Conferences that Work

APRIL 29, 2024

Why I do this work The incredible diversity of communities, organizations, and businesses that use participant-driven and participation-rich event formats is astounding. This calendar provides strong evidence that any group with something in common who wants to connect and learn can benefit from peer conference designs.

Conference 83

Conference Healthcare Conference Design Government 83

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

Venue room capacity charts don’t include these designs. The result is that novice-organized unconferences rarely have the venue space they need to work well. The solution to this is to design your unconference before choosing the venue. But it is far from the only format that organizers can and should use.

Preparation 106

Preparation Venue Conference Attendee 106

Conferences that Work

NOVEMBER 20, 2023

I’m indebted to Martin Sirk for sharing remarkable information about an 1828 conference designed by the German geographer, naturalist, and explorer Alexander von Humboldt. Read what follows to discover that Humboldt was also a meeting designer way ahead of his time! Martin Sirk Modern meeting design! Impressive!

Meeting Design 83

Meeting Design Meeting Conference Conference Design 83

Conferences that Work

MARCH 25, 2024

Because… • I suffered through a long period when writing a book seemed to be something I would never be able to do; and • So many well-known writers imply that all you need to do is figure out how to organize your writing routine, whereupon turning out hundreds of words a day becomes no big deal. This is not true for 99.99% of mortals.

Booking 80

Booking Meeting Design Consulting Conference 80

Conferences that Work

DECEMBER 10, 2018

“In an article for Slate, Jessica Olien debunks the myth that originality and inventiveness are valued in US society: “This is the thing about creativity that is rarely acknowledged: Most people don’t actually like it.” Can we overcome bias against truly creative event design? We are biased against creativity.

Event Design 95

Event Design Events Conference Design Conference 95

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Unfortunately, this convinces the organizers that few people are interested in these formats, reinforcing a return to a familiar predetermined program. A peer conference design such as Open Space doesn’t need so much time—a few hours can be useful—though it omits some of the features that make Conferences That Work so effective.

Meeting Design 88

Meeting Design Conference Meeting Conference Design 88

Conferences that Work

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

The Hole-in-the-floor model of change implies that a carefully designed, top-down, controlled process can create an instant change. This is a common model in organizations, where high-level executives meticulously plan a change “that will go into effect on January 1” Here’s Jerry’s drawing of how this supposedly works.

Booking 89

Booking Production Publishing Conference Design 89