Why do you dislike conferences?

by mikekarnj on September 25, 2008

(Update (10/2/08): Thanks to swissmiss for pointing out that “hate” is a strong word, so I’ve changed it to “dislike”)

As I’m putting together and curating The Feast Conference, I’ve started to generate some new ideas to make the entire conference experience unique and different.  As someone that goes to a lot of conferences, I have developed a personal list of things I would like to see that I’m incorporating..

1)  No panel discussions.  I haven’t been to any panel discussions that added any value, were informative or useful.  It’s just a bunch of people having a big ego-fest or one guy dominating all of the speaking to prove that he is the smartest one in the room.

2)  18-minute presentations.  All speakers at The Feast will stick to a strict 18-minute presentation (TED-style) to make sure that they present concise, short, and inspirational presentations/talks.  I read somewhere that the average attention span for a person ranges around the 10-minute mark.  We’ve decided that 18-minutes would be a good time frame, and would also prevent speakers from digressing on a tangent.

3)  Breaks between each speaker. We’ll be adding some type of multimedia experience between each speaker.  Kind of like eating ginger between each sushi roll.  We’ll be playing music videos, short 3-5 minute films to switch things up.

4)  Young Stunner Speakers. We’ve brought in young speakers who will wow the crowd with their valuable insights and passion.  There’s so much to learn from this group!

5)  Extra long breaks. I have an extreme case of ADD so I get restless when I have to sit for a long time.  We’re giving a 30-minute break every 1.5 hours to give people to relax, network, and eat!

6)  Networking opportunities. We’re sending personal emails to introduce people to each other BEFORE the conference.  This gives them the ability to have at least one person to approach and talk to when they come to The Feast.  We have a bunch of other networking ideas but we’ll keep those secret as we can’t reveal all of them.

7)  Healthy organic food. We’ll be providing organic, natural, and healthy food that should energize people and not make them suffer from “food coma” which happens at most conferences.  We’re not counting corners as all of our food will be locally sourced.  Mmmmm delicious…

8)  Legendary After Party. I mean, who doesn’t like to party?

9)  Great Speakers. Unlike most conferences, we’ve spent a lot of time curating a great speaker lineup to ensure high quality, mind-blowing speeches.

So, I guess that leads to my next question.  What else can I do to ensure a great experience at The Feast?  Even if we can’t incorporate it into the conference this year, it’s something we can add to The Feast 2009.

  1. What are some things you’ve liked about conferences?
  2. What are some thing frustrate you?
  3. What are some thing you’d like to see?
  4. What would make The Feast crazy awesome?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

The idea for The Feast came from a couple of places. Being based in New York, we’ve noticed a strong creative and social community without an outlet to spark innovation and connect with other likeminded innovators. Couple that with most conferences being lame (i.e. panels where the speakers brag about themselves) and the ridiculously high prices that conferences like TED and Pop!Tech were charging; we decided to bring something unique, creative, and affordable to the NYC community.  Hopefully, it’ll be a unique, inspiring, and extraordinary experience for everyone!

  • http://exitcreative.net/blog/ Clay Parker Jones

    Sounds great, man.

    Looking forward to hearing more about it. I’ll hit you up on IM if I have any ideas on the 4 things you asked.

  • http://bigsecretpizzaparty.typepad.com amber

    this is awesome – i hate panel discussions for the same reasons! conferences are funny – they’re sort of like awards shows, in that potentially, it’s the same people coming each time, and they’re all just talking to each other. It’s cool that you’re getting new and different people in there!

    also, i don’t think they should cost a lot. I know they can be expensive to put on, but if the organizers know as much about marketing as they claim to, you’d think they’d be able to get some sponsors.

  • http://www.cicadaonline.com/josh Josh

    For some it seems the hardest thing to do is have a good conference. Beyond good speakers, breaks and interesting multimedia, interaction is the key. Being self-employed with a small network, if i choose to go to a conference I want to have the opportunity to meet and “work” with people. Why can’t there be brainy exercises where you can have fun and learn with people. Instead of talking to people(which is well and good sometimes), why not let people interact, make better connections instead of these cheap…here’s my card interactions.

    Conference goers have all the time after 5pm to get drunk.

  • http://designnotes.info/?p=1537 DesignNotes by Michael Surtees » Blog Archive » Link Drop for the Week Ending in Friday the 3rd (October 2008)

    [...] Why do you hate conferences? Michael Karnjanaprakorn wrote: “As I’m putting together and curating The Feast Conference, I’ve started to generate some new ideas to make the experience unique and different. As someone that goes to a lot of conferences, I have developed a personal list of things I would like to see that I’m incorporating…” [...]

  • http://www.jackcheng.com Jack Cheng

    One thing I hate is how it’s always the same people going to these conferences. Nothing against seeing and hanging out with acquaintances, but a more diverse audience would make it more exciting from a networking/interaction perspective.

    Also, I like hearing about topics that are totally unfamiliar with or that I might not agree with. I’m always nodding my head at these conferences, and I’d like them to push me outside my comfort zone. If I have to sit through another talk about social media, I’m going to shoot myself.

  • http://www.mikekarnj.com mikekarnj

    Jack: Totally agree with you. I think you’re referring to the advertising industry conferences though. I stopped going to those because you’re right – you run into the same people all the time. One of the great things about The Feast will be the diverse audience – we’ve selected speakers from so many different industries, and at the same time, invited so many people from different industries that it promises to be a great crowd!

    Josh: Totally agree with the networking aspects – that’s the whole reason to go to a conference! For 2009, we have a whole day planned of different things that our attendees will be able to do. We just didn’t have the time or money to plan it this year but it should hold for an exciting one next year!

  • http://creativebusinessbasics.com/?p=290 Link Drop for the Week Ending in Friday the 3rd (October 2008) | business

    [...] Why do you hate conferences? Michael Karnjanaprakorn wrote: “As I’m putting together and curating The Feast Conference, I’ve started to generate some new ideas to make the experience unique and different. As someone that goes to a lot of conferences, I have developed a personal list of things I would like to see that I’m incorporating…” [...]

  • http://www.cicadaonline.com/josh Josh

    My only regret is anything good seems to be always happening in New York. My previous city, Minneapolis, doesn’t seem to have the need to have conferences. Sure a couple here and there about Flash and such, but having such a strong creative community, it was a shame it rarely was put to good. Now i’m in Seattle and who knows what is going on here besides MS employing everyone.

    The lineup looks pretty interesting this year. I guess i’ll need to play the lottery more.