Next-Gen Conference Participants

Attracting the next-generation conference participant continues to be one of the highest priorities we hear from conference and trade show organizers. It’s been at, or near, the top of almost everyone’s list for over five years.

What our team has learned is that this challenge is less about age or generation, but more about the societal shifts and workforce mega-trends. The rapid increase in career jumping, the rise in gig workers and the evolution of jobs due to technology advancement and machine-learning are disrupting the traditional career pathways for many professions.

Today, we have a better idea of what is and isn’t working when it comes to attracting and serving next-audiences. In the links below, we’ve shared insights gathered from working with dozens of conference organizers.

We’re still searching for the best next practices. If you’ve developed a strategy for attracting next audiences that is seeing early success, could you reply to this newsletter or give me a jingle ?

On Thursday February 15 th at 1:00 PM EST, Jeff Hurt will be presenting a free webinar in partnership with our friends at CommPartners. It’s a new topic that is inspired by some of the latest brain science on learning. It’s Time to Go Full Frontal! How to Drive Transformative Thinking by Effectively Leveraging Your Frontal Lobe . If you’d like to participate, click here to review and register. 

P.S. We've launched a Speaker Matchmaking service exclusively for current and former clients. Find out more about it here .

February 2018
Video: Josh Packard, PhD, on Why Millennials Distrust Institutions
Join Jeff Hurt for a free webinar on February 15, 1-2 pm EST. “It’s Time to Go Full Frontal: How to Drive Transformative Thinking by Effectively Leveraging Your Frontal Lobe." Brought to you by CommPartners
One of the fastest-growing next markets, which is often overlooked is that of the perennial--people of all ages who understand that age is not a limiting factor. They stay current with the world, embrace technology, build relationships with people of all ages and most importantly, they embrace curiosity and learning.
Instead of limiting our conference growth plans to a specific generation, let’s consider next audiences.Then we can discuss a variety of markets of any age, not just younger generations. When we address next audiences, we plan conferences for participants from four different generations, not just next-gen.

While every conference organizer has unique issues, I’ve picked up on a few key indicators to help you develop your attendee succession-plan strategy.

Let’s take a look at learning experience design, user experience design and purpose and passion alignment as you reimagine your conference program for future audiences.