Conferences that Work

FEBRUARY 7, 2022

Companies bombard me with offers to check out online meeting platforms. Butter is an online meeting platform that is designed to support the facilitation of great interactive meetings. So here’s my review of Butter, a meeting platform for facilitators to shine. The usual caveats. Butter — the big picture.

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Meetings Meeting Design Fashion 2021 156

Conferences that Work

JUNE 12, 2017

I love my meeting design clients, but there is one mistake I see them making over and over again. Clients invariably ask me to help design their meeting after they’ve chosen a venue! Face The Fear—Then Change Your Conference Design! Here’s why they do it, and why it’s a mistake.

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Venues 2010 Meetings Conference Design 210

Conferences that Work

MARCH 3, 2022

Here’s a rare opportunity to ask me anything about meeting design and facilitation at a unique, free, online workshop. We’ll meet online, using Gatherly [ 1 , 2 ], a platform designed for online social interaction and learning. Meet, workshop with, and learn from other event professionals.

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Meeting Design 2022 Conference Meetings 296

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. Join a writing group. (I Seek encouragement.

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2005 2009 2007 Meeting Design 202

Conferences that Work

APRIL 25, 2022

Hosted by CSAE Manitoba , this free one-hour online Participate Lab will introduce you to the design of participation-rich events through the direct experience of participatory meeting techniques and formats. Our time together at this Participate Lab will cover: Why creating participation-rich meetings is so important.

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2022 Meeting Design Conference Meetings 290

Conferences that Work

DECEMBER 18, 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. He has stayed on top of new meeting trends and technologies for decades. In 2023, in-person is back!

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2023 Conference 2006 2020 208

Conferences that Work

JULY 31, 2017

Although I have good reasons to champion meeting designs where the participants get to choose what they want and need to discuss and learn rather than a program committee , there is invariably a place for some predetermined presentations at conferences. Read the full article at Conferences That Work.

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Meetings Meeting Design Conference Speakers 196

EventMB

MARCH 14, 2024

The annual conference was an opportunity to build bridges between different groups. Miguel Neves Read the Complete Story On Skift Meetings Skift Take: MPI gathered its European community in Luxembourg, a new destination for most participants.

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Conference Meetings Meeting Design Event Design 195

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 185

Education Meetings 2006 2012 185

Smart Meetings

AUGUST 15, 2022

Now that events are going back to in person, how can meeting professionals deliver the same level of detailed success metrics to the executive team about the range of value delivered on the investment? Two veteran meeting designers joined Smart Chat Live! Meet the Experts. Watch the entire webinar here.

Medical Meetings 98

Medical Meetings Meetings Trade Shows Meeting Design 98

Conferences that Work

JUNE 28, 2021

Here’s my Powerful Panels interview with good friend and meeting panel doyen Kristin Arnold. During our 25 minutes together, we discussed various panel formats, their value, and how to structure and design powerful panel discussions into the larger context of meetings, conferences, and events. 0:00 Introduction.

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Meeting Design Conference Meetings Event Design 310

Conferences that Work

MARCH 21, 2022

This coming June will mark my 30th year of designing and facilitating participant-driven and participation-rich meetings. So I designed the workshop as an “ Ask Adrian Anything ” about meeting design and facilitation. Leading folks through small group work in Gatherly. I’ve shared the why?

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Meetings Meeting Design Conference Speakers 348

EventMB

JUNE 3, 2022

It features testimonials from a diverse group of 21 event industry professionals who share their core reasons for being at the 18th edition of the trade show, the first since the start of the Covid pandemic. The post Podcast: The Importance of Reconnecting appeared first on Skift Meetings.

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Trade Shows Tourism Hospitality Consulting 162

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. But Julius didn’t see them catch on and now focuses on other aspects of the meeting industry. Venue room capacity charts don’t include these designs.

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Conference Venues 2023 Consulting 266

Conferences that Work

JUNE 18, 2018

Experienced meeting planners know that every meeting has its share of unexpected surprises. Minimizing surprises like CoffeeGate is default behavior for meeting planners. Surprising Meetings But not all meeting surprises are bad.

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Meetings 2012 2015 Education 175

Conferences that Work

JUNE 13, 2016

Why mention this on an event design blog? Well, the most effective aspect of China’s online censorship regime illustrates what happens when you don’t incorporate covenants into your meetings. When such freedoms are agreed to individually and as a group at the start of a meeting, ambiguity about meeting behavior dissipates.

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Meetings 2011 2012 Education 159

Event Industry News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021

The meetings, events and incentives community will come together this week to make valuable business connections, learn and network as The Meetings Show returns. Here are some of the highlights of The Meetings Show 2021: Inspiring exhibitors. Quality hosted buyers. Education, education, education. Tomorrow’s Talent.

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Meetings Tourism 2021 Sustainability 83

Conferences that Work

NOVEMBER 25, 2019

Because good event design is about how a conference works. Participant-driven and participation-rich meeting designs incorporate a braindate’s purpose — one-to-one or small group connection around relevant content — organically into every session. Instead make your entire conference a braindate!

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Conference 2020 2019 Meeting Design 268

SmartMeetings

MARCH 11, 2021

Today, meeting and event planners are pressed to do more with less while being expected to raise the bar on experiences year-over-year. In addition, they’re asked to achieve a variety of goals for a range of stakeholders and prove the value of their meetings or events. Define how the meeting will drive results. Phillips, Ph.D.,

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Meetings Speakers Consulting Events 110

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.

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Conference 2023 Meeting Design Meetings 156

Conferences that Work

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

Well, when working with a group of people, the “bottom” of the group also needs support. During group work, it’s tempting to assume that things are going well when we’re hearing from many people. When there’s significant interaction between group members. Making assumptions. So what do we do?

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Meeting Design Conference Meetings 169

Conferences that Work

MARCH 15, 2021

Recently, I’ve been appearing as a guest at college event planning and hospitality courses to talk about meeting design. (I Rather than lecture for an hour, I’ve been using an Ask Me Anything (aka AMA ) meeting format. I love to do this. Teachers, please contact me , it’s free!)

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Hospitality Meeting Design Conference Event Planning 169

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

I first designed and convened what I called a “ peer conference ” in 1992 for a group of IT managers at small schools that eventually became known as edACCESS. For each group, one stays at the same place while all others look for a new group to join. That’s the way to improve meetings!

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Conference 2022 2004 Meeting Design 156

Conferences that Work

JUNE 12, 2023

We are actors, impresarios, meeting designers, diplomats, teachers, musicians, creative directors, facilitators, management experts, sports team owners, fundraisers, journalists, experiential marketers, retreat leaders, event producers, philanthropists, coaches, and dealmakers!

Sports 156

Sports Meeting Design Conference Marketing 156

PCMA Convene

AUGUST 1, 2019

Attendees who want more from their meetings don’t want to sit and listen passively to a formal presentation. Welcome to the era of disrupted meetings, in good company with other industries and institutions whose established norms are being taken down to the studs. They have expectations of involvement. FLIPPED LEARNING.

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Meetings 2017 Meeting Design Speakers 85

Smart Meetings

JUNE 11, 2021

What can meeting professionals learn from this popular pop-up social media craze? Why not transform the welcome reception into a jungle or beach to fit your meeting theme and put everyone in a fresh frame of mind? Groups choose a “circle” projected on the floor with the option to stand, sit or recline at their leisure.

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Meetings Social Media Venues Meeting Design 111

Conferences that Work

APRIL 1, 2019

This (slightly edited) interview by JT Long appeared in the March 2019 issue of Smart Meetings Magazine. I was an amateur in the meeting industry, and that led to some mistakes, but it also gave me a fresh perspective at a time when meeting design wasn’t really a “thing.” If you had told me then that the.

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2014 2019 Conference Meeting Design 244

MeetingsNet

MAY 29, 2019

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. Set the room so that groups of six to eight people are around tables, or allow classroom-style seating to be moved to form a number of small semi-circles.

Meetings 85

Meetings Meeting Design Conference Events 85

PCMA Convene

JUNE 1, 2017

Attendees who want more from their meetings don’t want to sit and listen passively to a formal presentation. Welcome to the era of disrupted meetings, in good company with other industries and institutions whose established norms are being taken down to the studs. They have expectations of involvement.

Meetings 103

Meetings Meeting Design Speakers Tech 103

Conferences that Work

JUNE 3, 2019

At the time, I had no idea that what I instinctively put together for a gathering of people who barely knew each other would lead to: a global design and facilitation consulting practice; over 500 posts on this blog, which has now become, to the best of my knowledge, the most-visited website on meeting design and facilitation; three books (almost!)

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Conference 2014 Consulting Meeting Design 170

Conferences that Work

SEPTEMBER 14, 2020

Under pandemic conditions, former alumni, faculty, staff, and other friends of the institution cannot even meet in person to grieve. So I decided to design and run an online memorial service. This doesn’t work so well online with a large group. A Zoom meeting recorder. Zoom meeting monitoring. Registration.

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Wireless Meetings Event Tech Conference 316

Conferences that Work

APRIL 1, 2024

Paul Nunesdea : And hello, hello, dear viewers, this is a soft start of our third episode in 2024 of Talk to Your Meeting Doctors. Lovely to meet you, Adrian. And it’s mostly about meeting design and facilitation, but I write about all kinds of things. Martin, welcome! Martin Duffy: Well, good afternoon.

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Conference Meetings Corporate Meetings Association Meetings 208

EventMB

SEPTEMBER 1, 2017

Find out which are the best seating layouts for different events and some ways to mix it up with more unusual layouts to increase engagement in meeting design. When planning an event or meeting, one of the hardest parts […]. The room layout can have a huge impact on the engagement and learning at your event.

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Meeting Design Meetings Events Venues 185

SmartMeetings

MARCH 7, 2022

When time is short and the to-do list is long, the solution is often to bring in an expert contractor to help with everything from sourcing of space and technology solutions to meeting design and management. Time is valuable when planning an event—corporate meeting professional time and consultant time.

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Consulting Corporate Meetings 2022 Meeting Design 97

Plan Your Meetings

JANUARY 15, 2018

Creating a space design where the atmosphere and physical set-up immediately embraces the participants with a feeling of comfort and safety is the best start to a meeting that you can give your participants. The design of the physical meeting space should also be seen as the body language of a meeting.

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Meetings Meeting Design Travel Conference 62

Conferences that Work

MARCH 4, 2019

I’ll also facilitate the closing Group Spective. After a highly successful debut in 2018, three Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Chapters — MPI Toronto , MPI Montréal/Québec , and MPI Ottawa — have again joined forces to provide cutting edge, innovative, experiential education at The EVENT.

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2012 Education 2018 Meeting Design 125

PCMA Convene

MAY 24, 2019

When neuroscientists scanned the brains of people who were looking at images of groups of people including businesspeople, athletes, parents, and others, “parts of the brain associated with empathy were activated by every group except the homeless,” he wrote. The duo will be back at this year’s Educon. Jacob Slaton).

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2019 Meetings 2009 Education 94