Put participants first in conference design

“Picture this: it’s 7:30 a.m., and conference participants are barely awake. Coffee in hand, they blink sleep away as they enter the room. Rows of chairs lead to a distant stage, and large monitors display the speaker’s slides.

One hour of information-packed slides rolls into the next, and attention begins to wane.”

Hannah Tuberville & Ruth Gotian, writing for Nature.com paint a familiar picture. All talk and no play makes attendee a something something, after all.

In this article, they share several options from seating design to anonymous feedback procedures to timings to revive the interactive feeling at conferences.