A Wren Says

When I attended SXSW, I found myself gravitating to the panel discussions. I was there to learn as much as possible. Even more than just the topics, I learned some tidbits that will help me as I run events myself. Here are all the things I learned:

• Panel moderation is a skill that should be taken seriously.

Anyone with an idea can potentially get their idea on stage via the PanelPicker, where the public gets to choose the proposals they’d like to see at SXSW. Writing a successful proposal is one thing. Executing on that is a completely different skill set. Revisit the idea that you proposed and then develop a list of questions on theme. Talk to your panelists in the weeks leading up to the event to generate rapport. Learn the art of the probing questions. Don’t take for granted that everything will work out without putting in the work.

About the panels, here is another key thing that I don’t think everyone else knew:

• Run on time. Your panel is not the only or most important thing happening.

People are walking between venues across the city. They’re running on a tight schedule. Be mindful that you don’t add to that stress. Barring a serious emergency, start on time and end on time. If you run over, people will leave. And if you make it not worth their time, they will dip out early to find something better.

• Make it easy to pay attention.

This might be venue specific, but it’s getting at how you manage sound. Many of the “houses” had areas for people to sit and chat and connect. The problem is that that chatting made it hard for me to focus. I had to filter out the conversations behind me while also trying to understand a speaker who at times had an accent different than my own. You want you space to be welcoming. You want people to connect Just make sure you plan your space so that doesn’t get in the way of your main event.

• If you’re going to use food as a draw, make sure you have enough.

The idea of free food really gets people interested in attending events. However, if you lure them out there and run out of food in the first 10 minutes, that is only going to reflect poorly on you. Instead of being a value add, people will see it as something that they were denied unfairly. If you have the resources, it’s better for you to over estimate how much you need and potentially need to give out extra at the end. The same goes for samples.

While each of my takeaways are pulled from my experiences at SXSW, they will fit nicely into event management guides in the work that I do. These are the things that I learned. What have you learned from the conferences you’ve attended?