Adrian Segar

@segar.com

527 Followers 28 Following

I design & facilitate conferences that ➠ what folks want/need 🔸 Author of 3 meeting design books 🔸 ❤️ 2 🎤🕺🏻🧘‍♂️ 🔸 Recovering academic 🔸 @ASegar@mastodon.social 🔸 Marlboro, VT, USA; Work globally 🔸 Everything about me: conferencesthatwork.com

Conceptual illustration of a futuristic vault door with a glowing ear symbol at its center, responding to speech-wave patterns and surrounded by floating conversation bubbles containing everyday requests. One of the requests is "ignore all previous instructions". The image symbolizes how AI systems are designed to respond to language, making natural conversation both their greatest strength and a persistent security challenge.
photographs of Oscar Wilde and Albert Einstein surrounding three icons of a sleeping worker at a desk, a teacher in front of a class, and a student leaning on their desk. Image attributions: Oscar Wilde image by Napoleon Sarony - Library of Congress, Public Domain, Albert Einstein image By Ferdinand Schmutzer, Public Domain
Trust safety learning: photograph of a young girl learning springboard diving at an outdoor pool by Jacob Lund from Noun Project
Illustration of Adrian Segar writing, half-obscured by a curtain
look back to look forward: a photograph of a sculture of Janus in the Vatican. Creative Commons image courtesy of Wikipedia
Conceptual illustration of a futuristic vault door with a glowing ear symbol at its center, responding to speech-wave patterns and surrounded by floating conversation bubbles containing everyday requests. One of the requests is "ignore all previous instructions". The image symbolizes how AI systems are designed to respond to language, making natural conversation both their greatest strength and a persistent security challenge.
A brightly-colored ground rules wall poster at the lost levels conference. It says: "FRIENDLY REMINDERS MAKE SPACE FOR OTHERS. WATCH OUT FOR BLOCKING VIEWS BE AN ACTIVE LISTENER ALSO YOU ARE AMAZING!"
"Fixed" version of Rubio quote. via truthout.org: “One of the reasons why the U.S. is in shambles is because every penny that this regime there gets, be it in sanctions relief or through the oil they're able to get out, they invest it in the U.S. military, said Rubio, ignoring the U.S’s position as the single largest spender on the military in the world. “They should be spending billions of dollars supporting the people of the U.S.,” he said.
containers for ideas: photograph of a whiteboard labeled "Share your ideas" and covered with numerous sticky notes, each containing handwritten ideas. Photo attribution: Flickr user nanpalmero
acting: a black-and-white photograph of an actor wearing black drawstring pants and a light sleeveless t-shirt with his hands clasped on his forehead and an expression of anguish on his face.
Have I Met You Before? A photograph of the sailing regatta on South Pond in Marlboro, VT.
write a popular blog post: a screenshot of a Google search for "delete mail". It shows an article I wrote at the top of the list of 127 million results.
Offer of a Lifetime: screenshot of an email sent to Adrian Segar asking him to pay for the privilege of shaing his expertise at a meeting industry conference. 9/29/23 Subject: Are you a [TOPIC] Expert? Hi Adrian Segar, How are you doing? I wanted to let you know about Meet the Experts, a new initiative for [MEETING INDUSTRY EVENT] in [DATES] at [VENUE, LOCATION] which I think you will find interesting as a way for you to participate in the show and generate valuable leads. Attendees to [MEETING INDUSTRY EVENT] genuinely need the help and expertise of companies and advisors just like yourself. That's why we have introduced a new format, "Meet the Experts" for our 2023 show. [MEETING INDUSTRY EVENT] will bring together the brightest minds in the events industry, and this [DESCRIPTION OF OPPORTUNITY] will feature experts such as yourself creating the ideal platform for you to showcase your knowledge and connect with a highly engaged audience…
responses to adversity: black and white photograph of two elderly men hugging in an airport lounge
meditate daily: A sepia photograph of a back of a person wearing a black shirt and sitting cross-legged in a field, surrounded by trees. Photo attribution: Flickr user wiertz
Global Meetings Megatrends: Cover of the German Convention Bureau's study of megatrends shaping our industry through 2030
Conceptual illustration of a futuristic vault door with a glowing ear symbol at its center, responding to speech-wave patterns and surrounded by floating conversation bubbles containing everyday requests. One of the requests is "ignore all previous instructions". The image symbolizes how AI systems are designed to respond to language, making natural conversation both their greatest strength and a persistent security challenge.
ask tell ask: photograph of three men sitting on the ground in deep discussion. Photo attribution: Flickr user mikecogh
process not product: photograph of a wall of yellow sticky notes, each filled with a few words and an occasional diagram. Image attribution: Flickr user sixmilliondollardan
get better at doing anything: a photograph of a 1937 metal WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION PROJECT plaque
Photograph of two tiny vehicles parked in one parking space. Photo attribution: Flickr user caribb.
Photograph of Adrian Segar on stage running The Solution Room at MPI Connecting Leaders 2012
sell me stuff: A photograph of an old-fashioned smiling salesman wearing a black hat and sitting on a train. On his lap is a opened brown suitcase that contains a miscellaneous jumble of items, including stockings and a box of KitKats. Photo attribution: Flickr user dswilliams
Screenshot from a Participate! workshop video of a participant listening
words will never hurt me: Image attribution: Conflict between little siblings for a toy while sitting on stairs at home by Jacob Lund Photography from NounProject.com
scenes from a peer conference: screenshot from a video about the 2014 VT Vision for a Multicultural Future Peer Conference
Conceptual illustration of a futuristic vault door with a glowing ear symbol at its center, responding to speech-wave patterns and surrounded by floating conversation bubbles containing everyday requests. One of the requests is "ignore all previous instructions". The image symbolizes how AI systems are designed to respond to language, making natural conversation both their greatest strength and a persistent security challenge.
Share information don't hoard it: A photograph of two young children, one in a red coat, one in blue. The former is offering a yellow candy to the latter; their hands are about to touch.
what attendees want to talk about: a photograph of a portable cork board covered with flipchart paper containing many different written sticky notes. Photo attribution: Flickr user edmittance
transmit pre-planned content: photograph of a large conference hall with attendees sitting in rows and listening to a distant speaker. Image attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/plakboek/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
brainstorm: an illustration of a brain in a beaker with a cloud, rain, and lightning above it.
Learn from what doesn't change: The Sunny Time Grocery, Island Harbour, Anguilla
a photograph of a handmade classroom poster that says "In this class we are SAFE. Safe to be ourselves. Safe to share. Safe to take risks. Safe to learn. Photo attribution: Flickr user willowpoppy
Conferences That Work meeting design: A photograph of a person sitting on top of a high brick wall with their hand cupped around their right ear. The wall displays an ear distorted out of the brick surface.
work we don't notice: photograph of a bright red cooked lobster with bands around its claws, sitting on a plate on a dining table. Image attribution: Flickr user subinev
A graphic illustrating Virginia Satir's Model of Change. The y-axis is labeled Performance and the x-axis represents time. The graph starts in the "old status quo". Then a "foreign element" arrives—an event or realization that makes it impossible to continue as before. We enter "chaos", often accompanied by uncertainty, fear, grief, excitement, resistance, or denial. Eventually, a "transforming idea" emerges, leading to a period of "integration and practice", and finally to a "new status quo".
run The Solution Room online: photograph of an in-person Solution Room session. Many round tables of eight people fill a large room.
A map showing my daily Seawalks walk while on vacation in Anguilla, with landmarks along the way labeled
how to market event apps: A screenshot of a Facebook comment by Traci Browne that says: "OH MY GOD! You've developed an event app so attendees can get information aboiut your event right on their own devices?! You can even tweet and instagram and facebook from it??? You are so innovative!!! Why has no one thought of this before???" "And that is exactly how I want to respond to the 1000th person who has sent me that press release this month."
A graphic illustrating Virginia Satir's Model of Change. The y-axis is labeled Performance and the x-axis represents time. The graph starts in the "old status quo". Then a "foreign element" arrives—an event or realization that makes it impossible to continue as before. We enter "chaos", often accompanied by uncertainty, fear, grief, excitement, resistance, or denial. Eventually, a "transforming idea" emerges, leading to a period of "integration and practice", and finally to a "new status quo".
A split image: on the right, a large audience listens to a keynote speaker on a stage in a dark room; on the left, small groups of conference attendees sit outdoors around small tables in an arbor next to a garden and pond.
breaks between meeting sessions: photograph of a tired conference attendee with his eyes closed. Photo attribution: Flickr user jarkko
A graphic combining an article with the headline "Medium lays off 50 employees, shuts down New York and D.C. offices"; with a cel from the Doonesbury comic strip of July 24th, 2016 featuring Zonker and Zipper staring at a computer screen
conference evaluations: a photograph of a milk carton with a message on the side "MISSING: HAVE YOU SEEN ME?" surrounding an evaluation sheet
Travel broadens the (event design) mind: photograph of a red London bus
Photograph of a large group of deer flies stuck to a TredNot Deer Fly Patch on a purple ballcap.
build an optimum program: photograph of a woman having a hard time riding a bike. Image attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bike/ / CC BY-SA 2.0
improve your events in five minutes: a cover in the style of an old science fiction magazine, including a man in goggles striking a pose in front of a "RAY-O-ZAP". The cover reads: AMAZING FUTURE TALES YOU HAVE THE FREEDOM TO TALK ABOUT THE WAY YOU SEE THINGS, RATHER THAN THE WAY OTHERS WANT YOU TO SEE.
the internet is running out of stuff: illustration of a car gas gauge on empty
An illustration of a young black woman deep in thought, sitting at her desk as she begins to write her first book
A graphic illustrating Virginia Satir's Model of Change. The y-axis is labeled Performance and the x-axis represents time. The graph starts in the "old status quo". Then a "foreign element" arrives—an event or realization that makes it impossible to continue as before. We enter "chaos", often accompanied by uncertainty, fear, grief, excitement, resistance, or denial. Eventually, a "transforming idea" emerges, leading to a period of "integration and practice", and finally to a "new status quo".
onsite crowdsourcing events: a photograph of an attendee signing up for sessions lusted on an outdoor table
Process for selecting sessions: photograph of a crowd of people waving papers in the air
You always have a choice: screenshot from the Star Wars movie scene in the garbage compactor.
Adrian Segar being interviewed