How to Run a Useless Conference – my take

I just finished reading Seth Godin’s blog on useless
conferences and I’m compelled to write. One week ago I had the misfortune to
attend just such a conference. It was a completely average day filled with the
exchange of completely average information in an average facility. Oh
yeah…serving an average lunch.

When you get used to remarkable…average is a tough pill to
swallow. We sat through a day jammed with presentations; one right after the
other. And the presentations were the old Power Point style…50 or 60 slides each
with around 200 words on each slide, organized into bullets that the presenter
would merely read to us. Ugh!

I suppose that as an exchange of information it wasn’t too
bad. The problem was I’ve gotten spoiled by remarkability. I’m used to going to
conferences that inspire me—a conference experience that makes me think BIG
thoughts, conferences full of music, conferences full of creativity and ideas, conferences
in locations that inspire deep thoughts. Sadly, this was not that.

But…I’m thinking. If over 120 people would show up and pay
$100 for an all-day seminar that does a poor job of communicating average
information in a non-descript hotel in the middle of a dreadful Metroplex
industrial park, maybe there’s a market out there for the kind of learning
experiences I envision organizing one day soon. Stay tuned…