Velvet Chainsaw

JUNE 17, 2019

I have been struck by the disparity in how an association’s organizational culture translates (or doesn’t translate) to the on-site implementation or planning of its live events. But when it gets to “go time,” does that culture manifest at your conferences and meetings? Conference staff are not able to do everything!

Conference 366

Conference Meeting Planning Hotels Meetings 366

Velvet Chainsaw

JULY 21, 2016

When Conference Plans Land On Chutes. So many conference leaders, organizers and planning teams are obsessed with details, logistics and planning. Their plans actually obscure their conference’s vision. Their attention to detail and efficiency eclipses the conference purpose.

Conference Planning 150

Conference Planning Conference Tech Speakers 150

Velvet Chainsaw

JULY 25, 2017

Our conference learning spaces affect our audience. Then we can focus on changing our conference participants’ learning spaces with the right goal in mind—nurturing their learning. Are You Putting Lipstick On Outdated Conference Education Models And Calling It A Success? Think About These As You Plan And Design.

Conference 315

Conference Education Conference Planning Conference Design 315

Velvet Chainsaw

APRIL 9, 2020

The Conference Board has the best we’ve come across so far: May Reboot – quick recovery. In the beginning of this crisis, organizers of major conferences and trade shows were canceling with very little lead time. What advice would you add for scenario planning and predictions? Fall Recovery – Extended contraction.

Conference 418

Conference Contracts Airlines Trade Shows 418

Velvet Chainsaw

OCTOBER 20, 2020

While things have changed, these tenets will hold true and the principles can be applied to other D&I conferences and events. After studying and consulting on several successful association women’s conferences, I can confidently say – they need to be very different than other conferences in your portfolio.

Conference 366

Conference 2020 Sponsorships Government 366

Velvet Chainsaw

MARCH 6, 2017

Your real conference competition is not that event held six months after yours. Today’s technology driven, hyper-connected, instant gratification, real-time world puts you as a conference organizer in a difficult position. Too often our current conference planning processes focus on the greatest common denominator.

Conference 295

Conference Trade Shows Conference Planning Contracts 295

Velvet Chainsaw

JUNE 4, 2018

As conference organizers, why can’t we also have a fun, fulfilling, and collaborative experience planning and designing the conference? And our planning team members should too. Here are six ways to focus on designing your team’s experience during your next conference planning process. (I confess: I have!).

Conference 271

Conference Conference Planning Conference Design Meetings 271

Velvet Chainsaw

JULY 14, 2016

Why do so many people rate the conference experience as stale, predictable and average at best? Why do conference leaders miss the mark at preparing their own unique DNA conference experience? Why do so many conference organizers miss the opportunity to create a matchless thumbprint on their event’s identity?

Conference Planning 150

Conference Planning Conference Marketing Meetings 150

Velvet Chainsaw

JULY 27, 2018

Who wants to attend a common, ordinary, ho-hum, everyday , I’m-just-like-all-the-others traditional conference? And who wants to plan or sell one? Your conference growth and revenue depends upon repeat paying attendees year after year. And your customer loyalty is built upon making your common conference uncommon.

Conference 330

Conference Speakers Technology Venues 330

Velvet Chainsaw

MAY 3, 2017

Most conferences are stuck in a rut! So how do you create a conference experience that is not like all the others? Start by considering one or more of these conference big ideas. They are the conference planning road less traveled that harvests success! Big Conference Ideas On The Road Less Traveled Part 1.

Travel 304

Travel Conference Food and Beverage Conference Planning 304

Velvet Chainsaw

DECEMBER 23, 2020

In spite of all the bad, there is also much that is positive for the next phase of association conferences. The purpose of the event was simple; to bring together a like-minded group of really smart and thoughtful people to share what they’ve learned in 2020 and what they are taking into 2021 for their organization’s major conference.

Conference 370

Conference 2020 2021 Conference Planning 370

Velvet Chainsaw

NOVEMBER 8, 2018

Applying a story arc to the conference can activate participants’ brains. You can use the story arc concept to carefully craft the messages and issues you want your conference participants to explore, experience and learn. So exactly how do you use a story arc for your conference? All stories have a beginning, middle and end.

Conference 369

Conference Education Conference Planning Events 369

Velvet Chainsaw

JUNE 28, 2017

It’s as if Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore’s Experience Economy is just now hitting its stride—for conferences at least. The word is out: we’ve got to create conference experiences, not just conferences that feel like a patchwork quilt of our great grandmother’s dresses. A Disturbing Conference Trend. Read on…). Wrong hook!).

Conference 297

Conference 2006 Conference Planning Speakers 297

Velvet Chainsaw

NOVEMBER 8, 2016

Big business, conferences, education, government, medicine, membership associations, nonprofits, professional societies, religious organizations, trade organizations, etc. Yes, your conference and your membership organization are customary, standard institutions. “I’m done with !”. The Research About Your Institution.

Conference 394

Conference Government Education Meetings 394

Eventmobi

MAY 23, 2024

A well-planned and executed conference will do wonders for your organization. A conference can help you achieve these things—if you host it correctly. To ensure your conference is a smashing success, invest in conference management. Keep reading this comprehensive guide to learn: What is a Conference?

Conference 292

Conference Management Speakers Event Apps 292

Velvet Chainsaw

JANUARY 25, 2018

Too often conference and meeting professionals assume that their role is best suited to planning and executing the conference. I get that from the education section or the conference technical teams.”. They own designing the conference customers experience journey. From Touchpoints To Customer Journeys.

Conference 240

Conference Education Fashion 2016 240

Velvet Chainsaw

JUNE 21, 2018

The North Star is the perfect metaphor for your annual conference purpose. When your conference purpose serves as a North Star, it guides all decisions, tasks, behaviors and strategy. Uncovering Your North Star Conviction To Find Conference True Target Market. What’s your conference conviction?

Conference 261

Conference Conference Planning Sponsorships Marketing 261

Velvet Chainsaw

SEPTEMBER 17, 2018

Most conference and meeting professionals want the coolest, hippest, latest ideas and trends for their events. We want to know what unique things other conferences are doing so we can borrow their ideas. We pursue fads, gimmicks and trends as the silver bullets of our conference woes. Conference trend and fad bandwagons.

Conference 350

Conference Meetings Food and Beverage Social Media 350

Velvet Chainsaw

JUNE 14, 2017

The mass-personalization wave that is dramatically changing what and how we buy as consumers has application to conferences. Application to Conferences. In my opinion, the first item — individualizing a conference experience for every attendee — isn’t scalable today.

Conference 308

Conference 2017 Hospitality Tech 308

Velvet Chainsaw

JUNE 29, 2018

Conference organizers and their planning teams should understand, identify and quash organizational debt. Refactoring As A Metaphor For Conference Improvement. What we need is a conference refactor to fix our organizational debt — to make it possible for our planning and event to evolve. Refactor it?”

Conference 231

Conference Conference Planning Management Technology 231

Velvet Chainsaw

JANUARY 7, 2019

Many conferences are stuck in the rut of legacy routines, age-old rituals and cloned programming. Conference organizers and its advisors replicate the past maintaining the traditions and well-established procedures of yesteryear. Conference organizers and advisors can breathe new life into their events. Robert Evans.

Conference 353

Conference Conference Planning Events 353

Velvet Chainsaw

JANUARY 9, 2019

Do your conference learning opportunities—from the general session to networking to breakouts to deep dive workshops—empower registrants to participate in their own learning journey? Or do your conference education sessions motivate participants to see the finish line? So exactly how do conferences promote learning as a finish line?

Conference 365

Conference Education Conference Planning Events 365

Velvet Chainsaw

SEPTEMBER 20, 2017

Too often when we think about conference growth or sustainability, we assume it means attracting next gen customers. Then we discuss how to plan, program and market to that specific age group. Eventually our planning discussions turn to generational differences. We pinpoint a specific generation, usually Millennials.

Conference 258

Conference Conference Planning Marketing Sustainability 258

Velvet Chainsaw

JULY 18, 2018

Yet deciding to abandon a conference programming element can clear the way for new successful traditions to take hold. It is creating a habit of regularly questioning every conference planning practice and programming component that we currently use. The Conference Growth Policy Of Abandonment. Purposeful Abandonment.

Conference 225

Conference Conference Planning Marketing Education 225

Velvet Chainsaw

JULY 31, 2018

As conference organizers, we frequently ignore the evidence all around us of what’s working and what’s not. Often our conference planning teams and volunteer advisors follow our lead as we give more precedent to what feels right. What type of data do we have already have in our hands for any conference improvement process?

Conference 240

Conference Conference Planning 240

Velvet Chainsaw

JULY 9, 2018

And just as important, how and what do we think about our conferences and events? How do we understand our conference planning processes, its underlying assumptions, and our customers, partners, exhibitors, and stakeholders? What is the result of our conference assumptions and perceptions? How do we think?

Conference 218

Conference Conference Planning Events Venues 218

Velvet Chainsaw

JULY 31, 2017

As a conference organizer, how purpose-driven are you? Successful conference organizers are purpose-driven! They design conference experiences that become meaning-making opportunities for their participants. And they make their planning teams’ work important. Purpose-Driven Conference Organizers’ Mindset.

Conference 199

Conference Conference Planning Education Meetings 199

Velvet Chainsaw

MAY 29, 2018

We are used to thinking of our conference and its planning process as a one-way transaction from the company to its customers. Sometimes we view the planning process as a backbreaking, arduous, life-draining experience. We may even dread working with a new conference advisory committee due to our negative past experiences.

Conference 199

Conference Conference Planning Education Speakers 199

Velvet Chainsaw

JANUARY 10, 2019

It’s hard for conference organizers to stick to planning the essential elements of their events. As a conference professional, it is your mission each day to keep your focus on the essential elements of your event for your customers’ sake. Some of essentialism’s guiding ideas apply well to business and conferences.

Conference 310

Conference Social Media Entertainment Technology 310

Velvet Chainsaw

OCTOBER 17, 2018

Your association, annual conference, and governance are all institutions. One of the sacred cows for associations and their annual conference is attributing notoriety to the office of the president, board chair or annual conference committee chair. Smith’s year” or “Sally’s year” when referring to past annual conferences.

Conference 281

Conference Government Consulting 2018 281

Velvet Chainsaw

JULY 5, 2018

Conference organizational debt. Your conference organizational debt includes the static roles, traditional structures, outdated models, long-established practices, antiquated procedures and legacy policies that prevent your organization from adapting to evolving markets, technology and society. What is it? What’s its history?

Conference 225

Conference Site Selections Conference Planning Speakers 225

Velvet Chainsaw

JUNE 9, 2016

A Momentous Catalyst To Conference Attendee Behavior Change. I am often asked how to get conference attendees to adopt 21 st Century learning habits. The majority of conferences treat attendees as consumers of information. To Get Conference Registrants’ Buy-In For Behavior Change, First Re-Label Them.

Conference 244

Conference Education Speakers Marketing 244

Velvet Chainsaw

JANUARY 31, 2019

However, a conference at rest, tends to die. The enemy of most conferences is the way it’s always been. When inertia influences your conference, it’s planned by the way you’ve always done it, programmed full of (past) best practices and destined to become average, slowly suffocating on its own status quo.

Conference 210

Conference Conference Planning Marketing Management 210

Velvet Chainsaw

SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

Your conference could be a place for your customers to experience unrestricted curiosity and play. Curiosity and play are necessities you can’t afford to avoid at your conference. Creating Conference Spitball Shooting Participants. Fostering More Conference Curiosity And Play Hygiene. But most of the time it’s not.

Conference 310

Conference Sports Conference Planning 310

Velvet Chainsaw

JULY 10, 2017

In order to design relevant education and networking experiences at our conferences, we need to be focused to the point of obsession with our target audience. Over the past 18 months, we’ve carefully scrubbed and analyzed the attendance of 20 major conferences. Who has the professional development budget to attend every year?

Conference 288

Conference Education 2017 Speakers 288

Velvet Chainsaw

MAY 4, 2017

This list of conference big ideas just doesn’t belong to the traditional, average conference planning process. Big Conference Ideas On The Road Less Traveled Part 2. Here are the remaining five conference big ideas to create a conference experience that is not like all the others. Read the first five here.

Conference 218

Conference Meetings Conference Planning Education 218

Velvet Chainsaw

JUNE 28, 2018

There is one debt every conference organizer must face and vanquish. It can cripple a conference. Organizational debt—the interest your conference pays when its structures, policies, procedures, practices, committees and leadership roles stay fixed and accumulate even as the world around it changes.* What is this debt?

Conference 186

Conference Conference Planning Conference Design Speakers 186