What are Conferences For?

Posted by Chris Flanagan on September 1, 2006

Last year, Richard Saul Wurman, founder of TED, TEDMED and eg2006, retired from the event business. We must be doing something right because we managed to bring him out of retirement to co-host our annual BIF-2 summit in October. Harvard Business Review recently spoke with Wurman on what it takes to create a memorable meeting.

"At my conferences, the best speeches were always by brilliant, vulnerable individuals who could tell a fresh story about their passions, ideas and failures. They don't spoon-feed information or talk down to the audience. They let people taste and experience their ideas for themselves. And the audience creates its own intelligent connections among all the different ideas presented."

We couldn't have said it better. Now in its second year, The Business Innovation Factory’s Collaborative Innovation Summit is more than a meeting. It’s part of who we are. The Summit experience reflects our value and mirrors BIF’s vision to create a community of innovators committed to exploring and testing new ways of delivering value. BIF-2 isn’t a conference. It’s a conversation.

BIF-2 enables us do what most meeting organizers only dream about: let great people tell great stories. Presenters—storytellers who naturally align to the Summit’s format—have only fifteen minutes on stage to share personal reflections on how they catalyzed change. Groups of storytellers are blocked around generous breaks that give participants and storytellers ample opportunity to interact.

Don't miss Richard Saul Wurman, and Wall Street Journal technology columnist Walt Mossberg, as they bring their unique talents to the BIF-2 stage and guide participants through a program that includes Segway inventor Dean Kamen, Nestlé Purina Vice President Betsy Cohen, Gap Inc. Executive Vice President Ivy Ross, Sirius Satellite Radio Executive Vice President Mary Pat Ryan, Anatomical Travelogue creator Alexander Tsiaras, Pandora.com founder Tim Westergren, and Titanic Discoverer Bob Ballard, among many others.

Join the conversation and register today at www.businessinnovationfactory.com/bif2