In Praise of Small Conferences
Nice mood lighting, AI - but you forgot the lava lamps.
Small tribe meetings are far more enriching than big gatherings. I doubt that you can prove me wrong.
This spring, I have attended three smaller conferences (each with 100-ish attendees). Vincent Pugliese’s Unconference. The annual Iron Sharpens Iron Mastermind live gathering (orchestrated by Aaron Walker). And the Poetics Forum (led by Harris III and Kate Harris).
Each of these events was thoroughly energizing and provided a wealth of great interaction and new connections.
I’ve attended and/or presented at many conferences over the last 40 years. Big ones, like LTEN. Huge ones, like RSNA. Focused corporate gatherings. And a host of smaller events.
In fact, one of my odd habits has been to keep and collect the badges from them all. The pile looks like this:
A lanyard-laced timeline of my business career!
My conclusion: a well-planned and focused small event, populated by creative and generous people, has the potential to be an incredibly fruitful experience.
Here are the common elements that make for an outstanding small conference experience:
A founder/leader who has been building a tribe of influencers and doers (esp. entrepreneurs)
Leaders and attendees who are marked by creative minds, and humble hearts
Speaker audience/intimacy
Planned “white space” for lots of networking and community building
Structured, practical interaction (not mere passive listening, or rushing to the next “thing”)
Also, I should mention that these smaller, more intimate settings are WAY more comfortable for introverts.
For years, I had the privilege to be a part of such a group (SOBCon, led by Terry Starbucker and Liz Strauss) that met in Chicago each year. I still have deep collaborative relationships with some of the fine folks who were also “regulars” there.
The takeaways from these retreats: new friends, surprising insights, a sense of inclusion, and a desire to return and bring others. When you gather together a bunch of creatives and entrepreneurs, you build a loyal tribe.
I think about when I met Lisa Petrilli in a Chicago hotel lobby, and our brainstorming led to years of friendship and collaboration.
I remember the laughter and joy of the “Cannoli Crew” lunch at SOBCon.
I fondly consider the transparency, accountability, and affirmation underlying our ISI Mastermind gatherings.
And I’m right now nurturing what could be a major new avenue of business for me growing out of the networking at the recent Unconference.
Finally, there was the absolute explosion of jonetworking that took place at Blogger Social 2008, when a bunch of emerging marketing bloggers got together in NYC for two days to just….get together. That event was truly one-of-a-kind.
I’ve watched from the sidelines over the last few years as Mark Schaefer has pulled together his tribe of marketing “rebels” at his intimate Uprising retreat. It’s not just a one-and-done event. It’s a community-building exercise. In fact, Vincent’s Unconference is an invite-only event, to ensure that the room is filled with other-centered people.
Last week at the Poetics Forum in Nashville, someone used the acronym PLU (People Like Us). We want to find our tribe and be with people who draw us out and fill us up. That’s the beauty of a focused and carefully curated small gathering. And the results can be life-changing.
If you’re looking for a skilled facilitator to help your next conference reach the next level, contact me.
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