search engines marketing

Though I am not a great fan of conferences and events (as I find them still utilizing old-fashioned delivery formats, which keep and increase the separation between audience and presenters) there are key factors that can make me become a most passionate event fan.

Photo credit: Mlenny Photography

Specifically:

1. Venue: The event is designed around a special location or place, where the "being there" is not just the same as sitting inside an anonymous auditorium chair. In the best cases, the event topic and interest extends gracefully in the locales, hotels and streets hosting the event.
2. Duration: The event spans a number of days offering the opportunity for getting to know the venue, having enough extra time to relax and enjoy the place, and to establish new connections without needing to rush from one session to the next.
3. Interaction-Networking: The space and the venue support easy meeting and exchange with other people. There are many break-out areas and the atmosphere feels cozy and welcoming. Logistics, tools and services are designed to facilitate to the max the meeting of new people, networking activities, groups discussions and open learning circles.
4. Program: The event program is rich in lectures, presentations and other types of sessions, allowing me ample choice of topics, locations and speakers to attend. It doesn't force me to follow any specific session or speaker.
5. Formats: The types of delivery formats utilized innovate and break new ground. The audience is as important as the presenters, and there are opportunities for discussion, brainstorming and exchange, rather than just for top-down information delivery.
6. People: The people participating are very diversified, in terms of expertise, competence, professional experience, age and origin. That makes for such a much more interesting environment and for a great possibility to learn from others.
7. Food and Lodging: The event venue offers opportunity to eat unique original foods and location specialties. There is a variety of restaurants and the event has partnered with many of these to offer special rates and discounts to the event attendees. Hotel and accommodation places offer themselves a unique experience as they are immersed in the culture of the place and offer services and amenities unique to them.
8. Learning: I like to learn. The more an event offers me the opportunity to go away with tangible advice, practical information, and tools that I can put to use right away, the happier I am. In fact, this is one of the two things that most people go to events for: learning something new, getting inspired, finding out new ways and solutions to solve their problems.
9. Organizers: The organizers are "accessible". Humble, friendly and always open to new suggestions and ideas. The organizers are the heart and soul of the festival and their personal attitude and availability broadcasts and represent the true spirit of the event.
10. Event Design: The event is made, conceived and realized by the participants themselves. Individual participants, as well as companies and public organizations are invited in large advance to submit and propose their ideas for the event contents, panels, workshops and sessions. Everyone has a voice and can contribute to the shaping of the next year program, lineup of speakers or topics covered.

In Italy, there is one yearly event that comes very close to having all these characteristics, while being completely free to attend. It is the International Journalism Festival, which is held in the beautiful city of Perugia during the month of April.

I have had the luck, thanks to Media140 and to Vittorio Pasteris of having been invited to this event for the last two years, and for many of the reasons I have listed above, I have become an instant fan of IJF.

In this light, this year, I decided to organize an interview with the festival organizers, Arianna Ciccone and Chris Potter, to find out directly from them, how they had first arrived at the idea of creating a festival and which were the key obstacles they had encountered in their journey.

Here's their passionate replies, vision, concerns and hopes for the future, as I have collected them in a series of very short video clips, I shot, right during this year festival, in Perugia.

If you are interested in improving the quality of your events, understanding what goes on behind the scenes during a festival, or what it takes to bring over 450 media and journalism speakers to one of the nicest corners of Italy, here is some interesting things Arianna and Chris shared with me.