Those of us in the events business are doing a pretty terrible job.

Here’s what I mean…

In a typical conference, the opening experience usually entails some sort of theatrical excitement like pyrotechnics exploding onstage while the Parkour team and stomp group dance around or a high definition widescreen opening video with rock concert level audio. But when all this excitement ends, we are inevitably left with an executive going through a PowerPoint deck.

Yawn.

…Time to check my email, update my Facebook and Tweet about how boring this conference is turning out to be.  I wonder where they moved that Welcome Reception with the free shrimp...

It’s time for us to wake up and come to terms with the fact that most of our audience is sitting there with high speed, interactive entertainment and communications devices on their laps like iPhones, iPads, Galaxy Tablets and Smartphones. We are continually competing with these devices for our audience’s attention and guess what? We are going to lose.

Instead of fighting with these things, we should be using them to our advantage.  And I don’t just mean using them to provide conference agendas, speaker bios and useful updates like the fact that the Welcome Reception has been moved to Conference Room B (as much as I wanted to know that).  I mean we need to provide content in an engaging and interactive way that provides the attendee a richer experience.

And let’s not forget that a big portion of our audience isn’t even in the room.  Most conferences now include a webcast component, which is a great way to reach a larger audience, but quite honestly the only thing more boring than watching an executive go through a PowerPoint deck in a ballroom is watching the same thing on a computer screen.  I know we have lots of virtual meeting technology available but I just don’t think that a Sim City, Second Life experience with my Avatar watching videos and chatting with faceless people manning booths is the answer either.

I’m just saying that with all the great technology at our fingertips, we have to do a better job of using it to engage our audiences in ways that will actually get them to understand our products better or improve their brand loyalty or desire to buy more or sell more or believe more deeply in our cause.  Isn’t that why we are having this conference in the first place?

Now I don’t have all the answers but I bet if I had a room full of smart people they could figure this out, and maybe they’d let me watch.  So I’m going to stop writing and go find a room full of smart people.  Maybe I’ll see you there.