Is your conference “insanely cool”?
Your attendees might say it was a great learning experience, or excellent for networking, but would they say it’s “insanely cool”? I didn’t think so. I’ve been to some great conferences, but insanely cool? Nope. I’m not even sure what would be involved in an insanely cool conference, because for me some of what would push it over the top would be the unexpected, the surprise, the thing that I don’t know about yet, but it’s something that will rock my world.
Jeff at Principled Innovation recently asked what would make a conference insanely cool, and got a few interesting responses. He also came up with three principles of insanely cool conferences. I think his second principle, “violate the participant’s expectations,” comes closest to my main criteria, but all three are essential. I’d add “surprise and delight” to his list, along with the other nine of my 10 reasons to attend. What would you add?
P.S. On a semi-related note, you could have the most insanely cool conference ever conceived, but if you don’t market it as such, forget about it. Check out Jim Carroll’s thoughts on the subject.
P.P.S. While it may not give your event the IC factor (I’m getting tired of typing “insanely cool”), Seth has some good ideas on how to organize the room to give your participants the vibe you want them to get.
July 1st, 2008 at 11:45 am
Great Post, Sue. I lost my whole lunch hour reading it and all the posts you linked to, plus all the posts THEY linked to. Great stuff.
July 8th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Hi Sue,
I help my clients with ideas for effective sales meetings and there is always one rule: “Make it the best meeting ever!’ Ditto for the next meeting.
Some things I used to do for my own sales meetings include:
Open with a complete surprise that incorporates the annual or meeting theme. Example: We had a military theme. Without a single soul knowing about it the first morning, I arranged for a Marine drill instructor to kick the twin, meeting doors open with a bang followed by him yelling “On your feet!” I watched our President immediately stand along with everyone else.
Dressed in an officer’s uniform, I followed the Sargeant and gave orders such as “Get Private Martinez up here.” Martinez was a new immigrant and friend who was still polishing his English. So, naturally the Sargeant barked orders Martinez couldn’t understand. About six more got the same treatment. Each of the troopers got a wonderful gift, we promoted the President to General and asked him to address the troops and the Sargeant and I departed after a bit more of humor. Open with a bang!
I liked to stop the meeting to give unexpected rewards to the unsung heroes that supported us.
The entertainment that night was was a nutty 3-piece band where the main character played his bass fiddle while riding it and being adorned in his WWll German helmet. They stopped every minute or so for story-telling and jokes.
We arranged for sports figures, politicians and well-known figures like Kemmons Wilson (Holiday Inn founder) to pop in..sometimes unannounced.
And the daily gifts for not just for the sales group, but for all attendees, were classy keepers.
The key to meetings is the same as with just about anything else…be anything, but boring. It usually doesn’t cost more; just some extra thought power.
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