Some simple ideas on how to redesign the conference experience

Yesterday I got caught up in (or to be more accurate, butted my way into) a Twitter conversation that Sam Burrough was engaged in that was part of the great work he’s involved in around ‘rethinking/redesigning’ the conference experience.

Part of that exchange involved this tweet

@burrough @kategraham23 @craigtaylor happy to hear any ideas you have that will make #learninglive even better

— LPI (@YourLPI) April 13, 2013

I had a think about it overnight and have come up with these ideas

@yourlpi Allow speakers to add multimedia to website session content pages (or have you do it for them)

— Craig Taylor (@CraigTaylor74) April 14, 2013

I’ve spoken at quite a few conferences/workshops etc over the past couple of years and always strive to produce ‘something’ (blog post, podcast, video etc) for the attendees to access prior to the actual session itself to help them prepare, add context and ultimately help them get the most out of their investment in the session. Unfortunately the majority of organisers don’t allow that sort of material to be included in the official conference webpage – I know, I’ve asked! Instead they suggest that I market the material via Social Media (d’uh, hadn’t thought of that!), of course there are several short falls to this approach, some of which are:

Not everybody follows me via Social MediaNot everybody uses Social MediaNot everybody will be aware of hashtags

For me the almost guaranteed place that you will find attendees will be on the conference website and in particular on the session overview pages. So come on conference organisers, don’t hinder those speakers who have gone the extra mile – let them include a ‘link out’ in their session overview, maybe even an embedded video?

@yourlpi Create a *decent* conference app (see #Devlearn app for example) — Craig Taylor (@CraigTaylor74) April 14, 2013

I’ve been to many conferences that had a conference app. I’ve only been to one that had a good conference app and that was Devlearn. If you’re planning on having a conference app for your next event, pleeeeeeeease make it a decent one!

@yourlpi Record each session (or audio as a minimum to allow speakers to sync it with their slides)

— Craig Taylor (@CraigTaylor74) April 14, 2013

I’ve never researched this, but I’d be happy to concede that a full-on video recording/slide sync recording is an expensive matter, particularly if you’ve got a lot of sessions taking place, however in this age of affordable HD video recorders, tripods and editing software why not set up some DIY recording of each session? An even simpler option might be to record the audio of each session and then ask the facilitators to sync it with their slides (Hey, if they want to speak at your conference make them work for it!). Here’s one I prepared earlier (won’t work on an iPad/phone)

@yourlpi Conduct 15 min Adobe Connect sessions with each speaker to allow them to pitch their sessions ‘ in advance’. Help ppl make decision

— Craig Taylor (@CraigTaylor74) April 14, 2013

Let’s be honest, when your conference attendees have a number of concurrent sessions to select from, other than previous experience/recommendations of the facilitator, all they’ve got to go in is the session overview on the conference website. Why not invite each speaker (and potential attendees) to participate in a 10 minute online session in which they pitch their session and take part in a Q&A. It may also give the potential attendees an insight into the presentation skills of the speaker (AKA are they going to rattle off a load of bullet points at me?)

@yourlpi Run an online session a wk or 2 *after* the event to provide a reflective Q&A session for attendees.

— Craig Taylor (@CraigTaylor74) April 14, 2013

If you decide to conduct a ‘pre’ conference online session, why not go the whole-hog and think about a ‘post’ conference session. This could be a 15-30 minute session in which session attendees (I think ‘only’ session attendees) could follow up with any reflective questions and share any experiences that they have had in relation to trying to implement the speakers subject (if applicable). I’m sure this would help to break down the perception of the conference/workshop being a stand-alone event.

I’m sure that Sam and the rest of the guys ‘n’ gals that have been thinking about redesigning the conference experience will have tonnes more ideas, so make sure you keep your eyes peeled on their blog as I know that Sam is about to produce a write up on their thoughts.

Do you attend conferences/workshops?

How would you change things to maximise the experience?

Do you plan/host conferences/workshops?

Have you tried implementing any of the ideas above?

Did they work?

What have you tried in the past (regardless of whether it worked or not)?

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