With the Fall conference season behind us, this is as good a time as any to reflect upon all that I’ve learned. For the most part this conference season has been pretty informative but there are a few things that could be fixed that would make conference season even better.
#1: Use Facts, Figures and Multiple Case Studies
Anyone who has signed up for a seminar or talk based solely on the title of the presentation, and was underwhelmed or disappointed by the actual content of the presentation will agree with this one.
Presenters: if your talk is on something sweeping and broad like the “reinvention of advertising” with promises of how the industry can reinvent itself, don’t use the time to push your hypothesis with ONE case study featuring your own company. It’s entirely immaterial that you spoke at the ultra prestigious TED conference or used to be the CEO of a global agency, you still need to provide solid case studies, 3rd party research and logic to sound credible.
Please give us value for the 70 minutes that we’ll never get back not to mention the bad beer and bar food that we ordered because we were too hungry waiting for you to begin.
#2: Attribution is Not Only Decent, It’s the Legal Thing to Do
If presenters can’t be original and need to rip off someone’s concept, at least give that organization or person credit for the inspiration. In one particular instance, a PR agency created a video montage of social media statics ala @equalman in his famous Social Media Revolution video using many of the SAME statistics. Nothing wrong with creating a video in homage to @equalman’s or even using the same statistics but to not acknowledge the inspiration is just plain crass.
Don’t be that guy.
Those among us who know better will out you causing you to lose credibility. Always attribute.
#3: Integrity!
If your agency provides a certain type of service that the audience member is asking about, hold your response to a higher level of integrity. The PR agency mentioned in tip #2 was asked if social media should be undertaken by in-house resources or by an external organization (like his). The honest response ought to have been: it depends on the organization’s resources, and their short and long term goals. Instead, his default position was of course “use an external agency.”
I am sure I wasn’t the only person in the room who thought the response a little too self-serving. Be willing to answer questions honestly even when it doesn’t serve your firm’s best short term interest, it’ll earn you more respect and even business in the long term.
#4: Attendee Etiquette
Please behave and contribute appropriately when attending events. If you are a self-professed social media expert, don’t attend a social media round-table discussion for brand managers and business owners and NOT contribute.
I had the pleasure of facilitating two discussions during Atlanta Social Media Week and it struck me as dissonant when individuals who introduced themselves as social media consultants and strategists were strangely silent during the sessions which was on basic and intermediate social media best practices. One consultant actually showed up to the session, passed out flyers for his social media workshop which was not free and left 15 minutes into the session!
#5: Purge the PowerPoint from Panel Discussions
Panels are not disparate presentations from each panelist. ideally, it should be an opportunity for the audience to hear different points of view. So why do organizations insist on hosting panels that feature PowerPoint presentations from each panelist?
If you are ever asked to serve on a panel, please spare us the corporate spiel. We want to hear your point of view, your organization’s best practices and your challenges. Moderators share in the panel malaise. Here’s Jeremiah Owyang’s advice to moderators.
Anyone have a tip to share? Or a request they would like to make? The Spring conference season is just around the corner!
