, Columnist
The Business Conference Is Back. Here’s How to Make It Better.
The time-honored corporate tradition is due for a radical reassessment.
Sun Valley, Idaho, July 2021: The perfect time and place for a business conference.
Photographer: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images North AmericaThis article is for subscribers only.
The pandemic has prompted a rethinking of many practices and routines of professional life, such as working from home, meetings and interviewing online. Now another such pastime is ripe for a reassessment: the face-to-face conference.
What do people actually want from their interactive experiences? The first insight from the pandemic era is that most formal presentations should simply be abolished. The sad reality is that hardly anyone is listening, or for that matter should be.