Velvet Chainsaw

MAY 20, 2021

As it becomes more apparent that face-to-face events will return in some form this year, conference organizers have an opportunity to make changes that would have been more difficult to sell up the ladder in the past. It’s a good time for planners to challenge their organizations to make the meeting experience more valuable than ever.

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Conference Conference Design 2021 Entertainment 398

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. Closing sessions that meet personal and group wants and needs are often absent.

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Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

I’ve been promoting the Conferences That Work meeting format for so long, that some people assume I think it’s the right choice for every meeting. two meeting types and three situations when you should NOT use a Conferences That Work design: — Most corporate events. Here are (drum roll!)

Meeting Design 120

Meeting Design Conference Meetings Conference Design 120

Conferences that Work

JULY 2, 2018

Thirty minutes of discussion with three stakeholders revealed they hadn’t yet settled on the event’s specific purpose, scope, and format. The needs assessment trap Conference design clients who “know what they want” have already decided on their “ why? Conferences That Work goes to Japan!

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Conferences that Work

DECEMBER 10, 2018

.” —Sarah Kendzior, The View From Flyover Country: Dispatches from the Forgotten America The meeting industry is no exception. A “creative” event design is one with a novel venue and/or decor and lighting and/or food and beverage. The meeting industry has redefined novelty as creativity.

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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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2005 2009 2007 Meeting Design 202

PCMA Convene

APRIL 6, 2020

Several scientific and medical conferences are changing to meet the demand. has been to many conferences. He’s taken home awards for his presentations at events like the European Congress of Entomology. Certainly, some scientific conferences are guilty as charged. After all, these are scientific and medical events.

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Meetings Conference Conference Design 2019 76

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.

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Conference Conference Design Meeting Design Education 160

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?” 2 — Elementary Meetings.

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Conferences that Work

AUGUST 6, 2018

As an example I’ll use a three-day conference I’m currently designing. The participants are four hundred scientists who work all over the world and only get to meet en masse every few years. Want to see my 6 minute 40 second Pecha Kucha presentation Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design!

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Conference 2010 2011 Conference Design 233

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 17, 2018

So this is what we did: Read the full article at Conferences That Work Related posts: Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design! Want to see my 6 minute 40 second Pecha Kucha presentation Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design! given at EventCamp Twin Cities on September 9, 2010? If so, download.

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Velvet Chainsaw

MARCH 6, 2017

Your real conference competition is not that event held six months after yours. Today’s technology driven, hyper-connected, instant gratification, real-time world puts you as a conference organizer in a difficult position. We also strive to offer something for everyone at our event. We aggregate speaker proposals.

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Conference Trade Shows Conference Planning Contracts 296

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

After I talked about my meeting design work with pioneer tester James Bach at the 2004 Amplifying Your Effectiveness conference, the testing community somehow adopted the term peer conference for their get-togethers. I miss hanging out with the folks I got to know at these events. And that’s what happened.

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Conference 2022 2004 Meeting Design 156

Smart Meetings

SEPTEMBER 22, 2023

How to incorporate a sense of belonging into the attendee event experience The phrase “sense of belonging” is defined as the psychological feeling of connectedness to a social, spatial, cultural, professional or other type of group or community (Hurtado & Carter, 1997).

Food and Beverage 98

Food and Beverage Sustainability Entertainment Hotels 98

Velvet Chainsaw

JUNE 29, 2016

How your audience responds will have a direct impact on your conference’s brand image and credibility. From a conference design perspective, we believe the current best practice is to bookend your conference by opening with a strong-thought provoking speaker and closing with inspiration. What to Look For.

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Speakers Conference Food and Beverage Negotiating 278

Velvet Chainsaw

JULY 25, 2017

During your conference education sessions, are your participants stationary or free to move around the space to meet their needs? This means we must design and plan an entirely new learning experience. The Best And Biggest Question To Ask During Your Conference Planning Process. You don’t have to change everything.

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Velvet Chainsaw

JUNE 4, 2018

Here are six ways to focus on designing your team’s experience during your next conference planning process. Embrace Your Event As A Giving Field. Read more about embracing your conference as a giving field here. What type of experience do we want as we aim to meet our conference objectives? Turn Inward.

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Conference Conference Planning Conference Design Meetings 272

Conferences that Work

JUNE 27, 2016

In this two-part article I’ll share a little of my experience and takeaways, followed by their relevance to event design ( red ). In Lessons From Improv , and other posts I’ve shared how improv shines a powerful light on core practices that improve events. Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design!

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Event Marketer

MAY 24, 2023

The flagship experience, launched in 2018 as part of a portfolio consolidation, marked a new chapter this month as it reconvened May 9-11 in Orlando as a smaller, targeted in-person conference designed to serve up content and networking experiences “that matter most to you.” Emphasis on the you.

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2023 Conference Trade Shows Technology 83

Eventmobi

JULY 10, 2023

With the right conference app, you can: Enhance communication Streamline event management Personalize attendees’ experience And so much more. But how do you choose the right app for your conferences? Plus, what features should you be looking for in a conference event app?

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Conference Event Apps Trade Shows Social Media 150

Smart Meetings

NOVEMBER 7, 2018

When more than 750 financial and insurance conference professionals converged at JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes the first week of November for FICP Annual Conference 2018, the message that event professionals need to move from simply managing logistics to helping people make meaningful connections was loud and clear in word and deed.

Financial 97

Financial Insurance Hospitality Conference 97

Slido

OCTOBER 24, 2018

To help you find the best of the game content as well as the hidden gems of the event blogosphere, we scoured the web and put together blogs that keep us on top of things. Here are some of our favorite blogs that bring the best from our industry, as well as some amazing companies that have inspired us on our journey toward better meetings.

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Social Media Consulting Conference Education 75

Coterie Spark

MAY 17, 2023

Create challenges through your event app or provide access to actual gaming stations. Giving your guests a mental break ties back to that focus on wellness we were just talking about, while also providing casual opportunities to bond without the pressure of formal networking events.

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Conference Conference Design Speakers Event Apps 52

Conferences that Work

NOVEMBER 2, 2020

Traditional conference designs also adopt this model. Eventually, a transforming idea or event allows a period of transition away from chaos, via integration and practice , towards a new status quo. Team members don’t show up at meetings or answer messages. Obviously we can make plans to initiate change.

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Consulting Conference Design Conference Management 224

PCMA Convene

JANUARY 3, 2017

He founded the FoST Summit in 2012, inviting 300 people from the fields of technology, arts, theater, business, and communications to attend a one-day event to explore the impact of technology on storytelling. We really had to blow up the conference model,” Melcher said in an interview with Convene. This is not your ordinary conference.

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Meetings Speakers 2016 2015 63

Conferences that Work

JULY 18, 2016

Each session was designed to discover and meet wants and needs of the executive officers and volunteers of the association’s regional chapters’ members in an area of special interest. Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design! Session goals. other issues related to the session topic.

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Consulting Sponsorships 2010 Conference 120

Tito Blog | An Event Blog for Organisers

AUGUST 23, 2019

To help you get among that community, we’ve put together a collection of events for business owners in 2019 and 2020, beginning with: 1) South Summit CDMX 2019. After two successful editions earlier this year in Malaga and Bogotá, the event will be back this October in Madrid, and this December in Mexico City.

2019 60

2019 2020 Ecommerce Conference 60

Smart Meetings

NOVEMBER 7, 2018

When more than 750 financial and insurance conference professionals converged at JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes the first week of November for FICP Annual Conference 2018, the message that event professionals need to move from simply managing logistics to helping people make meaningful connections was loud and clear in word and deed.

Financial 51

Financial Insurance Hospitality Conference 51

Event Leadership Institute

DECEMBER 31, 2017

One of the main reasons event professionals learn with us is to hone the skills needed to advance their event planning careers, and many of them ask us about job openings. Meeting & Event Job Openings | January 2018. Design & Event Coordinator | AlliedPRA | Chandler, AZ. Learn More. California .

2018 40

2018 Trade Shows Entertainment Event Management 40

Event Leadership Institute

JANUARY 31, 2018

One of the main reasons event professionals learn with us is to hone the skills needed to advance their event planning careers, and many of them ask us about job openings. Meeting & Event Job Openings | February 2018. Events Coordinator II – Operations Logistics | Isagenix | Gilbert, AZ. Learn More.

2018 40

2018 Hospitality Trade Shows Hotels 40

Connect Your Meetings

JULY 9, 2019

Heather Wakefield, 39, works remotely in Nashville, Tennessee, as a s enior manager of education and events at Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society. As a 2019 40 Under 40 honoree, Wakefield discusses her passion for the events industry. . Connect with Wakefield on LinkedIn and Instagram. . When I moved to the Washington D.C.

2019 40

2019 2007 Healthcare 2018 40

Connect Your Meetings

DECEMBER 6, 2016

Web Summit, an internet tech conference held in Portugal, has seen exponential growth since it launched as a meetup for 400 tech investors in 2010. Expected to attract more than 50,000 attendees this November, the growing conference designed to connect startups with investors is no match for the planner behind it all.

Tech 40

Tech 2010 Conference Design Speakers 40

PCMA Convene

JUNE 1, 2016

How your audience responds to a keynote speaker has a direct connection to your conference’s brand image and credibility, so choose wisely. From a conference-design perspective, it’s a smart practice to bookend your event by opening with a strong thought-provoking speaker and closing with an inspirational one.

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Speakers Social Media Sponsorships Consulting 73

PCMA Convene

APRIL 18, 2017

The PCMA European Influencers Summit will gather approximately 40 European business events leaders in Monte Carlo, Monaco, June 25–27, to address the future of the events industry. It’s a combination of being with others, sharing, and then listening to really smart people that you would never meet in your daily life.

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Banking Conference Tech Conference Design 66

PCMA Convene

JULY 31, 2016

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the meetings and conventions industry is built on relationships — one on one, face to face, rooted in competence and trust. Meetings bring people together, you see, and that applies to the back of the house just as much as it does among attendees. Our readers did not disappoint.

2016 76

2016 2015 Hotels Management 76

Eved

JULY 3, 2017

Chief Imaginator at the Event Nerd, former Special Event Magazine”30 Under 40” recipient, and award winning event producer. The Event Nerd is a passionate advocate for bringing new technology into event experience, and covers everything from conference coverage to event marketing to everyday tech and words of wisdom.

Consulting 40

Consulting Tech Event Tech Social Media 40

Velvet Chainsaw

MARCH 2, 2017

Imagine designing your next conference or annual meeting from scratch around content instead of picking up the template you’ve been using for years and tweaking it. The need for understanding your target audiences’ challenges and delivering content that is relevant has never been more important for your conferences.

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Conference Education Speakers Meetings 150