My colleague, Scott McKain just returned from addressing a major conference and spoke to the meeting planner about the previous year’s meeting.
She said, “We had industry experts, not professional speakers.”
He naturally had to follow up with, “Why did you have one for this year’s meeting?”
Her great response: “Industry experts are boring. We realized our registrations were down, not just because of the economy — but, who wants to make the effort to attend a boring meeting? Professional speakers bring more than content. “
Love that answer. There is so much more we can do. I just helped a client organize a panel of experts AND facilitated the conversation. I startd with narrowing down the questions, speaking to each panelist, bringing them together before hand and volia! No more boring talking heads but rather lively, engaging professionals. (Yes, I also delivered a keynote address) But hey—I am yours for the day so let me do more for you
Scott’s meeting planner was right: we do bring something extra to the party.