What’s NEXT?

We’ve all been to traditional meetings and conferences where a few smart people at the front of the room share their knowledge with the audience. And while a good speaker can captivate an audience for a few minutes, the opportunities for meaningful interaction and contribution at these events are limited, if they exist at all. Moreover, these meetings fail to take advantage of the expertise, experience, and ideas of those in attendance who are not speaking.

“Unconferences” or “bar camps” were invented as an antidote to the traditional conference. These events have no pre-determined agenda and no formal speakers. The topics and groups form organically based on the interests of those in attendance. These events can be both exciting and interactive, but the quality of the event is both uneven and unpredictable.

We developed NEXT to bring together the best of both formats—the structure and prepared content of traditional meetings and the interactivity, serendipity, and engagement of unconferences. NEXT is designed around wellplanned group interaction that yields tangible results. Each participant walks away, not with “one or two ideas,” but with a plan, a product, or a solution created and refined, to some degree, by every person in attendance.