we recently put on a conference here at work, with a keynote speaker, about 8 different speakers, and catered lunch and breakfast. we gave out water bottles, cd with pdfs of slides, folder with flyers and writing paper.

tomorrow we are having a meeting to discuss what went well and what we could do better.

anyone been to a conference (or held one) that went exceptionally well and why?

7/8/2008 4:51:15 PM

off the top of my head...

-more involvement from the audience
-making sure that everyone thinks it's a relaxed atmosphere (even if it's not). just about every business these days is moving far away from the authoritarian atmosphere.
-include speeches, reviews, and suggestions from the "higher ups"
your boss's bosses should make appearances to 1) highlight what everyone is doing well, 2) acknowledge senior members that have put in a lot of work, and 3) let people know about future plans
-cookies


that being said, it would help if we knew what company (or what type of industry) you work

7/8/2008 4:57:07 PM

conferences are gay

I've had to speak at like 4 (we call them symposiums) and its always the same ole shit

I always get a little liquored up beforehand...not enough to slur my words, but enough that you could tell

Worst is when motherfuckers ask questions...I just wanna talk and then ghost outta there

At Temple back in March this one girl ask about 15 different questions till I just wanted to kick her in right in mouth

7/8/2008 4:57:31 PM

i got to several conferences and national sales meetings a year.

the ones that go the best are the ones that keep everyone engaged and not bored out of their mind.
another reason that some of these i have been to are very successful is b/c there are several speakers, sessions or activities happening at once

freebies are also good...anything schwag thats fun and useable is a plus

a great location with character, atmosphere and nice surrounding area helps

7/8/2008 4:58:27 PM

aha, I was wondering how I got transported to The Lounge. Glad I didn't give a bullshit response

7/8/2008 4:59:49 PM

gunzz fyi

schwag is cheap weed

swag (stuff we all get) is what you're thinking of

7/8/2008 5:00:05 PM

not to get into a pissing match but it can be spelled either way
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=gmail&q=free%20schwag

7/8/2008 5:03:21 PM

I stand corrected

7/8/2008 5:05:33 PM

beast ftw...fuck that gay ass overpriced headies shit

7/8/2008 5:10:50 PM

why are we rating ganja in this thread??


basically, promote a friendly atmoshphere, as well as group and audience discussion/feedback.
swag as budget allows, preferabled geared towards fun.

i was also going to suggest breaks with smaller group with specific topics.

i work in ergonomics, we just held a second conference for safe patient handling (lifts) with ~100 people.

7/9/2008 12:04:10 AM

I am currently having to coordinate 2 conferences. I fucking hate coordinating conferences

That said, avoid powerpoint unless absolutely necessary. Every time we have a keynote speaker come and do a powerpoint presentation it's "blah blah blah exactly what's on my slide blah blah blah lemme see if I can make my voice even more monotone blah blah blah." Only once have I been to conference where the speaker effectively used powerpoint.

7/9/2008 6:28:53 AM