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 160

Conference Conference Design Meeting Design Education 160

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.

Conference 375

Conference 2012 Meetings Meeting Design 375

Conferences that Work

JUNE 26, 2017

You see this in the increasing number of industry articles about good meeting process, the rise of the term “meeting design” being applied to the group process we use in sessions as opposed to, say, F&B or production design. Read the full article at Conferences That Work. What’s Next. It is one.

Education 125

Education Conference Meeting Design Meetings 125

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. Chaos and cynicism follow. That was a relief to hear.

Contracts 175

Contracts 2011 Conference Education 175

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. How covenants transform your event.

2011 120

2011 2016 Education 2012 120

PCMA Convene

AUGUST 1, 2019

“The higher-level reality is that so many of the meetings we attend and plan these days look and feel exactly the same as meetings designed prior to the internet,” said Marc Pomerleau, vice president of global strategy for FreemanXP. But it won’t if the event is overly scripted and controlled. That’s the old model.

Meetings 85

Meetings 2017 Meeting Design Speakers 85

PCMA Convene

JUNE 1, 2017

“The higher-level reality is that so many of the meetings we attend and plan these days look and feel exactly the same as meetings designed prior to the internet,” said Marc Pomerleau, vice president of global strategy for FreemanXP. But it won’t if the event is overly scripted and controlled. That’s the old model.

Meetings 103

Meetings Meeting Design Speakers Tech 103