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. Peer Conferences Unveiled—The Transcript! Here it is—enjoy!

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Conference Meetings Corporate Meetings Association Meetings 208

Velvet Chainsaw

APRIL 12, 2023

Contingency plan, A, B & C: iStock Credit: Andrii Dodonov Last fall, two of our consulting clients were scheduled to have their annual conferences in Orlando. Fortunately, this association had already planned a digital version of the conference to be held four weeks after the in-person event. It served as a very successful plan B.

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Speakers Banking Conference 2023 195

Velvet Chainsaw

OCTOBER 12, 2018

At a recent conference consultation with a client, a millennial made me think that I wasn’t keeping up with the times. I voiced my strong opinion that conference organizers should embrace inbound marketing (pull) over traditional outbound marketing (push). I reiterated that their conference needed a home base to optimize.

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Conference Social Media 2018 B2B 321

Velvet Chainsaw

JUNE 14, 2017

The mass-personalization wave that is dramatically changing what and how we buy as consumers has application to conferences. Application to Conferences. In my opinion, the first item — individualizing a conference experience for every attendee — isn’t scalable today.

Conference 309

Conference 2017 Hospitality Tech 309

Velvet Chainsaw

JANUARY 14, 2020

Imagine how you might do your job differently if your performance and compensation were evaluated based on overall session attendance and industry presenter ratings at your annual conference. While this notion may seem a bit extreme, conference education systems need increased accountability, which in turn leads to a competitive advantage.

Speakers 363

Speakers Education Conference 2019 363

Velvet Chainsaw

DECEMBER 7, 2022

While keynote speakers can still be a significant attendance driver, I think 2023 is the year to resurrect the industry panel. Conference organizer provides speaker coaching for effective TED talks. A skilled facilitator develops and delivers an audience engagement plan after each speaker. Differentiation.

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2023 Speakers 2022 Conference 244

GEVME

JUNE 13, 2018

The unique story of any conference should begin with the goal and then a detailed plan on how to reach this goal. In his article for Smashing magazine , the founder of HybridConf, Zach Inglis, states that the aim of every conference organiser should be to create experiences that reenergize people and fill them with new zeal for their work.

Conference Planning 200

Conference Planning Conference Speakers Advertising 200

Velvet Chainsaw

JULY 10, 2017

In order to design relevant education and networking experiences at our conferences, we need to be focused to the point of obsession with our target audience. Over the past 18 months, we’ve carefully scrubbed and analyzed the attendance of 20 major conferences. Who has the professional development budget to attend every year?

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Conference Education 2017 Speakers 288

Velvet Chainsaw

AUGUST 22, 2017

There’s a place for sponsored content in conference programs, if you’re thoughtful in your approach. As more sponsors embrace content marketing or thought leadership as arguably the most powerful strategy for improving attitudes and perceptions of their brand, conference-speaking slots are increasing in value. Transparency.

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Conference Sponsorships Education 2017 283

Event Industry News

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

Brighton Music Conference (BMC), the UK’s foremost electronic music and networking event will still be going ahead on 1st and 2nd of October but as a virtual only event, streamed live and on-demand. Unfortunately, the physical conference can no longer take place as planned due to new Government restrictions.

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Conference 2020 Government Speakers 117

Conferences that Work

NOVEMBER 19, 2018

April 2018, Meetings and Conventions Magazine Do you incorporate participatory sessions into your events? 80% of meeting professionals prefer f acilitated workshop-style, participatory sessions [ survey by M&C Research, April 2018 Meeting and Conventions magazine ]! Sources for additional information.

Education 267

Education Meetings 2011 2012 267

Conferences that Work

JANUARY 10, 2022

Our trade magazines mainly report on big events, the ones with big-name speakers and eye candy razzle-dazzle. “ Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post Make the meeting bigger! appeared first on Conferences That Work. What we shouldn’t do. The event industry unduly focuses on large meetings.

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Meetings Meeting Design 2020 Speakers 330

Velvet Chainsaw

JANUARY 26, 2017

Impact on Healthcare Conferences? Here are four questions (and tips) for your conference committee to consider as they navigate this changing landscape: 1. Tip: have each conference committee member reach out to five to ten key attendees to understand their pressing priorities. Session Mix. Submissions or curation?

Conference 150

Conference Healthcare 2016 Education 150

Prestige Events Magazine

JANUARY 15, 2024

The Power of Discovery The Venues of Excellence Annual Conference 2024 – will be held at Alton Towers Resort & Conference Centre. The aim of the event is to provide motivation and inspiration from an excellent range of industry speakers and informative sessions all focused on helping venues strive for continued excellence.

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Conference Venues 2024 Speakers 52

Hubilo Blog

FEBRUARY 25, 2020

Why have a keynote speaker at your event? The sole idea of organizing any business event or a conference is to engage with your audience and build a strong brand by providing value by the means of sharing knowledge, insights or present compelling stories. This where you need keynote speakers at your event or conference.

Speakers 101

Speakers Consulting Healthcare Financial 101

PCMA Convene

AUGUST 8, 2017

Convene podcast host Ashley Milne-Tyte talks to Katie Orenstein, the founder and CEO of The Op-Ed Project, about why it can be a struggle to get diverse speakers and why it’s worth the effort. . Katie Orenstein at a conference. She understands everyone wants brilliant speakers at their events. That wasn’t discussed.

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Speakers Conference Negotiating 2015 89

Velvet Chainsaw

SEPTEMBER 8, 2016

As conference education trumps the exhibit hall experience at many association meetings, or creeps into your trade show experience to create a solutions-driven, holistic experience for your attendees, upping your game with session titles, descriptions, and learning objectives has become more important than ever. You should too!

Conference 150

Conference Marketing Education Attendance Marketing 150

Hubilo Blog

FEBRUARY 25, 2020

Why have a keynote speaker at your event? The sole idea of organizing any business event or a conference is to engage with your audience and build a strong brand by providing value by the means of sharing knowledge, insights or present compelling stories. This where you need keynote speakers at your event or conference.

Speakers 98

Speakers Healthcare Consulting Financial 98

Velvet Chainsaw

APRIL 24, 2019

As the event-tech space continues to evolve with a number of mergers and acquisitions, I see four changes coming for larger annual conferences. #1. Conference organizers who jumped on the big-data bandwagon are drowning in so much information, they can’t make sense of what changes need to be made. Security is Expensive, but Critical.

Event Tech 363

Event Tech Tech B2B Event Technology 363

Velvet Chainsaw

APRIL 12, 2017

When Velvet Chainsaw Consulting conducted speaker research with 120 associations with research and consulting company Tagoras Inc. in 2013, we found that nearly 77 percent use a call for speakers/sessions process. About 62 percent close off submissions eight months or longer before the conference. Tighten the timeline.

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Speakers 2013 Consulting Education 279

Prestige Events Magazine

MARCH 19, 2024

ICC Wales will welcome more than 1,900 delegates, 320 exhibitors and 90 speakers when the venue hosts the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Annual Conference and Exhibition in October 2025.

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2025 Conference Healthcare 2024 119

Event Industry News

APRIL 14, 2022

Green Events & Innovations Conference ( GEI ) is presented by A Greener Festival ( AGF ) in partnership with the International Live Music Conference ( ILMC ). GEI 14 will be an official part of the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) for the first time with all ILMC delegates able to attend GEI sessions.

Conference 57

Conference Food and Beverage Sustainability Speakers 57

Prestige Events Magazine

DECEMBER 8, 2023

The SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2024 in Birmingham, West Midlands has announced its first wave of high-profile speakers for sport’s most influential industry gathering. This is the first time the conference has been held in the UK for over a decade, and the last host – Australia’s Gold Coast – secured the 2032 Olympic Games.

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Sports 2024 Speakers 2022 59

Prestige Events Magazine

DECEMBER 14, 2023

Academic Venue Solutions (AVS), the UK’s only consortium dedicated to academic venues, hosted its annual conference on the 7 th -8 th December at The Jubilee Hotel & Conferences, Nottingham Venues. It is based on the belief that you can’t compete externally if you can’t collaborate internally first.

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Conference Venues 2024 2017 59

Velvet Chainsaw

JANUARY 17, 2019

As conference organizers this leads us to bad decisions when selecting speakers and programming where we promote sharing success stories over asking questions, verifying validity and understanding context. See Michael Shermer, editor in chief of Skeptic magazine, The Belief Module, Skeptic 5 , no. Wonderful Word Of Stories.

Government 336

Government Speakers Conference Management 336

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.

2014 244

2014 2019 Conference Meeting Design 244

PCMA Convene

JUNE 1, 2016

I t wasn’t too long ago that becoming a professional speaker was the third step a thought leader took in his or her career. In the digital age, thought leaders establish a following by cultivating an online presence, thereby skipping a step on the path to becoming a qualified speaker. Look for authenticity plus charisma.

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Speakers Social Media Sponsorships Consulting 73

Prestige Events Magazine

OCTOBER 18, 2023

The Business of Events is pleased to announce its first confirmed speakers and contributors ahead of its UK Policy Forum , which takes place on 8 th November at IET London: Savoy Place. Further speaker announcements will be made shortly. The event is invitation only. You can register your interest here.

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Speakers 2005 2023 2012 59

Velvet Chainsaw

DECEMBER 11, 2019

If your conference is like most, sponsorship revenue is underperforming. There are two benchmarks we like to use to identify healthy conference revenue business models: Industry revenue — 30 percent or more of a conference’s total revenue should come from the combination of sponsor, exhibit and advertising revenue.

Sponsorships 273

Sponsorships Advertising Transportation Education 273

Eventinterface

DECEMBER 20, 2016

We are joined today by Corbin Ball, an international speaker, consultant and writer helping clients worldwide use technology to save time and improve productivity. With 20 years of experience running international technology meetings, he now is a highly acclaimed speaker with the ability to make complex subjects understandable and fun.

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2012 Conference Consulting Speakers 100

Event Industry News

MARCH 24, 2022

Green Events & Innovations Conference ( GEI ) is presented by A Greener Festival ( AGF ) in partnership with the International Live Music Conference ( ILMC ). GEI 14 will be an official part of the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) for the first time with all ILMC delegates able to attend GEI sessions.

Conference 57

Conference Food and Beverage Sustainability Transportation 57

Event Industry News

APRIL 21, 2022

The Green Events & Innovations Conference (GEI) will bring together music legends, live music & event industry professionals and climate-change fighting superheroes to inspire collective action in the fight against a climate catastrophe on Friday 29th April at the Royal Garden Hotel in London. View full event schedule here: [link].

Conference 52

Conference Food and Beverage Sustainability Speakers 52

Velvet Chainsaw

JUNE 24, 2019

Most meeting organizers invest a significant amount of time creating the educational programming for their annual conference. Models vary, but most include a 15- to 20-person conference committee (slotters) and army of reviewers (graders). Help this group become even better by investing in speaker coaching/training.

Education 274

Education 2019 Conference Speakers 274

Arlo Training & Events Software

MARCH 22, 2023

Here’s our round-up of the top conferences for training professionals. In-person conferences are making a BIG comeback in 2023. Just as we’re seeing a resurgence in face-to-face training and people opting to return to the office rather than work from home, this same desire to “connect” is driving conference attendance up.

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Conference 2023 2024 Speakers 26

GEVME

JUNE 15, 2020

Mastering the science of running digital conferences, Zoltan Tudnik, Co-Founder and Head of Business at Hipther agency, TEDx speaker and our guest speaker at the third episode of Digital Event Series , believes that the event industry will be back to normal with face-to-face meetings.

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Speakers Conference Social Media Technology 156

Prestige Events Magazine

FEBRUARY 7, 2024

Venues of Excellence (VOE) has hosted its 2024 Annual Conference at the award-winning Alton Towers Resort sponsored by Oyster Recruitment. The theme for the conference was titled ‘The Power of Discovery’ and was attended by 143 delegates and supported by 21 exhibitors.

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2024 Venues Conference Speakers 59

Event Industry News

JUNE 27, 2019

Baroness Karren Brady, CBE, recognised as one of the most influential, respected business leaders and inspirational speakers across Europe, will take the main stage as a keynote speaker at this year’s Cvent CONNECT Europe. The industry-leading event technology conference, hosted by Cvent, will take place 14-16 Oct, in London.

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Speakers 2019 2014 Event Technology 56