Conferences that Work

JANUARY 10, 2022

Most of the event industry and our clients continue to assume that if you can make the meeting bigger it’s a good thing. Online and hybrid meetings have seen less drastic reductions. One bright spot has been the normalization of online meetings for routine connection and collaboration. It ain’t necessarily so.

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Meetings Meeting Design 2020 Speakers 367

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. Improve all your meetings! Such meetings foster deeper, more meaningful connections, leading to outcomes that better align with participants’ actual wants and needs.

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Meetings 2014 Conference Design Fashion 156

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, Want to read my other posts on hybrid meetings?

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2010 Meetings Conference Travel 423

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

EventMB

DECEMBER 19, 2022

Andrea Doyle Read the Complete Story On Skift Meetings. Skift Take: As people look for new reasons to attend events, some stand out by focusing more on the flow and less on the logistics.

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Meeting Design Meetings Events Event Design 209

EventMB

MAY 10, 2018

The average employee attends approximately 62 meetings per month. Multiply that by 12, and you already have an impressive yearly figure – yet this is only a tiny part of more than three billion annual meetings, worldwide. Considering the high costs which can be […].

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Meeting Design Meetings Events Venues 168

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

EventMB

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

Andrea Doyle and Refugio Garcia Read the Complete Story On Skift Meetings Skift Take: Event attendees are younger than ever before. Now, planners have to find innovative ways of crafting engaging and impactful events.

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Meeting Design Meetings Events Event Design 193

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

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. Include lots of communal activities.

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Meeting Design Meetings 2014 Speakers 166

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

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

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. The post The production line approach to meeting design appeared first on Gallus Events. I’ve always thought this was the perfect metaphor.

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Meeting Design Meetings Technology Sponsorships 124

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

EventMB

APRIL 25, 2017

Meeting Design is the next biggest thing in the event industry. Download our new report with new research into how event planners design their meetings and events. I shared in January how Meeting Design was going to be the most revolutionary force changing the event industry.

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Meeting Design Technology Meetings Events 125

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 ?

Meetings 296

Meetings Conference Meeting Design Advertising 296

Smart Meetings

NOVEMBER 12, 2018

The meetings industry is changing, and this is good news. The Fall 2018 Meetings Outlook by Meeting Professionals International (MPI) confirms that the industry is alive, well and thriving. Other survey findings included a trend of shorter, more frequent meetings. 25 percent of respondents said events are more frequent.

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Meetings 2018 Meeting Design Marketing 250

Conferences that Work

JULY 2, 2018

Recently, a client asked for help designing a new conference. Great — a client who doesn’t know what they want! Thirty minutes of discussion with three stakeholders revealed they hadn’t yet settled on the event’s specific purpose, scope, and format. From my perspective this is actually a great problem to have.

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Meeting Design 2012 2014 Meetings 192

Prestige Events Magazine

MARCH 14, 2025

From the show floor at IBTM World 2024, we hear from Bo Krger, speaker and meetings designer at Moving Minds. In the first episode of this new season, Shonali talks with Mike Ford, Owner of Grateful Lemon, who shares powerful insights on burnout and how events professionals should approach stress, recovery and sleep.

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2025 2024 Meeting Design Global Events 200

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.

Meetings 296

Meetings 2016 Consulting Conference 296

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.

Meetings 244

Meetings Tourism Consulting Hospitality 244

Gallus Events

AUGUST 18, 2016

I was recently referred to a hotel in Barcelona as a “meeting design expert” I popped along and had a look at a good (if rather too traditional) meetig space. I met with a couple of their senior team and tried to get handle on their interest in meeting design. How venues can support meeting design.

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Meeting Design Venues Meetings Hotels 100

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! Here’s why they do it, and why it’s a mistake. Read the full article at Conferences That Work.

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Venues 2010 Meetings Conference Design 221

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. We all need a break sometimes. Don’t worry; I’m hanging out here right now. I’ll be back! Have a great day!

2009 156

2009 Meeting Design Conference Meetings 156

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

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

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

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

Prestige Events Magazine

MAY 25, 2021

WFH and Zoom meetings have become the ‘norm’ over the last 14 months, but with the Government now easing restrictions around a return to the office and attending events, 65 Queen’s Gate in South Kensington has revamped its Kingfisher Room to gives businesses the option of a less formal atmosphere for meetings and get-togethers.

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Meetings Government Meeting Design Venues 243

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

Smart Meetings

JUNE 11, 2021

What can meeting professionals learn from this popular pop-up social media craze? Why not transform the welcome reception into a jungle or beach to fit your meeting theme and put everyone in a fresh frame of mind? The post What Meeting Profs Can Learn from Pop-Up Immersive Art Experiences appeared first on Smart Meetings.

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Social Media Meetings Venues Meeting Design 279

Conferences that Work

APRIL 1, 2024

Paul Nunesdea : And hello, hello, dear viewers, this is a soft start of our third episode in 2024 of Talk to Your Meeting Doctors. Lovely to meet you, Adrian. And it’s mostly about meeting design and facilitation, but I write about all kinds of things. Martin, welcome! Martin Duffy: Well, good afternoon.

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Conference Meetings Corporate Meetings Association Meetings 245

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

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

EventMB

FEBRUARY 3, 2023

Skift Take: Having designed meetings since 1992, Eric de Groot is uniquely experienced in creating human gatherings. He believes that a collaborative approach is needed to create meetings that change behaviors and drive businesses forward. Skift Meetings Studio Team Read the Complete Story On Skift Meetings

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Meetings Meeting Design Event Design Events 207