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.

Meeting Design 66

Meeting Design Meeting Speakers Conference 66

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. The art and craft of the meeting designer. It’s a meeting designer’s job to create these contextual layers.

Rehearsal 139

Rehearsal Meeting Design Conference Planner 139

Conferences that Work

MAY 11, 2020

In person meetings have vanished overnight. It’s time to implement what we’ve learned about great face-to-face meeting design and process into online meetings. Meetings will never be the same. Regardless of the time needed, conference attendees should be otherwise engaged during step #2.

Online 158

Online Conference Platform Publishing 158

Conferences that Work

APRIL 25, 2022

Today’s attendees are no longer satisfied sitting and listening to people talking at them. If you want to hold meetings where effective learning, connection, and engagement take place, you need to build in authentic and relevant participation. This workshop is limited to 100 attendees, so register now ! What We Will Talk About.

Online 116

Online Registration Meeting Design Conference 116

Convene by PCMA

AUGUST 2, 2024

In response to our sacred cow question, meeting designer Adrian Segar posted on X that we should “get rid of expensive keynotes, predetermined schedules of lectures, large events that try to cover everything with no support for tribes to find each other.” How radical some of these ideas seem — and yet ripe for picking.

Social Media 119

Social Media Events Consulting Culture 119

Conferences that Work

APRIL 18, 2022

The first novel hybrid meeting format was invented by Joel Backon back in 2010. The second is a design I’ll be using in a conference I’ve designed and will be facilitating in June 2022. 1—In-person attendees participate in an online session! Have you experienced other novel hybrid meeting formats?

Meeting 169

Meeting Online Conference Booking 169

Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 5, 2024

As Kiesow illustrates for journalism, emphasizing community over audience also pays rich dividends for meeting attendees. When the attendees are the owners, meeting designs that build and support community are the obvious way to go. But, all too often, attendees are not the conference owners.

Audience 98

Audience Meeting Manufacturing Meeting Design 98

The MICE Blog

JULY 27, 2022

Even after all these years, and a pandemic in between, these principles remain extremely important when we want to create a seamless attendee experience at events, be it live, virtual or hybrid, and put the human in the centre. According to Felix, the term ‘participant experience design’ is a work in progress.

Events 147

Events Speakers Conference Attendee 147

Conferences that Work

APRIL 1, 2019

At traditional conferences with fixed programs set in advance, at best half of sessions offered are what attendees want. 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.”

Booking 103

Booking Conference Speakers Meeting Design 103

Conferences that Work

APRIL 11, 2022

First, you need to understand before the meeting what your practitioners and suppliers want, need, and expect. As a meeting designer, if a meeting is going to include both practitioners and suppliers I always ask my clients about the relationship between these groups and their wants and needs.

Meeting 118

Meeting Vendor Sponsors Attendee 118

Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

I make conferences better by dramatically increasing attendee satisfaction. Increasing attendee satisfaction increases the effectiveness of the event for all stakeholders: attendees, sponsors, and event owners. For example: “Attendees want to connect with peers over shared challenges and specific topics.”

Sponsors 96

Sponsors Registration Conference Attendee 96

Conferences that Work

JULY 19, 2021

If you want maximum learning, interaction, and connection at a meeting, small meetings are better than large meetings. What do you think about hub and spoke meetings? Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post Hub and spoke meetings appeared first on Conferences That Work. No related posts.

Meeting 147

Meeting Online Remote Conference 147

Conferences that Work

NOVEMBER 8, 2021

I think of status at events as the relative levels of proclaimed or perceived social value assigned to or assumed by attendees. And power at events is an individual’s capacity to influence the actions, beliefs, or conduct of attendees. Typically, but not always, higher status implies greater power at meetings.

Meeting 143

Meeting Conference Speakers Booking 143

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

I still believe that these events, when well-designed and facilitated, offer the best attendee experience for the majority of conferences that are held today. 2—Poor unconference design Half a century ago, as a lowly graduate student, I attended tons of traditional academic conferences. Here are my six reasons.

Preparation 112

Preparation Venue Conference Proposal 112

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 16, 2024

For decades, I’ve championed responsible conference designs that prioritize participants. This approach benefits everyone—participants, sponsors, and organizers—because when attendees’ wants and needs are met, their satisfaction positively impacts all other event stakeholders.

Platform 96

Platform Media Conference Sponsors 96

Social Tables

DECEMBER 27, 2018

To succeed, you have to be dynamic, you have to be flexible, and, above all, you have to be in tune with attendee desires. Industry Performance Trends Attendee Experience Trends Meeting Destination Trends Event Technology Trends Meeting Design Trends. Attendee Experience Trends. Industry Performance Trends.

Trends 167

Trends Meeting Planner Venue 167

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 14, 2020

I decided to design the wake as a three or more hour event. This timing is not great for potential European attendees. Attendees (~90 right now) are registering on an online platform that’s free for free events. Have you designed and/or run one? We’ll use two online platforms for the wake. Registration.

Online 142

Online Registration Affiliate Logistics 142

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.

Publishing 92

Publishing Speakers Education Booking 92

Conferences that Work

APRIL 9, 2018

In a nutshell, I think that our industry associations have become too focused on justifying their continued existence financially, and are neglecting their core mission of supporting and representing their members and association meeting attendees. But their inclusion looks good on the promotional materials.

Education 78

Education Meeting Sponsors Speakers 78

Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 26, 2018

Participant-driven and participation-rich peer conference designs improve on traditional events because they don’t treat openings and closings as necessary evils but as critical components of the meeting design. Read the full article at Conferences That Work Related posts: Participate!

Conference 71

Conference Conference Design Meeting Design Education 71

Conferences that Work

MARCH 25, 2024

Since 2005, I’ve written three successful books on meeting design and facilitation and over 800 weekly blog posts on a wide range of topics. My books continue to sell, and this blog is the world’s most popular website on meeting design and facilitation. Attendees loved my events! Nothing worked.

Booking 96

Booking Consulting Meeting Design Conference 96

Conferences that Work

MARCH 14, 2022

Given the fundamental human need to tell, meeting stakeholders owe it to participants to create opportunities and environments for rich conversations in the sessions, rather than just the gaps between them. Let’s give attendees the priceless gift of someone to tell it to at our events. Verkuilen , licensed under (CC BY 2.0).

Meeting Design 71

Meeting Design Conference Online Audience 71

Conferences that Work

AUGUST 8, 2016

For over 25 years, I’ve been designing and facilitating Conferences That Work : successful, innovative, highly interactive, participant-driven events that leverage attendees’ expertise and experience to create just the conference that participants want and need. The attendees are still here talking to each other!

Education 88

Education Social Network Conference Logistics 88

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.) Most meeting conveners concentrate on feedback about meeting content (“great speakers!

Logistics 69

Logistics Conference Trade Show Attendee 69

Conferences that Work

JUNE 18, 2018

I’ll bet that even today, if you asked attendees what they remembered about the event, most would immediately recall the There Was No Coffee moment. Experienced meeting planners know that every meeting has its share of unexpected surprises. Surprising Meetings But not all meeting surprises are bad.

Meeting 79

Meeting Conference Planner Online 79

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

Venue owners can make other attendees co-hosts. The host can broadcast a text announcement to all attendees in all rooms. A Rally attendee just needs a link to the venue, and only needs to provide their name. Right now, it’s good to have a dedicated host who notices when new attendees appear and helps them acclimatize.

Online 96

Online Platform Panel Venue 96

Conferences that Work

JUNE 13, 2016

As I’ve explained elsewhere , good covenants publicly clarify the freedoms that attendees have at an event, like the freedoms to speak one’s mind , ask questions , and share feelings. When such freedoms are agreed to individually and as a group at the start of a meeting, ambiguity about meeting behavior dissipates.

Meeting 63

Meeting Online Conference Government 63

Conferences that Work

DECEMBER 12, 2016

significantly increase owner and attendee satisfaction and participation at your sessions and events. The attendees are still here talking to each other! Read the full article at Conferences That Work. February 2-3, 2017: RAI Amsterdam , The Netherlands 1½-day workshop, registration now open — €895. I’m excited!

Registration 30

Registration Conference Education Venue 30

Conferences that Work

MARCH 29, 2021

Every successful meeting involves thinking about, planning for and executing countless details. You can create the most original, beautiful event in the world, but if there’s no coffee available on the first morning , attendees are going to complain and remember. Details matter. Do you agree with this set of qualities?

Meeting 97

Meeting Communications Communications Logistics 97

Conferences that Work

APRIL 8, 2019

Invent a way to make the conference successful based on the collective needs, wants, and experience of the attendees. Organizations hear about these conferences and ask me to design and facilitate them. I quickly discover the size and interest of the meetings industry. The conference has run continually for the last 27 years.)

Publishing 66

Publishing Consulting Manufacturing Conference 66

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. Those who offer it are usually first-time attendees. Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post Exploring the Second Question appeared first on Conferences That Work.

Conference 62

Conference Attendee Meeting Design Booking 62

Conferences that Work

AUGUST 29, 2016

The cover proclaims “What’s Next in Event Design?” While its article “ 8 Fresh Faces of Event Design 2016 ” says it is about “ industry newbies who dream up and create an event’s visuals as opposed to those that handle the logistics like a planner” , this really misses the point.

Logistics 54

Logistics Event Design Conference Design Conference 54

Conferences that Work

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

Luckily, this is typically part of good meeting design — it’s not something that you need to awkwardly or artificially introduce. Good large group work includes short breakouts, where impromptu small groups meet, think, discuss, and share. You may not hear much of the resulting Thanksgiving. No related posts.

Manufacturing 77

Manufacturing Conference Meeting Design Online 77

Conferences that Work

MARCH 25, 2019

Ultimately, the attendees are the losers when this happens. A client asked me to facilitate a 90-minute workshop for 600 attendees. But when it was time to start, no attendees appeared. But I was disappointed and puzzled that so many attendees had missed out on an excellent experience. Obviously, I wanted to find out why.

Rehearsal 79

Rehearsal Logistics Contracts Contracts 79

Conferences that Work

JULY 1, 2024

PSFG has a deep appreciation for the importance of meeting design. Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post A terrific example of the value of client feedback—Part 1 appeared first on Conferences That Work. ” Its members include over fifty well-known international foundations, non-profits, and collectives.

Conference 96

Conference Proposal Speakers Online 96

Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 7, 2022

So here’s my review of Butter, a meeting platform for facilitators to shine. In this review of Butter, I’ll share a big picture overview, what I think is Butter’s finest feature, an example of how to implement a meeting design in Butter, and my closing thoughts. Meeting design case.

Platform 62

Platform Meeting Online Production 62

Conferences that Work

JUNE 26, 2017

The meetings industry is far more aware of the importance of treating and supporting attendees as active participants rather than passive consumers of education. Read the full article at Conferences That Work. I like to read a wide variety of nonfiction, mysteries, and science fiction.

Booking 54

Booking Education Conference Meeting Design 54