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Are Conferences Broken? (A Professional Speaker's Take On This Hot Button Question)
Are Conferences Broken? (A Professional Speaker's Take On This Hot Button Question)
Are Conferences Broken?
It's a question I hear more and more in the multifamily industry.
Before I go any further, let me be clear: I'm a fan of conferences. Yes, I'm a professional speaker and I make my living speaking at conferences across the country, including the big ones you're thinking of. That helps. But that's not why I believe in them.
I believe in conferences because they are often where decisions get made. The kind where someone hears a talk, has a moment of clarity, and thinks,"I'm not doing it this way anymore."
Those moments change careers.
They change teams.
Sometimes, they change lives.
After I spoke at a large conference, someone came up to me and said, "Rommel, I registered for this conference because I knew you were speaking. I heard you years ago, and what you shared changed my life." His words brought some tears to my eyes.
And that's exactly why we have to be honest about this:
Something isn't working in how many conferences are being designed today.
- Attendance is down.
- Engagement is uneven.
- Suppliers and sponsors are questioning ROI.
Problem #1: Conferences often don't have a clear definition of success
- Organizers may define success as making money or at least breaking even.
- Sponsors and suppliers may define success by leads collected or sales made.
- Employers may define success by energized teams who return ready to perform.
- Attendees may define success by leaving changed, meeting the right people, or even whether there was free booze or great swag.
All of these definitions make sense. But here's the problem: a conference cannot be designed to optimize all of them equally. When everything is the priority, nothing is. And that is a problem.
Problem #2: Conferences are often designed for information, not transformation
Too many people believe that information equals impact. We assume that if we give people enough content, cover enough bases, and throw in some data, change will automatically follow. It doesn't!
This kind of thinking is how conferences get filled with sessions like this:
Doing More With Less: Driving Operational Excellence Through 21 Best Practices in Today's Changing Multifamily Ecosystem Through AI Implementation (Which Definitely Won't Replace Anyone's Job, Make Anything Harder, or Cause Existential Dread. We Promise. Pinky Swear.)
And why the bars are filled during sessions.
People don't change because of information. They change because something moved them to transformation.
THE SUCCESS SHIFT: I believe that conferences should be designed to transform people, not just inform them.
Are people's lives changed because they attended the conference?
Did something at the event cause them to think differently, feel differently, and act differently than the person they were when they walked into the doors at the beginning of the day?
When transformation becomes the overriding goal, everything else aligns with it.
The question is, how to do that?
This might ruffle some feathers, but here we go. People don't remember topics, as much as they remember moments. They remember the speaker who:
- Shared a story that made them think, "Dang, she was talking straight to me."
- Named something they were feeling but couldn't articulate.
- Challenged an assumption they'd been carrying for years.
- Helped them see differently.
- Awakened something in them.
- Gave them the courage to take action.
- Subject matter experts don't automatically make great speakers.
- People who submit great proposals don't automatically make great speakers.
- Sponsors don't automatically make great speakers just because they're sponsors. (And if they're terrible on stage, they're probably damaging their brand.)
- Choosing speakers primarily because they'll do it for free (regardless of their ability) is not a winning strategy, even if it feels good for the budget.
If a successful conference is meant to trigger change, what is the vehicle for that change?
Speakers.
So, find the speakers that can TRULY command a room, open minds, touch hearts and move people to action.
Two: Encourage Diversity of Thought and Opinions From the Stage
Many conferences avoid real thinking in favor of safe, sanitized, homogenized messaging. Speakers are quietly asked to avoid controversy, not critique current trends, and stay inside the lines so no one gets uncomfortable.
After all, that big money sponsor really doesn't want anyone to talk about the lawsuit they're facing, or that huge management company (that sends a lot of people) doesn't want any negative chatter about their new "restructuring" strategy coming from the stage, or the "I love tech" people don't want anyone to say anything negative about tech.
I get it.
- But transformation requires thoughtful tension.
- It requires wrestling with complexity.
- It requires us asking the awkward questions.
- It requires saying out loud what everyone is already thinking.
Three: Speakers Can Be Your Secret Planning Weapon
That's the work.
Do that and everything else will fall into place. Your attendees will be excited they came. They'll want to keep coming back. Your sponsors and trade show exhibitors will love that. Leaders will love having excited people back in the office on Monday morning.
Design conferences that move people to think, feel, and act differently. Watch what happens!
P.S. I know there is so much more to add to this (and I might add more in future posts), but in the meantime I'd love to hear your thoughts. Agree? Disagree with me? Let me know.
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Comments 2
I think we should change the knowledge attribution schematic for sessions. You are exactly right that the speaker may not be the SME, but they may be the best person to convey that information. When analyzing sessions at MFI, we have had multiple situations where we absolutely know that a submission's speaker wasn't qualified to talk on that subject, but I would imagine that a lot of volunteers don't know the backstory of every presenter.
There is no avenue for someone who doesn't want to be on stage to participate in the submission process. We always assume they are one and the same. Instead, we should consider other types of content creation - TV, for example, has both writers and performers. Granted, we don't want our on-stage educators to be completely out of their element, but by separating out the two, we can maximize the experience.
To do so, we need to change the attribution of presented content. There should be incentives to create programming that do not include the incentive of being on stage, as that doesn't appeal to everyone.
I could go on and on about this subject, but overall, you are right that this area is absolutely broken.
As a side note, you are one of the best at bringing both relevant content AND coupling that with the incredible ability to convey that message in a way that resonates with the audience.
Thank you Brent-for your ideas, and your kind words!
I like the idea of blending both what a pro speaker can do and an SME can do to create something powerful that leverages our shared talents.
I had a couple of clients in 2025 that wanted me to infuse some ideas in my program that were important to the company. And some of those I just blended them in (like I often do). But a couple of those ideas-I felt would best be delivered by the leaders themselves, as it would give their associates a chance to see their leader's hearts behind it all, and not just be their leaders telling them what to do.
So-in these situations I gave the leaders (SMEs but not speakers) some questions intentionally designed to help them frame their answers in a way that would make it easy for the audience to understand what was being conveyed, and to feel good about it.
It wasn't uncommon to see the audience connect with the leader speaking, like you'd see the smiles, the warm hearts, the good feelings. On a few occassions associates applauded enthusiastically (not not because they had to! ?) and it did my heart so good to see associates connecting with their leaders on a heart level.
Here's the key: Was I the one that created the connection? NO! Nor did I share any knowledge. That was ALL my clients! However, as an experienced speaker, I do understand the psychology of audiences and people, so I was able to leverage that knowledge to help my clients place themselves in the best situation to get their desired outcome.
I know, that sound like a brag ... and I guess it kind of is. (I'll just own it. ?) But, it really goes to show that partnering together could be a great way to create the best experience for everyone.