conference Attendee Intelligence Conference organizers use a variety of ways to … [Read more…] Filed Under: Event Planning Tagged With: , conference data collection, conference design, conference evaluation, customer feedback, data mining, speaker evaluations
Three Ways To Upgrade Reekin’ Stinkin’ Conference Education And Help Your Presenters Practice Their Craft July 6, 2010 by Jeff Hurt Let’s face it. Most conference education is lackluster. Actually, most of it stinks, is dull and could be used to line bird cages. Generally, our customers say they attend conferences and meetings to learn and network. Yet, we as conference organizers continue to do the same things we’ve always done when planning our meetings–focus on … [Read more…] Filed Under: Conference Education, Speaker Coaching Tagged With: , adult learning, content, delivery, Education & Adult Learning, engagement, practice versus experience, speaker, Speaker Emerging Practices, speaker evaluations
