Image by by zoomar.

Quick, name the last presentation that you attended. Now, name two things you learned from that presentation.

Can you do it?

If you can’t recall at least one or two things from that presentation, was it worth your time and investment?

Now try this. Name the last speaker or presentation that you heard that totally wowed you and you walked away with invaluable information and practical steps.

What made that presentation so good that you remember it?

Five Ways To Kill Your Presentation Dead In Its Tracks

Here are five things to avoid and make your presentation memorable.

1. Practice Information Hedonism

Avoid information overload and the data dumps. Less is more! People want value and meaning, not tons of information. Just because you like data and an excess of information does not mean that your audience will. And, they won’t remember all those stats and figures anyway. So why are you giving it to them?

When preparing your presentation, brainstorm your ideas and then mindmap it. Focus on three to five main points and make those the crux of your presentation. All other information should be supporting actors to the three to five points.

2. Expect Instant Microprocessing Of Information

Your audience needs time to process the information you’re sharing and create new meaning from it. They need down time to reflect on what is being said. They need to give up the external attention to everything around them and go internal to process the new information. They also need time for that learning to imprint. That means you need to stop talking. You can either have your participant’s attention or they can be creating meaning from the information. But you can’t have both at the same time. Meaning-making, reflection, association and consolidation can only occur during down time.

For every 20 minutes of new content, provide three to five minutes of down time during your presentation. During down time, attendees can discuss the new information, write down how to apply it or stand and stretch.

3. Keep It Impersonal

Even in the most technical presentations, people enjoy hearing the human side of the story. Provide relevant stories within your presentation that share the emotional elements of excitement, frustration, humor, hope, fear, disappointment, challenges and success. Share the humanness of your content, not a technical presentation about details. Practice humility vs. tooting your own horn too.

4. Multiply The Meat Of Your Presentation

Your presentation needs to chunk important information into 10 minute segments not multiply the meat into long-winded soliloquies. Chunking is the process of dividing information into smaller bite-size fragments so the brain can process it. The brain needs to move information from its working memory to its long term memory. Unfortunately, its working memory has a limited capacity of holding three to seven things at any given time. Moving that information into long term memory requires application, association, meaning making, reflection, and other brain processes. If the working memory is full, the information being shared will be forgotten. Chunk your presentation into bite-size 10 minute segments that are anchored with a personal story.

5. Focus On Gobbledygook, Mumbo-Jumbo And Technical Jargon

Even the most technical presentations need analogies, examples and metaphors to help make complex subjects more accessible. Filling your presentation with gibberish and uncommon drivel will propel your attendees’ minds into another galaxy.

What are some other deadly presenter mistakes that you’ve experienced either as a facilitator or participant? What do you wish presenters did more so that you could learn and retain their information?

Image by brewbooks

Today’s networked individuals have shaped the Internet into something especially hospitable to an emerging class of citizens – the participatory class.

The Internet pioneers built into its structure, organization, model of governance and sustainability, the potential for creation, collaboration, sharing and interactive learning. One of the most important characteristics of this Web 2.0 World is its capacity to allow for a worldwide community as well as subsets to build likeminded tribes and meaningful relationships.

The Rise Of The Participatory Class

Sociologists have identified these new online networked individuals as the participatory class. William Dutton of the Oxford Internet Institute notes that this new participatory culture is creating a strong group of civic citizens who create and share material online.

“…The concept of networked individualism reconfigures [Internet] users’ access to information, people and other resources and allows them to move across, undermine and go beyond the boundaries of existing institutions to seek and enforce new levels of institutional and personal transparency,” says Dutton.

Those are some powerful words that institutions like associations and conference and show organizers should heed.

The new participatory class is driving innovation and change with the ability to transform established organized associations and traditional conferences. They have embraced a new openness to horizontal, free communication and transparency.

Consider the following stats from the Pew Internet & American Life Project (2004-2010):

• Well over half of the entire population have broadcast or narrowcast information to audiences via the Internet.
• More than two-thirds of adult Internet users have created and shared content on the web.
• More than 57% of adult Internet users write, post and share information on social networking sites like Facebook.
• 37% of Internet users have made contributions to news coverage.
• 37% share photos via the Internet.
• More than 30% contribute rankings and reviews of products and services.
• 26% post comments on blogs and websites.
• 20% have contributed health-related content and see themselves as the new e-patients.
• 19% post civic and political material.

This participation culture has vastly expanded beyond the Internet into our daily lives, work and institutions. We have new expectations to participate in a variety of ways instead of just passively consuming information.

The Participatory Class’ New Social Layer: Spectators

The participatory class is also creating another layer to their social networks – the audience, spectators and lurkers. Networked individuals have a new social currency that associations and conference organizers must now face. Their social support can be seen as an asset or a deterrent depending upon their degree of participation in the process.

New Models Of Membership And Attendee Participation Needed

Associations and conference organizers need to adapt to this new participatory class fast or risk becoming irrelevant and obsolete. Traditional hierarchy committee structures limit participation to a few. Annual membership surveys are not enough. Try to submit feedback, comments or information via an association website and you’ll hit a barrier. If you can submit information, it can take up to 24-48 hours to hear from someone, if at all. This will not suffice for the new participatory class.

Smart associations recognize the value of tapping into the wisdom of the crowd to capture the best answers and the most innovative ideas. They are learning to harness the innovative potential of their community and spark creative knowledge. They are moving beyond the traditional committee structure and annual surveys to more robust online collaborative and idea generating tools. 

The Technology Tool Needed: A Community Ideas Functionality

Some brands, like Starbucks and Dell, have identified ways to allow their customers to participate in their product development and improvement process.  These brands are actively seeking feedback, ideas and suggestions from its customers.

MyStarbucks Idea is a technology platform using salesforce.com ideas functionality. Starbucks customers have the ability to participate in active conversations with the company. They contribute ideas, build upon those submitted by others, vote, comment and collaborate with Starbucks. The most popular ideas rise to the top and Starbucks moderators shepherd the best ideas from concept to launch. Starbucks has built a unique community that uses the participatory class to its advantages.

Starbucks results?

• More than 92,000 total ideas submitted on My Starbucks Idea
• More than 760,000 total votes received
• More than 150,000 comments posted
• More than 90 ideas implemented as a result of My Starbucks Idea 

Associations and conference organizers need to take notice of these collaborative, online community systems and copy them. They need to adapt these tools to their membership audiences and let them more actively participate in the process.

What if associations provided a similar tool like MyStarbucks Idea for its members? What if conference organizers use a similar tool to allow attendees to participate in the process?

Adapted from an image created by by matthewvenn

Roughly two-thirds of adult Internet users have created content and media for the web. The number of adults who use the Internet to broadcast or narrowcast to several people or more has gone from less than a tenth of the population in the 1990s to more than half the entire population in the early part of 2010. (Networked Creators, Pew Internet & American Life Project)

Nearly three quarters (73%) of online teens and an equal number (72%) of Millennials (18-29) use social networking sites to create some type of online shareable content. In comparison, between April 2009 and May 2010 social networking use among internet users age 50-64 grew by 88%. Older generations have entered the content creation and sharing aspects of today’s social networks as well. (Pew Internet & American Life Project 2004-2010)

Creating and sharing content online is no longer a participatory phenomenon for teens and GenY only. It is ubiquitous and growing regardless of age, race, culture or other divide.

Today’s New Participatory Culture

Adults, from Millennials to Baby Boomers, are involved in today’s participatory culture.

A participatory culture is a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one’s creations and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experiences is passed along to the novices.
Henry Jenkins, Confronting The Challenges Of Participatory Culture

A participatory culture is one where members believe their contributions matter. They feel some degree of social connection with one another. They care what other people think about what they have created and shared.

Four Forms Of Participatory Culture

Henry Jenkins identifies four forms of participatory culture

1. Affiliations

Formal and informal memberships, sometimes in online communities centered around various forms of social media such as eCommunities, Facebook, FourSquare, LinkedIn, MySpace, Yelp, metagaming (role playing games) and massively multiplayer online games (MMOs).

2. Expressions

Producing new creative forms such as blogs, digital sampling (remixing sound recordings), ezines, mashups, modding (modifying a piece of hardware or software), photos, podcasts, posts and updates, skinning (creating graphical appearances) and videos.

3. Collaborative Problem-Solving

Working together in informal and formal teaming to complete tasks and develop new knowledge (forum discussions, live Twitter Chats, MMOs, Wikipedia).

4. Circulations

Shaping the flow of media such as blogging, podcasting, video-sharing

The Benefits Of Participatory Culture

This involvement in creating and sharing content has reshaped the patterns of influence in today’s world.

• Non-credentialed amateurs can now participate in many areas that were limited to recognized and sanctioned experts.
• Increased opportunities for peer-to-peer learning
• A changed attitude toward intellectual property (where people who create content and media now respect other’s content more)
• Diversification of cultural expression
• Development of skills in today’s workplace
• Empowered conception of involvement and citizenship

Impact To Associations, Conferences & Events

Associations as organizational institutions have been slow to react to the emergence of this new participatory culture. They continue to use their established hierarchal committee structures to receive feedback, direction and advice from their members. Active participation is limited to a few individuals that are chosen to serve on committees, councils and task forces. This leads to increased membership frustrations from those that want to participate but are limited to annual membership surveys. It also exacerbates the organization’s snail pace of change, mediocrity, status quo and a lack of innovation.

Association leadership must find new ways to ensure that every member has access to become a full participant in the direction of the organization, its programming, conferences and events. Members are no longer willing to be passive observers and consumers of information only. They want to participate through co-creation, collaboration and networking. Every member and conference attendee deserves the chance to express him- or herself through involvement, contribution and input, even if many choose not to participate.

Smart association leaders and conference organizers must find new ways to engage members and attendees in all parts of the development, production and distribution of content, programming and experiences. Today’s participatory culture is reworking the rules by which associations, conferences, events, cultural expression, civic life and work operate. In a world in which the line between consumers and producers is blurring, adults find themselves in situations that no one would have anticipated a decade or two ago.

How is the participatory culture changing your beliefs about association involvement and conference attendance? In what ways do you want to participate more with your association or conference experience?

Image by Daniel*1977

You sit down to dinner with your family.

Within moments of your first bite, the phone rings. All eyes land on you. Will you answer it or screen the call?

You decide to answer the phone and are greeted by a cheerful voice shouting, “Congratulations, you’ve just won a free all-expenses paid trip for three days! All you have to do to claim your free trip is come to the following address on Saturday, spend 90-minutes listening to our speaker and take our tour. You don’t have to purchase anything. You don’t even have to like our speaker. Can we count on you to attend?”

Do you take the free trip and attend the seminar? Do you hang up the phone? Or do you ask more questions?

If you are like most American citizens, you’ve received a similar phone call. Or a direct mail piece with winning prize information.

And if you’re a meeting professional, you’ve likely received a similar phone call or emailat your work inviting you to attend a hosted buyer program complete with free airfare, four- or five-star lodging, meals, registration and education.

Hosted Buyer Programs On The Rise

Just like these time share congratulatory phone calls, hosted buyer programs are on the rise within the meetings industry.

• On November 30-December 2, 2010, EIBTM is offering 2,000 qualified hosted buyers free airfare to Barcelona, Spain, lodging, registration and post-event tours in exchange for attending six exhibitor appointments, a destination presentation and networking events.
• AIBTM – The Americas Meetings & Events Exhibition – has announced that it will be welcoming 2,000 Hosted Buyers to Baltimore June 21 – 23, 2011.
• IMEX America will hold a hosted buyer program in Las Vegas, October 11-13, 2011 for 2,000 qualified buyers. Participants must attend a minimum of four individual appointments per day and pre-scheduled group appointments in exchange for airfare, lodging, registration, ground transportation and education.
• MPI offered a hosted buyer program to 100+ attendees at its MeetDifferent 2010 conference in Cancun, Mexico. Qualified hosted buyers committed to meeting with 15 different suppliers in exchange for complimentary airfare, hotel and registration.
• Reed Travel Exhibitions oversees several hosted buyer events including EIBTM (Barcelona, Spain); GIBTM  (Abu Dhabi, UAE), CIBTM (Beijing, China) and AIME (Melbourne, Australia). 

Hosted Buyer Attendees And Challenges

Most hosted buyer programs are for qualified senior-level meeting professionals, and business and incentive travel buyers that have decision-making authority and buying authorization. Yet, most meeting planners are not decision makers. They are influencers. Influencers are defined as buyers who can’t say yes but can say no.

The challenge with many hosted buyer programs is that typically senior-level meeting professionals know most of the players in the industry. They have built long-term relationships with their preferred suppliers and vendors of choice. Unless they are going to a new part of the world that they have not personally visited, they usually don’t need to take another trip to meet with suppliers and vendors.

And what senior-level professionals want to fill-up their meeting dance card with required supplier appointments and group presentations? It’s like exhibitor speed dating on steroids where you are required to meet with others in order to get free transportation, lodging, food and registration.

So why do suppliers pay upwards of $4,500 in participation fees, plus travel, lodging and expenses to meet with qualified buyers. In theory, this sounds like a great way to get leads and prospective clients. Some suppliers see it as a positive public relations move. But is the ROI really there? Are planners accepting these invitations and changing their bias because of the free trip?

The Timeshare Fiascos

In the 1990s, Americans experienced a rise of good news congratulatory phone calls and direct mail marketing pieces. Here’s how the timeshare process usually works.

Timeshare representatives invite several hundred people to a presentation that explains the terms, benefits, conditions and price of the property or properties they have to offer. Vacations packages, vehicles, cash and other prizes are offered in exchange for attending the presentation.

When you attend a timeshare presentation, you enter a large room with festive music. You sit at a table with a designated presenter and the pitch begins. You can’t hear what is being said at tables next to you but every few minutes the music is turned low and another buyer/winner is announced. Typically these presentations are high-pressure sales pitches and closers who won’t take no for an answer. They will do anything possible to get you to give them additional information, sign an agreement or write a check. Like a game of three-card Monte, the presentation is about distraction, misdirection and luring you to a purchase.

Hosted Buyer Programs: Silver Bullets Or Timeshare Scams?

So how are hosted buyer programs (or destination fam trips for that matter) different than the timeshare presentations? Are hosted buyer programs just reinvented timeshare prize promises or are they the magical silver bullet for an ailing tradeshow industry? Do you think hosted buyer programs are ethical and worth attending? How do you feel about them?

We’ve been nominated for the 2010 #Eventprofs Blogs in the Best Industry Advancement Blog. With seven different categories, and 38 blogs, it’s an honor to be listed with some great bloggers and writers. 

Please take a moment and vote for your favorite blogs in each category. Of course we’d like you to vote for us and ultimately we want you to vote for the blogs you like best!

Note: You don’t have to vote for a blog in each category. You can skip categories you don’t read and just vote for the ones you do. Once you’ve finished voting, scroll down to the bottom and click done.

How To Vote

Go to Ready2Spark #eventprofs Blog Awards Nominees and you’ll receive a pop-up to vote. Or click here to take survey. Voting closes at 9:00am EDT on September 9, 2010. The blog with the highest number of votes in each category will be announced as the winners.

Special Category The Eventprofs People’s Choice Award

A new category has been added to the roster: The Eventprofs People’s Choice Award. This award will be given to the blog with the most overall votes – so, nominees, spread the word and get people voting! 

Best Industry Advancement Blog Nominees

Events Man – Roberts Rogers, CSEP
McCurry’s Corner - Michael McCurry, CMP
PlusPoint – The Official One+ Magazine, MPI
Smart Meetings Blog – Bright Business Media, founded by Marin Bright
SocialFishing – Lindy Dryer and Maddie Grant
Trade Show Institute – Traci A. Browne, Red Cedar
Velvet Chainsaw’s Midcourse Corrections – That’s us: Dave Lutz & Jeff Hurt

Best Corporate Blog Nominees

FACTOR168 Creative Event Company – Muse – A Creative Events Company
Shotgun Marketing Blog – Marketing Speaker & Author, Chris Houchens
Skyline Trade Show Tips – Skyline Exhibits
Sound n’ Sight – Icon Presentations Palm Springs Audio Visual Rentals, Jenise Fryatt
Splash: Refreshment for Your Small Staff Organization – MemberClicks Blog, Shannon Otto
Tradeshow Insight – Echelon Design Blog written by several staff

Best Event Eye Candy Blog Nominees

David Stark Sketchbook – David Stark
Design Dawgs - David Merrill
Today’s Creative Blog – Kim Demmon
Zinke Design Weblog – Christina

Best Event Inspiration Blog Nominees

Dreamers Events – For Brides & Grooms Planning A South Asian Affair
Grosh Backdrops Blog - Lindsay Fultz

Best Thought Provoking Blog Nominees

ABCey Events: *Event Planning *Social Media* Technology – Amanda Cey
Conferences That Work – Adrian Segar
Corporate Incentive Travel - Executive Oasis International, Ann Thornley-Brown
Event Industry Thoughts – Keith Johnston
Eventzilla – Online Event Registration Company
Howard Givner’s blog – Howard Givner
Liz King Events - Liz King

New Kid On The Blog Nominees

Engage – The Official MPI Blog
Event Lounge – Stephanie Garbaczewski
Event Strategy Solutions – Daphne Bousquet, CMP
Jen’s Blog - Jen Sako
Magic Moments Parties and Events – Debbie Jordan, Courtney Jordan, Howard Eckhart, CESP
Mike Granek, CSEP - Mike Granek, CSEP
Rosa Garriga’s blog – Ros Garriga

Best Wedding Blog Nominees

Landlocked Bride – Brit Tucker
A Big To Do Event: Inspiration and Education – Erica Prewett
Sensational Weddings – Eve & Jennifer
The French Bouquet Blog – Anne-Mariefoy
Wedding Overdose - Elations Design, Pauline

EventCamp Twin Cities 2010 is just around the corner…and there is still time for you to register to attend.

The EventCamp Twin Cities 2010 program and conference experience is built around four primary themes: social, innovation, collaboration and experimentation.

What can you expect at EventCamp Twin Cities?

• New digital and face-to-face collaboration and communication tools
• Conference sessions designed around social learning where we tap your areas of expertise and experience to share with others and you learn from like-minded peers
• The innovation lab where you can push your boundaries
• Shifts in thinking about the audience as participants in co-creation, engagement and collaboration
• An amazing welcoming crowd of meeting and event professionals.

 EventCamp Twin Cities has something for everyone – and a smart savvy planning team with Sam Smith and Ray Hansen as well as an innovative line-up of facilitators.

What Is EventCamp?

EventCamp Twin Cities 2010 is modeled after the first EventCamp NYC held in February 2010 that was birthed from the Twitter community #eventprofs. EventCamp 2010 NYC was the world’s first industry gathering of its kind, a “BarCamp-style” conference for meeting and event professionals. EventCamp’s ongoing mission is to bring together like-minded professionals, to share best practices, and learn new strategies, for leveraging social media and technology to create enhanced event experiences.

Five Ways To Still Register And Participate

1. Face-to-Face in Minneapolis

For just $85 join others at the McNamara Alumni Center on the Campus of the University of Minnesota. Register for Minneapolis.

2. Face-to-Face in Dallas

If you are in the DFW or surrounding area, join the DFW POD sponsored by Freeman. Andy Lawson and Kevin Richardson have created space for attendees to gather and participate remotely as we watch the love cast together. It’s our own DFW EventCamp Watching Party. Register for the free DFW POD.

3. Face-to-Face in Basel

Are you in Europe? Get on an EasyJet flight or a train and head to Basel. Ruud Janssen has attendees gathering at Cafe Tacuba to participate in Event Camp there. Switzerland is seven hours ahead of Minneapolis – so the event starts at 3 pm for them. During our lunch, they are going to have a three course dinner. Register for Basel.

4. Watch the Live Webcast

Sonic Foundry is livestreaming the event to your desktop. Visit EventCamp Twin Cities Website for more details. Emilie Barta will serve as the Virtual Event Emcee to guide you through the event and make sure that you are connected to the face-to-face audience.

5. Participate From the Virtual Third World

Follow the hashtag #ectc10 in Twitter to engage in conversations with likeminded individuals.

What excites you most about EventCamp Twin Cities? Why do you think unconferences like this have become so popular?

Adapted from original image by London Permaculture.

Event Organizers Investigated For Not Following FTC Guidelines

Did you know that at a January 2010 event held by Ann Taylor Loft was investigated by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for possible violation of new marketing guidelines which apply to WOM, Social Media, TV, radio and print?

That’s right, the event organizers were investigated. 

Why the investigation?

Ann Taylor Loft event organizers invited bloggers to preview their summer collection. They asked them to write about the collection and their experience. In exchange for their blogging they received a free gift and a gift card worth up to $500. 31 bloggers attended the event and received gift cards.

The FTC was concerned the new media writers did not disclose that they received gifts for posting about the event. Some did disclose the relationship. Some didn’t. The new rules require disclosure.

As reported in Ad Age:
The event and the unusual request for posts to be submitted for a prize received media scrutiny and caught the eye of the FTC. “We were concerned that bloggers who attended a preview on January 26, 2010 failed to disclose that they received gifts for posting blog content about that event,” Mary Engle, the FTC’s associate director-advertising practices, wrote in a letter dated April 20 to Ann Taylor’s legal representation.

Event Organizers Investigated Not The Bloggers

What’s interesting to me is that in this case, the FTC did not investigate the bloggers that did not disclose. They investigated the event organizers for securing social media sharers in exchange for gifts and not telling the bloggers they needed to disclose the relationship.

If you plan events, conferences or meetings, that should send up a host of red flags! If you secure social media influencers and give them a free or discounted registration to attend your conference in exchange for blogging, tweeting, posting in social media networks or any other act of WOM, it is your duty to explain to them that they must disclose the relationship. The FTC expects the organization to provide guidance to WOM agents about the requirements. You as the marketer are held responsible for informing the writers about disclosure. In the Ann Taylor Loft case, there was not any guidance.

Who Is The FTC?

The U.S. FTC is a federal government agency charged with consumer protection and competition jurisdiction in broad sectors of the economy. They can pursue law enforcement, administer a wide variety of consumer protection laws and establish effective guidelines. 

What Are The FTC Guidelines?

The new FTC Guidelines that went into effect December 2009 apply to truth-in-advertising principles to all marketing including WOM, Social Media, TV, radio and print. They were updated from previous practices to include the Internet and WOM.

Here’s the best way I’ve seen the FTC Guidelines articulated.

Endorsement + Compensation = Required Disclosure

(Thanks Susan Getgood for this succinct explanation.)

Fact: The Guidelines explain how the FTC would apply Section 5* of the FTC Act to endorsements and testimonials. They are not rules or regulations, and there are no fines. Any penalties would be assessed by the courts as the result of a legal enforcement process during which the FTC would have to make its case for deceptive advertising. (From Susan Getgood’s post 11 Urban Myths About FTC Guidelines)

Has the FTC pursued legal enforcement of anyone since the guidelines became effective?
Yes. August 27, 2010, the FTC settled a case with a PR Firm that was posting fake reviews on the Internet.

Who Do FTC Guidelines Apply To?

Any company or organization that is reaching out to specific WOM agents with sponsored trips and free products. The compensated relationship must be disclosed.

• Do the FTC Guidelines apply to those that attend hosted buyer shows and share their experience in social media? Yes! 
• Do the FTC Guidelines apply to those on FAM trips that share or post about the experience?  Yes! 
• Do the FTC Guidelines apply to bloggers who get free or discounted registration in exchange for writing about the event?  Yes! 
• Do the FTC Guidelines apply to events that offer affiliate marketing? Yes! 
• Do the FTC Guidelines apply to those that receive free books or apps to review? Yes! 
• Do you have to disclose in tweets when writing about a sponsored event or travel? Yes!
  According to Mary Engle, FTC’s associate director-advertising practices, “You have to disclose that the trip was compensated or the product was free in tweets containing the endorsement of the sponsor/advertiser. When you are tweeting about something unrelated to the sponsor — for example,  your experience at a local museum or farmers’ market, there’s no need to disclose because you are not endorsing the sponsor.”This means if you receive any type of compensation to tweet from a conference about that conference experience, you need to disclose the relationship. 
• Are mainstream magazine travel and event journalists held to the same standard as other WOM, new media, print, radio and TV writers? Sort of but in most cases no. Why not?
  As Susan Getgood states:
  The brief version is that it’s about the consumer reading the item, not the person writing it. If the consumer would understand that the endorsement was compensated – in the case of a journalist, by his salary and probably the subsidy of his paper for the trip, no further disclosure is required.
• Is there more I should know about the FTC Guidelines, social media, events and the hospitality industry? Yes. Look for more in upcoming posts.

Lessons Learned From Ann Taylor Loft Event

The lessons for companies and organizations:
Keep WOM outreach programs simple, easy to understand and include direction about disclosure. Provide guidance and training to your WOM agents. Make sure employees responsible for WOM programs know the FTC guidelines too.

The lessons for WOM agents:
Think twice about using your social media and WOM influence for organizations that do not inform you about the need to disclose. If you are not getting the information or support you need, push back and don’t do it. Read agreements carefully, especially those published as expectations, even if you don’t sign something. If you apply to be a WOM agent based on a written document in exchange for some type of compensation, there is an implied acceptance of their expectations. Do you really want to get entangled in a lawsuit where an organization tries to push their liability on you?

And what happened to the organizers of the Ann Taylor Loft event?
The FTC did not pursue a lawsuit. Ann Taylor subsequently adopted a written policy for blogger outreach. Perhaps your organization should too.

What other implications do you see with the FTC Guidelines, events and the hospitality industry? What questions does this raise in your mind?

Image by szczel

Here is the heart of why most people attend conferences: learning.

Learning about others. Learning new ideas through collaboration and problem solving. Learning what has worked. Learning solutions to our problems. Learning current trends and research to further our careers.

Learning is the heartbeat of today’s world. Stop learning and you stop progression, and business is dead in its tracks. Stop learning and you become stagnant like a cesspool.

Learning is also the pulse in business: doing it better, faster, cheaper and disrupting the old ways to find new business. It is the drumbeat for entrepreneurship and growth.

According to ASAE’s research for The Decision To Learn, people rate professional development and education, second only to access to up-to-date information, as the most important role the association plays in their industry profession. Learning is what drives people to join an association.

What Drives Adults To Learn?

According to The Decision To Learn, the driving extrinsic motivation for adults to learn is to increase their job status which then increases their income and social standing in their chosen profession. Knowing the latest research and how to apply it opens up new opportunities for career advancement. Learning is important to a better life.

The driving intrinsic motivation for adults to learn is a general sense of accomplishment. In order to feed their personal passions about subjects that they have limited knowledge or experience, adults want solutions to their real-world problems and issues. And they want those solutions provided in provocative learning formats, not the standard boring talking heads.

Unfortunately, sometimes conference programming gets in the way of learning. Poor content, bad speakers, outdated information, lack of engagement can all be barriers to learning.

The 21st Century Conference Attendee Bill Of Rights

We invest money, time and energy to attend conferences. We arrive with a set of specific expectations. Since learning is the driving force behind conference attendance, and our extrinsic motivation is to move up the employment ladder to a better life, we expect the best from our conference experience. Here is the new 21st Century Conference Attendee Bill Of Rights to embrace learning and meet our expectations.  

1.  The Right To A Social Learning Experience

Learning is social. Learning is about more than the process of acquiring knowledge. It requires that adults get the chance to reflect, think and discuss new facts, figures and pragmatic applications. Requiring adults to sit in education sessions for three- to six-hours a day and only listen to talking heads lessens the social experience and learning.

2. The Right To Choose Freely

We have a right to free choice among conference learning opportunities. We prefer a variety of options of topics and speakers. If the scheduled education content does not fit our needs, we have a right to choose to talk with others in the hallways instead of attending the sessions.

3. The Right To Participation And Engagement

The depth of our learning depends on the depth of our engagement. Information dumps pass through one ear and out the other as our brains can’t retain it. Engagement is joined at the hip with empowerment. Force us to sit passively for six- to eight-hours and we lose our ability to learn and feel a lack of empowerment.

4. The Right To Be Problem-Centric Instead Of Content-Oriented

We come to conferences with a set of real-world problems and issues we need solved right now. We don’t want content and information that might be needed in the next six months. We have pressing issues now. Planning and securing conference topics eight to twelve months before the conference helps you be efficient for planning but does not suffice. That ensures that the content is outdated and has expired, unless its evergreen information that is the same from year to year.

5. The Right To Decide How To Learn It

We have a right to decide if we want to sit passively and listen to a talking head, engage in round table discussions or participate in informal learning by talking to others in hallways and lounges. Give us options, sometimes even about the same topic but provided in different learning formats.

6. The Right To Take Our Own Learning Into Our Own Hands

If we are not learning through the conference programming, we will take learning back into our own hands. We no longer feel that we must sit quietly out of respect for your choice of poor speakers or content. We paid to be there. We will not let poorly delivered content, bad information or sour speakers hijack our learning. Our learning is too important. We will leave the room if it does not meet our needs.

7. The Right To Embrace The Law Of Two Feet (Also Known As The Law Of Motion)

We have a right to exit education opportunities that don’t meet our needs. We have a right to seek learning elsewhere. The mass exodus from the room is a clear sign to the speaker that they something missed the mark.

When we purchase a ticket to a movie or play, and it is poorly done, we leave early. If the sports game is going south and our team is being creamed, we leave early. If the restaurant food is bad, we complain to the manager and if they don’t fix the problem, we leave. We are consuming your conference experience and if it doesn’t meet our learning needs, we will leave…and may not return next year.

8. The Right To Exciting Content And Speakers

Our brains are hard-wired to not pay attention to boring things. We can’t change that. We have a right to expect that you are providing stimulating content from electrifying speakers.

What other attendee rights would you add to this list? Which right resonates with you most and why?

Image by EddieB55

Just like highway accidents. You know you shouldn’t but you do it anyway. You are drawn to slow down, look and watch.

Highways have Looky-Loos and most conferences have rubberneckers. Those attendees that watch others’ misfortune unveil and then play them over and over in slow motion as they discuss them with colleagues…

Except for one glaring difference…

Conference rubberneckers invest money in registration fees, travel, lodging, expenses, time and energy to attend. These paying customers go to learn, network and do business. More than spectators in a bad experience, they are players in the misfortune conference game. And they have every right to gawk and discuss negative experiences, especially when it harms their personal experience.

14 Conference Planning Afflictions To Avoid And Keep Looky-Loos At Bay.

1. Conferencably Late

(pronounced kon-fer-ens-a-bul-lee lat)

Not to be confused with fashionably late where the elitist and famous arrive belatedly to the party. Mass entrance of conference attendees 10-, 15- and even up to 30-minutes after the general session has officially begun as attendees know how predictable and boring the initial self-promo and political offerings will be. Antonym massodus. 

2. Double Dippin’ Conference Style

(pronounced dub-el dip-n kon-fer-ens stahyl)

When conference organizers charge attendees a registration fee and charge sponsors a fee to showcase their speakers or messages. It also applies when attendees pay to attend and also are required to pay to consume archived content.The conference organizers are making money from both stakeholders for the same experience. Not to be confused with “Double Dippin’ Doggie-Style” when organization leaders showcase their bad pet tricks on stage as talking heads. See pimpntants for more information.

3. DVRavenings

(pronounced D-V-ra-v-an-ings; also known as TiVoNow)

What most conference attendees experience when they want to fast forward a conference general session past the self-promotion, political fluff, sponsor videos and talking heads.

Gensesvy: Conference Napoleon Syndrome Image by @heylovedc

4. Gensesvy

(pronounced gen-ses’-vee; origin General Session Envy; also known as Megachurch Syndrome)

Envy of large conference, shows and megachurches that are able to plan and produce huge general sessions that motivate, inspire and move thousands of people at once and have everyone talking in the hallways.

Note: Those that produce large general sessions could take some points from the “Big Box Churches” often called Disney Churches or Six Flags Over Faith. These megachurches use a seeker-friendly approach, intensive market research, heavy reliance upon opinion polls, polished advertising, unconventional styles and current trendy influences. Their worship service design is not left to political infighting of staff and board members.

5. Homosessuals

(pronounced ho-mo-sess-shoo-els)

What most conference organizers plan for each year – people who want the identical conference content and experience and attend homogeneous education sessions year after year.

6. Listenrance

(pronounced lis’-uhn-rans)

Simlar to the drug-induced trance that many ravers experience. When conference attendees are lured to purchase registration fees in exchange for an onsite dream-like stupor by listening to talking heads at all education sessions. Often conference attendees are sold snake-oil that listening or auditory-learning is their preferred learning style and that’s why this conference model works best.

Mass exit image by - EMR -

7. Massodus

(pronounced mass-o’-dus)

Mass exodus of attendees from general sessions before they are officially finished. Often occurs within the first twenty to thirty minutes because of poor quality, content and speakers.

8. Minimalessence

(pronounced min-ei-mal-es-ens)

Mindset to keep all venue public spaces absent of seating and informal networking areas. It is based on the belief that large open lobbies and pre-convene areas look better if great herds can move through them several times a day. (Haven’t we learned anything yet from Southwest’s cattle herding for flights? They still provide informal seating areas clumped together!)

9. Pageantical

(pronounced paj-ent-i-kel)

The misbelief that all conference attendees want to sit through, and enjoy, the pageantry and politics of seeing every organization’s award winner walk the stage, make a brief Academy Award acceptance speech, receive their award and stand for pictures. Unless the attendee personally knows the award recipient, it is meaningless and boring. Same applies to industry certification recipients parading across the stage one by one! There are better ways to provide both recipients their 15-minutes of fame and the attendees a great experience. Both groups deserve the best.

10. Panelroid

(pronounced pan-el-roid)

Amping-up education sessions with not just one talking head, but two, three, four, five and heaven forbid, six talking head panelists because of the belief it will multiply the attendees’ experience. This should be illegal!

New Pimpntant Conference Attire so others know you've been pimped! Image by _nash.

11. Pimpntants

(pronounced pimp-n-tants’)

Registered and paying attendees who are pimped by the organization for the highest paying sponsors in exchange for broadcasting messages and/or serving their own speakers. Often occurs when large associations pimp general session speakers at the expense of an attendees’ experience.

12. Stagedium

(pronounced staj-de-em)

Paying large fees to livestream content from conference sessions and limiting speakers to a 4′ x 8′ stage complete with oversized lighting. TV talk shows and televangelists learned a long time ago how to film a speaker or host going into the audience without overbearing lights. This is not rocket science.

13. Vertitendee

(pronounced  verti’-ten-dee)

Fear of giving attendees, the customers, too much say in how the conference is designed because a lack and loss of control will cause conference vertigo.

14. Yappeteasers

(pronounced yap-e-te-srs)

Free bar snack consumed by young professionals to hold them over until the next sponsored meal. Frequent cause of conference indigestion.

 What conference planning afflictions would you add to the list?

In the spirit of ASAE 2010 Annual Meeting marketing campaign, “Re-tain, Re-Connect, Re-Convene, etc.” here are my three Rs, of this year’s conference.

Three Things So Re-warding

Image by PRINCESS THEATER - Raising the Curtain

1. Re-lationships

The people, the people, the people! Ultimately, this conference is all about those that attend, participate and get involved. I don’t know of another national or international conference where such high quality, likeminded association individuals gather to share successes, commiserate, ponder the future and exchange war stories.

For me, it was a chance to meet face-to-face some of the association professionals that I met over the past 18 months. It reminded me of a family reunion where relatives have not seen each other in years. We picked right up where our last digital conversations ended and never missed a beat.

Some of the bloggers and Twitterati from the live ASAE10 SweetSpot Broadcast. Thanks Kiki for the image!

And I can’t talk about the people and relationships without talking about the ASAE staff. There are some amazing people that work for ASAE and they take some hard hits from some of us vocal bloggers. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet these people one-on-one and tell them how much I appreciate their hard work.

2. Re-velry

ASAE sponsors know how to throw festive receptions and parties. Make no mistake, they are top-notch, often over-the-top, fun-filled celebrations. From the opening reception at LA Live! with Melissa Etheridge to the YAP Party to the closing party with Cyndi Lauper, ASAE and its sponsors know how to plan some extraordinary celebrations.

3. Re-engage

ASAE offers a plethora of opportunities for people to engage in furthering the industry, the profession and their personal lives. From serving on councils and task forces to connecting with exhibitors to growing professionally to giving back to the community during the conference, the chance to connect and re-engage at various levels of commitment is amazing. Yes, affecting positive change is sometimes like changing the course of the Titanic, it takes time and patience. Yet, it is worth our investment.

Three Things So In Need Of Re-Thinking

Image by TransformGrace

1. Re-vise General Sessions

The ASAE general sessions were some of the worst I’ve ever seen or attended in my life. Boring, dreary, monotonous, predictable and unimpressive. Some will disagree with me and say they were good or ok. I say that if you’ve always experienced coal, you don’t know you can have diamonds.

When many know not to show up for the first thirty-minutes of a general session because it will be stacked with self-promotions, there is a problem. If 80%-90% of the general session audience was not wowed, they were failures in my opinion. Lukewarm, mediocre general sessions don’t cut it today. We don’t invest our time, money and energy to attend average education and general sessions. We want and expect the best.

As a meeting professional that has planned general sessions and luncheons for conferences of a variety of sizes from 200 to 25,000 folks, I expect more. Where was the opening general session with energy and excitement that got the crowd pumped for being involved in our noble professions? Where was the closing session to get us ready to return to our association board rooms with renewed vision, revitalization and ideas? Where was the relevant and bleeding edge information about where associations are going? Where were the association leaders thanking us for our countless hours of offering hope to our members?

 It appears that ASAE can’t plan decent general sessions. They should probably give those general sessions to others to plan like they do their receptions and parties. They would be a lot better for sure. And, they should NOT take just any general session speaker that a bureau is willing to provide for free as a sponsorship! There is way too much at risk. The opening general session sets the tone, drumbeat and rhythm for the entire conference. The closing general session sets the course for the remainder of the year until we meet again. Both sessions failed and left people shaking their heads in disappointment.

2. Re-Visit The Current Education Evaluation Process

You improve what you measure. If ASAE really wants to improve the association conference experience for its paid registrants, then they must start driving the process differently with a more detailed evaluation. They must ask better and more questions than just a three-question smile sheet.

Here’s what they ask about each education and general session:

How do the results from these three questions let ASAE know what they need to do to improve? How do these three questions provide ASAE with adequate information to make informed decisions for next year’s conference?

When I was in charge of conference education and general sessions for a large association, my salary, raises and any bonuses were directly related to the overall average of all the speakers I secured. I would secure between 250-350 speakers a year. Think about the pressure on me to ensure that my attendees heard outstanding speakers that blew them away. If I didn’t provide it, my paycheck, or lack thereof, showed it! Perhaps ASAE should think about this strategy for whoever picks the general session and education session speakers.

To improve the quality of education sessions, we started by setting an 80% overall average based on 8 criteria and three open ended questions for every speaker. We let every speaker know our goal. We invested in presenter training for our industry speakers. We wrote financial incentives into our professional speaker contracts. We coached our speakers. We published all speaker ratings on the association website. And at the end of year one, we moved the bar up for the next year to an 85% overall average speaker rating. We continued each year until we reached an overall 95% overall average speaker rating. It worked and it worked well. It’s time for ASAE to raise the bar and think about something similar to this for their education programming.

One page of the detailed compiled evaluation report that we gave each of our speakers from their sessions.

3. Re-lentless Re-quests For More Money

I bet you are like me. I can’t wait to renew my association membership each year because I know it will lead to a lot more opportunities for…wait for it…wait for it…more emails, snail mail, phone calls and stage pitches to give the association more money. Every year when I punch my credit card numbers into the membership renewal form my heart races with excitement for all the new products, services and donation requests I’m going to receive. That’s what it is all about, right? NOT!

Like bad spam from Nigeria, the conference requests to donate to the ASAE Education Foundation just kept coming and coming. As did the requests to buy ASAE’s products, services and books. It all started in the Saturday volunteer luncheon and continued every time ASAE got a crowd together.

And then, as if that was not enough, John Graham makes a major faux pas talking about money and compensation during a general session? It was in such poor taste and inappropriate. I’m surprised we didn’t have a 1990s faith preacher come on stage, make a holy pitch for money and take up an offering! Actually, that might have added some levity to the situation…don’t you think? Throw in a top-notch gospel choir to walk down the aisles with offering baskets and we just might have…I digress.

Two Bonus Items To Re-Examine

Image by arnybo

1. Re-Vert To Wireless Lavaliere Microphones In Education Sessions

As a speaker at this year’s conference, I was surprised that ASAE used wired lavalieres and wired handheld microphones. In today’s AV world, there are plenty of providers that can provide wireless lavs and handhelds to create the ultimate education session. Tethering ASAE’s speakers to the front of the room reduces the attendee engagement level and the speaker’s ability to interact with people. Come on ASAE! If it was due to costs, get a different provider that charges the same for wired or wireless. If the AV provider didn’t have enough wireless lavs, don’t use them! This is basic 101 meeting planning stuff. Get it right.

2. Re-Assess The Time John Graham Spends On Stage

I don’t know why associations think that an Executive Directors, Presidents or CEOs make good presenters and speakers. Most don’t. And they don’t deserve to be on stage because of their title at the expense of the attendee’s experience. Which is more important? Their stage time or the paying attendee’s experience? If attendees were allowed to evaluate them like they do other speakers, organizations would see the hard data.

John Graham should seriously consider hiring a professional coach to help his stage presence come across as more sincere, authentic and engaging. As I said on another blog about this, the message received, is the message sent. And the message received about Graham was not positive. Time to invest in a coach.

What Rs or “Re-” would you add to the list? Because of my first three R’s, ASAE 2011 in St. Louis can’t come soon enough!