by Guest Blogger – Aaron D. Wolowiec, MSA, CAE, CMP, CTA
Do you remember the 1996 movie Jerry Maguire? In the film, a glossy 35-year-old sports agent (played by Tom Cruise) writes a controversial mission statement about perceived shortfalls in the sports management business and how he believes it should be operated.
Today, I’d like to do the same, but this time focusing on the antiquated event planning model still in use by many associations and nonprofit organizations nationwide.
See if you can relate to this process:
- Update and release the annual call for presentations. (Looks suspiciously similar to last year’s version.)
- Proposal submissions trickle in. (Many are canned presentations we’ve seen or heard before.)
- Proposals are reviewed, critiqued and ranked by staff and/or an education committee. (Selected presenters are no strangers to our organization or our conference.)
- Selected proposals are plugged into a version of last year’s conference agenda. (Are we seeing a theme?)
- Follow-up with speakers is limited to topics such as logistics and audience demographics. (If we reach out to them at all.)
- Speakers arrive at the conference venue and present with limited staff/attendee interaction. (We’re busy, right?)
- Evaluation summaries are likely not shared with speakers or other event stakeholders. (If they’re compiled at all.)
Okay, so what if we re-imagined the event planning process to more closely align education with member needs? This new model would eliminate the need for a traditional call for presentations and would instead focus squarely on meaningful learner outcomes.
Consider how the following process might transform your major annual meeting:
- Review feedback from previous year’s event.
- Conduct a current year needs analysis of target audience.
- Convene a focus group of staff, volunteer leaders and key industry stakeholders.
- Draft program learning objectives.
- Develop a preliminary content outline.
- Build an original conference agenda.
- Identify qualified presenters who can effectively speak to each topic.
- Brainstorm engaging instructional strategies and transfer of learning exercises.
- Write interesting session descriptions.
- Schedule speaker consultation sessions.
- Develop an effective evaluation tool.
- Share feedback with speakers and other event stakeholders in a timely manner.
As associations continue to play a more significant role in training today’s workforce, people have begun to demand more compelling learning and networking experiences delivered in a unique and interactive way. Revamping the planning process, however, isn’t simple and requires buy-in from key leaders and stakeholders, deliberate training and coaching of program facilitators and content leaders, and significantly more planning, organization, lead time and logistics management than ever before.
Nevertheless, this new approach better aligns education with member needs, builds the reputation of both the meetings department and the organization, and improves event ROI. With a long list of continuing education providers competing for market share, it’s important for associations to differentiate themselves as reputable, visionary organizations committed to delivering dynamic member experiences.
So, my question to you is this: Could this re-imagined process help you edge out the competition, secure member loyalty and become a provider of choice? What’s preventing you from experimenting with “the way things have always been done”?
Aaron D. Wolowiec, MSA, CAE, CMP, CTA, is founder and president of Event Garde, a professional development consulting firm based in Grand Rapids, Mich. Website: www.eventgarde.com
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