Jeff Hurt

Recent Activity

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  Jeff commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  The Conference Is Dead (...Does Anyone Care?)

  Auren:

  
  

  I think smart event professionals provide both types of experiences at their conference or event. That way they are meeting the needs of different attendee segments. Top-down, information sharing from experts as well as horizontal, collaborative co-creator sessions with like-minded peers. I see it as a "both, and" situation, not, "either, or."

  
  

  BTW, I agree with your strudel analogy. I'm seeing the rise of "make it, take it" shops in my community. Pay a fee, have the owners coach you through and leave with your own customized, created product. Or purchase the product created by the owner. The strudel analogy still applies to savvy event professionals using both techniques during the same conference.

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  Jeff commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  The Conference Is Dead (...Does Anyone Care?)

  Charlie & Nathaniel:

  
  

  To continue the streudel analogy...it's ultimately about whether the consumer will eat the streudel, regardless of the recipe. If the customer doesn't want streudel, then the Baker's got a bigger problem.

  
  

  Aren't conferences supposed to be about the attendee anyway? Not about the Baker, the Baker's Organization, the Baker's mission, the founder of the recipe, the ingredients in the recipe, the funds raised by the Baker, etc. It's ultimately about the attendee and if the attendee doesn't like what's being provided, then the organizers need to find either new recipes, new Bakers or new customers.

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  Jeff commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  The Conference Is Dead (...Does Anyone Care?)

  Nathaniel:

  
  

  In short, "Yes," in response to both of your questions. Both sides of that equation are putting pressure on conference organizers. Until the pressure to change and do things differently is greater than the pressure to be status quo, I doubt you'll see much change.

  
  

  The challenge is that as Hildy and others pointed out, many organizations, especially nonprofits, depend upon their annual conference and education events as the largest source of non-dues revenue. Attendees, like yourself, have a lot of conference choices today and are expecting a better experience as well as outstanding content when they decide to pay for a face-to-face (or virtual) experience. That means conference organziers are facing competition, many for the first time.

  
  

  As for event professionals, there is a contingency of conference organizers that only know how to handle the logistics of a conference and don't think about it from a strategic perspective. Those organizers will stumble, probably not try new models and face further declines in attendance and thus revenue.  

  
  

  Ultimately, I think we will begin to see some associations file bankruptcy, some merge with others, some disappear and some rise to the occasion as they continue to face the new economy and an educated audience. 

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  Jeff commented on the article | over 2 years ago

  The Conference Is Dead (...Does Anyone Care?)

  Nathaniel:

  
  

  I have a confession. I'm one of those event professionals that plan conferences and education endeavors.

  
  

  With that being said, I believe that conference providers are now facing disruptive innovation: online free content, quality unconferences with low registration fees and the ability for people to create their own online tribes (community). I'm a big proponent that people want to engage with each other "and" with the content, not sit passively in chairs in large ballrooms listening to a keynote presenter. Event professionals must find new ways of creating hybrid events with both face-to-face and virtual elements, create more horizontal, collaborative peer-to-peer sessions for face-to-face events and upgrade the face-to-face experience with stellar content.

  
  

  Umair Haque wrote on a Harvard Business Review post recently regarding the Internet and traditional media, "Media's just the canary in the mine. Over the next decade, every industry will undergo a similar transition from locked down and closed to blown wide open."

  
  

  This will happen to traditional conferences and organizations that rely on conferences as one of their largest revenue sources whether we like it or not.