Conferences that Work

JANUARY 15, 2024

Should the event industry embrace facial analysis — a technology that promises to offer new analytic data to event stakeholders? In this post, I’ll explain why I’m concerned. I’ve included: An introduction to facial recognition and facial analysis; A timeline of recent public experiences and responses to the use of facial analysis at events; Why I think the use of this technology is misguided, ethically and legally dubious; and My conclusions.

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2023 2022 Technology Events 348

Conferences that Work

JANUARY 1, 2024

I’m concerned about the future of high-energy physics research. Fifty years ago, I worked on a ground-breaking high-energy physics neutrino experiment at the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (better known as CERN) particle accelerator in Geneva. In July 1973, the Gargamelle collaboration presented the first direct evidence of a theory that successfully reduced the number of separate fundamental force theories in physics from four to three.

2012 208

2012 2023 Conference 208

Conferences that Work

DECEMBER 25, 2023

Here’s an independent review of my conference design work, published as a case study in Chapter 25—Designing and Developing Content for Collaborative Business Events—of the book The Routledge Handbook of Business Events. (Tip: The hardback version is expensive, the ebook is a quarter of the hardback cost.) The chapter was written by Ruth Dowson , Chantal Dickson , and Simon Bell.

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Conferences that Work

DECEMBER 18, 2023

I’m looking back on 2023. And , dear reader, get 20% off my ebooks until the end of the year! 2023 in review I slowed down in 2023. Before 2020, I was designing and facilitating around a dozen in-person meetings and conferences a year. After COVID decimated the meeting industry, I focused on the design and facilitation of online meetings. In 2023, in-person is back!

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Conferences that Work

DECEMBER 11, 2023

Long ago, I participated in and later staffed a series of workshops that profoundly affected my life. They led me to create a contract with myself that is still important to me. Creating a contract with oneself is a common way to motivate yourself toward achieving desired goals. There are plenty of resources available for writing such contracts. ( Here’s one that’s slanted toward event professionals. ) The workshop where I created my contract for myself took a deeper perspective.

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Contracts 2005 Conference Meetings 353

Conferences that Work

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

I joined the social media platform Mastodon a year ago. Given recent turbulent social media trends, I’m glad I took the plunge. Having been on Twitter (yes, I know it’s been renamed “X”, sue me) since 2009, I’d describe Mastodon as the old Twitter. What do I mean by that? What Twitter is now Ever since Twitter’s creation in 2006, people have used it in different ways.

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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! Cross-disciplinary. New insights-oriented. Participant-centred.

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Meeting Design Meetings Conference Conference Design 208

Conferences that Work

OCTOBER 30, 2023

Meetings and conferences are perhaps one of the most important fundamental ways in which people come together and change happens. Yet this topic is rarely the focus of much academic study. So I’m pleased to discover an academic research article paper about unconference — especially since its title is: The Future Of Conferences Is Unconferences !

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Conferences that Work

OCTOBER 9, 2023

A [MARKETING PERSON] has invited me to share my expertise at a meeting industry event. Well, there’s nothing unusual about that; it happens frequently. BUT THIS TIME I GET TO PAY FOR THE PRIVILEGE! Pay me? No, you pay us! I’m regularly asked to speak, present, or run a workshop at meeting industry events. While I love to do this, the requests are often silent about something important.

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Meetings 2023 2021 Marketing 269

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 18, 2023

Strive to live in your own imagination, not someone else’s. Having written about the intersection of power and status at meetings , I appreciate what professor of African American studies at Princeton University Ruha Benjamin shares in this 2019 video: “ The New Jim Code? Race, Carceral Technoscience, and Liberatory Imagination “ She delves deeply into nonobvious ways that historic designs encode and perpetuate inequity.

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2013 2019 Technology Conference 264

Conferences that Work

AUGUST 7, 2023

Now that small hybrid meetings are commonplace, what meeting room designs work for a mixture of in-person and remote participants? Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post Meeting room designs for both in-person and remote participants appeared first on Conferences That Work.

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Conferences that Work

JULY 31, 2023

Though I’ve been a professional consultant of one kind or another for over forty years, I sometimes still fall victim to the Consultant’s Curse. Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post The Consultant’s Curse appeared first on Conferences That Work.

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Consulting Conference 156

Conferences that Work

JULY 24, 2023

Growing up, I was immersed in an environment that worshipped feats of mind , to the almost total exclusion of the body. Apart from compulsory school sports on Thursday after school, I spent 5½ days each week studying, studying, studying. Perhaps that’s why I eventually gravitated toward practicing mind fulness in my 50s. But recently, my mediation teachers have been suggesting a slightly different approach, one they call cultivating embodied awareness.

Sports 156

Sports Conference 156

Conferences that Work

JUNE 26, 2023

A June 2023 conference gave me a perfect opportunity to use one of my facilitation tools: Reminders, Sparks, Questions, Puzzles (RSQP). RSQP can be thought of as a highly interactive debrief after an information dump. It’s an efficient way to get participants to rapidly engage with and explore presented content in a personally meaningful way.

2014 156

2014 2023 Conference Meetings 156

Conferences that Work

JUNE 19, 2023

In a Pentagon news conference on Feb. 12, 2002, United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld gave a now-famous response to a question about the lack of evidence linking the government of Iraq with the supply of weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups: “…as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say, we know there are some things we do not know.

2002 156

2002 Government Conference Management 156

Conferences that Work

JUNE 12, 2023

I am delighted and honored to be featured in ‘ Harnessing Serendipity ,’ a unique new book that explores the magic of facilitating connection that leads to collaboration. It includes the stories of 66 “talented connectors” who share insights on how they create transformative experiences. The primary professions of the collaboration artists the authors include are wide-ranging—to say the least.

Sports 156

Sports Meeting Design Conference Marketing 156

Conferences that Work

JUNE 5, 2023

In 2022, Zoom added avatars to their Meetings and Webinars products. Initially, Zoom only offered animal avatars, but custom human avatars were added in 2023. Zoom avatars have received mixed reviews ( 1 , 2 ), including this reaction from Miguel Neves , Editor-in-chief at Skift Meetings, on LinkedIn : “Why but why has Zoom created an avatars feature?

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2023 2022 Meetings Conference 156

Conferences that Work

MAY 22, 2023

Hey everyone, especially educators who teach courses on meetings and hospitality. My ebooks are now available on VitalSource , the largest global supplier of digital course materials to higher education! I’m confident that this new channel will be a valuable addition to your curriculum. Check to see if your school already makes books available via VitalSource Campus Retailers.

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Retail Hospitality Meeting Design Education 31

Conferences that Work

MAY 15, 2023

It’s time for a “sound of silence” roundup of meetings industry pet peeves. “…the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains Within the sound of silence” —Simon & Garfunkel – Sound Of Silence (1965) Read the full article at Conferences That Work The post The meeting industry’s sound of silence appeared first on Conferences That Work.

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Meetings Conference Speakers 296

Conferences that Work

MAY 8, 2023

The philosopher Søren Kierkegaard once said that life can only be understood by looking backward, but it must be lived looking forward. The musings of Kierkegaard, by @tomgauld , New Scientist November 19, 2022 I agree! Understanding by looking backward In my 7th decade, I think I better understand some of the mysteries of my youth. Feelings Paradoxically, one of the things I now understand better is the importance and influence of my feelings.

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Financial 2022 Conference 156

Conferences that Work

APRIL 24, 2023

ex We prize personal moments of connection, moments when we are moved. But today, broadcast messages bombard us. This leads to the question: Can broadcast be personal ? Occasionally, the answer is “yes” A paragraph in a novel unexpectedly hooks your heart. An inspirational speaker says something that totally resonates with an audience member.

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Conferences that Work

APRIL 10, 2023

At edACCESS 2008 I gave a 90-minute presentation entitled “Learning from the biggest consulting mistake I’ve made — and that you probably have too” OK, the formal title was “The Systematic Development of Informed Consent “, which sounds much fancier but requires explanation. 15 years have passed, yet I think the blunders I made while working with a client during one of my past careers —IT consulting—are still relevant and instructive.

Consulting 31

Consulting 2008 Conference Management 31

Conferences that Work

APRIL 3, 2023

TLDR There will be a significant price increase for my ebooks on April 15th. Buy my ebooks before April 15th and save a lot of money. Stock up on my ebooks before the price increases on April 15th! Dear Readers, I’m writing to share some important news regarding my ebooks. As you may know, I have been selling my ebooks at a fixed price of $11.00 since 2009.

2009 31

2009 2023 Sustainability Meeting Design 31

Conferences that Work

MARCH 27, 2023

Reading two recent MeetingsNet articles about the value of trade show appointments reminds me of a story attributed to the wry 13th-century Sufi philosopher Nasreddin. American Sign Language for “You’re right!” Two men who were quarreling came to Nasreddin and asked him to adjudicate their argument. The first man presented his case, and when he was done, Nasreddin exclaimed, “You’re right!

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Trade Shows Conference Venues Meetings 162

Conferences that Work

MARCH 13, 2023

During a recent meditation session, teacher Narayan Helen Liebenson shared that it was Parinirvana Day , the day when the Buddha is said to have achieved complete Nirvana, upon the death of his physical body. She explained that you don’t need to believe in the concept of reincarnation to be a Buddhist. And she talked about the fact that many of us have experienced, often more than once, reincarnation in this life.

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Conference 156

Conferences that Work

MARCH 6, 2023

After a school board informational meeting the other day, I chatted with the moderator, Steve John. We talked about several aspects of the meeting, including the difficulty of working with both sides of an issue. The Meeting for the Town/Community Center, Marlboro, VT. Photo by David Holzapfel. I’m the guy wearing a checked shirt. It’s rare for groups larger than a few people to agree unanimously on an issue.

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Conference Education Meetings 156

Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 27, 2023

Philosophers and scientists have long defined cognition as something done by a single mind. But in January 2023, twenty-eight scientists published a letter to the editor of Cognitive Science that challenges this view of cognition. Rather, they say, “ interaction co-constitutes cognition as a process involving interacting minds. In other words, they believe that interaction is at the heart of cognition.

2023 156

2023 Conference Events Meetings 156

Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 13, 2023

Sparks sing “How Do I Get to Carnegie Hall?” Click to listen! On March 11, 2022, I watched the last episode of Season 4 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. As Midge Maisel walked alone in the snow outside Carnegie Hall and the credits scrolled, some amazing music began to play with the hypnotic refrain “How Do I Get To Carnegie Hall? Practice, man, practice.” I had to hear it again.

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2008 2021 2022 Conference 156

Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 6, 2023

As I write this, we are entering the fourth year of the COVID-19 pandemic which has been responsible for millions of deaths and long-term disabilities. Many more people are going to die and contract Long COVID. In addition, most current events are still dangerous to attend for people with disabilities and certain chronic illnesses. Under the circumstances, it’s shocking that the meeting industry has developed no widely-accepted standards for safer events.

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Contracts Conference Events Meetings 296

Conferences that Work

JANUARY 30, 2023

Most weekdays, my wife and I join a fifteen-minute online meditation offered by teachers at the Insight Meditation Society. The other day, teacher Matthew Hepburn introduced a dharma practice of meditating, not on one’s breath or body sensations, but on another person. As Matthew talked, I realized that I experience good facilitation listening as a meditation.

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Conference 156

Conferences that Work

JANUARY 23, 2023

Over the years, I’ve written frequently about associations , which are just one kind of social group. Our lives are defined by myriads of social groups, some self-chosen, some completely beyond our control. These groups have many origins and purposes, some beneficial and some destructive. Although individual value systems vary, I think it’s worth asking the question: What’s the highest meaning or purpose of a social group?

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2014 2023 Conference Management 156

Conferences that Work

JANUARY 16, 2023

In a typical in-person conference breakout session, participants divide into small groups to discuss one or more topics. Each group records members’ thoughts and ideas on one or more sheets of flipchart paper. At the end of the discussions, groups post their papers on a wall and everyone walks around reading the different ideas. Facilitators call this a gallery walk.

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Conference Education Meetings 156

Conferences that Work

JANUARY 9, 2023

Meeting professionals rarely talk about status and power issues. This is unfortunate because the ways that status and power manifest at meetings matter. Why? Because a majority of those who attend most meetings have little say over what happens at them. Typical meeting formats are rigid, and attendees play largely circumscribed roles. So, let’s explore the roles of status and power at meetings.

Meetings 156

Meetings Conference Event Design Events 156

Conferences that Work

JANUARY 2, 2023

Sadly, resolutions rarely work. In 2016 I wrote about what I call the New Year’s Resolutions Effect. [My example was noticing that thousands of people chose to read my old post about cleaning up email on your iPhone every January.] I shared Tom Stafford ‘s suggestion for maximizing the likelihood that people will make good resolutions and keep them.

2016 156

2016 Conference Events 156

Conferences that Work

DECEMBER 19, 2022

Last week I wrote about alternatives to Twitter , sparked by the rapid changes to the platform under its new billionaire owner. Focusing on our own professional community—the meeting (and hospitality) industry—I’d like to make a modest proposal for a social media platform that might meet our needs better. In other words: an #eventprofs alternative to Twitter.

Social Media 162

Social Media Hospitality Meetings Conference 162

Conferences that Work

DECEMBER 12, 2022

Since Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter on October 27, 2022 , its status as a stable social media platform seems to be rapidly imploding. Reportedly, Twitter has restored thousands of accounts that were previously banned by the company’s own moderation teams , and half of Twitter’s top advertisers have left the platform. In response to these developments, I’ve been looking into alternatives to Twitter.

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Conferences that Work

DECEMBER 7, 2022

For the 4th year in a row, I’m honored to be voted one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the Event Industry in Eventex ‘s annual poll. The award “recognizes event professionals who have left a mark on the industry with their creativity, vision, and capacity for innovation” Learn more about me here. Public voting entirely determines who’s on the list.

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2022 2019 Conference Events 162