[slideshare id=4653559&doc=frogdesignresearchdetailsfinal72dpi-100630144153-phpapp01]

Bottom Line

Your perception of an event’s strengths and weaknesses really depends on where you are when you look at the event.

Have any of you done an analysis like this at your events?

The post Event Analysis: Lift Conference appeared first on Interactive Meeting Technology.

Is “Technology” the Future of Meetings?

The topic of the future of meetings sends some people flying toward technology. This was evidenced by the thousands of attendees that flocked to the many technology sessions to learn about the latest whizbangs and strategies. This was evidenced by the paperless program, the Mobile apps and the Pathable community.

So, it’s technology right? Smartphones and that kind of stuff. Um, not exactly.

Is “Environment” the Future of Meetings?

The topic of the future of meetings sends others into the “better room layout” and “environment” corner. Joan Eisenstodt, for example, wants pictures on the walls, natural light and flexible space. When she says that many in the crowd nod with approval. Some cheer. Venue Executives mumble profanities. While others would just be happy if the room setup would match the session. “Rounds in the general session room? What’s that all about,” asks one attendee.

So, it’s environment right? Redesign the conference centers OR match the room setup to the needs. That must be the future of meetings. Um, not exactly.

Is “Content” the Future of Meetings?

The topic of the future of meetings sends others into the “content” corner. These people are talking about content delivery, interactive formats, learning styles, objectives, discovery, etc. They say less time listening to boring speakers and more time interacting in an informal learning environment. When someone says more collaboration and interaction – groups of people start whooping and hollering Texas style. Speakers scratch their heads and ask if better hand gestures would help.

So, it’s content right? Use more collaborative formats. Get people out of chairs and writing on white boards. Um, not exactly.

Is “Attendee Experience” the Future of Meetings?

The topic of the future of meetings gets others talking about attendee experience. It’s about putting the attendee at the center of the event. Ruud Janssen says that we need to think about it like “100 events for 100 people.” Another person talks about interviewing “professional attendees” – the conference road warriors – and using their needs as the model for how these experiences could work.

So, it’s attendee experience right? Design events with the attendee in mind. Um, not exactly.

Is “Storytelling” the Future of Meetings?

The topic of the future of meetings gets others talking about storytelling. It’s about narrative and personas they say. They talk about the strong characters in movies and books that we identify with. They talk about the dilemmas created in good vs. evil situations. They continue on with more stuff that is over our heads – but sounds good. Many nod in approval.

So, it’s storytelling right? We just hire a scriptwriter create good characters, put Bruce MacMillan in a flying harness and get Stephen Spielberg to show us how to produce the stuff. Um, not exactly.

Is “Inspiration” the Future of Meetings?

The keynote speakers from the Opening General Session will tell you that the future of meetings is about passion and inspiring people to become part of something greater than themselves. They will site examples of people coming from remarkable circumstances that you couldn’t ever imagine to do something extraordinary. Since, we are all amazed – we nod with approval and donate $20.

So, it’s inspiration right? We find someone or something that inspires us – like Bruce Willis or the A-team. Then we book them for our next event. That’s the ticket! Um, not exactly.

Is “Outside the Industry” the Future of Meetings?

The topic of the future of events gets others to talk about looking outside our industry for the answer. Looking for inspiration in art, in movies, in design, in Farmville, in nature and in space. Or was it in Oldspice? Regardless, asking ourselves what the Future of Meetings looks like – doesn’t help – because we all have the similar answers. As we hear this point of view, we nod again.

So, it’s looking outside ourselves right? We watch a few OldSpice commercials, play Farmville and “friend” that Zuckerberg dude who created Facebook – then we will know the future of events. Right? Um, not exactly.

So what is the Future of Meetings?

Well, if the future of meetings is not technology or space or content or attendee experience or inspiration or outside factors – then what is it?

I have no idea. I just can tell you that it is not ONE of those factors – it is all of them. As far as I can tell that is the conclusion drawn from the MPI World Education Conference.

What do you think our future meetings and events will look like? or what do they need to look like?

Note: I did receive partial registration reduction for agreeing to participate in the Social Media Guru program at MPI’s World Education Conference.

The post The Future of Meetings: Are You My Mother? appeared first on Interactive Meeting Technology.

This video called The Twitter Experiment from the University of Texas provides a good case study of the role that Twitter can play in Face-to-Face learning. Take a few minutes and watch it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WPVWDkF7U8]

How Could This Experiment Translate to Events?

As I watched the video there were several benefits that I think are worth noting for events as well.

1. Twitter’s 140 character limit helps attendees quickly get to the main point of their message.
2. Using a tool like Twitter allows you to get more input, ideas, questions and comments from a broader segment of the audience in a shorter period of time.
3. Attendees can use both mobile phones and laptops to participate – in the conference room.
4. Attendees can participate in the discussion remotely.
5. Shy people (or people that use English as a second language) don’t have to worry about speaking up in front of the entire audience.
6. Learners can post the key points on Twitter to help reinforce them.
7. The chat archive can be used as notes, so attendees can to go back and review what happened.

Bottom Line

There are several benefits to using Twitter in face-to-face events or instructor led learning environments.

Keep Dr. Rankin’s final comment in mind as you get started: “It’s going to be messy…but messy doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s going to be bad.”

What other benefits to using Twitter in face-to-face meetings or instructor led learning environments would you add?

The post The Twitter Experiment in Face-to-Face Learning appeared first on Interactive Meeting Technology.

The slide deck is below and the webinar recording is available here: Webinar recording.

[slideshare id=3469467&doc=march18inxposmwebinarfinal-100318131139-phpapp01]

Bottom Line

Social Media is creating new opportunities for you to connect, engage and educate your attendees. As your attendees get used to having more of these two way experiences in their real lives – they will start expecting similar experiences from your events. While there are many technologies that can help you – you need to make sure that you (1) set your objectives, (2) assess your audience and (3) map your needs to the resources that are available to you.

The post Free Webinar: Beyond Social Media – Uncover New Ways To Connect, Engage and Educate Your Audience Physically And Virtually appeared first on Interactive Meeting Technology.

[wpvideo 7YeVtUoW]

Background

This video was created using Apple Keynote (Apple’s version of PowerPoint). It is really a combination of ideas and statistics from these blog posts:

> 10 Ways Social Media Will Transform Events in 2010

>  Are Your Events Haunted By The Blackberry Prayer?

>  Do You Allocate Enough Time For Interaction?

The Transformation Begins

Right now the digital world and face-to-face worlds are colliding. I think this collision will create new opportunities for events. As attendees become more comfortable with these two way experiences in their own lives – they are going to start demanding similar experiences from you. Maybe they already are?

If you have experienced any interesting applications of Social Media or Event Technology during an event – please share your stories. I would love to hear what you think is working or not working in your events.

The post Social Media in Events Video from Event Camp appeared first on Interactive Meeting Technology.

What would you ask?

Would you ask attendees your most pressing questions? Would you ask them for ideas? Would you ask them to help you prioritize objectives? Would you ask them to help you solve problems? Would you show them your vision for the future and ask them to poke holes in it? Would you ask them to help you make decisions? Would you ask them what they learned? Would you ask them to calculate ROI?

How would it work?

I see it working like this: You give attendees a problem, then in a mili-second they give you thousands of relevant, categorized and useful responses. Sometimes this will be based on life experiences. Other times it could be from company knowledge.

We can get a similar result when we use group collaboration technology and large group methods at meetings. You present a question, situation or problem to the audience. They reflect on it for a few moments and discuss in small groups. Then attendees enter their ideas, comments or opinions into a computer or mobile device. In some cases, a small group may categorize the responses. In other cases, the audience will do this step, too. Then,  the audience will rank and prioritize the categorized results. At the end, there is a massive list of useful ideas (or whatever you are seeking) that is categorized and prioritized.

A Word of Caution

Being able to google your attendees will not mean that you get perfect results. I imagine that you would still have some of the same challenges that you face with the Google search engine today:

1. You may still need to be wary of advertisements that are disguised as meaningful results.
2. You may still have to ask the same question several different ways to get the best results.
3. You will still need to learn which keywords trigger the best results and which don’t.

Bottom Line

If you could google the minds of your attendees would you do it?  What would you ask?  How would attendees be able to help you that are unimaginable today?

Image Credit: Samuel J. Smith & profile pictures of his Twitter followers

The post What if You Could Google the Minds of Your Attendees appeared first on Interactive Meeting Technology.

We have never met face to face. I expect that will change one day.

One thing that I can tell you about Mike – he is a crowdsourcer. Mike uses his social network to collaborate on projects. Capturing an insight here, collecting a photo there, Mike leverages the talents of his friends to breathe life into his ideas.

These projects have included articles on MPI’s WEC Opening Session in Salt Lake City and the ASAE Conference in Toronto (Day 1 & Day 2).

Most recently, Mike used Google Wave to interview several industry professionals to get their persepective on 2010. What was supposed to be 1 blog post – snowballed into an avalanche of insights – and became 5 blog posts. Feel free to read them below:

1. What were the successes of 2009 in the Meetings and Events Business?
2. What’s the priority business issue to focus on in 2010?
3. What is the Next Hot Social Media Tool?
4. What is the role of social media in events?
5. What is the Future of Printed Media?

Time to Turn the Tables

Now, I am turning the tables on Mike. I am using Google Wave to ask him some questions about this impressive crowdsourcing project:

1. Mike – where did you get the idea to use Google Wave and crowdsource these blog posts?

Mike>> Sam, I had been toying with the idea, for some time, to do an “interview style” blog posting but due to other job responsibilities kept putting it off because there was no easy way to accomplish that. Then in November I discovered Google Wave, started experimenting with the application and the light bulb came on. I realized this would be a perfect platform for this type of collaborative work. There you have it.. the rest is history!

2. What was going through your mind when everyone started answering the questions? Did you expect this type of reaction?

Mike>> Well, because Google Wave is so new, and so different from pretty much any other web 2.0 application, I expected it might take a while to get the people I wanted to interview on-board. One of the biggest frustrations was of course that Google is letting people in only on an invitation basis. Since very few of the people I wanted to include in my interview were on Google Wave yet, my solution was to leverage Twitter to monitor available invitations. I did this by creating a search column in Tweetdeck with the keywords “google wave.”

Since Google Wave has been a trending topic on Twitter for some time I knew there would be a large volume of tweets, which there were. As I discovered tweets from ppl offering invitations I responded to them one-by-one and then collected the invitations in a “pool.” My next step was to invite my Social Media friends to join Google wave one by one.

After joining Google Wave my colleagues began responding to the questions. I soon realized, by the strong response, Google Wave was a natural fit for this type of project. The results were, as you know, terrific. I really did not expect things would come together as quickly as they did!

3.  As a participant in this process, I had a lot of fun thinking through the questions and reading everyone’s responses. What kind of feedback did you get from other participants?

Mike>> The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive from colleagues that participated in the collaboration. They all unanimously believe it was an interesting and productive experience.

One constructive comment, made by Jeff Hurt, which I agree with, is some blog readers may have been disappointed they were not given the opportunity to participate in the wave as well. I have not received any feedback to that effect, but it might be an issue. I do know I received very few “comments” posted on the blog, thus far, from readers. That has me confused, as I expected there would be a lot of conversation. Maybe it is something I am doing wrong on the marketing side… not sure.

I would be open to any suggestions from other interested users regarding this subject.

4. Do you have any advice for event organizers, speakers or subject matter experts that are interested in using Google Wave to tap into the ideas of their audience?

Mike>> Yes I do. I do not believe Google Wave is stable enough yet for use in events to any large degree. One of its major shortcomings is it’s “lagginess.” That is a problem that must be resolved before this application can be used effectively for any large collaboration project. There are some real challenges with some of the functionality, such as, for example, no undo button. This application is in “preview release” right now so it would be expected there would be bugs in it. These will be resolved I am sure, before the Wave is released to the public.

Also, since it is not open to the public yet… there is a very limited audience that can actually use it. This is obviously a problem in the context of events.

5. Based on this experience where and how do you see Google Wave being incorporated into events?

Mike>> I personally believe there is great potential for this application to be incorporated into events. For Starters It could be an alternative to Twitter as a conversation tool to enhance meetings. Blips in Google Wave are very similar to Tweets, except they can be modified, and collaborated with. That is exciting.

Brainstorming sessions, Think Tanks, Q&A, Roundtable discussions are all meeting formats where a Google Wave would be an enhancer. For an “un-conference” where you design “crowdsoureced” content on-the-fly this application would be a perfect fit. With the ability to embed video, graphics, photos and audio components it could also serve as presentation software.

The possibilities are endless…

Bottom Line

Mike has demonstrated that using Social Media and Social Networks you can tap into the insights of the audience. Also, he has demonstrated that you can do it anytime or anyplace – before, during or after your event.

Attendees have never been smarter or more connected than they are today.  What are you doing to tap into their ideas and insights?

Note: Photo is Courtesy of Mike McCurry.

The post 5 Questions with Event Industry Crowdsourcer Mike McCurry appeared first on Interactive Meeting Technology.

Endless PowerPoint presentations and stale ham sandwiches have been making attendees comatose at meetings and events for decades now. While many event organizers recognize the need for more interaction, few know where to start.

Most leap for technology tools and new formats.

By immediately starting with technology solutions, you risk over-engineering OR under-engineering your interactive experiences.

Ask The Key Question

In my opinion, there is a better way. I prefer to start with this seemingly simple question: What are attendees supposed to do as a result of this interaction (or session)?

Here are some possible responses:

• Stay awake & not fall asleep
• Stop playing with their mobile gadgets
• Ask questions
• Answer a question
• Give their opinion
• Learn a new skill
• Embrace the organizational change
• Feel better
• Accept an invitation to meet a sales rep
• Reinforce product benefits
• Experience the brand
• Find 5 new association members
• Purchase your products
• Go change the world
• Tell 47 people that your company rocks!
• Create 25 new ideas
• Be a part of the grass roots effort to ______
• Change their way that they work

Set the Interaction Dial

I view answering the question above as setting the interaction dial, because it sets a target for your interactive experience. Also, interactions have different intensity levels. Some interactive solutions are really simple (like having attendees ask questions). While others are complex  (like brainstorming with 500 people) and require additional planning, design, session time and sophisticated tech tools. By setting the target – you make it easier to match the interactive experience to your desired outcome.

After you set the interaction dial, don’t be shy. Get your stakeholders involved in creating a solution. Ask the speakers, facilitators, meeting designers, A/V team and technology services providers to help you. These are smart people. Don’t be afraid to use them.

Bottom Line

When you are planning interactions – start by thinking through the action that you want attendees to take afterward. Then, work on matching the right processes, event formats and interactive technology to your objective.

Where will you set the interaction dial?

The post How to Set the Interaction Dial appeared first on Interactive Meeting Technology.

To me, this event demonstrated how you can tap into the energy and brainpower of the attendees to share, communicate and collaborate at events.

Here are some of the ways that the attendees used Google Wave at the EComm Conference:

• Send messages
• Share notes
• Build group summaries of the sessions.
• Provide feedback on sessions, etc.

If you are new to Google Wave – I suggest that you watch this simple video that explains the concept:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDu2A3WzQpo]

Mass Collaboration At Events

The thing that caught my attention was the use of Google Wave for mass collaboration at an event. It almost seemed like wikis+twitter on steroids. It made me consider the following scenario:

What if you brainstormed a bunch of ideas in a plenary session through Google Wave and prioritized them on the spot. Then, you could assign one or two topics to each break-out session. Ask the teams to expand on the ideas and make recommendations for next steps.

It they used Google Wave, they could end up with a summary document and action plan. In this scenario, you would avoid the flip charts, the massive amounts of handwritten notes, the situation where notes were left in the conference room, etc. Everything would already be “digitized” and ready-to-share. So, when attendees return to the office, they can maintain the momentum of the event and start making change happen.

Sounds like a good idea to me. What about you?

(Note: I know that some of you already do something similar with other technology solutions.)

A Word of Caution

Before we get too excited we probably need to keep the following four things in mind:

1. Google Wave is still on a limited release.
2. Wifi access/connectivity in many venues is still questionable.
3. If you have a room full of laptops, netbooks, etc – then you need to provide power strips and tables.
4. We still need to learn more about using the tool and how to best apply it for collaboration.

Bottom Line

I think Google Wave has demonstrated that it can be a powerful accessory to engage the audience, create interaction and enhance collaboration at events.  Once it rolls out, it may be something to consider for your events.

What do you think? Do you want your attendees doing the wave and engaging in mass collaboration?

The post Google Waves Hello to Events appeared first on Interactive Meeting Technology.

How are you managing communication and engagement with the four generations that are attending your events? How do you invite the spirit of co-creation? How do you get  adults with a 20 minute attention span to listen to a 60 minute presentation?

Those are a few of the questions that were tackled in the Tips to Maximize Audience Engagement Webinar organized by Best Events Magazine and IML Interactive. This interactive webinar brought together three different perspectives on audience engagement: Business Leader/Agency perspective, the technology perspective and the speaker perspective. Here were the speakers:

• Fay Beauchine, President, Events & Engagement, Carlson Marketing Group
• Ray Hansen, Director, IML Worldwide
• Dan Rose, President, Omakase Group

I thought this webinar was packed with valuable content. Below you will find a summary of the Four Drivers of Audience Engagement and some other invaluable tips that I thought you could start implementing immediately.

Driver of Engagement #1: Encourage a Great Experience

When it comes to creating experiences, events are experiential.  Fay recommends that you touch all 5 senses. Her company focuses a lot of its thinking on the emotions. She suggests that you do the same.

Equally important, Fay suggests that you make the experiences immersive AND don’t go halfway. As an example, Fay described an event where a technology company that wanted to encourage Eco-Responsibility and Global Citizenship. To make the experience complete, they distributed 2000 mobile phones that contained the agendas, conference guide, and messaging capabilities. This solution reduced the printed material by 75%. Attendees sent over 20,000 messages to each other.

Driver of Engagement #2: Encourage Participation

Carlson Marketing Group maximizes the application of technology to encourage participation. Using social technologies, they are expanding event experiences to 3-4 months in length and a maximum of 9 months. Also, by getting the attendees comfortable with engagement before the event – attendees are more comfortable with interacting onsite. Some of the tools that they are using include – webinars, surveys, videos, voting and mobile messaging.

When it comes to using technology Fay offered the following crucial advice:

• You need to empower people to opt-in and opt-out of the technology
• Focus the technology tools on content – make it central to the business so people use the tools.

Driver of Engagement #3: Target Communication

You need to explore communication and engagement strategies that are aligned against your audience demographics. Right now, there are four generations attending events. Each group wants to engage and communicate on their own terms. When you are designing your content – you need to ask yourself how will you communicate with this group? and how will you connect them? Here Fay had an excellent slide that laid out the differences in attitudes between each group. You need to consider how these different attitudes influence your event design.

Driver of Engagement #4: Provide Value

Providing value means making the event relevant to the audience and to the community at large. As programs trend smaller – make them passionate, honest and make it seem like a smart choice.  Amplify – yet simplify. As an example, Fay pointed out that team building exercises are still happening – but they are BBQs & chili cook-offs.

We have 20 Minute Minds in a 60 Minute World

In building a case for moving beyond bullet points, Ray Hansen used audience response technology to ask the audience two questions: how long is the average adult attention span? AND how long is your average conference session? The answer to the first question was 20 minutes and the answer to the 2nd question was 60 minutes. Then he asked a rhetorical question — if adults have an attention span of 20 minutes – why are we asking them to sit through 60 minute conference sessions?  Great Question – I thought this was an excellent application of ARS to help the audience arrive at the speaker’s point on their own.

Creating 60 Minute Minds

In order to expand the audience attention and retention during the session – Ray offered the following ARS tips:

• Engage the audience with an ARS question at least once every 10 15-20 minutes.
• Use discovery questions to learn about the audience and discover misconceptions at the beginning of the presentation.
• Ask verification questions to manage attention and retention during the presentation.
• Ask questions to make sure that participants get the key messages at the end of the presentation.

Building the Spirit of Co-Creation

Dan Rose took the speaker’s point of view. He suggested that the speaker can create a spirit of co-creation in the way that he/her engages the audience. Dan highlighted the following benefits of co-creation:

1. Puts part of the investment in the final results and takeaways on the audience.
2. Allows the speaker to create the presentation based on things common to the people in the room.
3. Allows the audience to prioritize the order of the discussion.

Equally important, Dan suggested that leading the audience through an exercise and having them create some artifacts on their own helps them engage in the presentation. Also, he suggests ask the attendees to compare notes from their exercises before the speaker makes the main point.

Bottom Line

There are several ways to engage the audience, put your community into motion and move them from passive listeners to active participants.  Hopefully you found one or two new ideas in this post that you can implement in your next event.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or sharing it with others.

Photo Credit: Kaptain Kobald

The post 4 Drivers of Audience Engagement and Other Invaluable Tips appeared first on Interactive Meeting Technology.