A great conference program provides attendees with many options, but it doesn’t throw too many meeting sessions at them either. How do you find a balance and cover the right topics? Use event crowdsourcing.

“Event crowdsourcing allows participants to create the sessions that they actually want and need,” says Adrian Segar of Conferences That Work.

Segar, a meetings designer and facilitator, argues that this strategy avoids the two biggest pitfalls of traditional meetings: not including the sessions that attendees are interested in, and overwhelming attendees with too many choices crammed into an exhausting schedule.

“Every session created this way is virtually guaranteed to be of interest to attendees because they chose them earlier in the event,” he says. “Participants love being actively involved in choosing what they want to learn and discuss, and they typically uncover great session topics that were not on anyone’s radar before the event.”

Winning the War for Talent

How to Win the War for Talent in 2020 | by @DebbyCarreau https://t.co/TAenP7ZmnA

— Entrepreneur (@Entrepreneur) January 3, 2020

“The need to attract and retain talent in a competitive labor market will continue to intensify regardless of technological innovations through AI and automation,” says Debby Carreau in Entrepreneur.

If you want adept applicants to join your team, Carreau says your organization must foster a strong company culture and develop a distinct employment brand. According to a LinkedIn study, 75 percent of job seekers consider an employer’s brand before applying for a job.

“Your employer brand is how you market to prospective employees,” Carreau says. “Be sure to define the values of your organization, both how it’s unique and what it stands for, communicating that your organization is a good employer and a great place to work.”

Give yourself more time to work on branding and culture by modernizing the recruitment process with tools such as applicant tracking systems and AI candidate profiling.

“Today’s tech tools can cut through most of the legwork,” Carreau says. “Recruiters of the past who are known to ‘post and pray’ are no longer effective and are being replaced by super-recruiters who are part headhunter, part digital strategist, and part customer-service expert.”

Other Links of Note

Making a good first impression isn’t easy, but it’s a key ingredient in networking, writes Harvey Deutschendorf in Fast Company.

Looking to spice up your next event? BizBash identifies its top 10 steal-worthy event marketing ideas of the past week.

Develop your leadership skills by attending one of these conferences in 2020, says Kevin Kruse in Forbes.

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