Adrian Trenholm

Confessions of a conference producer

April 5th, 2005

to reinvent the business conference or, at the very least, to point out its shortcomings.

As a former conference producer, I feel a need to explain. Not defend, just explain. You see, certain things get drilled into conference producers from interview until resignation. Things like:

• The agenda is not there to map out a useful event - it is a marketing document.
• Agenda and brochure copy must work the fear and greed angles at all times.
• The best way to work fear and greed is to tell your audience that there is something they don’t know and need to know urgently
• Promise delegates: You will meet and network with all the top people in your industry.
• Call it CEO level to persuade other directors to join the panel.

Institutionally then, conference companies encourage “emperor’s new clothes” syndrome. To protect their modesty, conference producers adopt the contorted language of the acronym and the buzz phrase.

But we shouldn’t try taking the splinter out of the conference company’s eye, until we have taken the plank out of ours. Conference producers do a lot of research with their target market and they try hard to use the same kind of language as the delegates they want to attract.

Which means there are people out there who really do talk about turbulence in the board room. Like Regina Miller said: Yikes!

There is an easy way to cut through all the ridiculous copy written in conference brochures - simply look at the agenda, then ring or email the speakers that interest you most. Usually they are happy to share with you. If you get a good feeling from those conversations, then by all means book your seat on the conference. Often, however, you will learn everything you need without leaving the comfort of your executive chair.

Entry Filed under: Writing , Marketing