The question "What motivates you to attend a business conference?" is a great one in that I and many other designers have attended many but the value of short conference exposures can be good if you excel at synthesizing new knowledge to actions, we know most struggle there. So we created a better system that pays greater attention to business humanity and values across the internal and external ecosystem.
Since most conferences aren't in my backyard, I have to see enough value to justify the time and money. There are so many online opportunities now, the conference has to offer something I can't get online. Access to specific people, speakers I can't hear elsewhere, access to potential clients are some examples.
For me to attend a business conference, it must be local. It needs to offer some sort of networking opportunity. If there is good information - with one of more speakers and various topics, great. If it is a half day affair, that works really well. If it is a full day (or multiple days), I prefer several "breaks" so as not to be sitting all day long. Snacks and good food are always appreciated - and Coffee - all day long!
Two things. One, it must have compelling information or insight into business or a technology I am using that I really can't get anywhere else.
Two, it must present some networking opportunities or the ability to meet business leaders so I can learn things I really can't get from a book or online research.
When I was just doing design work and branding, no conference was better than the Aspen Design Conference as we got to hear from and meet with inspirational leaders, and influencers such as, Maya Angelou, Steve Jobs, Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas, and an international mix of innovators and designers, in very real, casual settings. The one on one time with all was both personal and inspiring. As designers in attendance, most of us left fueled up to add fresh vigor to our work over the next six months to a year. Designers know the value of continuous learning, open dialog, diverse influences, finding value in new places but today the need for those skills affects all or most work categories that had seemed immune to business creativity. Especially as AI threatens to replace jobs with high task repetition.
What I observed, even after people attended expert conferences, is they are motivated that day, maybe even that week but it dilutes quickly when knowledge transfer falls short of skills in evidence, application and recognition. People in organizations that just expect employees to learn and burn rubber in terms of high performance, in greater reality witness employee burn of a lesser nature as Gallup reports only 15% of global employees are emotionally connected to work.
These insights and others gained over the last twenty years show a growing gap between leaders, employees and markets. I invested a full year to study key research, talk with authors, CEO's, and more to amalgamate their hopes and wishes, with their indirect and direct resistance to change with perhaps the first conscious designed solution so what you learn is tuned to what you need and part of a system that encourages, enables, recognizes, and rewards progress, inclusion and diversity as just a few. I have proven and found that such environments create a near contagious involvement by all employees, markets and market influencers. Two years ago - after waiting since 1990 to share how I was able to guide success for several Fortune 50 companies - when I used words like Ecosystem Mapping to show that internal culture and market values determine your success - many wrote that off as buzzwords. Today, you see many people beginning to use the language yet without the comprehension of application vital. So we created an alliance to help more people to realize their lives and work can matter and they can shape that value through our system and then as a sustained advantage on their own.
Open minds fuel possibility thinking and systems thinking fuels greater ecosystem relevance, trust and credibility. It's a new age yet people have been starving for the things this reveals for decades. Good luck with your efforts Adrienne.
Thanks for asking me to answer your question. Depending on who is attending, my biggest motivation is to meet and network with business owners and have them realize that if they need to increase their business’ revenue that I can help them using many marketing strategies and tactics to help bring their business to a new level and way of thinking
I also love to learn new things from both the speaker/s and people I meet.
I also do believe free conferences are just to sell me something and I get vague information so those are definitely not the ones I enjoy going to much. But if it’s a paid conference, then it’s about learning something valuable I can leave with and apply to my business.
Answers (1-10)
The question "What motivates you to attend a business conference?" is a great one in that I and many other designers have attended many but the value of short conference exposures can be good if you excel at synthesizing new knowledge to actions, we know most struggle there. So we created a better system that pays greater attention to business humanity and values across the internal and external ecosystem.
Since most conferences aren't in my backyard, I have to see enough value to justify the time and money. There are so many online opportunities now, the conference has to offer something I can't get online. Access to specific people, speakers I can't hear elsewhere, access to potential clients are some examples.
Depends on who else is attending. Networking is a very important part of these meetings
Adrienne,
For me to attend a business conference, it must be local.
It needs to offer some sort of networking opportunity.
If there is good information - with one of more speakers and various topics, great.
If it is a half day affair, that works really well.
If it is a full day (or multiple days), I prefer several "breaks" so as not to be sitting all day long.
Snacks and good food are always appreciated - and Coffee - all day long!
I find that it helps me learn more about my industry, and learn about new products that I can use or resell.
Two things. One, it must have compelling information or insight into business or a technology I am using that I really can't get anywhere else.
Two, it must present some networking opportunities or the ability to meet business leaders so I can learn things I really can't get from a book or online research.
When I was just doing design work and branding, no conference was better than the Aspen Design Conference as we got to hear from and meet with inspirational leaders, and influencers such as, Maya Angelou, Steve Jobs, Stephen Spielberg, George Lucas, and an international mix of innovators and designers, in very real, casual settings. The one on one time with all was both personal and inspiring. As designers in attendance, most of us left fueled up to add fresh vigor to our work over the next six months to a year. Designers know the value of continuous learning, open dialog, diverse influences, finding value in new places but today the need for those skills affects all or most work categories that had seemed immune to business creativity. Especially as AI threatens to replace jobs with high task repetition.
What I observed, even after people attended expert conferences, is they are motivated that day, maybe even that week but it dilutes quickly when knowledge transfer falls short of skills in evidence, application and recognition. People in organizations that just expect employees to learn and burn rubber in terms of high performance, in greater reality witness employee burn of a lesser nature as Gallup reports only 15% of global employees are emotionally connected to work.
These insights and others gained over the last twenty years show a growing gap between leaders, employees and markets. I invested a full year to study key research, talk with authors, CEO's, and more to amalgamate their hopes and wishes, with their indirect and direct resistance to change with perhaps the first conscious designed solution so what you learn is tuned to what you need and part of a system that encourages, enables, recognizes, and rewards progress, inclusion and diversity as just a few. I have proven and found that such environments create a near contagious involvement by all employees, markets and market influencers. Two years ago - after waiting since 1990 to share how I was able to guide success for several Fortune 50 companies - when I used words like Ecosystem Mapping to show that internal culture and market values determine your success - many wrote that off as buzzwords. Today, you see many people beginning to use the language yet without the comprehension of application vital. So we created an alliance to help more people to realize their lives and work can matter and they can shape that value through our system and then as a sustained advantage on their own.
Open minds fuel possibility thinking and systems thinking fuels greater ecosystem relevance, trust and credibility. It's a new age yet people have been starving for the things this reveals for decades. Good luck with your efforts Adrienne.
Thanks for asking me to answer your question. Depending on who is attending, my biggest motivation is to meet and network with business owners and have them realize that if they need to increase their business’ revenue that I can help them using many marketing strategies and tactics to help bring their business to a new level and way of thinking
I also love to learn new things from both the speaker/s and people I meet.
I also do believe free conferences are just to sell me something and I get vague information so those are definitely not the ones I enjoy going to much. But if it’s a paid conference, then it’s about learning something valuable I can leave with and apply to my business.
To learn and to connect.
I am always looking to connect with the right person or people group to grow more