We’ve also been attending seminars put on by Zingerman’s Deli – they open up and share everything on how they turned a small deli into a $36 million enterprise all based in Ann Arbor. It’s fascinating to hear their philosophy and secret formulas, read their strategic plan – and see it in action. James and I have both grown leaps and bounds thanks to Zingerman’s – in spite of definitely not being a deli business.

(I wonder how many people who attend the typical conference you described above rave as much about them?)

So I do get what you are saying – and personally embrace the learning experience for myself and staff. I look forward to hearing about the success of your new project!

Cynthia — I’m really just thinking out loud here. I’ve always been tempted to put together a meeting for our industry whose program is comprised solely of businesspeople from completely different industries talking about specific things that may (or may not) be applicable to ours. Call me crazy, or maybe cocky, but I think I could fill that room. The hard part has always been — identifying who those presenters are and getting them to do it.

I’m sure most industries (and professions) are like ours — the most successful and innovative practitioners do things that may be NEW to the segment in question, but are not necessarily NEW to the universe. They adapt things from external organizations and in doing so differentiate themselves in their own segment by breaking out of the insular practices that build up in all industries. (It isn’t only associations that say “we’ve always done it that way” — they say it because their members say it).

But I’m not saying that I think we should look only at one way or the other, just trying to find different ways to help people learn and different ways to approach influencing the conversations that our participants are having. We’re getting ready to announce a brand new event that is very specific to our industry on purpose — a program where we’ve convinced seven of the most successful, best-known businesses in our industry to come together for an intense two-day forum and “spill their guts” on their sales practices. Instead of a usual “here’s what our workshops will cover, and these are our keynotes” we’re taking the approach of “these are seven companies with extraordinary growth patterns and innovative practices, and they’ve agreed to tell you everything — this never happens, except just this once.” This appears to be the opposite of what I suggested earlier — although I can tell you for a fac that a number of the participating companies are so successful because they’ve adapted practices from other industries. Sothis may be kind of the “filter” concept Judith mentions.

I just think we have to look at a number of approaches and ask ourselves what our goals are. Do we want to put people in a room and have them leave with three bullet point checklists, or do we want to kick them in the pants? I am not a fan of the unconference idea because personally I don’t find them very appealing, and I may be unusual but not that unusual. But I’m also not a fan of conferences that take the easy way out. You know, put out a call for presentations by X date, then a committee/staff goes through and picks out the topics (or people) they happen to like, and voila — you have a program. A boring program, but at least it’s done, right? There have to be better approaches, and I think associations should try all of them.

I do think people can handle the cross-pollination programs – especially when someone helps make it relevant to them. Without the “midwife” it would be hard for some attendees if a general audience – because that’s not how they learn.

ASAE used to have a program called Strategic Leadership Forum. I attended the last one in Vegas. We did that kind of programs. I remember doing a back-stage tour of Bally’s show girl production as part of it. I loved the conference.

I don’t believe they had the attendance needed to sustain it at that time. I was pretty new to ASAE so didn’t get the full explanation.

Of course I wonder what drives attendance down. Was it the innovative programming? Or was it location? Timing? etc. The resort was lovely – and a $50 cab ride to the Las Vegas strip.

Lots of food for thought. Kevin, what would your ideal conference look like? Would you do 100% alternative speakers? Or would you do a mix with some industry programs in there too?

Cynthia

I’m not saying I like or value this position: I do neither. But I am saying that these are the members who chose not to go to conferences because they haven’t got TIME for the hallway track. "That stuff gets in the way of efficient use of time," they say as they log into the 29-minute webinar on using social media in their businesses.

In fact, I wonder if a lot of the revolting (for lack of a better word) against traditional broad-based “conferences” isn’t really stemming from a (perhaps unconscious) desire to hear from people from “beyond the sphere” of a particular industry/profession/segment.

We keep hearing that people want “unconferences” or interactive workshops or “hallway track” meetings because they’re running up against the limitations of traditional subject matter expert presentations. These folks have attended conferences in the past — in some cases a lot of conferences — and realize that the most value they have gotten has been from random conversations that sparked ideas. So conference organizers are struggling to find ways to either package that “hallway track” into the actual program, or else somehow market the value of those random and un-package-able conversations — which is not an easy thing to do.

Maybe we’re just not thinking broad enough. Instead of “juicing up” conferences for industries or professions (which all tend toward insular) with social media or interactivity or “un-ness”, maybe what we need to offer instead is the opportunity to learn from people who are from completely different industries or professions.

It occurs to me that the mistake we’re making in recognizing the value of the “hallway track” is not seizing the opportunity we have to influence the conversations that are happening there. Are we just a place where people gather and talk, or do we have a role — and responsibility — in shaping what it is they talk about?

One of my best business ideas came from attending a UM School of Art & Design Penny Stamps Lecture. Clotaire Rapaille talked about the logic of emotion and wisdom from madness. He planted the seed for my Lazy Leader Road Shows – and yet didn’t speak a word about chapter leaders, associations or volunteering.

I wonder if it takes a certain mind set to be able to listen to the “unrelated” and make the cross over to apply in every day life?

Working with volunteer leaders, I have to regularly teach others how to get their members to use their professional skills in the chapter work. They don’t make connections between the two.

Fun food for thought. Cynthia