All throughout March we focused on the state of meetings and events for associations. We’ve looked at tips for cranking up the engagement factor at a conference, featuring your online career center to add value to your meetings, and how creating an event microsite can help create a unique brand for your event.
We wrapped up March with our monthly thought leadership webinar, Creating Meetings with Impact: The Move Towards Strategic Conversations, with Jeff Hurt, Executive Vice President, Education and Engagement for Velvet Chainsaw Consulting. Jeff shared his ideas on how to transform your associations meetings from a “been there, done that” event into a gathering that few will forget.
Some of the highlights from the presentation were:
- Associations need to eliminate the one-way delivery of information at their meetings/events
- People need to come away with attitude, behavior and skill changes through two-way or polylogue conversations
- Attendees want/need personal connections at your events
- Associations need to move away from speakers who offer little more than canned presentations
- Attendees are looking for an experience – the sum value of your event
- Allow room on the schedule for emerging topics – don’t lock down content a year out
- Know Your Audience – customize their experience through pre-conference interaction
Jeff and I connected this week for Ask the Thought Leader – Episode 13, to dig a little deeper into his presentation and to take on a few of the questions that were asked during the webinar. We talked about everything from how to humanize your event to ways to take advantage of handheld technology to fully engage your attendees during your conference. We discussed several ideas on how to get your conference attendees full engaged, not just analytically, but creatively and emotionally as well.
And to conclude our March focus on events I invite you to download our latest publication, The Ultimate Guide to Association Event Management. It is available to you at no cost. We hope you enjoy the great information we have put together for you.
We’re just weeks away from Xperience2015, YourMembership’s annual customer conference. Last year’s event was a huge success, and with the agenda we have put together for 2015, it’s going to be an amazing event for everyone. The remarkable growth YM has experienced in the past year will be reflected in the value packed event we have in store for our customers.
See you there!
