Freeman 2024 Event Organizer Trends Report We’ve calibrated our research and confirmed our hypothesis: many organizers are operating on outdated definitions of attendee and exhibitor value. The good news? We’re here to help you speak the same language as your stakeholders and overcome the obstacles that prevent progress. This report is your playbook for embracing shifts, equipping you with the insights and strategies to make change now. Fall 2024 Freeman Syndicated Survey of Event Organizers. Copyright Freeman 2024

Freeman's Trends Report Q4 2024 is a must-read to discover if you're doing what's needed to improve your events for your attendees

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#eventprofs #EventTrends #EventDesign #AttendeeExperience #FutureOfEvents #leadership

Supporting connection between participants at our events allows them to take full advantage of the collective wisdom in the room.

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#meetings #EventDesign #connection #ActiveLearning #SocialLearning #eventprofs

improve event ROI: photograph of a skeptical male boss with glasses and a white beard. Photo attribution: Flickr user andyi.

Participant-driven conferences can improve event ROI. And give potential attendees an answer to the question "Why should I go to this event?"

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#meetings #EventROI #value #ROI #events #eventprofs

squaring the circle: An overhead photograph of a group of people sitting in a large circle with Leonardo de Vinci's "Vitruvian Man" superimposed at the center

Whenever possible, avoid squaring the circle of a room set design. Here's what to do when you can't use circular seating layouts.

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#meetings #EventDesign #RoomSetDesign #CircleSeating #CurvedRowSeating #eventprofs

clearings for your event: photograph of a grassy clearing in the middle of a forest. Image attribution: Flickr user sheepguardingllama

Why you should provide clearings for your event. Physical, freedom, and permission clearings make space for something new to happen.

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#meetings #EventDesign #physical #freedom #permission #clearings #events #eventprofs

Cosmetic conferences: a photograph of a spilled bottle of red nail polish

Meeting planners put too much energy and resources into "cosmetic" conferences and too little into the format and underlying process.

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#meetings #EventDesign #CosmeticConferences #SatisfyingRealNeeds #NoGlitz #eventprofs

A black and white photo of Simon and Garfunkel singing "The sound of silence"

It's time for a "sound of silence" roundup of meetings industry pet peeves. Do they resonate? What am I missing?

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#meetings #PetPeeves #AirQuality #evaluations #PayingSpeakers #eventprofs #assnchat

A smiling woman, full of nervous excitement, sits on a train with the blurred world speeding past her window.

Nervous excitement is back! Here's what (I think) it is, why I feel it when I'm live on stage — and why it doesn't usually last long!

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#facilitation #speaking #excitement #eventprofs #assnchat

The meeting session is over. Did anyone learn anything? And how would you know? Here are some ways to maximize learning at meetings.

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#meetings #MeetingDesign #engagement #learning #SocialLearning #UncoveredLearning #TheReminder #eventprofs #assnchat

make conferences memorable: a photograph of people around a campfire with a man telling a story. Photo attribution: Flickr user dpnsan

Disasters & over-the-top production can make conferences memorable, but they score poorly on ROI. Instead, give attendees an environment to share stories.

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#meetings #EventDesign #stories #eventprofs

entrance layer: photograph of three musicians playing violin, piano, and cello. The cellist, Marcy Rosen, is leading a rehearsal at the Marlboro Music Festival.

It’s not an entrance, it’s a layer. A veteran cellist's rehearsal instruction illuminates playing music—and meeting design.

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#meetings #MeetingDesign #music #performance #engagement #InTheMoment #eventprofs

London Underground sign that says: 3. Follow instructions from staff or emergency services. Do not take any risks

We need less perfection and more risky learning at our events, to avoid meetings that are invariably safe at the expense of effectiveness

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#meetings #EventDesign #events #RiskyLearning #eventprofs

A man in an office looking out over a large trade show monitors attendees' sentiment using facial analysis technology distributed around the show floor

The International Association of Exhibitions & Events used facial analysis technology at its 2024 Expo! Expo! without informing attendees

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#privacy #FacialAnalysis #events #Zenus #eventprofs #IAEE

2/2
Happy Easter, from all of us at GCMA.

#GCMA #Easter #EasterWeekend #Crowds #Events #CrowdProfs #EventProfs #GlobalCrowds

Today is my 16th anniversary of being a pro magician. It’s been a fun ride and I genuinely love entertaining people whilst making them laugh. I also now own a lot of suits.

#magic #magician #closeupmagic #closeupmagician #eventprofs

less perfection more risky learning: London Underground sign that says: 3. Follow instructions from staff or emergency services. Do not take any risks

We need less perfection and more risky learning at our events, to avoid meetings that are invariably safe at the expense of effectiveness

www.conferencesthatwork.com/index.php/ev...

#meetings #EventDesign #events #RiskyLearning #eventprofs

A screenshot of Sandy Pentland from his YouTube video on social physics and meetings.

Sandy Pentland's research findings on social physics and meetings echo the focus of my meeting design work for over thirty years

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#meetings #EventDesign #SocialPhysics #SandyPentland #CollectiveIntelligence #eventprofs

Two Star Wars Lego stormtroopers doing gym exercises. Photo attribution: Flickr user chrish_99

For better event outcomes, how can we maximize the likelihood that attendees will make good resolutions and keep them?

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#resolutions #meetings #EventDesign #FacilitatingChange #motivation #psychology #success #eventprofs

an illustration containing 20 icons, all of which convey people connecting and learning in community

Designer Jony Ive explains how learning in community helped Apple make the iPhone. We learn better at conferences when we learn in community.

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#meetings #EventDesign #learning #LearningInCommunity #CooperativeLearning #eventprofs

4/4
#GCMA #UK #Manchester #CounterTerrorism #EventSafety #MajorIncident #Podcast #Crowds #Events #CrowdProfs #EventProfs #GlobalCrowds

you can't please everyone: photograph of a woman looking away with her hand held up. Photo attribution: Flickr user meredithfarmer

You can't please everyone, so get used to it. Try to create events that work for everyone? You'll likely get one that works for no one.

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#meetings #EventDesign #participation #PleasingEveryone #PleasingNoOne #events #eventprofs

looking for help: A photographic montage of various scenes from Adrian Segar's facilitated events and workshops

I am looking for your help to hold workshops that I believe significantly improve the quality of meetings.

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#meetings #EventDesign #workshop #ParticipateLab #help #request #eventprofs #assnchat

Adrian Segar short bio and photograph from the article in the March 2019 issue of Smart Meetings Magazine. Publications: Author of Conferences That Work: Creating Events That People Love and The Power of Participation: Creating Conferences That Deliver Learning, Connection, Engagement, and Action, and Event Crowdsourcing: Creating Meetings People Actually Want and Need. Title: Facilitator at large Degrees: B.A. in Physics from Merton College, Oxford; Ph.D. in elementary particle physics from University College, London.

A (slightly edited) interview "Q&A with Adrian Segar on Crowdsourcing" by JT Long in Smart Meetings Magazine.

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#meetings #EventDesign #interview #SmartMeetings #crowdsourcing #eventprofs

Had a blast at the NACE Philly "Night at the Naceys" Gala. From custom perfume bottles to the "Velours Rouge" dancer, creating for fellow event pros is always a win. 🥂✨

📸: Morby Photography

#PancakeArt #NACE #EventProfs #PhillyEvents #Dancakes

white space at events: an infographic attributed to Jan Jacobs "How Sitting Wrecks Your Body"

Five science-based reasons to provide white space at events that incorporate biology, physics, physiology, social science & neuroscience

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#meetings #breaks #downtime #socials #EventDesign #events #eventprofs

event evaluations: black and white photograph of a standing Chinese official pointing to the screen of a computer used by a seated civilian. Photo attribution: Flickr user charleshope

Why you need to make sure event evaluations don't disappear into the hands of the organizers, never to see the light of day again

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#meetings #EventDesign #events #evaluations #surveys #CommunityBuilding #improvement #eventprofs

The deal that cost father and son's lives in Burnden Park disaster A family remembers how their loved ones never returned from the fatal 1946 stadium crush in Bolton.

3/3
BBC News has shared some of their stories, here: www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd6zegqjw29o

#GCMA #UK #UnitedKingdom #BurndenPark #CrowdSafety #Crowds #Events #CrowdProfs #EventProfs #GlobalCrowds

Meetings in Day Million: An illustration of a recling woman from Frederik Pohl's short story "Day Million"

Meetings in Day Million will be different from those today. Remember that when a meeting designer proposes something crazy. It may be the future's normal.

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#meetings #ScienceFiction #SciFi #EventDesign #future #eventprofs

sell me stuff: A photograph of an old-fashioned smiling salesman wearing a black hat and sitting on a train. On his lap is a opened brown suitcase that contains a miscellaneous jumble of items, including stockings and a box of KitKats. Photo attribution: Flickr user dswilliams

Here's my letter to every event technology company trying to sell me stuff. Please read it, folks—what I describe is far too common!

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#meetings #EventDesign #selling #sales #products #services #pitching #freemium #NoPrices #eventprofs

Content vs conversation. A photograph of a sitting man and a standing woman talking with each other, a crowded table between them. Image attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonz/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Content versus conversation. Cory Doctorow said, "Conversation is king. Content is just something to talk about." I agree!

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#meetings #EventDesign #content #versus #conversation #CoryDoctorow #eventprofs