I’m a conference junkie. I actually like going to (some) conferences. In the past month, I’ve attended Pop!Tech, Tribecon, and will be attending the Idea Conference next week. But, unlike most people. I like conferences for a specific reason. You won’t find me in the hallways networking and collecting business cards. And I find listening to the speakers as an added bonus. I like “inspiration” conferences because it allows me to sit back and think about life, business, relationships, etc. It’s a time for me to reflect and make huge decisions that set the path for my future. A luxury I never get to experience living in New York City.
This is similar to the “Think Weeks” that Bill Gates has made famous. “Twice a year Gates heads off solo to a cabin in the woods of Washington to ponder where technology is heading. He noshes lightly, guzzles lots of Diet Orange Crush and reads dozens of papers that Microsofties have submitted in advance to his technical assistant. The Wall Street Journal recently took a peek behind the scenes of this fascinating exercise. It looks like Scoble is on a similar track as he transitions jobs.” — (quoted from micropersuasion.com)
Going on vacations, attending conferences, taking a week off — these are versions of my “think weeks.” I, like many other people, find value in conferences in different ways. Lately, there’s been a lot of criticism all over the interwebs about how the conference model is dead. Nathaniel Whittemore from Change.org wrote an article titled “The Conference is Dead (…Does Anyone Care?)” stating that “that the conference model we have today – keynotes, plenary sessions, networking breaks, etc – is dead.”
And Jonathan Harris sums it up pretty nicely as well in his “World Building in a Crazy World” article:
Millions of dollars are spent each year at conferences that people attend to be inspired, to learn the latest memes and speak the latest jargon. They stand around in hotel lobbies, drinking bottled water and swapping business cards. They look at what everyone else is doing, and try to figure out how to apply what they see to their own particular endeavor. These conferences lead to what I call “city ideas”.
City ideas have to do with a particular moment in time, a scene, a movement, other people’s work, what critics say, or what’s happening in the zeitgeist. City ideas tend to be slick, sexy, smart, and savvy, like the people who live in cities. City ideas are often incremental improvements—small steps forward, usually in response to what your neighbor is doing or what you just read in the paper. City ideas, like cities, are fashionable. But fashions change quickly, so city ideas live and die on short cycles.
The opposite of city ideas are “natural ideas”, which account for the big leaps forward and often appear to come from nowhere. These ideas come from nature, solitude, and meditation. They’re less concerned with how the world is, and more with how the world could and should be.
So, the question I ask everyone is how would you reinvent the conference model from scratch?
As many of you know, I’m one of the curators/producers of The Feast here in NYC. If I could create the perfect “conference” for myself, it would be a “think week” that combines curated speakers, solitary time, and “un-conference” meetups. It would be in the middle of nowhere — let’s say Wyoming — and WiFi access would be a luxury. It wouldn’t be livestreamed because people watching it would get no value out of watching it from their cubicles. It would be an event for 50 people max, and the entire conference would be focused on YOU the individual. You can read entire books, do yoga every morning, attend curated speaker sessions, meet other people around specific topics, etc. The week is what you want to make of it for yourself.
At the end of the “think week” each attendee would have clarity on those big decisions they have to make for life, business, and pleasure. It would be like the TED Stefan Sagmeister talk “The Power of Time Off” but the length would be a week versus an entire year.
Here’s where the idea hits reality. Contrary to what a lot of people think, conferences do not make a lot of money. It takes years before sponsorship dollars and ticket sales start pouring in. TED has been around since 1984. That’s almost as old as I am! And the amount of time, work, and labor that goes into an event doesn’t even come close to the financial payoff.
So, this is where we draw the line in the sand. On one side, people are used to paying for conferences with big name speakers. Companies pay for their employees to attend these type of events. On the other side, people aren’t used to paying for “think weeks” in the middle of nowhere. Would you rather pay $250 to attend The Feast in New York City, or $2,500 (all-inclusive) to attend The Feast “Think Week” in Wyoming? As someone that puts together these types of events, I don’t want to end up losing money because people aren’t used to the concept. It’s much easier to sell tickets to an event people are used to paying for.
Let me know because if the conference model is dead, I’m up for changing the entire model in 2010.
Michael Karnjanaprakorn is the Co-Founder of All Day Buffet. You can follow his updates on Twitter.
11 responses so far ↓
1 Kim Carter // Nov 5, 2009 at 1:38 pm
The Feast was one of the absolute BEST development days I’ve had in a long time! Can’t wait for next year’s Feast. I’d LOVE to make it a Think Week, with “time out” for processing, co-creating and friendly critique!
2 Toby // Nov 5, 2009 at 1:49 pm
I wholeheartedly agree Michael. The conference industry is going to change dramatically in the next few year’s for a number of reasons.
Conferences have become prohibitively expensive to run, due to labor costs, venue costs and because organizers insist on controlling everything, from the program to who speaks and when.
Also, they have become prohibitively expensive to attend and now that organizations have slashed entertainment, travel and conference budgets, only the lucky (or not so lucky) few can attend.
Earlier this year I experience a completely difference kind of conference experience. I was very fortunate to be invited to The Overlap in Monterey, CA.
50 people max, there by invitation only. Thai Chi and long runs along the beach in the morning. Group walks, bodystorming, knowledge games, play and prototyping all contributed to literally a life changing experience.
Following the event, I cofounded thebetacup, which was an idea that I had prior the event, but came together during the event in ways I never believed possible.
The team, including cofoudners, collaborators, advisory board members and supporters were all formed over this incredible weekend and because we were able to explore ideas without constraint or the rigidity of a traditional conference, we were able to establish a bond that will no doubt continue to get stronger over time.
Most importantly, I don’t think we exchanged a single business card over the entire weekend.
@Tobyd
3 mikekarnj // Nov 5, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Toby,
I agree with everything you’re saying. Only thing is that conferences where they control everything usually have a higher quality output. It’s the difference between going to a music festival and a concert at a local bar.
I’m loving the idea behind The Overlap as that is something I would love to attend versus attending The Feast (which is something I produce myself). How much did it cost to attend The Overlap?
I’m really torn with The Feast. It’s a great event that a lot of people enjoy attending and experiencing. In 25 years time, it has the potential to be the next TED : ) but would it provide more value if we positioned it as think week instead?
Producing the conference in NYC is extremely expensive. When you factor in venue, catering, printing, travel, etc – it adds up pretty quickly. The $250 ticket we charge barely covers the expenses for the event. Even if we charged $500 a ticket, it still doesn’t make it financially worthwhile.
So, if I had to create something I find valuable, why not make it a think week every November? This allows people to reflect on the past year, and plan for the next 5. Even if no one showed up, I would still do it myself. And if 10 people showed up in 2010, I would still find it extremely valuable for myself and others.
4 Toby // Nov 5, 2009 at 3:21 pm
I’m not sure whether more control always equals higher quality output. It’s certainly true for TED, but TED is somewhat of an outlier.
Also, it’s probably worth defining what you mean by output. Experience? Impact? Connections? Learning?
I guess it comes down to what the experience ultimately translates into, which is of course output in some form.
Personally I loved the Feast, but more because of the purpose, not necessarily the format (although it’s worth saying that you executed brilliantly on the format, it’s just that it was a traditional format).
Think Week, or something like Overlap, are all together different in concept, design and in feel very unique in their execution.
I would challenge you to look at something traditional and turn every aspect of it on its head – everything. No wifi, no mobile phones, remote location, completely random group of people, no holds barred…
Overlap is brilliant and such buzz. Next year they’re coming to NYC, so it will be interesting to see how it adapts to more urban surroundings.
Let’s take this offline and I can tell you more about the experience and how to get involved.
5 Kim Carter // Nov 5, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Are these two mutually exclusive? Having participated in gatherings that truly leverage Harrison Owens’s Open Space Technology – which, from my naive point of view, is how I am making sense of Think Week — as well as The Feast, I would prefer to find the “both/and” rather than the “either/or.”
6 Johannes Kleske // Nov 5, 2009 at 4:03 pm
I would love a combination of The Feast and ThinkWeek. Start the week with a day like The Feast. I could have used a whole week of thinking and discussing after The Feast. My mind was full but I had to slip back into every day life and so the actual output of The Feast could have been much bigger, if I had the week after dedicated to it.
7 mikekarnj // Nov 5, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Wow. These are all great suggestions.
To clarify, we are still going to do The Feast 2010 in NYC. I’m just thinking outloud about different things we can do around a conference that benefits people.
I’m thinking about taking a Think Week from 12/26/09 – 1/2/10. Maybe I can take my experience and see if it can be replicated for 50 people in 2010? I love the idea of starting it with speakers like The Feast — getting completely inspired and having your brain explode with ideas. And spending the rest of the week riding off that momentum to figure out the big picture.
8 Taylor Davidson // Nov 5, 2009 at 6:35 pm
I love the idea of a think week, because I know a lot of us spend too much time chasing a ton of tactical details across a variety of projects, and need someone to pull us away from the joy of conflicting priorities.
As the same time, are times like that better for pure thinking or for applying our creative energies in different ways? Perhaps involve some humanitarian / volunteer efforts?
(I wish I had been able to make The Feast this year, btw)
9 links for 2009-11-06 » Johannes Kleske - tautoko weblog // Nov 6, 2009 at 3:31 am
[...] Reinventing the Conference Model "If I could create the perfect “conference” for myself, it would be a “think week” that combines curated speakers, solitary time, and “un-conference” meetups. It would be in the middle of nowhere — let’s say Wyoming — and WiFi access would be a luxury. It wouldn’t be livestreamed because people watching it would get no value out of watching it from their cubicles. It would be an event for 50 people max, and the entire conference would be focused on YOU the individual. You can read entire books, do yoga every morning, attend curated speaker sessions, meet other people around specific topics, etc. The week is what you want to make of it for yourself." (tags: conference productivity via:mento.info) [...]
10 Jay Sun // Dec 2, 2009 at 12:49 am
Hello Michael, enjoyed this thread. Check this retreat center in Barre, MA. You should consider this venue for your “Think Week”. Relative inexpensive for attendees and good setting for reflection i think.
http://www.dharma.org/ims/retreats.php
11 Daniel Scott Poynter // Dec 2, 2009 at 3:34 pm
I love the enthusiasm in this post and thread.
I’d like to attend a “Think Week.” Have you heard of the DO Lectures? Sounds *somewhat* similar to the DO lectures:
“fforest is unlike any other campsite. The accommodation is nestled into the landscape offering you full appreciation of the natural environment and wildlife. You’ll be sleeping in furnished tents on raised wooden decks, with space to sit out and take in the view.”
http://www.dolectures.co.uk/about-do/
BTW, I’ve *very* interested in designing (and experimenting with) conference experiences… I led a session at a Bar Camp called “Let us brainstorm brainstorming!” 14 people helped me think through all aspects: http://www.dansmind.com/?p=263
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