Rethinking Conferences

What if a conference was about conversations and relationships, not content?” - Adam Grant

Here are some completely crazy ideas that might not work:

1. Let the attendees determine the content when they know who the speakers are. They are the ones paying for the event.
2. Give the speakers their topics the night before, the day of, or right before they get on stage. Make the whole thing improv
3. Don’t allow note taking, iPhones or iPads. Presence is all that matters. Don’t pull yourself out of the experience because you’re documenting it.

Of course these break all conventions. When we break conventions, the people who followed them will come up with a list of reasons why these ideas won’t work.

A speaker who can’t work without a script will tell you that this will never work.

A person who thinks that notes matter will tell you that nobody will attend.

An event organizer who thinks a conference center or hotel is the only viable venue will argue that you need the infrastructure a certain type of venue provides.

But what if we started with a blank slate? No conventional wisdom. How could we rethink conferences to make them more about conversations and relationships?

I’m aiming to break many conventions with an event. Check out The Instigator Experience to Learn More

I’m the host and founder of The Unmistakable Creative Podcast, where I have weekly conversations with creative entrepreneurs and other insanely interesting people. Our guests have included bloggers, authors, bank robbers, happiness researchers and world famous cartoonists.