Conferences that Work

MAY 11, 2020

Because participants love these meetings ! Now the covid-19 pandemic has forced meetings online. Unfortunately, most online events are still using a traditional webinar/broadcast-style approach: presenters speaking for long periods, interspersed with chat-mediated Q&A. In person meetings have vanished overnight.

Conference 395

Conference 2012 Meetings Meeting Design 395

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

It’s a good time to invite guest presenters into your online classroom. As an experienced facilitator and designer of participant-driven and participation-rich meetings, I love to share what I’ve learned during my four decades in the meeting industry. You won’t get a canned presentation.

Hospitality 227

Hospitality Education Meeting Design Conference 227

Conferences that Work

APRIL 11, 2022

Unfortunately, supplier and practitioner perspectives on having suppliers present don’t usually align. . The practitioner’s perspective on including suppliers at meeting sessions. May not want to talk about supplier products and services when suppliers are present.

Meetings 296

Meetings Conference Meeting Design Advertising 296

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

As a result, many conference attendees have not encountered these designs before and have not experienced how effective they can be in creating valuable connections and learning with their peers. So when should you use the Conferences That Work design? I thought you’d never ask.

Meeting Design 120

Meeting Design Conference Meetings Conference Design 120

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.

Meetings 220

Meetings Meeting Design Conference Speakers 220

Conferences that Work

APRIL 18, 2022

Check out my original post for the details of the session, which explored the unexpected advantages of working together online even when the participants are physically present. You can use this novel hybrid meeting format to explore the effectiveness of employing appropriate online tools to work on problems at an in-person event.

2010 423

2010 Meetings Conference Travel 423

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! Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design! Here’s why they do it, and why it’s a mistake.

Venues 221

Venues 2010 Meetings Conference Design 221

Conferences that Work

APRIL 1, 2019

Often it is more like a discussion than a presentation, but that is why it is effective. I was an amateur in the meeting industry, and that led to some mistakes, but it also gave me a fresh perspective at a time when meeting design wasn’t really a “thing.” Often, the results are unexpected.

2014 259

2014 2019 Conference Meeting Design 259

Conferences that Work

JULY 19, 2021

If you want maximum learning, interaction, and connection at a meeting, small meetings are better than large meetings. Yesterday, Brandt was presenting at an MPI event on hybrid meetings, so Glenn shared the event so we could kibitz. Increased learning, interaction, and connection.

Meetings 367

Meetings 2011 2021 Fashion 367

Conferences that Work

NOVEMBER 8, 2021

Some say I have high status in the event industry, but when I’m facilitating a roomful of subject matter experts, I’m the most ignorant and lowest status person present. At a traditional meeting, however, perceived status roles rarely change significantly during the event.

Meetings 358

Meetings Conference Negotiating Speakers 358

Conferences that Work

JUNE 7, 2021

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

Meeting Design 309

Meeting Design Conference Meetings Event Design 309

Conferences that Work

JANUARY 11, 2021

Their expertise can, therefore, be shared with participants via traditional presentations. However, few presenters incorporate significant interactivity into their sessions, and this format is more the exception than the rule. These events made a profound impression on pretty much everyone who participated.

Conference 371

Conference 2010 2011 2014 371

Conferences that Work

MARCH 15, 2021

Recently, I’ve been appearing as a guest at college event planning and hospitality courses to talk about meeting design. (I Rather than lecture for an hour, I’ve been using an Ask Me Anything (aka AMA ) meeting format. A one-sentence distillation: learning is a process not an event.). Well…sometimes.

Hospitality 194

Hospitality Meeting Design Conference Event Planning 194

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 16, 2019

Let’s look at these three conclusions in the context of meeting design. Most meeting presenters still lecture. And most meeting session presenters resort to lecturing as their dominant session modality. Attendees learn more when presenters use active learning modalities.

2012 232

2012 Speakers Education 2019 232

PCMA Convene

MAY 1, 2017

Sperstad will present results from the study at IMEX in Frankfurt, Germany, this month. Sperstad brings knowledge gained not only as an event planner and event-management educator to the task, but as a student of the human brain and human behavior. EVENT DESIGN. “My

Meeting Design 75

Meeting Design Meetings Education Fashion 75

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

They use “unconference” as a marketing buzzword to make their event sound cooler. An event that: Asks potential presenters to submit pre-event proposals for sessions isn’t an unconference. Includes breakout sessions as well as presentations isn’t an unconference. [No, Let’s be clear.

Conference 280

Conference Venues 2023 Consulting 280

Conferences that Work

MARCH 21, 2022

This coming June will mark my 30th year of designing and facilitating participant-driven and participation-rich meetings. So I designed the workshop as an “ Ask Adrian Anything ” about meeting design and facilitation. I’ve shared the why? and the details of how I typically run this format here.

Meetings 385

Meetings Meeting Design Conference Speakers 385

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.

2014 240

2014 Tourism 2023 Conference 240

Conferences that Work

JUNE 3, 2019

At the time, I had no idea that what I instinctively put together for a gathering of people who barely knew each other would lead to: a global design and facilitation consulting practice; over 500 posts on this blog, which has now become, to the best of my knowledge, the most-visited website on meeting design and facilitation; three books (almost!)

Conference 189

Conference 2014 Consulting Meeting Design 189

Conferences that Work

MARCH 14, 2022

Traditional events relegate conversations to the hallways, to breaks and socials. Even post-presentation Q&As rarely evolve into a conversation, which is always between the presenter and a succession of audience members. No conversations occur during lectures.

2006 177

2006 Meeting Design Conference Meetings 177

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

Presentation & panel capability. So you can’t use Rally to create a presenter or panel session for more than (currently) 36 people. Anyone speaking on stage will be heard by everyone in the room, and presenters can hear audience response at a reduced level, rather like as if they were speaking at a live event.

Conference 240

Conference Venues Marketing Meeting Design 240

PCMA Convene

JANUARY 25, 2019

Kate Fairweather (right) and Amy Blackman present results from “The Future of Meetings and Events” report at Convening Leaders 2019 in Pittsburgh. We believe they are going to be disruptive in every category, but have certain implications that will be important for meetings and events.” More Meeting Trends.

Meeting Design 66

Meeting Design Meetings Consulting 2019 66

Conferences that Work

MARCH 25, 2019

Though it’s clearly sensible to keep a conference running on schedule, we’ve all attended meetings where rambling presenters, avoidable “technical issues”, incompetent facilitation, and inadequate logistics have made a mockery of the published program. I did so, and noticed that the other presenter did not.

Contracts 199

Contracts 2011 Conference Education 199

Conferences that Work

APRIL 16, 2018

Fun fact: the testing community often uses my term “peer conferences” for their get-togethers, due to a chat about meeting design I had with tester James Bach at the 2004 Amplifying Your Effectiveness conference.) Those running stands were able to gather community feedback on their topic.

2018 174

2018 2004 Conference Trade Shows 174

EventMB

JANUARY 8, 2024

Skift Take: In the latest episode of the Skift Meetings Podcast, the spotlight is on Joe Pine, a visionary thinker whose groundbreaking work on the Experience Economy has reshaped the way businesses approach customer engagement. Miguel Neves Read the Complete Story On Skift Meetings

Meetings 206

Meetings Meeting Design Events Event Design 206

PCMA Convene

JANUARY 25, 2019

Consumers “don’t want sterile corporate environments,” added Kate Fairweather, who co-presented the session with Blackman. Morgan plans her tours using some of the same skills and insights that event designers employ — her events just happen to be mobile. More Meeting Trends. No, Don’t Give Them the Generic.

Travel 74

Travel Event Design Food and Beverage Hotels 74

PCMA Convene

JANUARY 16, 2018

When FRESH18 — which bills itself as the first annual conference focused exclusively on meeting design — gets underway Feb. 27-28, it will be showcasing its own solution to a common event-design problem: getting the audience to participate. Photo Credit: The FRESH Conference.

Tourism 79

Tourism Speakers Hospitality Meeting Design 79

Conferences that Work

JULY 3, 2023

Back in 1992 , I developed The Three Questions as a fundamental opening process for participant-driven meetings and conferences. Answering it gives every person present, in turn, an opportunity to share what they would like the ensuing meeting to be about.

Conference 156

Conference 2023 Meeting Design Meetings 156

Conferences that Work

AUGUST 26, 2019

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.

Consulting 195

Consulting Conference Travel Events 195

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

After I talked about my meeting design work with pioneer tester James Bach at the 2004 Amplifying Your Effectiveness conference, the testing community somehow adopted the term peer conference for their get-togethers. The queues to briefly present the proposed topics were really long, and the emerging schedule looked amazing.

Conference 156

Conference 2022 2004 Meeting Design 156

Social Tables

OCTOBER 6, 2018

While the shifts are plentiful, there are five that stand out from the fold when it comes to modern event design. Here’s how the meetings industry is changing the game. In many cases, this means crowdsourcing the agenda, sometimes even doing so in real time, to present a personalized event agenda.

Meetings 158

Meetings 2016 Trade Shows Social Media 158

PCMA Convene

APRIL 4, 2019

Consumers “don’t want sterile corporate environments,” added Kate Fairweather, who co-presented the session with Blackman. Morgan plans her tours using some of the same skills and insights that event designers employ — her events just happen to be mobile. More Meeting Trends. No, Don’t Give Them the Generic.

Meeting Design 40

Meeting Design Meetings Food and Beverage Hotels 40

Social Tables

OCTOBER 6, 2018

But when it comes to trends, where should meeting industry professionals put their focus? While the shifts are plentiful, there are five that stand out from the fold when it comes to modern event design. Here are five meeting industry trends that are changing the game. Millennials are the decision makers now.

Meetings 157

Meetings 2016 Trade Shows Social Media 157

Planning Pod

NOVEMBER 19, 2019

Once you have decided on your event objectives and activities, you should consider what the intended attendee experience should be like and, in turn, how that will be expressed through your event setup. And here is a list of the top event design tools on the market.). Top 10 Event Layouts for Seating and Table Plans.

Speakers 96

Speakers Trade Shows Conference Entertainment 96

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. Consider this your global positioning system for navigating the exciting world of producing events.

Food and Beverage 52

Food and Beverage Contracts Hotels Sustainability 52

PCMA Convene

MAY 24, 2019

Homeless individuals present one of empathy’s most difficult tests. It will be led by consultant Donna Kastner, an entrepreneur and expert on meetings design, and Jamie Murdock, vice president of sales at Experient, who have both facilitated successful hackathons at the Education Conference over the previous two years.

2019 94

2019 Meetings 2009 Education 94

Hubilo Blog

JULY 23, 2018

Event Industry comprises of many people starting with event designers, event managers to event planners, board members of an organisation. Penned down by the event professionals themselves, it is an all-in-one book about meeting designing. Are so many meetings really essential?

2018 89

2018 Financial Sustainability Conference 89