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. During the COVID-19 pandemic, much education has moved online. It’s a good time to invite guest presenters into your online classroom. One small silver lining of this disruption?

Hospitality 75

Hospitality Online Education Events 75

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. In-person, online, and hybrid. It’s a win-win-win. What do my clients think?

Sponsors 80

Sponsors Registration Conference Attendee 80

Conferences that Work

MAY 11, 2020

Because participants love these meetings ! Now the covid-19 pandemic has forced meetings online. Unfortunately, most online events are still using a traditional webinar/broadcast-style approach: presenters speaking for long periods, interspersed with chat-mediated Q&A. Meetings will never be the same.

Online 150

Online Conference Platform Attendee 150

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.

Social Media 105

Social Media Consulting Platform Remote 105

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. But last week I received a long email from a client whom I’d consulted a couple of times on the design of her organization’s online conferences.

Consulting 80

Consulting Social Media Publishing Conference 80

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. ” — The revolution in online learning , Seth Godin. So, how can I incorporate the power of social learning into my events?

Booking 113

Booking Conference Meeting Design Online 113

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.

Meeting 115

Meeting Technology Technology Manufacturing 115

Conferences that Work

MARCH 14, 2022

Personal meetings like these, whether brief or extended, between good friends or strangers, are fundamental. Conferences, whether in-person or online, are also potential arenas for conversations. Traditional events relegate conversations to the hallways, to breaks and socials. Someone to tell it to at conferences.

Meeting Design 65

Meeting Design Conference Online Audience 65

Conferences that Work

DECEMBER 18, 2023

After COVID decimated the meeting industry, I focused on the design and facilitation of online meetings. 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.

Booking 83

Booking Conference Meeting Design Online 83

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!

Conference 80

Conference Speakers Proposal Online 80

Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 7, 2022

Companies bombard me with offers to check out online meeting platforms. Butter is an online meeting platform that is designed to support the facilitation of great interactive meetings. Like just about every recently introduced online platform, its developers are continually updating it. (In

Platform 62

Platform Meeting Online Production 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.

Meeting 118

Meeting Vendor Sponsors Attendee 118

Conferences that Work

JANUARY 25, 2021

Unless your constituency is bound to your event via a requirement to earn CEUs, members can withhold their attendance or avoid sessions at will. — Note that I’m not suggesting meeting professionals give up any attempt to control what happens at their events. Why are they event owners? The myth of control.

Meeting 122

Meeting Logistics Conference Online 122

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 ).

Meeting Design 114

Meeting Design Booking Meeting Publishing 114

Conferences that Work

JUNE 13, 2016

The Chinese government runs a massive online censorship program. Why mention this on an event design blog? Well, the most effective aspect of China’s online censorship regime illustrates what happens when you don’t incorporate covenants into your meetings. Read the full article at Conferences That Work.

Meeting 63

Meeting Online Conference Government 63

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. Minimizing surprises like CoffeeGate is default behavior for meeting planners.

Meeting 70

Meeting Conference Planner Attendee 70

Conferences that Work

MAY 22, 2023

It is critical to understand how to design conferences and events effectively. My books offer practical advice and best practices for designing and executing successful participant-driven and participation-rich meetings, whether they are virtual or in-person, and they are used by numerous meeting and hospitality education programs.

Retail 12

Retail Booking Meeting Design Education 12

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

Adding to my reports on new platforms providing online incarnations of traditional conference socials , here’s a review of online social platform Rally. First, if you don’t know about online social platforms, check out the introduction included in my earlier reviews of Gatherly and Yotribe.

Online 80

Online Platform Panel Venue 80

Conferences that Work

JULY 19, 2021

Ever since my first encounter with the hybrid hub and spoke meeting topology at Event Camp Twin Cities in 2011, I’ve been a big fan of the format. Yesterday [see below], I realized that hub and spoke is a great format for purely online meetings too. What’s a hub and spoke meeting? But first….

Meeting 132

Meeting Online Remote Conference 132

Endless Events

OCTOBER 19, 2018

After all, event industry blogs are accessible, provide information about events from around the globe and cover every aspect of event planning. You can find bigger and better ways to deploy events, the latest in event tech, and follow where other event profs’ careers are taking them. Endless Events.

Trade Show 333

Trade Show Events Planner Trends 333

Conferences that Work

APRIL 18, 2022

The COVID19 pandemic created an explosion of interest in hybrid meetings, and the marketplace and event professionals are still defining what “hybrid” means. (No, No, sticking a streaming camera in the back of the room does not make an in-person meeting hybrid.) 1—In-person attendees participate in an online session!

Meeting 164

Meeting Online Conference Booking 164

Conferences that Work

JULY 17, 2023

I am resigned to the fact that OpenAI ‘s Large Language Model ChatGPT has scraped every blog post I’ve written here (over 750 posts in the last 13 years—around half a million words) so it can parrot my thoughts about meeting design, facilitation, and other topics.

Booking 117

Booking Publishing Meeting Design Technology 117

Conferences that Work

JANUARY 11, 2021

Peer conferences reduce problem solving limitations in the obvious domain, by allowing participants to influence the content and scope of meeting sessions in real time during the event. Evaluate event production company abilities for a game-changing event I’m planning? Complicated problems. Complex problems.

Conference 136

Conference Human Resources Meeting Production 136

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. I loved doing this event. Adrian Segar: Okay.

Conference 83

Conference Meeting Booking Audience 83

Social Tables

DECEMBER 27, 2018

What does it mean to be a part of the events industry in 2019? Meetings are growing and evolving rapidly, and each is an experiment in applying new methods to find a perfect formula. For venues and planners, that means looking into the crystal ball to get ahead of event trends and expectations. Well for starters, don’t blink.

Trends 167

Trends Meeting Planner Venue 167