Time for co-working conferences?

Friday is a time for new thoughts — here’s one for today — with the increase in screen use at conferences and people continuing to work while there, why not redesign the conference format with that mind.

It’s the difference between a music concert where you’re there to listen and a pub band where you may be there for the music but you might also just be there to chat, and that’s ok!

So what would be at our “co-working conference” format:

• there’s great wifi
• there’s powerpoints and desks to work from
• there’s food and drink
• there’s some speakers and panels that you can tune into or you can tune out (headphones allowed)
• there’s networking happening all the time
• people would come and go with no shame

The benefit for the conference attendees is that what people are already doing — tuning in and tuning out — would be legitimised and perhaps optimised.

We have the exhibition format where the exhibitors take priority over the speaking.

We have drinks meetups where the networking takes priority over the speaking.

Why not have co-working (or co-marketing, co-selling or co-designing) conferences where the work takes priority over the speaking?

Have a great weekend.