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. Here are (drum roll!)

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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!

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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. Complicated problems.

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Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

Software testers do peer conferences right! They even call them a peer conference , rather than unconference , a term I don’t like.) As evidence of software tester conference awesomeness, I offer three examples below. a short history of the peer conference. The 2022 SoCraTes peer conference. But first…. …a

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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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Conferences that Work

AUGUST 29, 2016

BizBash consistently uses the term “event design” to mean “ visual design” As an example, consider the 2016 Design Issue. The cover proclaims “What’s Next in Event Design?” 3 — Conferences That Work. Read the full article at Conferences That Work.

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Conferences that Work

OCTOBER 21, 2024

Copyright Freeman 2024 Why you should read this Freeman report Read this report to discover if you’re doing what’s needed to improve your events for your attendees. Only a quarter of event organizers are constantly evolving their event designs. The language of connection : The words we use for meetings matter.

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The MICE Blog

JULY 27, 2022

One of the presentations that highly inspired me to think differently about event design took place in 2019 at the MICE Forum at ITB Berlin (Organised by VDVO ). The conference programme was designed to highlight the importance of the individual who is the centre of every live event.

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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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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. Keep ’em moving!

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Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 5, 2024

Community versus audience I began my first book with the research finding (and common observation) that people go to conferences to network and learn. Creating community at conferences around participant-driven content , therefore, creates a far more effective learning and connection-rich environment.

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Conferences that Work

JULY 2, 2018

Recently, a client asked for help designing a new conference. Thirty minutes of discussion with three stakeholders revealed they hadn’t yet settled on the event’s specific purpose, scope, and format. It’s an honor to work on a classic Conferences That. Conferences That Work goes to Japan!

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Conferences that Work

JANUARY 10, 2022

For too long, we’ve equated a meeting’s “success” with its size. ” But if we concentrate on increasing attendance, we overlook getting the meeting design right. Improving an event’s design makes the meeting better for all the stakeholders: meeting owners, sponsors, and participants.

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Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

Presentation versus interaction at meetings. But our meeting designs, in large part, haven’t changed to reflect this shift in cultural awareness. Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post Presentation versus interaction at meetings appeared first on Conferences That Work.

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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.

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Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

For over thirty years I’ve been making clients’ conferences significantly better, for about the cost of a conference coffee break. I make conferences better by dramatically increasing attendee satisfaction. I’d argue that hiring me is the most effective and cost-effective way to improve any event.

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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.

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Conferences that Work

MAY 20, 2024

Improving Conferences That Work I designed and facilitated my first peer conference in 1992. Conferences That Work: Creating Events That People Love took four years to write. I’m still proud of how well Conferences That Work lays out the fundamental reasons for the importance and value of peer conferences.

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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. Collaborative Tools Workshop ” designed by Joel Backon at the 2010 annual edACCESS conference.

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Conferences that Work

APRIL 25, 2022

The Conference Arc: Building connection while uncovering wants, needs, and resources. Ask Adrian Anything: using a fishbowl sandwich to facilitate group discussion on meeting design and facilitation. Human spectrograms: a simple tool for learning about other participants. Creating the right program. Consolidating learning.

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Conferences that Work

JUNE 14, 2021

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. Learning researchers and our best teachers and meeting designers have known this for a long time.

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Conferences that Work

JULY 1, 2024

All the conferences I design and facilitate have a time and place for participants to share their experiences. But most clients don’t give me post-event feedback about my work or the event. PSFG has a deep appreciation for the importance of meeting design. And that’s okay. I get feedback!

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Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

Events and media consultant Julius Solaris shared at the Unforgettable Experience Design Summit that he was initially very enthusiastic about unconference format events. He thought conferences would eventually adopt unconference models. The solution to this is to design your unconference before choosing the venue.

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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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Conferences that Work

JULY 19, 2021

If you want maximum learning, interaction, and connection at a meeting, small meetings are better than large meetings. For example, think about a conference to explore the implications of a medical breakthrough. Do you expect to use this format in future events? Increased learning, interaction, and connection.

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Conferences that Work

OCTOBER 11, 2021

All meeting design needs to recognize this reality. What we think of as modern business meetings and conferences are hundreds of years old. The traditional top-down formats of meetings and conferences reflect the top-down structure of the institutions that still largely dominate our world. Institutions.

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Convene by PCMA

NOVEMBER 6, 2023

We’re tapping the talent of PCMA’s staff so they can share the design thinking and process behind the innovative experiences they create for PCMA events. In other words, we’re showcasing the event professionals behind the events for event professionals. One participant later said she cried during the song.

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Endless Events

SEPTEMBER 9, 2019

An entrepreneur since he was only 18 years old, Maarten has over 35 years of experience in meeting design. And since 2012, he has organized the FRESH Conference in Europe. Ready to hear all about the ground-breaking magic of multi-hub meetings? Don’t miss a beat, it’s Event Tech Podcast time!

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Conferences that Work

JUNE 28, 2021

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. We covered a lot in a short time, but there’s much more to learn about Powerful panels and good meeting design!

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Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

Finally, as a meeting designer I’m convinced that using meeting formats that facilitate and support sharing amongst peers of relevant information is one of the most powerful ways to improve the effectiveness of meetings. Share information; don’t hoard it. Image attribution: Flickr user ben_grey.

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Conferences that Work

MARCH 14, 2022

Personal meetings like these, whether brief or extended, between good friends or strangers, are fundamental. Someone to tell it to at conferences. Conferences, whether in-person or online, are also potential arenas for conversations. But some conferences offer better opportunities than others. No related posts.

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Conferences that Work

APRIL 11, 2022

By “practitioners” I mean the folks who do what the meeting is about; e.g., doctors at a medical event or scientists at a conservation conference. Often, vendors meet with practitioners at a tradeshow, and sponsors (who are usually vendors too) get opportunities to address practitioners.

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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. Those who offer it are usually first-time attendees.

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Conferences that Work

JUNE 7, 2021

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

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Conferences that Work

JUNE 12, 2023

We are actors, impresarios, meeting designers, diplomats, teachers, musicians, creative directors, facilitators, management experts, sports team owners, fundraisers, journalists, experiential marketers, retreat leaders, event producers, philanthropists, coaches, and dealmakers!

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Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

A freewheeling Ask Me Anything about meeting design that delivers optimal learning, connection, engagement, and action outcomes? I hope you’ll take advantage of this standing invitation for event and hospitality teachers. Learn more about me here. You won’t get a canned presentation. No related posts.

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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. I love to do this. Teachers, please contact me , it’s free!)

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