Congressen

The congress is dead. Long live the congress!

Long, long ago a large association started a gathering of its members and called it ‘the Annual Congress’. The congress was the group’s high mass and it kept growing, as auditoria, screens and loudspeakers became big¬ger. For a few decades, however, some mysterious ‘interaction’ had been floating around its meeting rooms like a ghost. A ghost that kept escaping through the cracks between the slides as it was chased away by bullet points and the conservative breath of the untouchable speakers. The audience kept listening to the long orations and suffered in silence under the harsh rule of experts dumping wisdom on the crowd...  

Handsome Prince Ethan

Then, on a sunny day in May, a young and handsome Prince Ethan began to show up at the sessions. Ethan looked different, talked differently and wal¬ked differently. With his long blond hair swaying in the wind, he was the congress attendee of the future, but his customs and wishes were unlike those of the usual audience. Ethan referred to himself as a ‘parti¬cipant’. The world in which he grew up was one of sociability and sharing, of peer groups, co-creation and vast online networks connecting him to the wisdom of the crowd. Ethan sat through a few sessions looking for possible participation but did not find what he expected. And as networking was left to coffee breaks, lunches and dinners he started to feel disconnected, disrespected and excluded. Ethan walked out of the room and with him the future of the very important congress left the building.  

Jacob the Meeting Architect

A smart and dynamic member of the congress team, Isabella, noticed Ethan’s radiating presence, saw him leave and decided to take action. “Pro¬fessional and drastic action is needed,” Isabella said decisively. She knew that several attempts in the past to make session more interactive, more ‘Ethan friendly’, had kept on landing on the same old same. And this is where Isabella brings in Jacob the Meeting Architect. Jacob designs meetings and sessions based on objectives and chooses from a vast toolbox to innovate. The best thing is that Jacob guides the process of change. He explains it to the congress team and chair, motivates the session leaders and brings the speakers on board. Rather than making sessions shorter – another tried and failed tactic – Jacob moves in and redistributes the time between speakers and participants. He pulls out his designer sword and hacks the presentations into smaller chunks, helps the speakers understand why this is vital and writes a fun session script that reads like a song: a verse, a chorus, a verse and another chorus. On the day it is all going to happen he stands beside the speakers and ex¬plains to the audience how they have all become participants. The last remnants of scepticism and fear within the faculty turns into energy and enthusiasm as the first round seems to engage all the participants. Participants discuss things in small groups, exchange business cards and use the innovative tools; the satisfaction rates soar at 97 percent.  

The end?

This is not a fairy-tale. It is a story based on a real and recent case. Congresses do suffer and it might not look easy, but it can be done. The role of a congress is changing and with a professional attitude and a thorough engagement of one champion such as Isabella, success is possible. The time seems right, the minds have ripened. We need to just do it. And yes, we can.  

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