Conference ROI like you have never seen it before!

"Will I get enough ideas, contacts and insights to justify the cost of attending your conference?"
By Ed Bernacki, The Idea Factory

Here is a crazy idea for your conference: guarantee people will leave with ideas worth more than the cost of registration. I don't mean a conceptual guarantee: I mean a financial guarantee.

An idea could be worth $100, an action point, $20, and a good question, $25.

Imagine if you went to a conference with a financial guarantee of value. Imagine that the opening speaker starts with this:

"We have taken $1000 out of your bank account to attend this conference. I want to ensure that you put back at least $1000 worth of results.

"We know that most people come to these events and freely admit that they take notes and never look at them again. Instead of taking notes, let's think about what we should record at conferences:

Record Ideas and insights: the 'aha' moments
"The most value comes from ideas that you hear and recognize as useful. Some ideas are really hot while some may seem loony. A great idea may involve many actions. I suggest you invest 3 or 4 minutes and write down as much as you can about that idea right away.

Record questions as they are a future conversation or an idea deferred
"The best questions are like an 'idea deferred' if you think about it back at work. What could I do about this concept? How could I shape this thought into something of value for my organization? You don't have time right now to deal with it, but you see that it is important.

Record quotes references, memories
"A 'quote' can be something you hear or read. It can also be a reference to a book or website, something that is worthy to follow up with.

Record actions: what can you do?
"Actions are fairly simple: read this, call them, or review something. They should be tangible, practical, and worded so they make sense after the event.

Record the people you meet whom you want to follow up with
Who are they? What is the context of your conversation? What is the value of following up? Did you promise them something?

"The secret to creating value at a conference is putting a dollar value on these results. It's arbitrary, and yet the dollars count if you want to get value from this conference. I suggest these values:

Ideas and big insights are the highest value, as they can represent many actions: $100. Give yourself a bonus of $100 if it could significantly add to your bottom line.

Questions: they offer the potential for more value later. For now add $25 per question and add another $75 if it leads to a great idea back at work.

Quotes and References are worth $20 as they have potential for greater value.

Actions: I suggest only $20, perhaps $50 if it is a significant action.

Contacts offer potential for later value: $20.

"By the end of this conference you need to add up the value you get from this conference by the value of the notes you take. For example, imagine this is result:

1. Ideas - I found 6 ideas: $600
2. Questions - I have 8 questions I want to consider later: $200
3. Quotes - I captured 2 quotes that I will share with staff and two references to books I want to read: $80
4. Actions - I find 5 immediate actions I can take - $100
5. Contacts: I have 4 business cards of people I want to follow up with: $80

"Lastly, if you can't come up with $1000 worth of value, we have staff to help you review the event to squeeze out some more ideas. If we really can't find enough value, we will refund the difference between what you paid and what you got back."

Would your conferences make a financial promise like this?
It is an interesting idea and a loony idea. Then again, Alexander Graham Bell was told that the telephone was a loony idea and had no practical value. I encourage you to consider a few questions:

• If event designers and planners were accountable for the value people got from an event, how would this impact on the design of the conference?
• Would the relationship and involvement with speakers change?
• Would the theme and learning objectives change to reflect this accountability?
• Would you pay more attention to what people record and how they record it?
• Would you open and close your conferences differently?

It may be a loony idea. How would your participants feel if they left your event knowing that they captured enough value to totally justify the cost of attending?
Would they want to come back next year? You bet.