Meeting Design THE POWER OF THE CROWD How do you use the wisdom of the crowds? Participants attend conferences to gain more knowledge, but as a group they also bring with them a wealth of experience and brainpower. Those who exploit the full potential of the interaction contribute immense added value to their conference. The time is ripe for this, argue four specialists in the field of conferences and crowdsourcing.

Too many conferences foster attendee information overload. The plethora of presenters pushing information at warp speeds cause fragmented attention, overburden brains and data excess. It’s a silent epidemic that cause stagnate mental engagement. And our conference schedules stretch attendees in ways that may have bigger implications than just unhealthy eating. They cause mental disconnection. Seven Activities That Promote Good Mental Habits

An innovative presentation for your event:
This presentation is about FRESH; not as an innovative event but as event innovator.

Where one event can be innovative in a few ways, special in its design, original in its concept, creative in its theme, etc.

FRESH aims at helping others to Innovate, FRESH is about innovation, FRESH ís innovation.
In everything that is presented and anything that is done at FRESH, its participants discover new, different, creative and innovative concepts, tools, services and techniques.

Talking is a critical part of that learning experience. We talk so we can understand. We talk so we can remember. We talk so we can learn. But who does the majority of talking at a conference and who does the majority of listening? The speakers talk as the audience listens. Attendees Spend The Majority Of Their Conference Time Listening

Into the Heart of Meetings defines meetings as a form of communication. It describes the characteristic processes of meetings and how to influence them through Meeting Design. Based on many years of working together as professional Meeting Designers, the authors provide an array of tools that enable meeting organisers to obtain the best outcomes from their meetings as measured by their business value.

Paul Nunesdea, GroupVision EIBTM 2012 from Meeting Support Institute on Vimeo.

1 Adrian Segar, Conferences That Work EIBTM 2012 from Meeting Support Institute on Vimeo.

Listening is often the only thing attendees do in formal learning environments. Speakers talk. Audiences listen. They listen to keynote speakers at conferences. They listen to presenters in workshops. They listen to industry speakers in education sessions. They listen to staff in HR trainings. The truth is that all that listening amounts to very little learning or change in attitudes, behaviors and skills. Talking Is More Important Than Listening

Fresh Award winner, Kristine Nygaard, explains how she illustrates meetings graphically in an interview at IMEX Frankfurt.  . Visually Illustrating Meetings from Meeting Support Institute on Vimeo.