Conferences that Work

APRIL 18, 2022

I’ve been writing about hybrid meetings for a long time; my first post was in February 2010. The COVID19 pandemic created an explosion of interest in hybrid meetings, and the marketplace and event professionals are still defining what “hybrid” means. (No, Sounds crazy, yes, but stay with me!

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2010 Meetings Conference Travel 423

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. Obvious problems. Complicated problems.

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Conferences that Work

MARCH 3, 2025

It’s time to revisit this important topic because you can improve your meetings by making attendee status a real-time construct. Their status is publicly proclaimed on the pre-conference program, giving attendees no say in the decision. Improve all your meetings! For more on how this works, check out this 2014 post.

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Meetings 2014 Conference Design Fashion 156

Conferences that Work

JULY 19, 2021

Ever since my first encounter with the hybrid hub and spoke meeting topology at Event Camp Twin Cities in 2011, I’ve been a big fan of the format. Yesterday [see below], I realized that hub and spoke is a great format for purely online meetings too. What’s a hub and spoke meeting? But first…. A terminology reminder.

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Meetings 2011 2021 Fashion 367

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

What is the mix of presentation versus interaction at your meetings? Traditional meetings focus heavily on presentation. Presentation versus interaction at meetings. But our meeting designs, in large part, haven’t changed to reflect this shift in cultural awareness. What should it be? The written word.

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Meetings Meeting Design Conference Event Design 315

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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Conference 2020 2019 Meeting Design 305

Conferences that Work

JUNE 14, 2021

Why are our meetings still full of lectures? 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. It’s just the opposite. No related posts.

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Meetings 2021 Meeting Design Conference 348

Conferences that Work

OCTOBER 11, 2021

I think it’s also a meeting problem: “The real problem of humanity is the following: we have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and god-like technology.” And so it goes with meetings. It’s why businesses sponsor meetings. All meeting design needs to recognize this reality.

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Meetings 2009 2002 Technology 320

Conferences that Work

NOVEMBER 8, 2021

What are the fairest rules to use when running meetings? ” I think it’s reasonable to concentrate on fairness to participants : the majority of those involved with the meeting. All meetings have rules, whether overt or covert, conscious or unconscious, that influence how they proceed. Status and power at meetings.

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Meetings Conference Negotiating Speakers 358

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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Conference Meetings Corporate Meetings Association Meetings 245

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. Breaks aren’t communal activities.

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Meeting Design Meetings 2014 Speakers 166

Conferences that Work

OCTOBER 21, 2024

I’ve not always agreed with Freeman’s Reports , but, if you’re in the meeting industry, Freeman’s Trends Report Q4 2024 is a must-read. Informal meetings with SMEs are rated important by 24% of organizers , but 48% of attendees find them crucial. The language of connection : The words we use for meetings matter.

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2024 Event Design Meeting Design Education 240

Conferences that Work

MARCH 17, 2025

Since November 2009, I’ve been writing weekly about meeting design, facilitation, and all kinds of other things that have sparked my interest, and I’m taking a break for a couple of weeks. Don’t worry; I’m hanging out here right now. I’ll be back! Have a great day!

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2009 Meeting Design Conference Meetings 156

Conferences that Work

JANUARY 25, 2021

How can we design the optimum balance between control versus freedom at meetings? Note that I’m not suggesting meeting professionals give up any attempt to control what happens at their events. Creating events that truly meet participants’ wants and needs. You’ve been kidding yourself all these years.

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Meetings 2010 2020 Conference 345

Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 5, 2024

Many meetings still focus on creating audiences rather than community. And not just at meetings. Damon Kiesow , @dkiesow@social.kiesow.net, Mastodon toot on Nov 06, 2022, 10:37 Kiesow concisely sums up why the news business and the meeting industry concentrate on audience rather than community.

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Meetings Meeting Design 2015 Conference 245

Conferences that Work

APRIL 11, 2022

Over the years I’ve designed and facilitated hundreds of meetings. One of the most common issues I address that is rarely acknowledged openly is the tension between the wants and needs of suppliers and practitioners at meetings. But what happens when both suppliers and practitioners at meetings attend sessions ?

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Meetings Conference Meeting Design Advertising 296

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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Meeting Design 2012 2014 Meetings 192

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?

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Conference Education 2017 Speakers 288

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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Meeting Design Conference Meetings Conference Design 120

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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Conference 2012 Conference Design Government 240

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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Venues 2010 Meetings Conference Design 221

Gallus Events

DECEMBER 11, 2018

I spoke at IBTM in Barcelona ( you can read the “review” here ) at the end of November on one of my favourite topics, Meeting Design or fresh formats for conferences. I then picked out five key things to consider when you thinking about designing fresh formats. What objectives should underpin meeting design.

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Conference Meeting Design Entertainment Meetings 178

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. But when we are fully engaged in a meeting, we are just there , immersed in and responding to what is happening. The rehearsal.

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Food and Beverage Meeting Design 2021 Meetings 348

Conferences that Work

MAY 24, 2021

Are online meetings reducing our collective intelligence [CI] ? New research about online meetings. Translation: in the experimental setup used , the researchers found that online meeting participants were: better able to avoid interrupting each other; and. ” Artificial online meetings. I don’t think so.

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Meetings 2016 Consulting Conference 296

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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Meeting Design Meetings Technology Sponsorships 124

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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Conference 2012 Meetings Meeting Design 395

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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Conference 2014 Consulting Meeting Design 189

Conferences that Work

MARCH 29, 2021

The essential characteristics of meeting professionals. If there is a heaven on earth in the event industry, there are four essential characteristics of successful meeting professionals you’ll meet there. Every successful meeting involves thinking about, planning for and executing countless details. Details matter.

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Meetings Tourism Consulting Hospitality 244

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. The solar energy company.

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Consulting Meeting Design Conference Meetings 362

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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Meetings Meeting Design Conference Speakers 220

Gallus Events

MARCH 22, 2016

At the end of February we supported Practically Perfect PA to run their second “Assist Conference” They reached their target of 100 PAs just a few days before the date of the conference, and everyone was delighted to have sold out the event. The five keys to great conference content. And the reason?

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Conference Meeting Design Speakers Fashion 173

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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Conference Conference Design Meeting Design Education 179

Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

. ‘And the men [sic*] who had the same or similar problems to meet in the actual running of their employers’ businesses found that an exchange of views and ideas benefitted them without hurting their employers.'” Whether you’re a community of practice, a consultant, or a meeting designer, this simple aphorism applies!

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Consulting Meeting Design Conference Meetings 369

Smart Meetings

AUGUST 15, 2022

Now that events are going back to in person, how can meeting professionals deliver the same level of detailed success metrics to the executive team about the range of value delivered on the investment? Two veteran meeting designers joined Smart Chat Live! Meet the Experts. Watch the entire webinar here.

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Medical Meetings Meetings Trade Shows Meeting Design 246

Conferences that Work

APRIL 9, 2018

Over the last five years I’ve heard increasing concern from the meeting professionals community about the deterioration of the quality of our national industry conferences. I’ll illustrate with the area where I have most experience: providing education at these meetings.

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Education Meetings 2006 2012 196

Conferences that Work

JUNE 28, 2021

Here’s my Powerful Panels interview with good friend and meeting panel doyen Kristin Arnold. 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. 0:00 Introduction.

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Meeting Design Conference Meetings Event Design 334

SmartMeetings

MAY 6, 2019

Meeting planners face the same problems as social media managers—competing for the time and attention of potential attendees. As these experts work to understand changing consumer trends, preferences and behaviors, considerations must be made into meeting design to craft a truly relevant event, which target audiences will not want to miss.

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Meeting Design Meetings Social Media B2B 102