Your Conference Is Like Vanity Press Are you charging speakers a full or discounted registration fee to present at your conference? Perhaps they must cover their own travel, lodging and expenses to attend your conference in addition to spending time to develop their presentation. And pay a registration fee. Does your conference do that? If … [Read more…]
It felt like a scene from Groundhog Day. I was stuck in a time warp loop. Presenter after presenter after presenter started with the same phrase, “I have no financial conflict of interest to disclose.” Then each one launched into a diatribe of data, diagrams, facts and research. Dark, boring PowerPoint slides flashed before my … [Read more…]
Presentations are the economy of most conferences and business today. Yet most presentations are boring. A majority of them are just uninteresting. They lack humanness, life, passion and emotional connections. Today, many conference participants feel trapped by a parade of monotonous, dreary, insipid presentations. It doesn’t take long to recognize a corpse. It takes even … [Read more…]
“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” When it comes to selecting industry speakers, that adage is especially sage. You’ve read their speaker proposal, description and bio. They look like the right fit for your conference. But just because they’ve got the right dancing shoes doesn’t mean they can pull off the dance. Here are … [Read more…]
I woke up with an intense craving for golden, fluffy, hot, spongy pancakes with a crispy edge. I rarely eat pancakes. But this morning the desire was strong. My mind was deluged with the smell of fresh pancakes on the griddle, the sound of the batter hitting the pan and the sight of a pancake … [Read more…]
Have you heard of HARO – Help A Reporter Out? We’ll here’s your opportunity to HAPO – Help A Planner Out. If you have expertise in meetings, events, education, association work, marketing, branding–whatever, think about helping this meetings and education specialist. Crowdsourcing A Speaker Confirmation Letter Meet Veronica Bemis, Education Program Coordinator, American Wind … [Read more…]
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…]
When securing speakers for you next conference or meeting, here are two things that you can do that will have an immediate positive effect on your conference education: Tell your speakers that you want them to build their presentations backwards. They should begin by identifying the learning outcomes. What is it that they want their … [Read more…]
America has a love-hate-relationship with American Idol. We boo the negative naysayer and painfully honest founder and judge Simon Cowell. Although we often secretly agree with what he has to say. We applaud the effervescent Ellen DeGeneres when she says she likes a finalist and compares them to an unripe banana. Although we know she … [Read more…]
In early history, golf was reserved for the royals, played with sticks and pebbles over natural landscapes. During the Industrial Revolution, golf clubs and balls became mass produced and inexpensive enough for more of us to chase the little white ball around a fairway, rough and other hazards. Today, there are millions of golfers in … [Read more…]
