#Digital Conference

4 SECRETS TO SUCCESSFULLY PIVOT TO DIGITAL

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How we respond to the threat of a disaster is critical.

Organizations planning physical-world events have a choice:

  • You can cancel or postpone your conference OR
  • You can go digital.

Don't cancel or postpone your events – go digital!

Join the #Digital Conference Special Event to learn how we reverse-engineer physical-world events, convert them to digital formats, and then augment them so that we can more, better, faster.

You can join the Special Event or skip it and learn right away about our Accelerator.

In the Accelerator, you will learn how to pivot your event in 10 days or less – and we will support you for as long as you need.

LEARN ABOUT THE ACCELERATOR
Go digital

Why NOT go digital?

  • You think it cannot be done.
  • You do not know how to do it.
  • You believe the experience will be inferior.

It can be done. It is easier than you think. You are likely to be surprised by how much you can achieve.

What is The Geneva Learning Foundation?

The Geneva Learning Foundation is a Swiss non-profit with the mission to develop trial, and scale up new ways to lead change to tackle the challenges that threaten our societies.

We are pure digital. This means all of our operations and activities take place online.

Nearly every day, we organize and facilitate one or more digital events that convene hundreds or thousands of participants from all over the world.

We want to help other organizations by sharing our experience and know-how.

Why are we doing this?

We believe that the digital transformation can strengthen the resilience of our societies.

Cancelling or postponing a conference weakens ongoing work that may be significant or important.

Every cancelled or postponed conference sets us back. Slows us down. In a way, it means capitulating to the crisis.

Why attend this Special Event?

If you are planning a conference:

  • During this Special Event, we will share our recipe book for successful digital conferences.
  • Attendees will receive an invitation to join our #DigitalConference short course, in which you actually build a practical plan you can use to go digital.

If you are an event business:

We know you may be already facing severe consequences.

  • If you have experience in providing services to design and run digital events, we invite you to share your services with participants.
  • If you have been primarily focused on physical-world events, we invite you to share how you are adapting.
I WILL BE THERE

Here is a case study

We just organized a ten-day conference that was attended by more than 1,700 participants from 95 countries, including those hardest hit by COVID-19.

  • This conference ran in English 3-13 March and is running in French 16-30 March.
  • World-class presenters shared their expertise with practitioners.
  • Dialogue was constant – 24 hours a day, with participants spread across time zones.
  • Many participants became friends, shared stories, and many decided to stay in touch after the event.

We were awed by the number and diversity of participants and the quality of their contributions in this purely digital conference.

How do we compare digital and physical?

In the past, our partner had organized three successive face-to-face events in Barcelona and Dar Es Salaam.

Each time, around 80 people went back to their countries with new knowledge and relationships.

But…

  • Everyone had to stop their work in order to travel.
  • This is the hidden opportunity cost of face-to-face conferences.
  • It often adds up to far more than the actual expenditure on the event itself.

Can the face-to-face conference business model survive?

What about the intangible serendipity of a conference?

We know the real value of a physical event resides in the impromptu meetings of minds and bodies on the conference floor.

Sharing a drink or a meal provides the occasion to establish or strengthen informal relationships.

Yes, there are dozens of digital tools that can match individuals and organizations, schedule ad hoc meets, and stir idea generation and serendipity.

Yet, it is undeniable that some aspects – and the ones that matter – may be difficult or impossible to replicate.

Conversely, you may discover new ways of doing new things in a digital conference that can accelerate and multiply serendipity.

If you cancel or postpone, you will get nothing.

Is it expensive?

No. You can make an awesome event digital using only free tools.

You can also hire people and providers with the right combination of tools, talent, and vision.

The secret sauce is in the know-how required: not to use the tools, but to figure out how to both replicate and augment the experience you wish to create.

This is where organizations and service providers with experience can help.

Is it difficult or time-consuming?

No. If you already have an event scheduled, there is a simple method to:

  • Identify what is the value and significance provided by the event – including the intangible, serendipitous bits
  • Think through how to recreate and augment this value
  • Convert everything you planned into a digital format

#Digital Conference

4 SECRETS TO SUCCESSFULLY PIVOT TO DIGITAL

Request my invitation

00

DAYS

00

HOURS

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MINUTES

00

SECONDS

Go digital