Interested?
‘the future of conferences’
katie chatfield
twitter.com/katiechatfield
http://katiechatfield.wordpress.com/
And my day job:
www.jackmorton.com

So you’ve got information
A rock- a foundation stone
rock-
to build better stuff, better
thought, better action
You need to pass that
on to an audience...
So that they know this
information too.....
and create a Big Splash....
think- long-
So you think- a day long-
conference-
no a two day conference-
is the answer.....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattmonath/3381384824

Usually you’ll get
subject experts
to create
extensive
presentations
and sometimes
you pay them
and sometimes
you don’t
45- mins-
- 45-60 mins-
to fill the empty
vessels of the
audience
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jordoncooper/17879065/

who may
or
may not
be engaged
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arkworld/2546395634/

I’ve played the part of
presenter-
presenter-
slap-
delivered a pitch slap-
and didn’t get much
information
- about the needs of the
audience,
- or where they might
get value
-or where their gaps might
be...
and
and I didn’t usually get
much value either
– like feedback,
- or follow up
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jordoncooper/17879065/

and I’ve been part of
an audience and
have paid to attend a
conference only to
have vendors and
suppliers –
who would normally have to take
me out to lunch to get my attention
time-
for 60 minutes at a time-
-pitch to me
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arkworld/2546395634/

territory-
what should be rich territory-
-a meeting of the minds
-of needs and information
is instead an uneven playing field.
presenters are full of information...
and the audience has none
presenters do all of the work to
prepare for the conference and the
audience does nothing
and never the twain shall meet....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomsch/1040888398

and in the
process
protecting the
notion of ‘Don’t
step on my turf!’
we’ve created a
bit of a
wasteland...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tiboox/197286394/

condensing
the problem

the glass is
half empty
and half full
presenters and
audiences both
have something
to say,
something to
seek, and
something to
share

and it all needs to be
entertaining

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mondoagogo/3367841311/
you need structure and
narrative to tell a story
- how people learn is by
exploring an idea
Which path do you
follow?
You still need to get
information across...
create understanding
http://www.flickr.com/photos/willuk/504423267

So.....?

You can create
stepping stones,
skim and
energise,
create ripples,
little and often
http://www.flickr.com/photos/seventhsister/2738553439/

Interesting South
• a wide variety of interesting,
interesting,
unexpected, original
things
'theatre of ideas’
•a
• a single shared quality
between participants :
curiosity

amplification
participation
discovery
the call to action:
Viva Ideas!

before
build anticipation
co-discover
everyone is given a task

no name tags-
what’s your story?
http://www.smithmag.net/sixwords/
http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m2QJLBKP8D822T

during
participate
amplify
everyone’s on stage

20 speakers-
3 or 10 minute stories
beers and live music
lots of break outs for chit chats

and gentle men:
“Ladies
TURN ON YOUR PHONES”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wadem/2486889454/

after
share the experience
follow up the conversations
seeds into flowers

feedback loops for
speakers and
participants
http://twemes.com/isii? pages=1-10

http://www.flickr.com/groups/interestingsouth/pool

amplification
participation
discovery
two years
and going
strong

Live feedback from
‘the future of conferences’