Convene by PCMA

MAY 19, 2023

Amsterdam’s well-connected infrastructure means attendees can easily jump between venues, hotels, attractions, and restaurants. After all, when event organizers choose host cities that embrace innovation and forward-thinking ideas, those values inevitably set the tone for their event programs and become part of the attendee experience.

Sustainability 52

Sustainability Attendee Fashion Panel 52

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? That is the art,” she said.

Incentives 246

Incentives Insurance Prospect Hospitality 246

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

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.

Events 148

Events Conference Speakers Attendee 148

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! ” Jerry was right.

Booking 80

Booking Meeting Design Consulting Conference 80

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.

Conference 64

Conference Conference Design Meeting Design Education 64

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!

Meeting Design 61

Meeting Design Meeting Speakers Conference 61

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. Such attendee experiences further reinforce the myth that unconferences are no big deal.

Preparation 106

Preparation Venue Conference Attendee 106

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

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. The Conference Arc: Building connection while uncovering wants, needs, and resources.

Online 116

Online Registration Meeting Design Conference 116

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

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

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.

Online 150

Online Conference Platform Attendee 150

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! Sounds crazy, yes, but stay with me!

Meeting 164

Meeting Online Conference Booking 164

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.

Conference 62

Conference Attendee Meeting Design Booking 62

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

APRIL 5, 2021

Only about 10% of adult learning involves formal classroom or meeting presentation formats. Unfortunately, traditional conferences are poor places for this kind of learning to occur, since they’re filled with broadcast-style lectures, during which no interpersonal interaction takes place. The last condition is important.

Meeting 129

Meeting Conference Booking Attendee 129

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.

Meeting Design 65

Meeting Design Conference Online Audience 65

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. Increased learning, interaction, and connection. Producing Event Camp Twin Cities 2011. No related posts.

Meeting 132

Meeting Online Remote Conference 132

Conferences that Work

JANUARY 24, 2022

But I see meetings where hallway learning trumps a majority of, if not all, conference sessions as failures of design, rather than a fact of life. Similarly, your design layout will affect the likelihood and value of hallway learning conversations. Give your attendees plenty of breaks. Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Conference 144

Conference Attendee Meeting Benefits 144

Endless Events

OCTOBER 19, 2018

Well, this influential event prof will share insights to help you incorporate mobile technology, augmented reality, facial recognition, chatbots and more for better events to engage your attendees. The Meeting Pool. The Meeting Pool is the place to be for event professionals who love to discuss technology. Smart Meetings.

Trade Show 333

Trade Show Events Planner Trends 333

Conferences that Work

APRIL 1, 2019

This (slightly edited) interview by JT Long appeared in the March 2019 issue of Smart Meetings Magazine. What led to writing the book, Conferences that Work ? I invented the format by accident 26 years ago when there were no expert speakers to invite for a conference on administrative computing issues in small schools.

Booking 97

Booking Conference Meeting Design Speakers 97

Brightspot Incentive Events

MARCH 18, 2021

Face-to-face events, conferences, and meetings were postponed or cancelled for the near future. Due to the pandemic, subsequent quarantine, and travel restrictions, our company shifted our mindset and developed new product offerings for our clients in the form of virtual events and hybrid meetings.

Virtual Events 52

Virtual Events Meeting Speakers Platform 52

Conferences that Work

NOVEMBER 8, 2021

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. Typically, but not always, higher status implies greater power at meetings.

Meeting 129

Meeting Conference Speakers Booking 129

Conferences that Work

APRIL 9, 2018

Over the last five years I’ve heard increasing concern from the meeting professionals community about the deterioration of the quality of our national industry conferences. I’ll illustrate with the area where I have most experience: providing education at these meetings.

Education 74

Education Meeting Sponsors Speakers 74

Endless Events

JUNE 15, 2018

Today there are multiple options for attendees to check in to events, whether offline or online. Also, take into account the real-time feedback of your attendees. Meetings may cover the simplest of topics, but mixing things up to break the mold can go a long way. Make sure attendees still takeaway the most important tidbits.

Registration 258

Registration Events Sponsors Event Marketing 258

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. Gamifying a conference – ShipCon case study. Why use gamification?

Contracts 130

Contracts Contracts Virtual Events Online 130

Conferences that Work

APRIL 16, 2018

Fun fact: the testing community often uses my term “peer conferences” for their get-togethers, due to a chat about meeting design I had with tester James Bach at the 2004 Amplifying Your Effectiveness conference.)

Logistics 58

Logistics Conference Trade Show Attendee 58

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 16, 2019

Let’s look at these three conclusions in the context of meeting design. Most meeting presenters still lecture. And most meeting session presenters resort to lecturing as their dominant session modality. Attendees learn more when presenters use active learning modalities.

Publishing 85

Publishing Speakers Education Booking 85

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

Conferences that Work

APRIL 8, 2019

1992: I organize a conference where there are no expert speakers available (it’s a new field, there are no experts). Invent a way to make the conference successful based on the collective needs, wants, and experience of the attendees. The conference has run continually for the last 27 years.) This is something new.

Publishing 58

Publishing Consulting Manufacturing Conference 58

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

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. Venue owners can make other attendees co-hosts. The host can broadcast a text announcement to all attendees in all rooms. Two points before we start. next to their name).

Online 80

Online Platform Panel Venue 80

Conferences that Work

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

Luckily, this is typically part of good meeting design — it’s not something that you need to awkwardly or artificially introduce. Good large group work includes short breakouts, where impromptu small groups meet, think, discuss, and share. You may not hear much of the resulting Thanksgiving. No related posts.

Manufacturing 67

Manufacturing Meeting Design Conference Online 67

Conferences that Work

AUGUST 8, 2016

For over 25 years, I’ve been designing and facilitating Conferences That Work : successful, innovative, highly interactive, participant-driven events that leverage attendees’ expertise and experience to create just the conference that participants want and need. The attendees are still here talking to each other!

Education 88

Education Conference Social Network Logistics 88

Conferences that Work

MARCH 25, 2019

Though it’s clearly sensible to keep a conference running on schedule, we’ve all attended meetings where rambling presenters, avoidable “technical issues”, incompetent facilitation, and inadequate logistics have made a mockery of the published program. Ultimately, the attendees are the losers when this happens.

Rehearsal 70

Rehearsal Logistics Contracts Contracts 70