Rule Five

Always use the brainpower of an audience to create something

Is your conference designed to use the expertise of the participants in some way?

This can be as simple as changing one keynote presentation into a hands-on 'idea factory' workshop to involve people in a meaningful way. People want to contribute their expertise and insights when there is a benefit for everyone. For example:

Change one session into a 30-minute 'greatest challenge' idea factory.

• Take five minutes to put a context around one question: What is the biggest challenge you will face next year?
• Have participants spend 15 minutes to discuss this question and then 10 minutes to write down their ideas.
• Collect these ideas and use them to advance the company or association in some way.

This type of "greatest challenges" workshop has been used to generate hundreds of ideas which Associations turn into articles for newsletters, themes for workshops, or ideas for new services. This section includes lots of examples of using the brainpower in the room.

Questions for conference designers

• If we assume that you will have a room full of brainpower, what challenges can they help solve?
• Where does the host organization need new ideas for its on going success?
• How can the audience be used to provide these ideas or insights?