This week Thom Singer lead a “Brain Power” session at a large industry conference with 400 participants. The idea is to change up the general session to not just be another talking head keynote. At live meetings and all industry conferences there are many speakers on the main stage and in the breakout sessions, but across the board participants often cite the impromptu hallway conversations as some of the best parts of attending an event.
Serendipity of talking shop with peers at live meetings can be magic. Hearing and idea or best practice that you can take into work and implement is worth the whole cost of attending a convention. But can serendipity be planned? Thom Singer says YES. He has created these “Brain Power” sessions to replace the keynote and make the attendees the star of the show.
But this is not just a “sit at the table and talk about topics” session. It is curated and hosted discussions that involves meeting people, identifying ideas, sharing, and networking. People come to live meetings to learn and network, and this general session delivers it all.
Meeting planners are hungry for fresh ideas, but they cannot go wild. We cannot move business conferences to the dessert and have a Burning Man style meeting (or can we? Hmmmmmm???). Most association conferences and business meetings still need to be in the structure of a hotel ballroom and a manageable agenda. But do people need to be sitting and only hearing keynotes? Or can they take their learning into their own hands. This is part facilitated discussion and part “Un-Conference”. All held together by “The Conference Catalyst”.
For over eleven years Thom Singer has been working as a speaker, emcee, and facilitator for live meetings in a variety of industries. He is know as “The Conference Catalyst” for how he changes the vibe at a live event and gets people to engage more (while often not holding their phones in their hands while chatting with people). So many participants claim they want more networking and connection, but fail to achieve any of it while at the event. Thom changes that.
If you are planning an event, conference, convention, seminar or any live meetings – you will want to hear episode #538 of “Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do” and you might want to contact Thom about the programs he offers and how he customizes the content for your specific needs.
About Thom Singer
Thom Singer is a keynote speaker and corporate master of ceremonies. As a speaker or EmCee he combines a robust mix of actionable content with a high-energy delivery style. He is the author of twelve books on the power of business relationships, networking, presentations skills, legal marketing, and entrepreneurship. He is also the host of the popular “Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do Podcast”. Thom inspires audiences to move beyond the superficial connections of “likes”, “links”, “shares “ and “follows” in our social media crazy world and re-embrace the long-term and mutually beneficial relationships that lead to more business.