SmartMeetings

FEBRUARY 13, 2025

We asked some of the people creating meeting magic today alongside the massive influx of new meeting designers that have come to the industry since Covid for tips on what to ask your partners and when to get started. Much of that is coordinated through the conference services manager (CSM). Probably not great.

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Conferences that Work

AUGUST 9, 2021

Far too much money is spent on meeting glitz at the expense of good meeting design. Learn how to do this from my books, from the hundreds of articles on this blog, or get in touch ! Seth Godin makes an analogous point in this post…. Good writing is cheaper than special effects. “In movies, that’s obvious.

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Conferences that Work

AUGUST 24, 2020

Here are five meeting design books I especially recommend. Into the Heart of Meetings: Basic Principles of Meeting Design ( ebook or paperback ). Into the Heart of Meetings: Basic Principles of Meeting Design ( ebook or paperback ). Intentional Event Design ( ebook or paperback ).

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Conferences that Work

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

Why not make your entire conference a braindate? I like the braindate approach , but it doesn’t have to be something that’s grafted onto a conference. Because good event design is about how a conference works. So there’s no need to add a braindate process to a well-designed meeting.

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Conferences that Work

NOVEMBER 20, 2023

I’m indebted to Martin Sirk for sharing remarkable information about an 1828 conference designed by the German geographer, naturalist, and explorer Alexander von Humboldt. Read what follows to discover that Humboldt was also a meeting designer way ahead of his time! Martin Sirk Modern meeting design!

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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

MARCH 28, 2022

When meeting planner textbooks gloss over the key ways that meetings can be made much more effective and useful for all stakeholders, planners remain ignorant, and traditional broadcast-style meetings continue to be the norm. Most assume that a meeting planner is all they need. Sadly, few clients know any better.

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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

JANUARY 10, 2022

For too long, we’ve equated a meeting’s “success” with its size. ” But if we concentrate on increasing attendance, we overlook getting the meeting design right. Improving an event’s design makes the meeting better for all the stakeholders: meeting owners, sponsors, and participants.

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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

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

Well, here’s an alternative historical perspective from a completely different source, a 1926 article about the New York Club of Printing House Craftsmen, uncovered by Jeff Jarvis and described as “ …a lovely evocation on the value of sharing in our field, which we used to call printing. ” “Stop. No related posts.

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Conferences that Work

JUNE 14, 2021

When the leading candidate for the Mayor of New York City has this take on how people learn, perhaps it’s not so surprising that we’re still sitting through endless broadcast-style sessions at meetings and conferences. Learning researchers and our best teachers and meeting designers have known this for a long time.

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Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

Presentation versus interaction at meetings. But our meeting designs, in large part, haven’t changed to reflect this shift in cultural awareness. Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post Presentation versus interaction at meetings appeared first on Conferences That Work.

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Conferences that Work

JULY 2, 2018

Recently, a client asked for help designing a new conference. The needs assessment trap Conference design clients who “know what they want” have already decided on their “ why? It’s an honor to work on a classic Conferences That. Conferences That Work goes to Japan!

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Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 26, 2018

Traditional conferences focus on a hodgepodge of pre-determined sessions punctuated with socials, surrounded by short welcomes and closings. Such conference designs treat openings and closings as perfunctory traditions, perhaps pumped up with a keynote or two, rather than key components of the conference design.

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Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 20, 2017

And yes, I admit it, during the second day of my vacation while enjoying the harmonies I hear, I’m jolted to think about religious meeting design…. Religious services are thought to be around 300,000 years old — by far the oldest form of organized meeting that humans have created. Keep ’em moving!

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Conferences that Work

AUGUST 16, 2021

And it made me think about meeting design. And, me being me, I thought about what Marcy had just said in the context of meeting design. And meetings are no exception. The art and craft of the meeting designer. It’s a meeting designer’s job to create these contextual layers.

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Conferences that Work

APRIL 18, 2022

The first novel hybrid meeting format was invented by Joel Backon back in 2010. The second is a design I’ll be using in a conference I’ve designed and will be facilitating in June 2022. Collaborative Tools Workshop ” designed by Joel Backon at the 2010 annual edACCESS conference.

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Conferences that Work

DECEMBER 16, 2019

If you had told me forty years ago, a freshly minted high-energy particle physics postdoc, that I’d go on to have four additional careers (owner of a solar manufacturing business, computer science professor, independent IT consultant, and meeting designer/facilitator) I wouldn’t have believed you. Hire curious people.

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Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

I’ve been promoting the Conferences That Work meeting format for so long, that some people assume I think it’s the right choice for every meeting. two meeting types and three situations when you should NOT use a Conferences That Work design: — Most corporate events. Well, it’s not.

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Conferences that Work

JUNE 28, 2021

During our 25 minutes together, we discussed various panel formats, their value, and how to structure and design powerful panel discussions into the larger context of meetings, conferences, and events. 2:30 A brief history of meetings; why lecture formats are still so popular; how panels fit into the larger context of meetings.

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Conferences that Work

MAY 11, 2020

I’ve been designing and facilitating participant-driven and participation-rich in person meetings — aka peer conferences — for almost thirty years. Because participants love these meetings ! Now the covid-19 pandemic has forced meetings online. In person meetings have vanished overnight.

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Conferences that Work

APRIL 25, 2022

The Conference Arc: Building connection while uncovering wants, needs, and resources. Ask Adrian Anything: using a fishbowl sandwich to facilitate group discussion on meeting design and facilitation. Human spectrograms: a simple tool for learning about other participants. Creating the right program. Consolidating learning.

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Conferences that Work

JULY 24, 2017

So you’re holding a conference. Read the full article at Conferences That Work. The Solution Room—a powerful conference session There’s been a lot of interest in The Solution Room, a session that I co-facilitated last July at Meeting Professionals International World Education Congress in Orlando, Florida.

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Conferences that Work

MARCH 3, 2022

Here’s a rare opportunity to ask me anything about meeting design and facilitation at a unique, free, online workshop. Take this opportunity to ask Adrian anything about meeting design and facilitation. Enjoy time after the session in an online social environment that closely mimics meeting in-person socials.

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Conferences that Work

AUGUST 12, 2024

Religious meetings are a small, fascinating subset of the meeting industry. I learned about them when I presented at The Religious Conference Management Association annual conference in 2014, and I’ve written about what meeting designers can learn from religious services. 4, Article 13.

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Conferences that Work

APRIL 1, 2019

This (slightly edited) interview by JT Long appeared in the March 2019 issue of Smart Meetings Magazine. What led to writing the book, Conferences that Work ? I invented the format by accident 26 years ago when there were no expert speakers to invite for a conference on administrative computing issues in small schools.

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Conferences that Work

APRIL 5, 2021

Only about 10% of adult learning involves formal classroom or meeting presentation formats. Unfortunately, traditional conferences are poor places for this kind of learning to occur, since they’re filled with broadcast-style lectures, during which no interpersonal interaction takes place. No related posts.

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Conferences that Work

OCTOBER 11, 2021

All meeting design needs to recognize this reality. What we think of as modern business meetings and conferences are hundreds of years old. The traditional top-down formats of meetings and conferences reflect the top-down structure of the institutions that still largely dominate our world. Institutions.

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Gallus Events

JULY 24, 2017

I have always used the metaphor of a production line to explain the need for meeting design. The production line approach to Meeting Design. Most departments are set up to deal with an exhibition or a conference. The post The production line approach to meeting design appeared first on Gallus Events.

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Conferences that Work

JULY 19, 2021

If you want maximum learning, interaction, and connection at a meeting, small meetings are better than large meetings. For example, think about a conference to explore the implications of a medical breakthrough. Increased learning, interaction, and connection. Have you experienced one, and, if so, what was it like?

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Conferences that Work

JUNE 12, 2017

I love my meeting design clients, but there is one mistake I see them making over and over again. Clients invariably ask me to help design their meeting after they’ve chosen a venue! Read the full article at Conferences That Work. Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design!

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Conferences that Work

APRIL 1, 2024

On Tuesday, March 26, 2024 , I sat down with Martin Duffy and Paul Nunesdea on LinkedIn Live for an hour’s deep dive conversation about peer conferences: the participant-driven, participation-rich events I’ve designed and facilitated for over thirty years. Peer Conferences Unveiled—The Transcript! Here it is—enjoy!

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Conferences that Work

AUGUST 15, 2022

Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post Making event choices appeared first on Conferences That Work. All too often, clients planning an event don’t spend enough time making hard but important event choices. No related posts.

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Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 5, 2024

Community versus audience I began my first book with the research finding (and common observation) that people go to conferences to network and learn. Creating community at conferences around participant-driven content , therefore, creates a far more effective learning and connection-rich environment.

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Conferences that Work

JULY 31, 2017

Although I have good reasons to champion meeting designs where the participants get to choose what they want and need to discuss and learn rather than a program committee , there is invariably a place for some predetermined presentations at conferences. Read the full article at Conferences That Work.

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Conferences that Work

JUNE 7, 2021

Why am I writing about social learning on a blog that’s (mainly) about meeting design? Because social (uncovered) learning is the best learning model for conference sessions. Which means, to create the best meetings we need to maximize the social learning that takes place. Humans’ true superpower.

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