Stop the Madness! Quit Packing Your Event’s Agenda with Panels!

by Carl Landau

Why, oh why?

Sometimes I actually get out of the office and attend other events to see what’s out there, what’s new, what I might try to implement. And then all too often, I see that about 70% of breakout sessions are really panel discussions. It’s so disappointing!

Now I’ll tell you why and what you can change to make a better experience for your event attendees.

You need keynotes to attract attendees

First of all, the top dog speakers in the event world are your keynotes, industry icons who give a 40,000-ft. view of things.  If successful, they are usually entertaining, informative and inspirational. It’s an added bonus when the keynote gives attendees some keen insight and vision as to the future of the industry.

The nuts and bolts of breakouts

The breakout sessions, however, are the core segments of an event’s content. Attendees want something super practical and useful in every session. They want “how-to” sessions where attendees…