Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Why I Hate Conferences!

I have attended five conferences over the past seven months and have noticed a disturbing trend. All these conferences were focused on eLearning and/or workplace learning. And although many presenters spoke of the brave new world of training and the need to do things differently and to engage learners in new and innovative ways, each event was really no different than any conferences that have happened over the last few hundred years.

The pattern is a familiar one. Gather in a big room and be talked at for an hour or so. Then adjourn to smaller rooms where the same thing happens, only on a smaller scale. Repeat this for three days, until your butt is sore, your knees have seized up, and you are bored to tears. We seem to talk a lot about the importance of interaction and engagement in the training field, but are lousy at practicing what we preach. If you are lucky, you can ask the odd question here and there, but for the most part you experience a very passive mode of learning.

There is often a lot of talk about the importance of sharing the collective knowledge and experience of all those in attendance at the conference, but, in practice, there are really precious few opportunities to do so.

Elliott Masie tried to reverse some of these trends in the Learning 2005 Conference last fall. There were opportunities to network electronically with other conference participants both before and after the event. However, the event itself was pretty much the standard sit there and listen model.

You would think as "learning experts" that we would realize that gathering people together physically in one place is a precious opportunity and that we should make the most of it by encouraging rich, meaningful, real-time interactions. However, we often squander these opportunities. For example, at the recent eLearning Producers Conference in Boston, I sat through a one-hour discussion about simulations and another one on gaming in training. We talked about simulations and games. We didn't see any simulations or games, nor did we experience any (we didn't even see screen shots of examples). This was rather surreal. It was much like going to an art gallery, being blind-folded, and having someone describe what was on the walls. All I could think was, "I waited for hours in an airport lounge for this?" We could have accomplished the same result via a conference call.

We need a new model of conference, one that is based on collaboration, idea sharing, learning-by-experiencing, and learning-by-doing. I encourage anyone interested in exploring a new model of conference to drop me a line. Sore butts of the world unite!

11 Comments:

Blogger Tony Karrer said...

Rick - I had seen your blog before because of one of your posts and had used your feed link to subscribe, but something seems to be wrong with your feedburner link (I should go test mine). In any case, when I subscribed directly to your atom feed, no problems. But feedburner shows your last post as sometime in 2005.

Good stuff and I'm definitely going to comment on your conferences post.

2:52 PM  
Blogger Tony Karrer said...

I completely agree that its amazing we don't do a better job with conferences. I've put a couple of my thoughts around this on my blog at:

eLearning Technology: More Effective Conferences for Learning Professionals

eLearning Technology: More Questions on Making Learning for Learning Professionals More Effective

I'm going to post some additional comments on this topic shortly based on some discussions over the past few weeks.

2:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello Rick,

Have you ever been to a LAN party? You know where everyone brings their computer and they play a game, usually a first person shooter, against one another. I think we can learn something from gamers and how they organize their events. Thinking beyond the current expectations and paradigm of conferences.

BTW: I found your site through a post I read on DEOS. I have been around distance education/elearning for awhile -- I can't believe its been 10 year since graduating from the ed tech masters program at San Diego State. Anyway, as co-founder of Distance-Educator.com, I made suggestions (about 9 years ago) to established conferences about adding computer mediated collaborative opportunities to conferences but they weren't interested. I've found people don't like change, so they don't. Over the years I made several other attempts, still with no luck. But I haven't given up.

Regards,

Vanessa Haakenson
Distance-Educator.com

1:11 AM  
Blogger Rick Nigol said...

Thanks for your comments Tony and Vanessa. Maybe we could start a movement to create really good creative collaboartive online conferences? All I know is that I am tired of the same old, same old...

Rick

9:47 AM  
Blogger Terrence Seamon said...

Hey Rick,

I know what you mean about the excruciating torture of some conferences...

Here's an article on "unconferences":

http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/05/technology/business2_unconference0606/index.htm?cnn=yes

Excerpt:

"Welcome to the weird world of unconferences, a trend that is shaking up the $122 billion conference industry. These inexpensive, informal gatherings - like BarCamp, BrainJams, and Foo Camp – are conceived as little as weeks in advance. All were started in the past few years by Valley types bored with the usual calendar of confabs.

"We figured there was much more expertise in the audience than there possibly could be onstage," says BarCamp co-founder Ryan King.

Unconferences break the barrier between the two. Attendees write topics they're interested in on boards, consolidate the topics, and then break into discussion groups.

At traditional conferences, the most productive moments often occur in the corridor between meetings; at unconferences, attendees like to say, it's all corridor.

HOW TO HOST AN UNCONFERENCE:

1) Create a wiki - a Web-based tool for knowledge sharing - so attendees can sign up and discuss proposed topics. See BarCamp.org and BrainJams.org for help with wiki setup.

2) Find sponsors that are willing to assist without interfering. Unconference sponsors have donated everything from lunch to the venue itself.

3) Post author Harrison Owen's Law of Two Feet: Any person neither learning from nor contributing to a group discussion must walk to another one"

Intrguing eh?

Terry

9:15 AM  
Blogger Rick Nigol said...

Thanks Terry...the "unconference"...I like the concept.

The thing I really like about the new technologies is that a lot of the gatekeepers are cut out of the loop. It is now easy to publish things without publishers and to organize meetings without meeting organizers. There are trends I like....

Rick

4:10 PM  
Blogger Ib Ravn said...

Rick, I agree with you completely. At my institution, Learning Lab Denmark, we're doing some research and development on alternative conference formats that allow for much more F2F participant involvement and interaction. We call it "the learning conference". Allow me to stick in here an abstract from a paper I wrote. I'll be back and read more of your stuff. Find more here: www.dpu.dk/om/ibr. Best, Ib Ravn.

Abstract for paper, "The Learning Conference": "The typical one-day conference attended by managers or professionals in search of in-spiration is packed with PowerPoint presentations and offers little opportunity for in-volvement or knowledge sharing. Behind the conventional conference format lurks the transfer model of learning, which finds little support amongst serious students of learn-ing. The professional conference as a forum for knowledge sharing is in dire need of a new learning theory and a more enlightened practice. The notion of human flourishing is offered as basis for theory, and four simple design principles for “the learning conference” are proposed: People go to conferences to 1. get concise input, 2. inter-pret it in the light of their ongoing concerns, 3. talk about their current projects and 4. meet the other attendees and be inspired by them. Six practical techniques that induce attendees to do these things at the learning conference are presented."

3:34 PM  
Blogger Rick Nigol said...

Thanks for your contribution Ib....good stuff! We in the learning business should be organizing "Learning Conferences."

Rick

3:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

warhammer gold warhammer money warhammer accounts tibia money tibia gold tibia item runescape accounts buy runescape accounts runescape money runescape gold runescape gp runescape power leveling runescape powerleveling cheap rs2 powerleveling runescape equipment buy rs equipment runescape runes cheap rs2 runes runescape logs cheap rs2 logs runescape items buy runescape items runescape quest point rs2 quest point cheap runescape questpoint runescape gold runescape items runescape power leveling runescape money runescape gold buy runescape gold buy runescape money runescape items runescape accounts runescape gp runescape accounts runescape money runescape power leveling runescape powerleveling tibia gold dofus kamas buy dofus kamas wow power leveling wow powerleveling runescape questpoint rs2 questpoint Warcraft PowerLeveling Warcraft Power Leveling World of Warcraft PowerLeveling World of Warcraft Power Leveling Hellgate money Hellgate gold buy runescape logs buy rs2 items cheap runescape items Hellgate London gold Guild Wars Gold buy Guild Wars Gold runescape items rs2 accounts cheap rs2 equipments lotro gold buy lotro gold buy runescape money buy runescape gold buy runescape runes lotro gold buy lotro gold runescape money runescape gold cheap rs2 powerleveling eve isk eve online isk buy runescape power leveling rs2 power leveling tibia gold tibia item runescape accounts Fiesta Silver Fiesta Gold Scions of Fate Gold Hellgate Palladium Hellgate London Palladium SOF Gold Age Of Conan Gold AOC Gold ArchLord gold tibia money tibia gold runescape accounts runescape gold cheap rs2 powerleveling buy ArchLord gold DDO Plat Dungeons and Dragons Online Plat

2:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

warhammer gold warhammer money warhammer accounts tibia money tibia gold tibia item runescape accounts buy runescape accounts runescape money runescape gold runescape gp runescape power leveling runescape powerleveling cheap rs2 powerleveling runescape equipment buy rs equipment runescape runes cheap rs2 runes runescape logs cheap rs2 logs runescape items buy runescape items runescape quest point rs2 quest point cheap runescape questpoint runescape gold runescape items runescape power leveling runescape money runescape gold buy runescape gold buy runescape money runescape items runescape accounts runescape gp runescape accounts runescape money runescape power leveling runescape powerleveling tibia gold dofus kamas buy dofus kamas wow power leveling wow powerleveling runescape questpoint rs2 questpoint Warcraft PowerLeveling Warcraft Power Leveling World of Warcraft PowerLeveling World of Warcraft Power Leveling Hellgate money Hellgate gold buy runescape logs buy rs2 items cheap runescape items Hellgate London gold Guild Wars Gold buy Guild Wars Gold runescape items rs2 accounts cheap rs2 equipments lotro gold buy lotro gold buy runescape money buy runescape gold buy runescape runes lotro gold buy lotro gold runescape money runescape gold cheap rs2 powerleveling eve isk eve online isk buy runescape power leveling rs2 power leveling tibia gold tibia item runescape accounts Fiesta Silver Fiesta Gold Scions of Fate Gold Hellgate Palladium Hellgate London Palladium SOF Gold Age Of Conan Gold AOC Gold ArchLord gold tibia money tibia gold runescape accounts runescape gold cheap rs2 powerleveling buy ArchLord gold DDO Plat Dungeons and Dragons Online Plat

2:55 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

情趣用品,情趣用品,情趣用品,情趣用品,情趣,情趣,情趣,情趣,情人歡愉用品,情惑用品性哥,情人用品性哥,情趣用品,AIO交友愛情館,情人歡愉用品,美女視訊,情色交友,情人用品性哥,視訊交友,辣妹視訊,美女交友,性愛,嘟嘟成人網,按摩棒,震動按摩棒,微調按摩棒,情趣按摩棒,逼真按摩棒,G點,跳蛋,跳蛋,跳蛋,性感內衣,飛機杯,充氣娃娃,情趣娃娃,角色扮演,性感睡衣,後庭區,SM,潤滑液,情趣禮物,威而柔,香水,精油,芳香精油,自慰,自慰套,性感吊帶襪,情趣用品加盟,情人節禮物,情人節,吊帶襪,辣妹視訊,美女交友,情色交友,成人交友,視訊聊天室,美女視訊,視訊美女,情色視訊,免費視訊聊天,視訊交友,視訊聊天,AIO交友愛情館,嘟嘟成人網,成人貼圖,成人網站,AIO交友愛情館,情色,情色貼圖,情色文學,情色交友,色情聊天室,色情小說,七夕情人節,色情,A片,A片下載,免費A片,免費A片下載,情色視訊,情色電影,色情網站,辣妹視訊,視訊聊天室,情色視訊,免費視訊聊天,視訊聊天,美女視訊,視訊美女,美女交友,美女,情色交友,成人交友,自拍,本土自拍,情人視訊網,視訊交友90739,生日禮物,情色論壇,正妹牆,正妹,成人網站,A片,免費A片,A片下載,免費A片下載,AV女優,成人影片

6:47 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home