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Care and Feeding
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The Future of Professional Conferences

Debbie Meyers
Founder and Chief Inspiration Officer, EDiT!

Stock illustration of a woman sitting at a computer engaging with several other people in a virtual space.

Photo Credit: Adobe Stock

“Why don’t we talk about our failures in conferences? While we all want to showcase our successes, we tend to gloss over the things that went wrong.”

“Is enough data being presented at conferences or is the focus on anecdotal success?”

“It’s a shame how infrequently we have real debates about topics.”

“My travel budget is being cut, and I’m not going to any conferences this year, so how will I get my professional development?”

“My boss gets to go to all the conferences. I’ve never been to one.”

Before COVID turned our professional worlds upside down and inside out, conferences pretty much stayed status quo without much disruption. But now, professional development is facing a brave new world of options.

Fast forward to today. Now that we’ve had the luxury of learning in sweatpants in our home offices, will we travel to different time zones and stay in hotels to further our professional skills and knowledge?

“What we saw at the onset of the pandemic was complete accessibility for professional development,” said Matt Manfra, Vice President of Advancement for Georgian Court University. “Almost all the barriers were being removed. Webinars were plentiful, in-person conferences went virtual, and as a result, more people had access.”

Vendors, institutions, consultants, and practitioners were offering virtual gatherings, usually free. Though we couldn’t congregate in person, we had options. Though we can gather in person, some in-person conferences are moving back to virtual. Which makes you wonder — what will future conferences offer? 

In June 2021, Louis Diez, Executive Director of Annual Giving at Muhlenberg College, and fundraising consultant Jim Langley asked that very question. 

Their conversation inspired Matt to convene a Think Tank of Donor Participation Project committee members with one standing agenda item: what advice should we give to conference presenters and conference committees based on our experiences since the start of the pandemic?

“I had such an amazing time working with practitioners from across North America discussing things that work, didn’t work while exploring future opportunities and successes,” Matt said. “They are thought leaders who discussed practical and inspirational options.”

Committee work began at the philosophical level, with this observation: As a popular means of professional development, conferences should be opportunities to elevate our industry by providing attendees with experiences to communicate and demonstrate the value of our work.

Professional development is more crucial now, as we cross-train and create more hybrid positions within our areas.

“As budgets for professional development (PD) continue to shrink, organizations are seeking low-cost, high-value opportunities for all members of the team to participate,” Matt said. “And employees with full plates can provide only a limited time to participate in PD, putting pressure on organizations and employees alike to participate in truly worthwhile professional development activities.”

That’s where the Think Tank began in proposing some changes to the conference status quo that existed without much disruption before the pandemic.  

These five common themes have to do with shifting the philosophy behind why we gather, Matt noted.

  • Accessibility — everyone got (mostly free) professional development in 2020 virtually and that faucet is being turned off again.  

  • Cost (time and money) — while it’s lovely to be in Miami in January for a conference, if you’re on the West coast you have a costly flight, only to arrive in the city during their peak tourist season. 

  • Health and safety — vaccines, masks, vaccination cards can be a hot button topic for some participants and in some locations. In a recent DPP poll of over 200 people, 46 percent said the top deciding factor to attend a conference this spring was health and safety. 

  • Content — the second most important point from the recent DPP poll, content significantly drives conference participation.  

  • Connections – we attend conferences to develop and maintain our professional network. Not being able to gather in person has impaired professional networking, much like working remotely doesn’t allow us to have the water cooler talk we had when we were fully staffed in the office.  

These themes play out in all aspects of conference planning, from the content committee function to conference delivery to speaker compensation and sponsorship participation.

Conference Content Committees

Long gone should be the days where a secret selection committee decides which sessions are or aren’t included in a conference, Matt said. Attendees should be able to vote for sessions that most interest them — kind of like a “Shark Tank.”

“What if we shifted the session proposal from an application to a video teasing out the topic while explaining its importance?” he said. “This would give presenters the opportunity to demonstrate their content knowledge and their presentation skills. Or, if you’d prefer to write a creative narrative, why shouldn’t you?” 

Allowing participants to choose conference content would enable the content committee to shift their focus to encouraging a diverse array of applicants to present and attend. The diversity of presenters, attendees, and offerings should be the top priority.

Moreover, sessions should give attendees the chance to hear prevailing, though opposing, ideas toward a solution, Matt said. 

“This model encourages public and moderated civil discourse and debate,” he noted. “Current thought leaders will shine in this model, and it will help develop the next generation of thought leadership from attendees and participants. It’s through true professional discourse that we’ll solve some of the biggest challenges we face as an industry and create some variety for conference presenters.

What Does Success Look Like?

Practically speaking, here are some tangible ways for conference committees to be successful.

1. Conferences Organized by Cohorts or Theme

Where possible, focus on peer groups for professional development, like similar institutions or similar functions. This model allows the cross-pollination of ideas from other industries. For example, a conference on annual giving would attract practitioners from independent schools, nonprofits, and higher education since each of these organizations have an annual giving function.

2. Reverse Conference Sessions

Create deep-dive virtual conference models where attendees come prepared to work and share specific work products with other attendees. Conference presenters act as moderators and conveners in a group environment where attendees are center stage, sharing their ideas, successes, and failures with the group. A virtual format works well here, with attendees sharing their screens and their examples with the full group.

3. Virtual Presentation Tips

Presenters and conference committees should recognize that presenting virtually is different than in person. For example, presenters need to bring much more energy to their virtual presentations. Conference committees should provide dress rehearsals with presenters and moderators and use the time to review content and presentation delivery in a virtual environment.

4. Evaluations That Matter

Conference attendees can provide rich feedback yet they often see the evaluation as a housekeeping item bordering on nuisance. By incentivizing — even gamifying — those who complete evaluations, conference committees will receive the feedback they need for future planning. 

Conference Delivery

The Think Tank discussed three formats:

  1. Virtual

The most convenient, accessible, and cost-effective for all parties, this format can run the risk of being devoid of quality interaction between the presenter and attendees, and among the attendees themselves. 

To enhance engagement, conference committees should provide presenters with practical tools needed for good virtual engagement, like break-out rooms, chat functions, and places for questions and answers. By offering sessions that encourage debate, attendees can weigh in on different solutions.  

“How amazing that instant polling can be deployed in these sessions to gauge audience interest in a topic and can be the way for attendees to determine if the presenters should dive deeper into a specific area or shift their focus,” Matt added. “It’s Choose Your Own Adventure in the conference world!”

Other suggestions:

  • Having a dedicated virtual moderator for the chat and polling functions will provide a smooth presentation. Presenters can focus on their content and the moderator can help facilitate the discussion and promote virtual engagement.

  • Since virtual engagement offers the conference committee flexibility, virtual conferences should not be days-long events. Instead, they should be short spurts to maximize attendees’ attention. Sessions should also be recorded, so attendees have access to every session. 

  • To create deeper engagement with presenters and attendees, committees should establish and maintain virtual meet-ups for those who participated in the virtual conference. Although these meet-ups are not a direct substitute for in-person engagement, they do help attendees develop and enhance professional relationships. 

    These meet-ups should take place a few times after the conference has concluded so attendees can discuss what they’ve learned from the conference sessions and how they are applying that content in their organization (or not). These also can be conducted regionally, in person.

“While virtual conferencing limits some connections, we’ve found a way to socialize and connect virtually,” he said. “These platforms have advantages. I attended a virtual conference where I was able to find someone I wanted to engage with and was whisked to the room they were in. No introduction needed. No scoping out exits or entrances. Try to do that at a massive in-person gathering.”

Digital platforms can recreate the Conference Lobby, the Vendor Hall, and even the lobby bar – but it’s BYOB. They can mitigate the anxiety that can sometimes come from in-person conferences. 

“There’s a fear of missing out when in person,” Matt said. “Depending on the size of the conference there can sometimes be cliques that emerge. One member of the Think Tank mentioned that presenting to 100 people in a room can be more nerve-wracking than 100 people on Zoom. “

  1.  In-Person 

Before executing any in-person conference, the conference committee should frankly discuss and decide if the conference is best delivered in person AND determine if any aspects will have virtual attendees or presenters. 

The Think Tank recommends that if a conference is being hosted on location, choose one that offers participants a format where they gather in small groups or break into cohorts of similar function and create an experience of an intensive institute-style conference. This allows the conference format to be concentrated, and it limits the days participants are out of the office and need transportation, food, and lodging, which is important for busy and budget-conscious participants.

“Although I’m not a travel agent, when choosing a location, seek spots that are off-season,” Matt suggested. “Phoenix conferences in the summer may bring hot temperatures, but transportation and lodging costs are considerably lower than their peak months.”

As conference committees create schedules, they should consider not having concurrent sessions so attendees can be at every session. If attendees aren’t interested in a session, they can go to a dedicated networking space for further conversation. 

And like the virtual conference option, in-person conferences should provide attendees and presenters with virtual or in-person meet-ups after the conference for more discussion and professional networking.

  1. Hybrid 

Conferences that take place in person and have virtual participation can be challenging to execute because you have two distinct audiences with specific needs, and neither can be an afterthought, Matt cautioned. 

“Getting in-person and virtual audiences to interact with each other can be a difficult task, particularly if you have a group in a ballroom and virtual attendees watching from their offices or homes,” he said. “Consider a model where the first part of the conference is purely in person and the second portion is virtual with complementary content. The virtual content can be a mix from recorded in-person sessions and new sessions delivered via a virtual platform.”

If the conference is taking place in person with virtual presenters or attendees, ensure the virtual component is fully staffed with professionals managing the chat function and including the virtual participants in the presentation.

Speaker Compensation

Regardless of conference format, speakers should be compensated. And, the compensation should be holistic — including the time and energy needed to prepare for the actual presentation. 

Having compensated speakers will encourage more junior members of the industry to participate and set the expectation that all speakers will be prepared with thoughtful and complete content. It’s the old adage, you get what you pay for. 

Mitigating Conference Registration Costs

Think Tank members strongly felt that conference attendance should not be only for senior-level staff, but for all members of an organization. To provide the highest level of accessibility, conference committees should seek fair registration fees that increase access.  

For instance, conference committees should use a sliding scale based on organization size when creating their budgets and provide discounted or complimentary rates where appropriate. Conference volunteers, for example, may be able to attend a conference at a discounted rate provided they perform those essential tasks that every conference needs.

Matt noted, “The pandemic proliferated the number of organizations and companies that provide free or low-cost PD, so the market has changed. Conference attendees will vote with their feet if the PD they are receiving is overpriced, ineffective or uninspiring.”

A Word on Conference Sponsors

Matt noted that the landscape for conference sponsorship is also shifting as virtual and hybrid conference models evolve. With these models, we still need sponsors and we should encourage them to actively participate in the conference.  

Examples include exclusively live-tweeting the conference events, serving as chat moderators, serving as conference volunteers and presenters (with relevant content). 

Sponsors should have opportunities to be showcased and not simply provide live commercials for their organization or product. Conference attendees will seek out sponsors who provide substantial input and insight.

 

Having worked in advancement for more than 30 years, Debbie Meyers has honed her editorial skills by writing countless acknowledgments, talking points, proposals, gift agreements, and impact reports.

During that time, she created or enhanced operations, communications, donor relations, and stewardship programs at Chautauqua Institution, the University of Maryland, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Florida. She also built communications and development programs for a Catholic high school, an art museum, and a health center development office.

An ADRP founding board member, she chaired the international conference in 2011 and has presented at every other one.

Living in married bliss in Mayville, NY, with her high school drum major, Paul, she has four grown children and three grandchildren, along with two rescue mutts: Bo, a pit-lab, and Marco Polo, a chihuahua.

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