Blog

"I realized this morning that your event content is the only event-related 'stuff' I still read. I think that's because it's not about events, but about the coming together of people to exchange ideas and learn from one another and that's valuable information for anyone." — Traci Browne

Welcome to the Conferences That Work blog!

You're in the right place for the latest posts on conference design, facilitation, peer conferences, associations, consulting, and stories like being trapped in an elevator with a Novel Prize winner.

Or sign up for a subscription to my blog posts or RSS feed so you never miss another post.

Bringing people together

Monday, September 29th, 2014 by Adrian Segar

In early 2010, at the first EventCamp, I discovered the wonder and power of meeting people face-to-face whom I had previously only met online. Perhaps the wonder is stronger for me than most, living in rural Vermont, 100+ miles from any city. Nevertheless, when I travel to a major metropolitan area these days and have a few hours free I try to bring people together.

This month I spent time in Chicago and a couple of trips to Washington, DC. Before the first DC jaunt, I sent an email out to #eventprofs and #assnchat acquaintances who lived in the area. KiKi L’Italien, Lindsey Rosenthal, Angelique Agutter, Alex Plaxen, Melanie Padgett Powers, and more met up for delicious hors d’oeuvres and drinks at a private home (thank you Libby O’Malley & Nancy Pasternack!) and dinner in Alexandria Old Town.

In Chicago, I met with Heidi Thorne & Anne Carey for a tasty lunch.

And last week, Maddie Grant, Jamie Notter, Alex Plaxen, Brian Davis, Gina Leigh, Monica Bussolati, Moira Edwards, Brian Volmuth, Lori Woehrle, Pamela Strother (and probably a few others whom I didn’t get to talk to) met up at The Rooftop at The Embassy Row Hotel (big thanks to Sarah Vining who sponsored our meetup!)

Bring people together

I love bringing people together in ways that work for them—in fact, that’s my mission. So it was a pleasure to host these three casual meetups for event and association management professionals. What was amusing, however, was how often people thanked me for bringing them together. I had to laugh—here was a guy from Vermont facilitating connection between people who all lived near each other, people who could easily arrange to meet frequently. And yet…they didn’t.

Sometimes people need permission to connect. In this case, a small outside impetus was all that was required. An hour of my time to send emails out to my local connections, find somewhere to meet, and track/answer questions from those who were coming. No big deal. And I doubt it hurt my professional life to be a connector, an initiator for the enjoyable and interesting connections that subsequently occurred.

Yes, we’re all busy. But let’s not forget that our work in the event and association spheres is fundamentally about facilitating connection between others. And that should, once in a while, include ourselves—our peers—both known and new. So, pass it forward, my friends. Once or twice a year, send out some invites for a casual get-together with your peers. It needn’t be elaborate or have a specific marketing focus; just meet somewhere for drinks or a meal. Publicize the event to your local network and welcome anyone who hears about it and wants to come.

You’ll be bringing people together. Who knows what the pleasant consequences will be?

Tags: assnchat, Chicago, connection, eventprofs, facilitating connection, meetup, Washington| Posted in Connection | No Comments »

Most meetings are small meetings

Monday, September 22nd, 2014 by Adrian Segar

Meetings industry publications seem to focus on “large” meetings. This is not surprising. Big meetings require big fancy venues and command big budgets. They employ lots of event professionals and can command high-price speakers and opulent spectacle. Though we don’t talk about it, being responsible for big events is implicitly higher status than small ones.

So I think it’s worth pointing out that large meetings are the exception rather than the rule. For example, here are a couple of panelists at the August 2014 Hotel Data Conference quoted by Ed Watkins, Editor-At-Large of Hotel News Now, in this article:

“Faust [VP of Sales, Omni Hotels & Resorts] said the biggest change at Omni has been the growth of smaller meetings: 65% of the chain’s meeting business comes from groups that book 50 rooms or fewer at peak. At MGM Resorts, 80% of group business is 100 rooms or fewer at peak, and 62% is 50 rooms or fewer, Dominguez [Senior VP of Corporate Sales, MGM Resorts International] said.”

The Conferences That Work meeting format described in my 2009 book works well with meetings of up to a hundred people, (and I’ve shared ways to extend it to larger events in a free supplement, though you’ll need the book to fully understand the update.) But what hospitality data indicates is that for around 80% of the meetings held today, if you want a participant-driven and participation-rich conference, the book’s meeting design is all you’ll need.

Sure, we’ll always have large meetings for all kinds of reasons, and we’ll continue to enjoy the unique possibilities that big events can provide (despite some significant downsides). Just remember that the beautiful large meeting facilities prominently featured in meeting magazines may be what you and your clients lust after, but, most of the time, they aren’t what your clients actually need.

Photo attribution: Flickr user caribb

Tags: hospitality, large meetings, small meetings| Posted in Event design | 3 Comments »

A caveat on working with “human catalysts”

Monday, September 15th, 2014 by Adrian Segar

What is a human catalyst?

cat·a·lyst

/ˈkatl-ist/
noun
a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change.

Nearly 200,000 people include the word catalyst in their LinkedIn profile. A catalyst is something that causes a change without changing itself. For example, a gas or diesel car’s exhaust system uses a catalytic converter to reduce air pollution. The core catalytic components of the converter do not get altered or used up as they do their job.

In the competitive world of consulting, the word catalyst has become a synonym for change. Catalyst sounds sexy, mysterious, and—scientific! Not surprising then that it’s a common marketing term for consultants. “Idea Catalysts”, “Strategic Catalysts”, “Creativity Catalysts”, “Innovation Catalysts”, and “Marketing Catalysts” abound.

Can you be a genuine catalyst?

But can you be a genuine catalyst—a person who facilitates change of some sort but stays unchanged in the process?

I don’t think so.

If you set yourself up as an unchangeable teacher or trainer who flies in, runs your box of processes to change others in some way, and leaves unaltered, you are someone who is closed to learning while simultaneously advocating it to others. This is not congruent behavior.

I attempt to be open to learning as much as I can. I wrote my first book about participant-driven and participation-rich conference design after seventeen years of refining the process first used in 1992. Four years later, I published an update that included many important improvements I’d learned from feedback and my own observations. Every conference I facilitate leads to more ideas. There will always be refinements to the Conferences That Work format for as long as I’m convening events.

In fact, if I ever run an event and feel that I haven’t learned something from it and change in the process, that will be a sign that I’m losing my effectiveness and should consider doing something different.

Being open to change

I’m not sure that you can facilitate change effectively without changing yourself—or, at the very least, being open to the reality that you may change.

So if you’re planning to work with someone who calls themselves a human catalyst, be cautious. They may be using the term as a synonym for change (like my friend Thom Singer who is certainly open to being changed himself). But alternatively, they may believe that they are true catalysts—they “have the answer”. The wisest and most interesting individuals I know are, despite their obvious expertise and experience, always open to learn from anyone and change in the process. These are the people with whom you may want to spend your time.

Photo attribution: Flickr user rustychainsaw

Tags: catalyst, facilitating change| Posted in Facilitating Change | 2 Comments »

Sometimes words are not enough

Monday, September 8th, 2014 by Adrian Segar

Sometimes, words are not enough.

words are not enough: Adrian, Cara, and grandkids on the top of Castle Rock — Adrian, Cara, and grandkids on the top of Castle Rock

A family picture of us on an Adirondack peak. We made it!

What was the journey like?

I’m not going to attempt to tell you. You had to be there.

Explanations

We live in a world full of explanations. Sometimes it seems that we should be able to explain everything with the right words.

And yet it’s so hard to convey what an interactive participant-centered event is like to someone who hasn’t experienced one. I’ve tried to explain to over a thousand people the power and value of the Conferences That Work meeting format. Some people “get it” right away. But a significant number remain skeptical, somewhat unconvinced.

I end up advising people they have to participate in a Conferences That Work event to truly understand what this kind of learning and connection can be like. When they do, 98 percent become converts. The most common comment on evaluations is: “I don’t want to go to traditional events anymore.”

Why does this happen over and over again? Perhaps it’s because we live in a world where people are led to expect “experience” as something produced by a minority and broadcast to a group: experience as entertainment. Somehow we ignore the reality that the most important learning moments in our lives invariably occur when we participate and connect via sharing with others. Entertainment is fine when we’re tired and want to zone out in front of the TV and watch a movie. But entertainment rarely leads to long-term learning, growth, and change.

I salute and appreciate the growing number of people who are willing to risk saying “Yes!” to an event experience they don’t understand. Eventually, perhaps, participant-driven and participation-rich formats will become the new normal for face-to-face events.

Until then, we need to remember that, sometimes, words are not enough.

Tags: Adirondacks, experience, participation| Posted in participation | No Comments »

A powerful question: Whom is your event for?

Monday, September 1st, 2014 by Adrian Segar

A fundamental question frequently arises when I receive initial requests for conference or meeting designs because it’s often not clear whom the event is expected to benefit:

Whom is your event for?

A powerful way of thinking about events emerges from answering this question.

Here are three ways of thinking about people that could be components of your answer:

Individual participants.
Organizations.
Culture.

(The third, Culture, is the best word I can think of to represent societal patterns and beliefs: i.e., forms to follow. Not strictly a “whom,” but still a powerful force to include.)

A Venn diagram

Looking through this lens leads me to the Venn diagram above, which I think is an interesting way to view different kinds of meetings. You may quibble about the definitions and boundaries of the event types plotted—feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

Four quick observations:

It’s surprising how nicely most common event types fall into one of the seven combinations of the three constituencies. One exception is what I call “client conferences,” which can be predominantly for an organization’s benefit (e.g., “In order to qualify to sell our products, you must attend this conference”) or for both the organization’s and clients’ benefit (e.g., “learn how to sell our products better and let’s all make more money”).
In my work, I sometimes see tension between the needs of the organization and those of the participants. Part of my approach to event design is to make events win-win for both.
I can’t think of any events that are purely “for” culture. People or organizations always seem to have to be involved. (Though perhaps The Long Now or a burial of time capsules are rare exceptions?)
Feel free to add religious events wherever you think appropriate. I’m not going there.

I see this formulation as a work in progress, so your comments, additions, and corrections are especially welcome!

Tags: categorizing events, culture, organizations, participants, questions| Posted in Event design | 1 Comment »

How to sell me stuff right

Wednesday, August 27th, 2014 by Adrian Segar

Libby O’Malley rocks. She read my 2012 post A letter to event technology companies trying to sell me stuff and—wow!—actually took the time to figure out how to introduce me to her new product Muster Me in a way I would like. This is how to sell me stuff right!

A vendor who really listens and responds appropriately; how refreshing! Yes, the flattery doesn’t hurt. But Libby clearly made sure to address the complaints in my post about the hundreds of event profession product and service pitches I receive each year.

This is the best product pitch I’ve ever received. Fantastic work Libby!

I am not endorsing her product (though the demo on the website worked fine for me). But I’m happy to reproduce here what she emailed me today, as an example of how to do selling right.

The text of Libby’s email

Dear Adrian,

Let the flattery begin: I love everything about your site, Twitter feed, and blog! You are a savvy, delightful writer, and I regularly favorite or bookmark your penning. You are candid, transparent, and generous with your wisdom (and wit)! Please keep up this terrific work as the conference and event world, heck, the whole world needs more of Adrian Segar. Seriously, beyond the flattery, I call ’em like I see ’em, and you’re truly fabulous.

As I move forward with one of my two startups (because one onerous, crushing, passionate, entrepreneurial monster isn’t enough, right?), I have regularly tabbed your blog posts and often go back to review them depending on where we are in our startup process. One of my all-time favorite blog posts of yours was an open letter to tech companies pitching you their products … sans pricing. Wait, what?! When I read it, frankly, I was floored that a company would really do that — ask for feedback with no cost data provided??? Don’t these people know that EVERYTHING boils down to economics — purchasing, procreation, love, war?! So, now that our site is “out there” with pricing listed and with a demo that purports to show how Muster Me works, any chance you’d eyeball it and dis (or laud) our pricing?

What Muster Me does is connect a group of people by allowing them to share contact information via text message. There’s no app to download (creating friction and resistance “in the moment”) and Muster Me allows a group to simultaneously share info — and only the specific info they want to share with that group. Remember the app “Bump”? Bump’s flaw were 1) everyone had to have the app in order to participate which never happened and 2) in order for a group to get everyone’s info, you had to “bump” one person at a time (which actually sounds kind of dirty to me). Lastly, you couldn’t tailor the contact info you shared in different settings — it was one-size fits all. That’s no bueno when you’re sharing contact information with different groups and different sorts of people.

Muster Me requires that only one person — i.e. the meeting planner or event organizer — has an account, and then that person announces their assigned text number. Then, participants/attendees simply text whatever info they want to share with others to that number. Shortly thereafter, all participants receive an email neatly organizing all the individuals’ contact information. Voila — contact info shared — quickly, efficiently, neatly.

Our primary market is not large conference groups — we know 500+ “strangers” at a keynote address aren’t likely to share their contact info so readily; however, we think that, at that same large conference, during a breakout session or a narrowly focused workshop conference, folks might want to swap info in order to keep the conversation and connection going post-event. Currently, we also have a handful of event organizers that are using Muster Me (in the subscription format — still in beta) to connect their “team” of event consultants, rather than having everyone dance “The Business Card Shuffle” or pass around a piece of paper at the planning/kickoff meeting trying to capture everyone’s names and emails. (Whatever happens to that piece of paper anyway??) Right now, we’re working with reunion planners (primarily military reunion planners) and also school and family reunion planners because the size of these groups and the “trust” factor seem to be a great fit for Muster Me.

Having provided all this background — and hopefully you’ve read this far, as I know you are BUSY BUSY — your thoughts on the site/product/pricing would be really appreciated. At long last, here’s the link

[A paragraph here offering me more information about how I can check out the product.]

Thank you so much for your consideration of this request, and if I don’t hear back from you, rest assured that I’ll still be hanging on every Tweet and blog post!

All the best and all flattery aside,
Libby

Libby O’Malley

Yes, Libby O’Malley knows how to sell me stuff right!

Tags: Libby O'Malley, Muster Me, pitch, selling| Posted in Event design, Marketing | 3 Comments »

A little humility leaves us open to learning

Monday, August 25th, 2014 by Adrian Segar

A little humility leaves us open to learning.

The problem with knowing everything is you never learn anything.
— God (@TheTweetOfGod) August 24, 2014

Every time I’m sure of something that turns out not to be true is an opportunity for me to learn.

To remember that I can always learn something new.

Now if only I could be less all-knowing more of the time…

Tags: humility, Learning| Posted in Learning | No Comments »

Being Schooled: Inside a Conference That Works

Tuesday, August 19th, 2014 by Adrian Segar

Inside a Conference That Works

“Mad blogger” Sue Pelletier (formerly) of MeetingsNet wrote an excellent article on her experiences at the four-day Conferences That Work format edACCESS annual meeting I convened in June 2014.

Sue, a veteran journalist, was there for the opening roundtable, peer session sign-up, The Solution Room, and even one of the 32 resulting peer sessions. Illustrated with great photos by Brent Seabrook Photography, Being Schooled: Inside a Conference That Works is one of the best descriptions I’ve read of the opening of a peer conference.

Recommended!

Photo attribution: Brent Seabrook Photography

Tags: edACCESS, MeetingsNet, peer conference, Sue Pelletier| Posted in Peer conference | No Comments »

Passive Programs Past Prime

Monday, August 18th, 2014 by Adrian Segar

Passive programs are past their prime.

“Part of the art of making change happen is seeing which cultural tropes are past their prime and having the guts to invent new ones.”
—Seth Godin, Skinny, sad and pale

It took hundreds of years before standard medieval medical practices like blood-letting, exorcism of devils, spells, incantations, and the proscription of bathing were replaced by modern medicine.

Conference programming consisting of one person lecturing at many has been our standard meeting model for hundreds of years. One day I think we will look back on this tradition. And we’ll marvel at how we could believe that it was the best thing to do at meetings.

A fundamental flaw

The fundamental flaw of traditional meetings is that most of the time only one person—the lecturer—is active while everyone else passively listens. Everyone who’s ever taught a class knows that the best way to learn anything is to teach it. But we rarely use participatory session formats where everyone gets to “teach” their understanding, questions, and points of view—and, as a bonus, gets to meet and connect with other participants with whom they share common interests.

Passive programs are past their prime. I think most people don’t use participatory session formats because they aren’t aware of them. Even when they are, they don’t know how to use them effectively and/or are scared of doing something perceived as “different”. Luckily, an increasing number of people have the guts to create and use powerful processes (e.g. World Café, Open Space, Art of Hosting, and, yes, Conferences That Work) that incorporate what we now know about how people effectively learn, connect, engage, and come to action.

All the above meeting formats are about twenty years old (although they all build on much older informal process). We now possess tools to make fundamental meeting change happen.

My professional life mission is to promote awareness of such tools, work on improving them, and encourage and support their increasing use. Join me and a growing number of others in our mission to fundamentally enhance the quality and value of meetings, one meeting at a time.

This is another post in the occasional series How do you facilitate change? where we explore various aspects of facilitating individual and group change.

Photo attribution: Flickr user otacke

Tags: art of hosting, lecture, mission, open space, passive, tropes, World Cafe| Posted in Facilitating Change | No Comments »

Becoming comfortable with silence at meetings

Monday, August 11th, 2014 by Adrian Segar

Silence during a meeting is often seen as something awkward and uncomfortable, something to be avoided. We may feel embarrassed and think “Somebody say something!” Yet silence is often an essential tool for effective sessions at meetings. Why? It allows participants to think before speaking, notice feelings, rest, and recharge. Facilitators need to be comfortable with silence, as it usually signals something important.

For example, when I run plus/delta—a technique for quickly evaluating a session or conference—I have to consciously remain quiet once participants’ initial responses die down. A long pause, followed by a neutral request for more suggestions, elicits more contributions. I find sharing typically continues for two to three times longer than the time elapsed when the first pause occurred.

Traditionally, silence is generally only acceptable in certain specific group situations (groups of strangers, prayer, performances, etc.) So, when we want to employ it during a meeting, we need to facilitate its use. For example, sometimes we need it so that people have quiet time to think while writing down answers to questions. If we don’t explicitly request silence beforehand, those who finish first tend to start talking to each other. This disturbs those who need more time to reflect.

Functions of silence

What are the functions of silence when we’re together with others?

The first function is linking in which silence binds people together such as a “moment of silence,” a silence during prayer, or a silence after someone makes an inappropriate remark.

The second function is an affecting function in which the silence has an effect on the others in the room that might communicate indifference, dislike, or coldness.

A third type of silence is the revelational function of silence by which people show they don’t know what to say or cannot provide an appropriate response.

A fourth function of silence is judgmental, which may indicate approval or disapproval to what has been said. In group settings, this can be seen as ‘‘silence as admission’’ by not responding to an individual or a type of silent protests.

The last function of silence is activation in which a group member may be silent while choosing words before speaking. The impression might be that a group member is quiet and doing nothing, but in reality the group member is pondering what to say and how to respond.

Learning Group Leadership: An Experiential Approach, Jeffrey A. Kottler & Matt Englar-Carlson’s summary from Dennis Kurzon’s paper Towards a typology of silence

Silence at meetings

Any of these five functions could be relevant when we observe silence at a meeting. When we have not requested silence, it’s important to notice when it happens, figure out what might be going on, and respond appropriately. Some of the most powerful moments I’ve experienced when working with groups have been when silence erupts unexpectedly. When this happens, it’s often good to ask the group what they think is going on rather than papering over the silence with words.

Sometimes, letting silence grow for a while is the right thing to do. Not only does this emphasize that something significant may be going on, but it also gives us more time to think about how we want to respond to it. That’s why we need to become comfortable with silence at meetings.

Hat tip to Adriano Pianesi‘s blog post “The silence of the staff. Kiss of death of group dynamics roles or not?” {October 2017: no longer available} which inspired this post.

Photo attribution: Flickr user ko_an

Tags: comfort, facilitation, plus/delta, silence| Posted in Event design | No Comments »