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 83

Audience Meeting Manufacturing Meeting Design 83

Smart Meetings

JUNE 9, 2023

For meeting designers, ChatGPT can save the organizer time by answering mundane questions like, “What does business casual mean?” thereby freeing up time to design more meaningful, sustainable and motivating programs. We are in a race to make it easy to do business together,” he said. Another change?

Incentives 246

Incentives Insurance Prospect Hospitality 246

MeetingsNet

MAY 29, 2019

"Conversations & Input" eases presenter pressure, gets all attendees involved, and deepens learning. We're all quite familiar with the Q&A portion of a meeting session: The final few minutes where the audience has its chance to drill down a bit with the presenter. The Results.

Attendee 85

Attendee Meeting Audience Meeting Design 85

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

While some may include impromptu participant involvement, they concentrate on creating a wonderful experience for attendees. When meeting planners add participant-driven sessions as a track to an existing schedule of traditional presentations, few attendees will pick the unfamiliar. I thought you’d never ask.

Meeting Design 88

Meeting Design Conference Meeting Conference Design 88

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 61

Meeting Design Meeting Speakers Conference 61

Conferences that Work

MARCH 28, 2022

They assume that meetings will consist of sessions with speakers on a stage. They assume that the core purpose of a meeting session is to transmit content to an audience. And they assume that when attendees are not in sessions, we should ply them with food and drink and entertainment. Steve Jobs said, “Design is how it works”.

Logistics 169

Logistics Meeting Meeting Design Site Selection 169

Smart Meetings

NOVEMBER 12, 2018

The report described the results of an MPI survey that underscored that these changes could result in events being more impactful for their attendees. At the meeting in question, attendees peddled bicycle-powered smoothie blenders against a backdrop of infographics and other data about company CSR programs. “The

Meeting 250

Meeting Trends Attendee Meeting Design 250

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 80

Sponsors Registration Conference Attendee 80

Conferences that Work

MARCH 13, 2017

How do we get people to participate at meetings? We know that participants — people who are active learners — learn more, retain more, and retain more accurately than passive attendees. Seth Godin describes a desirable meeting mindset: What would happen… if we chose to: …Sit in the front row. Seth Godin, What Would Happen.

Attendee 80

Attendee Education Booking Meeting Design 80

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 126

Rehearsal Meeting Design Conference Planner 126

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. ethics of artificial intelligence (AI)).

Events 148

Events Conference Speakers Attendee 148

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

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 80

Booking Meeting Design Consulting Conference 80

Smart Meetings

FEBRUARY 10, 2022

Coburn describes the overwhelming number of virtual meetings now happening on Zoom as top-down content delivery. The twine for Zoom app will open a window that looks like a series of tables with pictures of attendees “sitting” at each one. The event planner can determine the number of seats, turn on matchmaking based on tags (e.g.,

Remote 246

Remote Platform Production Technology 246

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

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 106

Preparation Venue Conference Attendee 106

Stova

SEPTEMBER 1, 2020

A hybrid event is one that combines a face-to-face (F2F) event at a physical location with a “virtual” online component for remote attendees. Some attendees may simply accept remote event attendance as an acceptable substitute with no travel time, no travel costs and reduced environmental impact.

Remote 111

Remote Audience Events Meeting Design 111

Endless Events

JULY 19, 2019

EventMobi is actually a platform that allows event planners to establish good communication with their attendees. Everything from “apps to live voting and attendee management in a single platform, that can also be integrated with other tools”, Thorben explains. A tad scary, right?

Events 199

Events Platform Publishing Technology 199

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. Most meeting designers know that beginnings and endings matter, but struggle to craft meaningful experiences that resonate with attendees.

Events 72

Events Attendee Audience Conference 72

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. At subsequent community conferences, my experience is that such a response is less likely. How well does this refinement work?

Conference 62

Conference Attendee Meeting Design Booking 62

Smart Meetings

JUNE 11, 2021

While tickets are for specific time slots, attendees are encouraged to make the journey their own. Action Item: How can you provide your attendees with the tools to create their own experience from whatever perspective they are comfortable? Visitors are also empowered to self-direct their experience.

Social Media 279

Social Media Meeting Media Attendee 279

Conferences that Work

APRIL 5, 2021

And it is easy for it to happen at meetings. Designing for trust, safety, and learning. In general, the more meeting attendees trust each other, the safer they feel. So when I design and facilitate meetings, one of my most important goals is to provide a maximally safe environment for sharing.

Meeting 129

Meeting Conference Booking Attendee 129

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 150

Online Conference Platform Attendee 150

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 65

Meeting Design Conference Online Audience 65

MeetingsNet

MARCH 18, 2019

Deepen engagement and increase retention at your meetings by embracing three fundamental shifts in the attendee experience. Rethinking “attendees” as “participants.” This fundamental shift changes the way we think about everything from our meeting spaces to our speaker content. Moving from static to active meetings.

Meeting 58

Meeting Meeting Design Sponsors Speakers 58

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! Want to read my other posts on hybrid meetings? Conclusion.

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Meeting Online Conference Booking 164

Social Tables

OCTOBER 14, 2016

But you’ve forgotten one important piece of the puzzle: how do you plan on engaging your attendees? Attendee engagement is an oft-overlooked component that is just as important as the venue or food and beverage. When you incorporate the event hashtag into a live tweet, it makes it easy for other attendees to join the conversation.

Audience 68

Audience Social Media B2C Networking 68

Brightspot Incentive Events

MARCH 18, 2021

To execute a successful virtual event, our team was tasked with developing a strategy that enhanced meeting design, optimized the attendee’s experience, and increased attendee engagement. Attendees have shorter attention spans when viewing a screen for several hours. Virtual Event Platform and AV Partner.

Virtual Events 52

Virtual Events Meeting Speakers Platform 52

Social Tables

APRIL 17, 2019

Leading events such as IMEX, Dreamforce, and C2 Montréal are integrating opportunities for attendees to focus on their mental and physical health, as well as recharge. Sure, wellness programs don’t dictate the success of meetings, but they certainly enhance results. Our industry is resilient and events aren’t going away.

Proposal 149

Proposal Communications Communications Planner 149

Convene by PCMA

APRIL 4, 2022

This year’s lineup of GMID events reflects not only the surge in 2022 in the number of events that have returned to an in-person format, but a range of meeting-design decisions.

Meeting 116

Meeting Trade Show Social Media Hospitality 116

Conferences that Work

JULY 19, 2021

If you want maximum learning, interaction, and connection at a meeting, small meetings are better than large meetings. Increased learning, interaction, and connection. This is the classic hybrid hub and spoke format that we used 10 years ago at Event Camp Twin Cities (ECTC). Producing Event Camp Twin Cities 2011.

Meeting 132

Meeting Online Remote Conference 132

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

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 97

Booking Conference Meeting Design Speakers 97

Conferences that Work

JANUARY 24, 2022

Similarly, your design layout will affect the likelihood and value of hallway learning conversations. Give your attendees plenty of breaks. You can create conversational groupings at random (“pair up with someone you haven’t met yet”) or use human spectrograms to assign attendees to like-minded folks.

Conference 144

Conference Attendee Meeting Benefits 144

The MICE Blog

MARCH 11, 2021

Now, after one year of hosting and attending virtual events, the events industry is facing the challenge of how to engage attendees and combat ‘zoom fatigue.’ We used meeting design to do that, which already had some gamification elements to it. And by working towards a mutual goal, attendees are ‘forced’ to collaborate.

Contracts 130

Contracts Contracts Virtual Events Online 130

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 74

Education Meeting Sponsors Speakers 74

Gavel International

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

Meeting Design Consider the format that is most likely to achieve the goals of the meeting. Meeting planners should seize this opportunity by making check-in meaningful for attendees. Empower attendees to make themselves heard regardless of their personality traits, comfort level and confidence level.

Planner 52

Planner Meeting Vendor Culture 52