I put this picture up on Google Plus yesterday and it is still bothering me so much that I decided to post my thoughts here, a larger audience for me than Google Plus.
My thinking was, how many times do the unsuspecting buy into the load of crap that companies in the industry are selling us. I snapped this image while I was at a Hilton in Chicago. This is the bottle of water that they serve.
One of our group said “Oh COOL” and I just sat and laughed and explained that this is the worst type of greenwashing ther...
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A call back in comedy is a technique that takes something that was said before and ties it back into the current topic. The reminder results in a clever connection and can create some great humor.
A convention theme can have the same effect by tying together common themes at breaks, the keynote speaker, break out speakers and the after dinner speaker.
Simply take variations of your convention theme and have conference speakers call it back throughout the day.
When you reinforce your theme it creates a congruence an...
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Here’s the summary handout for my workshop on participation techniques you can use in conference sessions that I’ll be leading at MPI’s World Education Congress 2011. Sources for additional information on these techniques can be found in the notes at the end of the list.
Technique: Setting ground rules ‡*
Brief description: Setting ground rules before other activities commence clarifies and unifies participants’ expectations.
When to use: Start of session, worksh...
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Event planners are often not privy to the regulatory requirements that surround industries that are proprietary in nature. Over the years, bankers would joke about “Models and Bottles” when referring to their unlimited client expense accounts, but today, this is a joke that would not be taken lightly. Due to sudden downturn and heavy scrutiny of the finance industry, regulators have decreased these types of expense accounts and therefore keep a watchful eye.
Other industries that require compliance with industry...
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Founder and CEO of BizBash, David Adler is perhaps one of the most progressive thinkers in the events industry. He is known for being an engaging speaker and is also often the herald of some new trend or technology that seems to overtake the industry within short order.
I recently asked David to share his thoughts on trends in the industry by answering five questions. Not surprisingly, his responses were fascinating and full of useful information on what's coming down the pike. In fact, he gave me enough great con...
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I have been filling out quite a few conference presentation proposals recently, and began to notice a pattern in my behavior. My mood changed when I had to fill out the session’s learning objectives (which are statements of what attendees will be able to do by the end of the session.)
Specifically, every time I had to fill out the learning objectives for a proposal I got really, really annoyed.
Over the years I’ve found that paying attention to patterns like this is nearly always a learning experie...
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