Conferences that Work

DECEMBER 16, 2024

If you are serious about improving your conferences, my meeting design workshop can be the game-changer your organization needs. In a world where passive listening no longer satisfies attendees, traditional lecture-based conferences are ineffective and outdated. Share personal and collective wants and needs for the event.

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Conferences that Work

AUGUST 31, 2020

Please stop treating adults like children at your conferences. for Sessions , described in Chapter 26 of my book Event Crowdsourcing , is exactly what you’ll need for an in-person session. So, please stop treating adults like children at conferences. For an exception, see the end of this post.). one exception.

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Conferences that Work

APRIL 30, 2018

Here’s a powerful tool you can use to generate creative event designs. You can use this tool for every aspect of event design. Stylists working on the look and feel of an event often use it to stimulate fresh thinking about the venue, the décor, the lighting, the food and beverage, entertainment, and so on.

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Conferences that Work

JANUARY 11, 2021

What makes attending conferences worthwhile? As I described in Conferences That Work , the two most common reasons for attending conferences are to learn useful things and make useful connections. But there are numerous other ways that conferences provide value to stakeholders. Complicated problems.

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Conferences that Work

OCTOBER 21, 2024

Copyright Freeman 2024 Why you should read this Freeman report Read this report to discover if you’re doing what’s needed to improve your events for your attendees. Only a quarter of event organizers are constantly evolving their event designs. The biggest takeaway?

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Conferences that Work

JANUARY 20, 2020

The Association for Software Testing (AST) has just issued a free guide to creating peer conferences. I believe the software testing community adopted my term “peer conference” for their get-togethers after a conversation I had with pioneer software tester James Bach in 2004. email templates and helpful checklists.

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Conferences that Work

JULY 1, 2019

Event design may be more important than you think. I’m going to argue that event design changes society. Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post Event design changes society appeared first on Conferences That Work.

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Conferences that Work

OCTOBER 30, 2023

Meetings and conferences are perhaps one of the most important fundamental ways in which people come together and change happens. So I’m pleased to discover an academic research article paper about unconference — especially since its title is: The Future Of Conferences Is Unconferences !

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Conferences that Work

DECEMBER 24, 2018

Here’s my article “ Five Reasons to Change Conferences “ , published in the December 2018, NSA Speaker magazine. But our conference programs still focus on lectures, where a few experts broadcast their knowledge to passive listeners. Related posts: Conferences That Work goes to Japan!

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Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 17, 2018

My Dutch friend and expert moderator, Jan Jaap In der Maur , recently shared an innovative format for an in-conference pitch competition he devised for the Conventa Crossover Conference , in Ljubljana, Slovenia: “There were also the Conventa Crossover Awards. given at EventCamp Twin Cities on September 9, 2010? If so, download.

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Conferences that Work

AUGUST 9, 2021

If you ask about a budget for event design, stakeholders think you’re talking about decor and drama. But “there’s no budget” for core event design, which is actually about designing great meeting process. There’s usually a budget for decor and production—sometimes a big budget.

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Conferences that Work

OCTOBER 10, 2022

The other day, a client booked an hour with me to discuss how to make their conference better. Thinking about our conversation afterward, I realized that all my recommendations involved six fundamental processes that, when implemented well and appropriately, will make any conference better.

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Conferences that Work

OCTOBER 14, 2024

I would be grateful for your vote, which supports not just me, but also our shared commitment to participant-driven and participation-rich event design. This year marks my sixth consecutive nomination, and it’s all thanks to your continued support! How To Vote Voting for the Eventex Index is a straightforward process.

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Conferences that Work

MARCH 28, 2022

A “creative” event design is one with a novel venue and/or decor and lighting and/or food and beverage. Consequently, planners restrict the entire focus of creative event design to novel visual and sensory elements. Steve Jobs said, “Design is how it works”. And good event design is about how a conference works.

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Conferences that Work

APRIL 29, 2024

Since 2009 I’ve maintained an informal calendar of peer conferences (aka unconferences) on this site. It’s informal because I only list events I hear about, a minuscule fraction of the unconferences people hold every day. Even so, the calendar lists hundreds of events. Currently, I add a few peer conferences a month.

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Conferences that Work

MAY 14, 2018

Here are nine mythodologies about conferences. At least half the sessions programmed at traditional conferences are not what attendees want. Mythodology: Event socials are a good way to meet people. Reality : People tend to stay with people they already know at event socials. Mythodology: Learning occurs through events.

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Conferences that Work

JUNE 6, 2022

Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post Scratching the surface appeared first on Conferences That Work. Sometimes, it’s only at the end that we realize we’re just scratching the surface. No related posts.

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Conferences that Work

MARCH 3, 2025

Their status is publicly proclaimed on the pre-conference program, giving attendees no say in the decision. Status at traditional events follows a power-over model, rather than designs that support power-within and maximize power-with for participants. For more on how this works, check out this 2014 post.

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Conferences that Work

JUNE 27, 2022

Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post Improve meeting session learning with this simple tip! appeared first on Conferences That Work. Provide a shared Google doc where all participants can take notes, ask questions, and get answers! No related posts.

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Conferences that Work

OCTOBER 8, 2019

For an excellent summary of the work I do, check out this interview and podcast , Creating Conferences That Work by Celisa Steele of Leading Learning. Here’s an overview: Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post Creating Conferences That Work with Adrian Segar appeared first on Conferences That Work.

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Conferences that Work

DECEMBER 25, 2023

Here’s an independent review of my conference design work, published as a case study in Chapter 25—Designing and Developing Content for Collaborative Business Events—of the book The Routledge Handbook of Business Events. Tip: The hardback version is expensive, the ebook is a quarter of the hardback cost.)

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Conferences that Work

JANUARY 18, 2021

Why people continue to speak for free at meeting industry conferences : Another issue of an occasional series— Dear Adrian — in which I answer questions about event design, elementary particle physics , solar hot water systems, and anything else I might conceivably know something about. No related posts.

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Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 10, 2025

So, perhaps it’s not surprising that many conference organizers today make a similar mistake by emphasizing broadcast content over attendee interactions. Just as advertisers missed the phone’s potential to connect people in real-time, many events fail to prioritize the natural value of attendee conversations.

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Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 16, 2024

Rereading a 2012 post by Jeff Jarvis , I was struck by the parallels between his take on news organizations’ responsibilities to their platforms and the responsibilities of conferences. ” —Jeff Jarvis At conferences, the “users” are primarily participants. Design in flexibility. Give them power.

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Conferences that Work

APRIL 7, 2025

The Power of Participation Too often, conferences default to passive experiences attendees sit, listen, and leave without feeling seen, heard, or meaningfully involved. As an event participant, how many of these rights do you find you have at events? In short, we believe that participants have rights.

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Smart Meetings

DECEMBER 19, 2024

How can planners help their attendees to feel a sense of genuine belonging through their event design? Whats the business case for having consistent wellness programming in events? Stevens penned this article evaluating the link between the events and wellness industries.

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Conferences that Work

JULY 11, 2022

Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post Stop networking at meetings appeared first on Conferences That Work. I agree with Victoria’s observation, but think it’s important to consider a wider perspective. Here’s an expanded version of my brief comment on the ensuing LinkedIn conversation.

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Conferences that Work

JULY 13, 2020

How can we entwine content and connection during an online conference? During a MeetingsCommunity (MeCo) discussion thread “ Networking at conferences ” last week, Sharon Fisher posted this. As it happened, I’d just completed facilitating an online conference that I think did entwine content and connection.

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Conferences that Work

AUGUST 6, 2018

Ah, the ubiquitous conference one-hour lecture. As an example I’ll use a three-day conference I’m currently designing. Here are three session formats we’re using for the middle of the conference arc. In my experience, each of them is far more effective than a traditional conference lecture.

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Conferences that Work

MARCH 4, 2024

During a 1992 conference, I created the first of what I now call spectives. Over the last 32 years, I’ve led hundreds of spectives and introduced the format to many event professionals and facilitators. the 2015 PCMA Education Conference ) and small (e.g. the 2023 BizBash Leadership Summit ) conferences. A hat tip!

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Conferences that Work

APRIL 14, 2025

Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post Making the human spectrogram map even better appeared first on Conferences That Work. So I wasn’t surprised when, during a recent debrief, a client mentioned a simple way to improve the human spectrogram maps I’ve recommended and run for decades.

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Conferences that Work

JUNE 3, 2019

The first peer conference I convened and designed was held June 3 – 5, 1992 at Marlboro College, Vermont. So, as of today, the community of practice that eventually became edACCESS has enjoyed 27 years of peer conferences. Twenty-three people came to the inaugural conference. 27 years of peer conferences.

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Conferences that Work

NOVEMBER 23, 2020

Earlier this year I reviewed ( 1 , 2 ) three online conference social platforms: Gatherly , Rally , and Wonder ( the new name for Yotribe since September). Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post Gatherly, Rally, and Wonder comparative review appeared first on Conferences That Work. No related posts.

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Smart Meetings

APRIL 29, 2025

AI tools were used in the development of this article In this article, we review three diverse books, each offering unique perspectives and valuable insights into their respective fields. Whether you’re an event planner, AI enthusiast, or leader in live event management, theres something here for everyone.

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Conferences that Work

MARCH 18, 2019

a social or a group discussion) and claim their event is now “experiential” So what are the differences between genuine and a phony experiential conferences? Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post Three differences between genuine and phony experiential conferences appeared first on Conferences That Work.

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Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 17, 2025

The Case for Alternative Platforms Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post We need alternative platforms for communities and events appeared first on Conferences That Work.

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Conferences that Work

JANUARY 6, 2020

A recent Wired article argues that “ Science Conferences Are Stuck in the Dark Ages “ Unsurprisingly, I agree — but there’s some light in the darkness! Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post Are science conferences stuck in the Dark Ages? appeared first on Conferences That Work.

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