Aside from my first book, I haven’t written much about the effects of attendee status — attendees’ “relative rank in a hierarchy of prestige” — at events. It’s time to revisit this important topic because you can improve your meetings by making attendee status a real-time construct.
Traditional event attendee status is pre-determined
Traditional, broadcast-style events assign attendee status in advance. A person’s status is determined before the event by whether they’re speaking and the context. For example, keynoting is of higher status than leading a breakout session. The program committee bestows status on certain attendees. Their status is publicly proclaimed on the pre-conference program, giving attendees no say in the decision.
Peer conference event attendee status is real-time
At peer conferences (and some traditional events), attendee status is dynamic, shifting from moment to moment. Here’s how pre-determined and real-time attendee status compare:
Notice that events designed to support flexible, real-time attendee status:
- Empower all attendees — not just a chosen few — to contribute and engage; and
- Support inclusive, active learning by providing a participatory environment.
Minimizing assumptions about attendee status at traditional events
With careful design, even traditional events can minimize assumptions about attendee status.
In her thoughtful and insightful book The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker highlights the advantages of reducing presumed or assumed public status distinctions in the section “Equalize Your Guests” (starting on page 87 in the hardback edition):
“Most gatherings benefit from guests leaving their titles and degrees at the door.”
She describes the Jeffersonian dinner — a favorite activity of my friend and meeting titan David Adler — which equalizes status by seating people “pell-mell” rather than by rank or perceived importance. She also shares Barack Obama’s habit of asking for questions in “‘boy, girl, boy, girl’ fashion. If no woman stood up with a question when the women’s turn came, Obama would wait until one did.” Similarly, Truman Capote minimized perceived status at a ball for his “closest friends” — a mixture of rich, famous, and “ordinary” people — by requiring all guests to wear masks.
Integrating such status-neutral approaches into traditional events enhances their effectiveness. However, my peer conference designs go even further, embedding fluid attendee status that adapts moment-to-moment throughout the event. For more on how this works, check out this 2014 post.