At Epiphanies we have
been working hard with our customers to substantially improve the quality of
their conferences. Some of the factors we consider have been set out this
document. If you like what you read and would like to discuss how we might be
able to do the same for you please do get in contact.
Companies invest
thousands in conferences. Too often, what is delivered is a series of speakers
who take it in turns to deliver their message, with little or no reference to
what has gone before and no real sense of what it takes to ensure the lessons
are not only learnt, but applied back in the workplace. Sadly, a great many
conferences deliver a euphoric but useless experience.
A conference is a
learning experience. It is a journey. People attend because you want them to
know something at the end of the event that they didn't know at the start.
There is at the very least, an implicit expectation in attending a conference
that delegates will either; stop, continue or start doing something as a result
of attending the conference.
Getting the best from a
conference means applying best practice in learning and development. Not to do
so, is a waste of energy and effort. It is akin to having fantastic ingredients
but no recipe, pots or pans to make the best of them.
A well designed and
executed conference can deliver a substantial return on investment. Our whole
focus is how to maximize this return for the benefit of the business.
Set out below is our
recipe for success and the tools we use to get the best outcome for your
conference.
What makes us
unique?
1. We have a rich heritage in learning and
development and we use our extensive experience to ensure conferences deliver
the learning experiences they are meant to!
2. We are regularly called on to deliver
presentations at conferences – we know what makes for a great presentation,
we've been there, done it, and are almost always rated the best speakers by
delegates.
3. In addition to our conference design service we
coach, facilitate and mentor individuals and teams at the highest levels in
business. This means we have first-hand experience of what it take to deliver
a great business result. We use this knowledge to help us design a conference
experience that delivers a substantial return on investment.
4. We are incredibly well networked as has been
proven time and time again. This means we can pull together outstanding teams
of speakers for conferences.
These four factors when
combined with our focus on creativity and innovation provide a unique and
powerful combination.
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To deliver
a powerful, memorable, long lasting learning experience that inspires people to
apply the lessons learnt.
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To deliver
a conference experience that delegates rate as the best they have ever
attended.
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To apply
the very best learning and development principles to achieve these aims.
Accommodation: We don't
get involved in organizing accommodation for your delegates.
Audio visual: We don't
get involved in supplying AV equipment.
Venue: We are happy to advise on the right choice of
venue but we don't involved in finding the right venue.
Conferences can deliver
so much more than presentations. Here are some examples from work we have done
of what a great conference can do:
A well designed
conference can deliver a deep and profound insight into the business strategy
and help align staff in the business to the corporate goals. Sessions can be
designed that help people understand what they specifically have to do (and
stop doing) and how this fits in with what other functions are doing.
A conference can be a
learning experience that Key Account Managers bring senior representatives from
customers to share in a learning experience that is aimed at improving how they
can work together. This provides substantial periods of high quality contact
time; deeper understanding of the customer's business as well as valuable
insights into how to improve the performance of both businesses.
Too often, there is the
assumption that a great learning experience can only be delivered in a small
group format. This can be an prohibitively expensive way of educating large
groups of the workforce. Through the use of excellent presenters and a skilled
presentation team the conference format can ensure the lessons are learnt and
provide a richer learning experience through bringing together a group of
speakers that in a smaller format would be prohibitively expensive.
Sometimes there is no
finer way of explaining what is meant that getting people to experience it
first-hand. There is an assumption that a conference demands tables, chairs,
screen, projector etc. This assumption is incorrect. When a PR company wanted
to drive home the message for doing things differently, the location was a
swimming pool in a complex in Morocco!
