Hot Topics

Appendix to Hot Topic

Susan’s Starter Set of Ideas for Conference

I made notes in Edmonton about these ideas, so I'm sharing them here.   I tried to present them in the order of the questions I posed in the hot topic--but you are welcome to add thoughts in any and all ways.  Not all the ideas below are equally interesting, but all have possibilities.

Pre-Conference Interaction

• Ask conferees to complete and bring along information sheets about their work and whom they would like to meet at the conference. Snap Polaroid photos of everyone upon arrival and post the pictures and the sheets along a hallway for everyone to see. Be sure to show where the person is staying during the event.

• Have workshop leaders post a paragraph or two about their session on the Web site and pose a few provocative questions--perhaps even with some pre-conference e-mail exchanges.

• Offer registrants the opportunity to post something about themselves to the conference Web site (not just the speakers).   [This idea came from Cyndi Harvey of the Strathcoma Council on  Information and Volunteers, Alberta, Canada.]

Registration and Name Tags

• As people register, direct them to an area with tables and chairs where they can sit and go through their packets. Have greeters assigned to this area and introduce people to one another (as well as answer questions).

• Add more information to name tags, even if this means making them larger or hanging more ribbons from them. Color coding helps, too. Examples of information with the potential to foster conversation: some categorizing of field or setting; languages spoken; number of previous conferences attended; geographic region; favorite t.v. show (the stuff doesn’t always have to be serious!)

• Have a computer available with all conferees’ names and where they are staying during the event. To add to the idea shared above, could allow registrants to input a paragraph or two about themselves, questions they hope to answer while on site, etc.

• Assign a conference volunteer to each hotel upon arrival and each morning.  Be sure this person has information about the logistics of the conference and knows who's registered at that hotel.  Possibly host a brief "morning coffee" to allow conferees to get their bearings each day and travel to the conference site together.

Plenary Sessions/Workshops

• Don’t always have a speaker. Instead, structure small group interaction (like the "Strategy Exchange" we ran at the AVA Conference years ago) on questions posed and then elicit responses from around the room.

• Form small "teams" at the first plenary session (no more than five people). Have these folks get acquainted and tell them that they will meet again at various points in the conference to "debrief" what they are learning. Then arrange times and places for teams to meet at least once a day.

• Adapt the "poster boards" used at medical conventions. Have organizations prepare photographs, written descriptions, and statistical data about what they feel is an innovative volunteer project and mount these on bulletin boards in a special area. During the conference, participants float among the boards, reading and discussing what they see with others doing the same thing. Can also have a response area on each board, so that visitors can post comments or questions right away.

• "Consultations" have proven popular at some conferences, either one-to-one sessions or small group sessions.

• Provide seating at breaks and special events, and at least periodic moments of silence.

• Ask all workshop leaders to send their groups into the break with a specific question requiring talking to new people.

Site Visits

• Give conferees checklists to use during site visits that will enable them to compare sites and share their observations later. Have an opportunity upon return to do some debriefing with others.

Exhibit Area

• Ask exhibitors to give demonstrations, share tips, etc. on a daily schedule of "events."

• Something that worked at AVA several times was setting up a table in the exhibit area on which any extra handouts from workshops could be placed for first come/first served free distribution. Since the material changed several times a day, this encouraged return visitors to the exhibit area.

Post Conference

• Keep the Web site going after the event and elicit comments, questions and answers, from everyone.

• Make sure everyone has a participant list, including e-mail addresses! This can be given out electronically, on disk, to save costs.

Other

• Enlarge the conference by making it accessible to those who do not attend in person, such as eliciting e-mails commenting on issues and posting them on a bulletin board.   Or, use distance learning in reverse--schedule times for people off site to speak TO conferees.

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