I’ve always had two views of conferences. They are either really good for networking and getting the pulse for the community or they are focused on actionable takeaways with insightful examples. I have never seen a conference master both really well. Until I went to Userconf in NYC last week.
For those who aren’t aware, Userconf is a conference entirely around customer support, specifically geared to community managers, support managers, product managers, and anyone interested in learning how to create awesome customer touchpoints. It’s put on by Uservoice and CoSupport.
The caliber of the content, speakers and attendees was amazing in itself. But, what struck me even more was the smaller touches.
The fact that they saved all the Q/A to the end, where they then called all the speakers to the stage. Then, they took questions from the audience and social media. It allowed it to became a true open forum rather than a one-sided discussion.
Or, the no pitching rule. None of the speakers were allowed to give pitches. After sitting through quite a few panels at past events, which were glorified pitches, it was refreshing to listen to well thought out content with actionable insights.
Or, the fact that the conference organizers really practiced what they preach. All of us in attendance were in the practice of creating great customer experiences (hopefully). The organizers switched it up and aimed to go above and beyond for all us conference goers. They monitored Twitter and were replying and getting actual stuff for attendees in real time. This included Dr.Pepper, a sweater and even $100 to the crazy group who decided to walk up 12 flights of stairs for lunch. And how can I forget the free froyo and booze. Special Thanks to Adam Britten and 16 Handles! 🙂
The thing is they didn’t need to do any of these smaller touches, because the content was already that good. Did I mention, the speakers included the head of support for Mailchimp and community managers from Vimeo and Ãœber? However, they still decided to go above and beyond.
As ironic as it may sound, they have become the “Zappos of conferences.” In my opinion, they are the gold standard for what conferences should strive to be.
