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. The massive disruption of in-person events since March 2020 has shaken our industry to the core. We have also seen the emergence of new forms of online events, supported by solid business models.

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Meeting Meeting Design Online Sponsors 132

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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Events Conference Speakers Attendee 148

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. They stand to sing and pray.

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Meeting Design Meeting Speakers Conference 61

Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 20, 2023

We talk about all kinds of things, with a focus on my work and thinking about participant-driven and participation-rich meetings and event design. 06:00 On traveling to events, and my passion for what I do. 11:00 What participant-driven and participation-rich meeting design means, and the core components.

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Event Design Meeting Social Media Meeting Design 62

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. hoping that in the process the event’s purpose and desired outcomes will become clearer.

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Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

Increasing attendee satisfaction increases the effectiveness of the event for all stakeholders: attendees, sponsors, and event owners. I’d argue that hiring me is the most effective and cost-effective way to improve any event. ” —Excerpts from the Winter 2024 Freeman Syndicated Survey of Event Attendees.

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Sponsors Registration Conference Attendee 80

Conferences that Work

APRIL 25, 2022

Hosted by CSAE Manitoba , this free one-hour online Participate Lab will introduce you to the design of participation-rich events through the direct experience of participatory meeting techniques and formats. All are welcome to attend this event at no charge (both CSAE members and non-members). Where & When.

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Online Registration Meeting Design Conference 116

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

? ? Here’s a standing invitation for event and hospitality teachers. I will meet online with your class for free. As an experienced facilitator and designer of participant-driven and participation-rich meetings, I love to share what I’ve learned during my four decades in the meeting industry.

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Hospitality Online Education Events 75

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.

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Booking Meeting Design Consulting Conference 80

Travel Daily News

APRIL 6, 2023

This supports concurrent industry-wide research projects that initially focused on economic impact and meeting design. ” The research team included academics, adult mental healthcare practitioners, experts in team dynamics and events industry professionals.

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Publishing Healthcare Meeting Meeting Design 79

Convene by PCMA

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

LinkedIn’s growth spurt is evident in the business events industry as well: When we asked meeting organizers what new social media channels they were using to promote events in Convene ’s 2023 Meetings Market Survey , the leading response — chosen by three out of five respondents — was LinkedIn.

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Social Media Consulting Platform Remote 105

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. No related posts.

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Meeting Publishing Meeting Design Booking 120

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. 2:30 A brief history of meetings; why lecture formats are still so popular; how panels fit into the larger context of meetings.

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Panel Meeting Design Conference Audience 124

Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 17, 2020

Well, here’s an alternative historical perspective from a completely different source, a 1926 article about the New York Club of Printing House Craftsmen, uncovered by Jeff Jarvis and described as “ …a lovely evocation on the value of sharing in our field, which we used to call printing. ” “Stop. No related posts.

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Consulting Meeting Design Benefits Training 145

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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Meeting Remote Meeting Design Conference 126

Conferences that Work

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

One of Skift’s “ 10 event trends for 2020 ” is networking. The report predicts: “Activities such as braindates that deliver more meaningful connections will become mainstream at events.” Because good event design is about how a conference works. Photo attribution: Flickr user viejozapato.

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Conference Trends Event Design Meeting Design 107

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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Booking Retreat Sports Meeting Design 62

Conferences that Work

MARCH 14, 2022

Traditional events relegate conversations to the hallways, to breaks and socials. 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. No conversations occur during lectures.

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Meeting Design Conference Online Audience 65

Conferences that Work

OCTOBER 11, 2021

All meeting design needs to recognize this reality. So there’s a disconnect between what’s best for meeting participants, due to their fundamental psychological makeup, and the dictates of their institutional bosses and the organizations that organize the events. Yes, humanity’s problem is a meeting problem.

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Meeting Technology Technology Manufacturing 115

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. But Julius didn’t see them catch on and now focuses on other aspects of the meeting industry. Why aren’t unconferences more popular?

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Preparation Venue Conference Attendee 106

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. A one-sentence distillation: learning is a process not an event.).

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Panel Meeting Design Conference Hospitality 67

Conferences that Work

JUNE 7, 2021

Why am I writing about social learning on a blog that’s (mainly) about meeting design? Which means, to create the best meetings we need to maximize the social learning that takes place. So, how can I incorporate the power of social learning into my events? What are you waiting for?

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Booking Conference Meeting Design Online 113

Conferences that Work

DECEMBER 18, 2023

But our industry still faces ongoing challenges, such as: high travel, F&B, and production costs; staffing shortages; tight client budgets; and the rise of last-minute event registrations. To give you an idea of what my professional 2023 was like, here are three different in-person events I enjoyed immensely. #1

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Booking Conference Meeting Design Logistics 83

Conferences that Work

MARCH 4, 2019

Lab at The EVENT , April 4-6, Montréal! After a highly successful debut in 2018, three Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Chapters — MPI Toronto , MPI Montréal/Québec , and MPI Ottawa — have again joined forces to provide cutting edge, innovative, experiential education at The EVENT.

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Registration Education Events Conference 50

Conferences that Work

APRIL 1, 2019

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.” Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post Q&A with Adrian Segar on Crowdsourcing appeared first on Conferences That Work.

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Booking Conference Meeting Design Speakers 97

Conferences that Work

JUNE 3, 2019

At the time, I had no idea that what I instinctively put together for a gathering of people who barely knew each other would lead to: a global design and facilitation consulting practice; over 500 posts on this blog, which has now become, to the best of my knowledge, the most-visited website on meeting design and facilitation; three books (almost!)

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Conference Consulting Meeting Design Website 68

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. I think participants are more likely to be specific at repeated events because they have experienced the flowering of discussion and sessions based on what is shared during The Three Questions.

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Conference Attendee Meeting Design Booking 62

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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Meeting Vendor Sponsors Attendee 118

Conferences that Work

AUGUST 26, 2019

Here’s a teaser: the introduction to my new book Event Crowdsourcing: Creating Meetings People Actually Want and Need. The social and cultural differences that shaped our frequent meetings fascinated me. Heated discussions about how we should proceed and whose names should go on our journal articles flared and sputtered.

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Booking Events Consulting Conference 67

Conferences that Work

AUGUST 29, 2016

The following year, David was kind enough to honor me in his flagship publication BizBash as one of the most innovative event professionals. Whenever I’ve had the pleasure of meeting David (not often enough!) The cover proclaims “What’s Next in Event Design?”

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Logistics Event Design Conference Design Conference 54

Conferences that Work

MAY 24, 2021

New research about online meetings. Can we conclude that turning off video increases collective intelligence during online meetings? Because the vast majority of online meetings provide a significantly different environment than the CMU researchers used. Do you think online meetings are reducing our collective intelligence?

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Online Meeting Conference Consulting 118

Conferences that Work

NOVEMBER 8, 2021

Status and power at meetings. 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. At many events, only high status people talk.

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Meeting Conference Speakers Booking 129

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. Zoom has rapidly become the dominant platform for online meetings.

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Online Conference Platform Attendee 150

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

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Venue Meeting Conference Design Meeting Design 84

Conferences that Work

AUGUST 24, 2020

Here are five meeting design books I especially recommend. Into the Heart of Meetings: Basic Principles of Meeting Design ( ebook or paperback ). Into the Heart of Meetings: Basic Principles of Meeting Design ( ebook or paperback ). Intentional Event Design ( ebook or paperback ).

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Meeting Design Booking Meeting Publishing 114

Conferences that Work

MARCH 13, 2017

They are also far more likely to make valuable connections with their peers during the event. Seth Godin describes a desirable meeting mindset: What would happen… if we chose to: …Sit in the front row. Ask a hard question every time we go to a meeting…. Read the full article at Conferences That Work.

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Attendee Education Booking Meeting Design 80

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.

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Meeting Conference Booking Meeting Design 78