Author Archives: Dave Lutz

Four Ways To Get Your Conference Education Out Of A Rut

Tweet Ruts. We all have them. A rut is a settled or established habit or course of action, especially a boring one. It is usually a boring, predictable, stale routine. So, is your conference education stuck in a rut? Have you created predictable tracks and paths? If you’re like most meeting professionals, you start planning…

Do Not Let Your Legacy AMS Kill Your Conference

Tweet Here’s a newsflash for your IT department: Technology that is built for purpose (registration, expo sales, speaker management, etc.) does not need to integrate with your legacy association management system (AMS) in order to be implemented. Read that again! It’s true and something you need to understand before your AMS kills your conference. Your…

Donna Kastner Joins The Velvet Chainsaw Team

Tweet From Velvet Chainsaw’s Managing Director, Dave Lutz. I’m excited to announce that Donna Kastner is joining the Velvet Chainsaw team starting January 8, 2012 as Director, Education & Engagement! I had the privilege to work with Donna for several years when we were both with Experient. She’s someone that I know well and trust…

We Need a Little Community, Right This Very Minute!

Tweet Your organization is no longer the only game in town. Unless your business has golden handcuffs like certification, you’re probably having a challenge with retention and attracting new members. Your business needs an effective strategy to increase value and grow loyalty. The most urgent and critical opportunity for membership organizations to increase value and…

Bite-Sized Conference Sessions: Do They Work?

Tweet Shorter education sessions are not the secret sauce for making boring or ineffective conferences appetizing. They may be more innovative and less predictable. They are even more entertaining. Unfortunately, rapid-fire five-to-18-minute presentations don’t improve learning. Unless you intentionally add time for context and meaning making. Shorter Conference Session Trends There is a growing trend…