What are the best ways to keep your conference relevant to current industry trends?

1 Know your audience

The first step to keeping your conference relevant is to know who you are targeting and what they want. You can use surveys, interviews, social media, and analytics to gather feedback and insights from your potential and past attendees. Find out what topics, speakers, formats, and experiences they are interested in, and what pain points, goals, and needs they have. This will help you tailor your conference agenda, content, and marketing to their preferences and expectations.

2 Monitor the industry

The second step to keeping your conference relevant is to monitor the industry trends and developments that affect your audience. You can use sources like blogs, podcasts, newsletters, reports, and research papers to stay updated on the latest news, innovations, and best practices in your field. You can also follow influencers, experts, and thought leaders who share their insights and opinions on social media, webinars, and podcasts. This will help you identify the hot topics, emerging issues, and future opportunities that your conference should address.

3 Adapt to the context

The third step to keeping your conference relevant is to adapt to the context and circumstances that influence your audience. You can use scenarios, forecasts, and scenarios to anticipate the possible changes and challenges that your industry might face in the near and long term. You can also use feedback, data, and evaluation to measure the impact and effectiveness of your conference and make improvements accordingly. This will help you adjust your conference format, delivery, and value proposition to the current and future needs and expectations of your audience.

4 Involve your stakeholders

The fourth step to keeping your conference relevant is to involve your stakeholders in the planning, execution, and evaluation of your conference. You can use collaboration, co-creation, and participation tools and methods to engage your speakers, sponsors, partners, and attendees in the design, development, and delivery of your conference. You can also use communication, recognition, and reward strategies to build relationships, trust, and loyalty with your stakeholders. This will help you create a sense of ownership, community, and value among your conference participants.

5 Experiment with new ideas

The fifth step to keeping your conference relevant is to experiment with new ideas and approaches that can enhance your conference experience and outcomes. You can use creativity, innovation, and experimentation techniques and tools to generate, test, and implement new concepts, formats, and features for your conference. You can also use feedback, data, and evaluation to measure the results and learn from the successes and failures of your experiments. This will help you discover new ways to attract, engage, and satisfy your conference audience.

6 Learn from others

The sixth step to keeping your conference relevant is to learn from others who are organizing or attending conferences in your industry or related fields. You can use benchmarking, networking, and learning opportunities to observe, interact, and exchange with other conference organizers, speakers, and attendees. You can also use analysis, reflection, and action to identify the best practices, lessons learned, and gaps and opportunities for your conference. This will help you improve your conference performance, quality, and impact.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?