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.)

Conference 202

Conference 2009 Conference Design 2015 202

Velvet Chainsaw

JULY 25, 2017

The Best And Biggest Question To Ask During Your Conference Planning Process. Above all, start your conference design with this major question: Do our conference venue spaces serve as learning spaces? Help them embrace and adopt meta-cognition.

Conference 315

Conference Education Conference Planning Conference Design 315

Conferences that Work

MARCH 12, 2018

Read the full article at Conferences That Work Related posts: A birthday present for you on the 21st anniversary of Conferences That Work What a long strange trip it’s been The first Conferences That Work event was held June 3–5, 1992, at Marlboro College, Vermont. Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design!

2010 185

2010 2017 Conference Design Government 185

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.

Conference 160

Conference Conference Design Meeting Design Education 160

Velvet Chainsaw

JULY 8, 2021

EDT for the Reston Herndon Meeting Planners, “Ready or Not, Here They Come: 5 Post-Pandemic Conference Design Changes.”. Dave will talk about his forecasts for future trends for association events at a virtual education session on July 15 at 10 a.m. He believes leadership will be more open to change after a live-event hiatus.

Consulting 195

Consulting Conference Design Education Conference 195

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 16, 2024

” —Jeff Jarvis At conferences, the “users” are primarily participants. For decades, I’ve championed responsible conference designs that prioritize participants. Jeff Jarvis Similarly, peer conference designs are transparent. Screw your users, screw yourself.”

Conference 202

Conference 2012 Conference Design Government 202

Conferences that Work

JANUARY 28, 2019

Here’s the text version: Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post Making large scale change happen appeared first on Conferences That Work. Related posts: Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design! given at EventCamp Twin Cities on September 9, 2010? If so, download.

2010 150

2010 Conference Design Conference Management 150

Conferences that Work

AUGUST 6, 2018

Image attribution: Marisha Aziz Read the full article at Conferences That Work Related posts: Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design! Want to see my 6 minute 40 second Pecha Kucha presentation Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design! given at EventCamp Twin Cities on September 9, 2010?

Conference 233

Conference 2010 2011 Conference Design 233

Velvet Chainsaw

JUNE 29, 2016

How your audience responds will have a direct impact on your conference’s brand image and credibility. From a conference design perspective, we believe the current best practice is to bookend your conference by opening with a strong-thought provoking speaker and closing with inspiration. What to Look For.

Speakers 278

Speakers Conference Food and Beverage Negotiating 278

Velvet Chainsaw

MARCH 6, 2017

So consider these questions: Is your conference designed to give your customers the experience they expect? If you plan to meet their expectation of just one or two takeaways, you’ve already lowered your conference standards to average at best. It runs smoothly as planned. Word of caution here.

Conference 295

Conference Trade Shows Conference Planning Contracts 295

Velvet Chainsaw

MARCH 17, 2017

The speaker, Sourabh Kothari, also a DES, presenting on how content should drive conference design , welcomed the virtual audience, but didn’t dwell on us. Before the session got underway, she welcomed us to the chat room, asked people to introduce themselves (many from outside the U.S.)

Meetings 264

Meetings 2011 Speakers Education 264

Conferences that Work

DECEMBER 10, 2018

Can we overcome bias against truly creative event design? Though millions of meetings take place every year, thousands of meeting organizers know how to create truly create conference designs. The steady rise in popularity of participant-driven and participation-rich designs like Conferences That Work continues.

Event Design 238

Event Design Food and Beverage 2011 2012 238

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

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. Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design! If so, download.

2010 147

2010 Conference Design Conference Education 147

Velvet Chainsaw

JUNE 4, 2018

Then create a conference outcome based on designing a great planning process for you and your team. Ask the team: What are we as a conference design planning team passionate about? Where can we take some calculated risks in this design? Expand Your Questions. What are we curious about?

Conference 271

Conference Conference Planning Conference Design Meetings 271

Conferences that Work

AUGUST 19, 2024

Forged ahead and wrote what eventually became a series of three books on conference design. Consequently became a valued resource on meeting design and facilitation for thousands of people and organizations. Thanks to my mentors, I: Set my professional fees at the right level when I began consulting in 1982.

Consulting 202

Consulting Conference Design Meeting Design Conference 202

Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 19, 2018

, June 2, Indianapolis and you'll leave with the key to successful 21st century conferences: knowing how to truly satisfy attendees by adding effective participation, learning, connection, and engagement to. Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design! given at EventCamp Twin Cities on September 9, 2010? If so, download.

Speakers 130

Speakers 2010 2011 Conference Design 130

Conferences that Work

JULY 2, 2018

The needs assessment trap Conference design clients who “know what they want” have already decided on their “ why? Because most clients engage me after they are committed to programs and logistics that are not optimum for what they’re trying to accomplish! ” and “ who? ” and “ where?

Meeting Design 192

Meeting Design 2012 2014 Meetings 192

Conferences that Work

MAY 20, 2019

Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post Events operate by stories appeared first on Conferences That Work. Related posts: Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design! Want to see my 6 minute 40 second Pecha Kucha presentation Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design!

2010 150

2010 Conference Design Conference Events 150

Conferences that Work

JUNE 27, 2016

Next Tuesday, August 16, in Atlanta, I’ll be leading a three-hour workshop for the Georgia Meeting Professionals International Chapter (GaMPI) on participation techniques you can use to transform your conference sessions. Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design! I’ll. If so, download.

2015 192

2015 2012 2016 2010 192

Velvet Chainsaw

JUNE 28, 2018

Our conferences end up with hackitectures, petrified designs. Eventually, the conference design is driven by the needs of these hackitectures and organizational debt instead of the target market and future of the profession. The energy and labor involved to understand the internals about these processes are exhausting.

Conference 186

Conference Conference Planning Conference Design Speakers 186

Conferences that Work

AUGUST 29, 2016

Related posts: What I learned about event professionals at EventCamp East Coast One of the reasons I love to facilitate Conferences That Work is that I get to learn interesting things about the culture of the participants. Whoever they are—young developing leaders, Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design!

Event Design 136

Event Design 2010 2016 2009 136

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

The solution to this is to design your unconference before choosing the venue. When this doesn’t happen (sadly, most of the time in my experience) the conference design, no matter how good it is, suffers. The result is that novice-organized unconferences rarely have the venue space they need to work well.

Conference 266

Conference Venues 2023 Consulting 266

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

I’ve run the core Conferences That Work design in a day numerous times, and it’s always a rush. A peer conference design such as Open Space doesn’t need so much time—a few hours can be useful—though it omits some of the features that make Conferences That Work so effective.

Meeting Design 120

Meeting Design Conference Meetings Conference Design 120

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 23, 2024

As you’d expect from LLMs these days, NotebookLM provided a good written summary of the post: “The sources compare the responsibilities of news organizations to the responsibilities of conferences, arguing that both should prioritize their users and be transparent, open, and reliable. ” So far, so good.

Conference 321

Conference Conference Design Technology Tech 321

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!

Meeting Design 208

Meeting Design Meetings Conference Conference Design 208

Conferences that Work

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

Traditional conference designs also adopt this model. This is a common model in organizations, where high-level executives meticulously plan a change “that will go into effect on January 1” Here’s Jerry’s drawing of how this supposedly works. Obviously we can make plans to initiate change.

Consulting 224

Consulting Conference Design Conference Management 224

Conferences that Work

MARCH 25, 2024

His enthusiasm for my conference design work was a huge boost. (I didn’t, but the right one would have helped.) In particular, share your plans for the book with people and writers you respect. I had lunch alone with Jerry during his workshop. Find your own mentors and use them sparingly and with appreciation.

2005 202

2005 2009 2007 Consulting 202

Conferences that Work

OCTOBER 31, 2016

Related posts: Participation techniques you can use in conference sessions Here’s the summary handout for my workshop on participation techniques you can use in conference sessions that I’ll be leading at MPI’s World Education Congress 2011. Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design! If so, download.

2010 120

2010 2011 Conference Design Conference 120

PCMA Convene

MAY 10, 2021

5 Program Design Change Trends. As we work with conference organizers to plan the return of their major conferences, five conference design trends have emerged, which may be useful to keep in mind as you design your own events. Purposeful abandonment :?This

Conference 125

Conference Sponsorships Consulting Conference Design 125

Conferences that Work

JULY 18, 2016

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. Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design! If so, download.

Consulting 120

Consulting Sponsorships 2010 2011 120

Prestige Events Magazine

SEPTEMBER 2, 2024

The goal was to create an unforgettable celebration, marking the end of the conference with a high-energy, immersive experience.

Conference Design 103

Conference Design Conference Entertainment Management 103

Smart Meetings

DECEMBER 28, 2023

How emerging AI and other technology will boost event humanity by putting attendee needs at the center of conference design Attendees expect more from events today and emerging technology is helping to deliver on those demands.

Event Technology 111

Event Technology 2024 Technology Social Media 111

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

Can you see why software testers like Lisi think that peer conferences rock?! Here’s another example from a software testing peer conference, TestBash Brighton 2018. The conference designers invented a way to create “highly engaging, interactive and fun” poster sessions. The Unexpo Experiment.

Conference 156

Conference 2022 2004 Meeting Design 156

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.

Conference 342

Conference 2010 2011 2014 342

PCMA Convene

AUGUST 4, 2022

In a post on his Conferences that Work blog , conference designer Adrian Segar writes: “If you want maximum learning, interaction, and connection at a meeting, small meetings are better than large meetings. Adrian Segar. Pod Perspective.

Conference Design 98

Conference Design Conference Hotels Hospitality 98

eventplanner

MAY 24, 2020

Conference design goes beyond venue decorations, networking dynamics, and knowledge sessions. While those are all important, you’ll also want to surpass your attendees’ expectations and make sure they enjoy every activity you’ve planned, including the con

Conference 54

Conference Conference Design Venues 54

PCMA Convene

JUNE 1, 2016

How your audience responds to a keynote speaker has a direct connection to your conference’s brand image and credibility, so choose wisely. From a conference-design perspective, it’s a smart practice to bookend your event by opening with a strong thought-provoking speaker and closing with an inspirational one.

Speakers 73

Speakers Social Media Sponsorships Consulting 73