A hybrid fairy tale

Once upon a time there were two neighboring countries called “Outside” and “Inside”. The border was marked by big gates and fancy welcome signs, but appeared to be the most quiet on earth. For no one living in Outside seemed interested to visit Inside, and Insiders were never seen on the streets….let alone near the border.

King Content was ruling Inside with a college of  writers , his subjects happy to exchange thoughts online and in blogs. On the other side Queen Experia and her court-engagers ruled the Outside, with lots of people in the squares engaging in conversations and laughter.

A happy lot on each side, but safe to say that tourism rates were slow. Really slow.

Years went by and even though the countries were aware of their neighboring state, the borders remained the loneliest place on earth.

That is…until one fall afternoon. It just so happened that the Outside was having its annual conference near the border, and only a brick wall separated  Outside from Inside. Spirits were high and people were busy visiting sessions and keynotes, listening and talking, enjoying networking sessions in the sun with lots of food and entertainment. ( Just too bad that the sessions were not recorded.)

The joy of meeting people was so great that the mere sound of the conference drew lots of on-site registrations. In fact one of the conference rooms was so full that its breakout session literally turned into a break out: the wall of the room, which was situated on the border, broke down.

With a huge turmoil the bricks collapsed and revealed a small room, where one person was happily tapping on his keyboard and looking at his screen.  He was in tweeting  with lots of Inside people because they, too, were having their annual online conference, with chats  and webinars connecting  lots of people.

And then? Magic happened! An Outsider almost fell on the Insider and before they knew what happened, they  shook hands. The touch of that handshake was so powerful that the Insider tweeted about it…instantly reaching all Inside delegates. And also reaching the Outside delegate, who looked in awe at the online discussion as it developed. He immediately searched for his smartphone  and joined in the conversation.  And they were not alone… in the moments that followed, both Inside and Outside people gathered at the border, engaging in face to face conversations and online talks with the people that stayed in their homes.

For the first time both countries truly connected, and in the days that followed both the physical border and online communities were really busy; all wanted to learn about their neighbor. They  decided to merge their conferences, and when the face to face event was joined with year-round online content, it grew to be one of the best events in the world. With the best of both worlds, really.

Oh and yes,  the King and Queen got in touch as well and hey, since this is a fairytale, who knows where that story will lead to…  

Old things, new eyes

This summer I have been writing my trends report on meetings and events for the time to come. All about new and exciting things and a change of an era, but also about a mix of generations and the keeping of good and valuable things. Because it is surprising how old favorites shine in a new light when put in a different context.  A spoken word, a touch, a room. New connections.

This weekend I have been helping my parents clear part of the interior of a holiday house they have used for 40 years. They are in a fortunate position; the buyer of the house is happy to use most things in it, and all they have to do is select the items they want to keep and take them home. The things that are staying will see a new use, new eyes, new ideas, and will be joined by other stuff.

See where I am going with this? Indeed, a small step from interior decoration to meeting design J .

I like that idea, the combination of old and new things that make up a household. Or a conference. Or a tradeshow. A mix that shows a personal signature, ultimately unique. Never brand new all at once and never static, always with the main objective of its users in mind.

Adding furniture, changing color, re-using rooms. And occasionally a new roof or a new owner. Stuff that one generation throws out, is the cherished antique of another. The mix of it all makes it interesting! Plus a fresh pair of eyes.

So are there any things from that old house coming home with me? Sure. Meet my new pepper and salt buddies: from kitchen cupboard to conversation piece….I bet THEY would work wonders during a conference networking break !

(meeting) ( architecture ) inspiration

Recently  two museums caught my eye and reinforced the vision that to really innovate and improve meetings and events we need to look outside our own profession. How are other venues engaging with their visitors, their audience? What are they telling them, how are they making their stay a pleasure?  

First there was the intriguing Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, which shows art from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas.  Although an interesting collection, it was the building itself that spoke to me most. With a large green vertical garden enriching the exterior and a garden with great variety of plants and  noises leading into the entrance, it made a perfect harmony of inside/outside (not to mention that it really is a “green” building). What an experience, just walking to the entrance.

Inside we were “greeted” by a permanent installation called “The River”, words flowing down a pathway, making you want to explore its source. It brings you to the permanent collection that lies on the same pathway, with larger and smaller exhibits on each side, eventually bringing you back to “The River” on your way out.  

Lessons: connecting inside/outside, flow, engagement, a double “wow” in the entrance (and exit), visible sustainability. This museum would make a great model for a meeting layout. Just think about it. I know I am!

The second was the great building of MAS in Antwerp, Museum aan de Stroom (which means it is situated at the river). It has 10 floors, the top one being an observation deck that is open to everyone: you don’t have to buy a ticket to get a great view. Every floor tells a story about the city and its inhabitants and shows a new view of the city itself through huge windows, as you go up floor after floor.

The exhibitions on each floor have the same pattern: a small entrance room with a unique experience (no, I am not telling what they are!) brings you into the actual collection, with  more detail on your mobile phone if you want to. On your way out there is an invitation to participate in an activity connecting you to the story. It brings an element of surprise and familiarity at the same time, and gives a great topic for your conversation as you go to the next floor. 

One floor has its collection open to all visitors: it houses the public depots and gives the non-paying visitors and idea of what the museum is all about. Sharing a bit of the history of the city and its collections with everyone, and probably convincing some to go and see the rest of the collection after all.

Lessons: connecting inside/outside, engagement, interaction, wow factor, use of tech, segmentation, ease, rest, sharing. How would this translate to a tradeshow? Just think about it. I know I am!

Main lesson learned? Go visit a (new) museum. Anywhere. It will teach you.

I am eager  to see what our Amsterdam Rijksmuseum will be like when they re-open in spring next year. I’ve seen images of a small plane on the top floor, and a very crisp new logo – can’t wait!

A day in the life……

Making a case for role-rotation. An all-day role rotation. On every platform.

For better hybrid events.

We all heard about job rotation. In a company, people from cleaning and sales, procurement and security, catering and traffic – you name it - change responsibilities for a day and get a better understanding of the challenges, perks, needs and gains of  a certain role within an organization.

How would this translate to events? Given the fact that we have organizers AND delegates in the same “company”? And, to make it even more challenging: given the fact that we have participants online?

I know that organizers participate in events as delegates and that delegates can be caterers in their day-to-day job – but that is not what I mean. I mean a deliberate change of roles for a day. For a specific new stakeholder group: the hybrid event organizers. 

Do we really know how a virtual delegate spends its “event day”? 

The thing is: we don’t see them at the event. So how can we “get” their involvement? I think that there is still a gap we need to close.

How can we close it? By stepping in the shoes of our virtual attendees. Totally. Change places. Learn about their knowledge of programs and tech. Their workload and anticipation. Their knowledge and expectations about virtual events…and invite them to step into our shoes.

So if you would participate virtually instead of organize.. realistically? Take it from someone who’s been there:

- you are working partly during the event and missing some sessions

- you often do not know beforehand which platform you will be required to have

- you will miss the first moments because of tech hick-ups – yours.

- you will not know beforehand which gaming aspect is used and what you need to do for it. ( Let alone how much time you are required to spend on it)

- you will not know beforehand who else is participating and how to get to know them

Would that change your perspective?  Working away and stopping to dowload programs, finding a way to follow a schedule that requires an all day involvement in between meetings and lunch?  Would it make you design "light" hybrids?  

I'd love to hear....

The ROI of 5000 tweets

Once in a while I need a momentum to reflect on time spent, and to see if it was time spent well.

So there it is: almost 5000 tweets, not much for some, a lot for others.

How did I do on spending my time? And why did I start tweeting in the first place? Have to say, that ROI was not top of mind at first. Experimenting and learning was…

I started in the second half of 2009 wanting to find out if there were any conference and exhibition people out there, people I might know. Had no idea what to expect. Well, there were not many in the Netherlands but as soon as I found out how to search and navigate and who to follow things went their own way.

Investment:

Only time, but lots of it. There is no way I can say that it only took minutes. Evenings spent reading, looking at hashtags, following conversations, looking up links and searching for old and new friends. I did not document the spent time that well but at least an hour every single day might be right. Maybe more. And much more, if you count the time reading blogs and links.

Return:

A network of great people around the globe that are working in the events industry, sharing their ideas and views, giving an insight into their worlds and bringing up topics that are worth discussing in tweetchats or blogs. A world of knowledge that unfolds and presents itself, only if you are willing to participate. Communicate. And share as well.

Learning of events related initiatives, new events, organizers, networks, research, reports, all the trends in the meetings industry on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes by just asking. Often in a tweetchat.

New friends and a better understanding of old ones, finding it easier to start conversations with complete strangers.

Re-connecting in other networks by linking my tweets

The phrase “just do it” for a non sportsperson finally making sense: the start of this blog, encouraged by @jenisefryatt, and the start of a tweetchat for #euventprofs. The results are not always encouraging (last chats were pretty low on people) but the fact that you can just start something and see where it goes was a great revelation. Know what you want and see if it works. Just do it, dare to fail. And that is a pretty big lesson.

So was it worth it?   Personally? Oh yes. Professionally? Oh yes. Ready for my next 5000!

Show and tell –a junior conference?

guess what David´s talk was about...

To start with: in The Netherlands there is no such thing as “show and tell” that American schools have; we are not taught to speak in public. So when we do, it is a big occasion. It is a once- in –a-year kind of thing.

The past few weeks all children in my son’s class (he is 11) we assigned a “spreekbeurt”, a Dutch word that literally means a “turn to speak”.

The rules for this class assignment were simple: talk in front of the class for 15 minutes, chose a subject that is a bit more complicated that “my cat”, have five research questions that include some history of the subject,  make a visual presentation in Powerpoint, and use your own words,  preferably refraining from written notecards (as we Dutch would call, spiekbriefjes).

I could not shake the idea that for them it was comparable to speaking at a conference.  Being a bit anxious,  checking your facts over and over again, trying out  several versions of your Powerpoint (best stay safe, there might not be a good connection for a Prezi). And then, at last, standing in front of your peers, connecting with them.

The funny thing is, as my son returned from school with his remarks about the presentations, he sounded like the content of some of the conference blogs I read:

Do not read your Powerpoint sentence by sentence: it kills your story. And try to use as little text as possible.

If you are not teaching your peers anything new,  you are merely filling time. Be critical.

No matter how nervous you are, own your story and tell it form the heart: authenticity works and your passion will shine through.

Do not stand still. Move around and engage all of your audience by asking questions during your talk; do not forget the people in the back of the room.

Have humor, make a joke, wake up tour audience every five minutes or so: their attention span is not that big and they will remember that they laughed.

It’s all about experience: If you talk about ”911” and you know an ambulance driver, let him drive it to the school and show the real thing.

Engage your audience: share your story, don’t just tell it. Encourage questions and ask them.

Give a speaker immediate feedback and share it with the group : learning points are not just  for the speaker.

Nice tips, thank you class 7b! Sounds like good advice for me, too. I wish I could be more often in this classroom, I would probably  pick up some great tips for my day-to-day work routine as well. I wonder what we would learn if we could let them stage  a trade show J

Electric dreams

We’ll always be together, however far it seems. We’ll always be together, together in electric dreams.  –   

This oldie keeps creeping into my mind lately.  Maybe a sign that I have been attending too many hybrid events as a virtual attendee? (or a sign that I have a longing for 80’s songs, plus the tons of make-up and big plastic earrings that went with them)

Actually it is wishful thinking. Even though organizers are making a lot of effort to include virtual attendees in a face to face event, we are still lacking in contact. We are not together.

2 things that I might help:

Better timing: Give us enough time to plan and prepare. Often a virtual ticket is offered at the last moment.  As an afterthought or on purpose?  I understand that you want people in real life in the real conference room, but when a virtual ticket is presented a few days  before the event, I cannot plan a day for it. Least of all connect with other (real live) attendees before the event.  It leaves me with only bits of content and a few new tweeps to follow,  and you with a lack of ROI –we both lose.

More tools: give us the chance to network, let us connect through Hangouts or Skype .… I would love to see a Hangout Corner at an event, where the f2f delegates can get to meet the virtual ones. Surely we could try something here? Add to all your learning lounges?

Just imagine: an event where ALL  delegates are visually present in the room. Looking at each other, and knowing that they are part of the same audience. No more awkward pauses after the speaker asks : “any questions from the virtual audience?” …not knowing if they are present at all.

As a virtual attendee I know how to be engaged . Now I need to be seen.  For now, it is an electric dream.