This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jeffhurt: Roast Your Conventional Thinking: Reverse Your Perspective http://bit.ly/aUCgwa #eventprofs…

Room layout: When running sessions where everyone was encouraged to contribute, until about ten years ago I was sloppy about how people sat; in a ragged inward-facing circle/rectangle of scattered chairs, sometimes in a couple of rows. People “in the back” tuned out, and when someone spoke there were always people who couldn’t see them. Not any more. I’ve found that setting out a neat single circle of chairs (having reserved a room that was big enough) creates a much more intimate environment, leading to better sharing and learning during the session.

Presenter pitches: Used to be, when exhibitor reps were going to present at conference sessions, I’d remind them beforehand not to blatantly push their product or service. After my request was ignored one too many times, to the widespread annoyance of attendees, I decided – enough! Let the conference participants decide! These days the agreement is that exhibitor reps can attend sessions but cannot speak about what they’re selling unless they are specifically asked to by the participants. Now, attendees have the responsibility for how much, if any, pitch they hear and I’m out of the loop.