The conference is dead (long live the conference?)

Sue Pelletier November 2nd, 2009

Interesting post over at Social Entrepreneurship called “The Conference Is Dead (…Does Anyone Care?),” by Nathaniel Whittemore. It’s not that I haven’t heard before (and probably said a few times) how people just aren’t willing to put up with the old plenary/breakouts/talking heads type of conferences — or at least they won’t be in a few years as they experience unconferences and other (to me) more engaging ways to interact with experts, peers, and information. But Nathaniel makes the argument well, and the comments really take the conversation to new and interesting places from the perspectives of attendees, presenters, and conference organizers. I’m tempted to chime in, but I can’t think of anything that hasn’t already been said, and really well, by the current crop of commenters. I particularly liked this one:

“Bad organizers organize bad events. Good organizers organize good events. If the streudel is no good, don’t blame all the streudels in the world. Blame the baker.”

And this in response:

“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.”

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Related Topics: Industry trends and forecasts

9 Comments to “The conference is dead (long live the conference?)”

1. Nicholas Voss Says:
   

   November 2nd, 2009 at 3:08 pm

   Meetings, conferences, and events are not dead.

   Those who want to influence men’s minds have long recognized that the live event is the single most powerful medium through which to make an attempt. Those who are predicting that electronic media or video conferencing will replace face-to-face meetings are greatly mistaken.

   In the same way, books, newspapers, television, talk radio, and the internet – especially social media - may be gaining in popularity; but these tools will never replace the person-to-person meeting. Media are merely devices to prepare the psyche and gather consensus for what is the ultimate goal: the assembly of people.

   Men, it has been well said, think in herds. It was true when Freud, Jung, and Le Bon said it, and it is certainly true now. Live events bring individuals into groups, and groups into teams. When people meet together, the individual’s contributions are coordinated for a common objective or mission that ensures the betterment of the entire organization. For better or for worse, the collective participation of the group exerts powerful influences on the perceptions, feelings, and actions on the individual.

   Whenever people interact in person, they have a greater potential of liking each other. Equitable relationships can then become established. Naturally, people feel the happiest and are most attracted to each other in personal relationships. Loyalty is thus secured because they have made personal contact.

   Those who are predicting that electronic media or video conferencing will replace face-to-face meetings are greatly mistaken.

2. Sue Pelletier Says:
   

   November 2nd, 2009 at 3:21 pm

   Nicholas, what they are talking about isn’t the death of live meetings, just live meetings as they have been done historically. Though I do believe that the technologies available now, including social media, are speeding up the need to change the old live meeting structure by giving people other outlets for the learning and social networking aspects.

   I absolutely agree that there is a place for live meetings in today’s adult education world. It’s just that, to provide a rich learning environment these days, it’s not enough just to offer up some expertise in the form of talking heads and PowerPoints, and corralling the “herd” (not liking that term at all!) into one ballroom-like pen.

   There are lots of alternatives out there these days, and it’s my belief that meeting organizers need to know what they are and be willing to try them out as befits their specific audience’s learning styles and preferences. I’m not even willing to throw out the lecture, though it’s not my preferred style. If what you want to accomplish is the transfer of knowledge, lectures can be a great beginning. It’s just that they shouldn’t be the only way information is delivered. Not anymore.

3. mike mcallen Says:
   

   November 2nd, 2009 at 5:13 pm

   What I like about this quote:

   “Bad organizers organize bad events. Good organizers organize good events. If the streudel is no good, don’t blame all the streudels in the world. Blame the baker.”

   Is that the quote makes perfect sense to me and it makes me hungry. As we say in production if you can get one or more emotions out of an audience you have won the battle. Well this quote work on this audience of one.

   Mike

4. Rich Westerfield Says:
   

   November 3rd, 2009 at 6:40 am

   The part of the conversation I enjoyed most was on how so many associations use their conferences as their primary revenue stream - so EVERYBODY PANIC!!!!

   Having had the privilege of working with numerous associations over the past 25 years, it wouldn’t make a difference in the world if a number of them called it quits. Associations are supposed to be about members, but many aren’t. Many have become institutions designed to simply protect the association itself along with its executives’ jobs (looking right at one in our own industry).

   Associations that are truly member driven likely won’t have much of an issue adapting to a new conference culture because the association’s culture itself is compatible. It would simply need to be organized.

   Also, this isn’t the end of top-down meetings. There will still be plenty of small-scale events (~100-300 attendees) where a one or two day top-down model will continue to be the most efficient way to pass along information (e.g. high level banking, legal, real estate conferences). But for larger conferences that have historically covered a wide range of issues for different constituencies, this won’t be the case.

   The 20-30 y.o. employees who represent the next generation of conference attendees are much more interested in what you think about their opinions and input than they are about what they think of yours. If you can’t play in that park, you’ll be irrelevant in short time.

   That this conversation (and defense of current models) is happening when the industry still hasn’t solved the issue of affordable (or any) wireless access at venues is an indication of how sick the industry is. It’s not just associations that will be losing, it’s venues that can’t accommodate the information sharing needs of attendees.

   It’s interesting to note that commenter Nicholas comes from a part of the industry that has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. Without the intent of being flippant, I’d suggest that any AV or services company that currently serves the existing infrastructure take a good look at the landscape and think about how they should remodel and innovate to make the leap across the chasm toward unconference/open format meetings as that chasm is only going to widen in the near future.

5. Nancy Wilson Says:
   

   November 3rd, 2009 at 4:57 pm

   I agree with Rich. Business as Usual will never be again. It is time to innovate!

6. Telephone Conferencing Service Telephone Conferencing Service Says:
   

   November 11th, 2009 at 1:17 am

   Hi,
   Great post and so helpful. Thanks.

7. Cynthia Shobe Says:
   

   November 18th, 2009 at 11:19 am

   Great topic and writing. Note what I have discovered is in these times all business must have meetings in order to make money , and rally the troops face to face. With that said keeping all alive and interested at meetings new technology is key. It has been discovered that most hotel have not fully updated their equipment so double check when do that site inspection. The cost for outdated use is not cost effective any more. It has been discovered that doing meetings on a cruise ship provides many benefits. Keeping all alert during the meetings and using the top of the art AV is available for no additional cost on a ship, that is how to rally troops and a ROI for all companies.

8. Renee Stanford Says:
   

   November 18th, 2009 at 10:23 pm

   There is personal touch with live meetings that will never die. Got into the business and used websites for direction. Esp found a local site for me helpful for this very situtation - http://www.a2zmeetingsandevents.com/

9. Promotional Products Says:
   

   November 25th, 2009 at 3:07 pm

   Very interesting feature, thanks for sharing. I think that events and conferences aren’t dead, just they way they are put on is difference. With so many technological options available it is much easier to have a global conference without leaving your country.

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