Meeting Planning Innovation

Donna Kastner brings a wealth of event planning, instructional design, and business development talent to the Cvent blog writers bench. Serving as Director, Education & Engagement at Velvet Chainsaw Consulting, she's helping event organizers to enhance the conference event experience, boosting learning AND networking outcomes in a big way.

Prior to joining Velvet Chainsaw Consulting, Donna led a sales & management training practice (Enlighten 123). Before that, she served as Director, Learning & Development at Experient. A native New Yorker, Donna now happily calls Cleveland, Ohio, home.

Innovator? Yep, she's also founder of Retirepreneur, a community where Boomers can explore if/how they might launch a part-time business as a perfect segue to retirement.

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Cvent or any other organization or individual.

Have you ever studied the cycle of emotions that transpire at a conference event?

No two events are alike and there are a variety of emotions running across the audience at any given time. That said, next time you're in a position to watch an event unfold as a spectator, pay attention to emotions and non-verbal cues. You'll see an interesting sequence going on among the masses.

Perhaps something like this:

Anticipation, Awe, Deep Thinking, Laughter, High Energy, Low Energy (Where's the Red...

Community Builder. Connections Broker. Wisdom Accelerator. Business Results Driver.

Those are the hats you wear that matter most.  

Event Planner? Where does that fit in?

Events are critical milestones in the mix, but be careful not to let the tail wag the dog. Events are the vehicle for delivering on all the promises mentioned above.

Defining yourself solely by events is a slippery slope.

Think about it. Do bestselling authors call themselves Paper Pushers? Marker Maestros? Keyboard Specialists? Of...

1. The conference "chores" checklist would be hand-written and posted on the fridge.
    
2. We'd say Grace before every meal.
    
3. She'd insist that everyone eat a good breakfast every morning - no exceptions. (In fact, if some attendees were missing in action, she'd call their guest rooms.)
    
4. Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett tunes would be playing as guests arrived for the General Session.
    
5. She would assign conference buddy pairs to take good care of each other.
    
6. She might scold a few folks if she caught them...

Each year, the social media pool sees more activity.

While some linger on the sidelines and dip their toes in every now and then, more are jumping in and perfecting their strokes.

As we strive to grow Next Gen audiences, they'll be expecting to see us in the pool. 

And when they don't? They'll move on.

Then again, if you're lucky, they might respectfully ask why you're not there:

"@XYZTWEET i want to join your association, but have a problem with your lack of social media presence"

Not sure where to...

We've all been there at some point.

A senior executive at your organization calls to tell you he needs an hour on the conference agenda to talk about an important initiative. He's a brilliant strategist but public speaking isn't exactly his strong suit. Uh-oh.

An industry genius has discovered the perfect solution to a huge problem faced by many in your conference audience. Your Executive Director invites this person to present at your Annual Meeting, but you soon discover she has a monotone...

An email arrives from an association with a request for just a few minutes of my time to complete a survey. I know and respect this organization, so I click and take a look. A dozen or so questions. Pretty straight-ahead, so I dig in.

Survey done, I click the submit button, which brings on one more question: 

Are you an active member of XYZ Association?

• YES
• NO, but I'm interested in joining.

Immediately following the "NO, but I'm interested in joining" is this message:  

Please go to our membership...

There's a heap of worry about aging audience demographics. Boomers can't go on forever (though quite a few are giving it their best shot).

Boomers have been the mainstay at conferences. By and large, they're masterful connectors who really know how to work a trade show. Ah, but that scene's changing quickly. Each day, 10,000 more Boomers cross the 65 threshold. 

Boomers have enjoyed decades in the spotlight, but now, many are moving (or getting pushed) to the sidelines. Some flirt with an early...

Mary: Impressive presentation, John, but I'm a little concerned that there's no audience participation.

John: No problem, we'll open the floor to Q&A at the end.

Mary: Okay, but there's still 45 minutes of one-way lecture going on.

John: Good point. Let's add another Q&A segment midway through the presentation.

We interrupt this blog post with an important news bulletin:
This just in... after months of congressional hearings, the National Bureau of Stop Boring People has established new standards...

Years ago, I led training for an organization with 700+ employees scattered all over the globe. With a mighty team of three training specialists, we were responsible for delivering a sweeping mix of training programs (instructor-led and self-directed online modules).

We created volumes of learning content from scratch, but I was constantly on the lookout for turnkey, off-the-shelf content, too. Unfortunately, much of what I found fell short, so we'd head back to the lab and do our best to keep up...