Here’s the Catch 22:  Copper Services is marketing to meeting planners as a way to monetize their conference content.  Translation:  a bigger audience to sell your stuff and get all the money.  Question:  should speakers ask for a share of this revenue?  Or just give it away if they are speaking for free anyway?  If the group owns the rights to your presentation to them, can they do whatever they want with it?  Do services like this cannibalize your product offerings?

It’s one thing to sell the content to attendees and members.  It’s another to sell it to the entire free world.  Hmmm…what would you do?

According to attendee responses, associations are more firmly planted in the education business.  Using content from the conferences before and after the event is pretty standard now.  What’s new:  the format is diversifying into interactive experiences and, yes, even — gasp — gaming!

I’ve preached for years that we experts need to “gamify” our content for corporate segments.  Now it looks like we have a new group of customers coming up.  My predictions:  look for these formats to be underwritten by industry sponsors.  This is a great way to be a guru to a community — you can go from being the expert in (fill in the blank) to being the creator of blah-blah game that is taking the industry by storm.  See the difference?

Let’s put that on our resolution list.  As for the IMEX study, click here to see the rest of the findings.

Interesting news:  companies are more focused on “value” (translation: cost cutting).  Another bummer:  attendance is expected to decline.  Meetings will also be shorter.

Prediction:  there will be a rush for low-cost speakers, using smaller groups as an excuse not to pay more.  My advice:  choose your opportunities wisely.

Other cool findings are in the report.  Click here for the highlights from Meetings and Conventions magazine.

Yes, the economy is driving these shifts.  But so is a belief we all need to be aware of:  buyers believe that everything they need to know is online.  Yep, our content isn’t ours anymore.  It’s out there and anyone can take it.  So the emphasis is now on interaction and learning.  And we’re not talking about using Twitter and text to ask questions.  Think:  30-minute presentations followed by 30-minute breaks.

This provocative article in Meetings and Conventions explores a variety of opinions.  For those who speak at conferences and conventions, we need to be ready for any format.

• The new “A” list speakers:  traditional “I’ve been on the circuit for years” speakers are in for a wake-up call.  Speakers with less experience are getting the big fees.  Who are they?  CEOs of cool companies.  Public speaking is now the favorite way to get your ideas out there.  As more CEOs write books, speaking is sure to follow.  Their experience changing the world trumps delivery style.  It’s gonna be a bumpy ride for many speakers.
• Those with the most followers win:  want to be famous?  Start on social media and rack up those followers.  It used to popular authors who got the attention.  Look for popular bloggers with big followings to be courted by publishers and media.  And, yes, they’ll get on the speaking circuit, too.
• Meetings are not going away.  Some say that virtual communities will replace conventions and conferences.  Not so fast.  As long as business is being conducted face-to-face, meetings are here for a while.  My prediction:  the movers and shakers will show up.  The less interested or low-price folks will stay in the bleachers.  Remember, meetings are not just about the information.  Folks go to meet people.

That’s what I see out there.  What are your predictions?

These folks are not only hitting the association conferences, but also sharing ideas in the corporate sector.  Their fees are not cheap — easily running into the five figures.  Combined with what I’m hearing out there, here’s what I took away from the article:

• Bad news:  if you’ve done nothing but speak in the last ten years…be very afraid.  The cool entrepreneur with a big success has become your biggest competitor for big-fee speaking.  They are more visible with a more compelling story.  And they are willing to speak for free in certain venues.
• Worse news:  buyers are giving these folks a pass on compelling content.  Call it the halo effect for speakers.  If you are cool, you can read from the phone book and be inspiring.  But don’t call them boring.  Some of these execs are passionate and eloquent, too.  Sigh…
• The best news:  death of the $10,000 plus speaking engagements has been exaggerated.  Buyers will pay good fees for speakers — but only for those they think are worth it.

Click here to read the article for yourself. Many thanks to Al McCree and SpeakerNet News for passing this along.

Something else to consider:  speaker previews are on the horizon, as more attendees want to choose which session to join.  Watch for more requests for video clips to post on conference websites.  Why do you care?  This means that folks have to fall in love with you before the speech, not during it.

So ask yourself (honestly):  why would attendees want personal access to you?  Platitudes have become obsolete here.  Creators or developers behind big cool projects are getting the inside track now.

See for yourself — here’s the article outlining the findings.

First thing I noticed about the agenda:  the topics.  We experts have great content on this stuff, too.  But look at who they chose instead.  Folks on the front lines, speaking from experience.  Here’s the playbook:  get a bunch of cool people who do cool things and learn from them.  Attendees not only get access to these folks, but also content connected to big results.

My take:  our content is not enough.  We need to connect our content to a cause that gets buzz.  No worries, I’m on this.  Stay tuned…

Another similarity to TED:  every speaker is doing “cool projects”, things that don’t involve a stage of audience.  They were invited to speak or share their views on what’s next.  My guess:  they were chosen not only because of their backgrounds, but also because of their current work.

Why do you care?  Two reasons:  if you’re going to speak for free, these are the venues to do it.  Anyone can apply for the iSpot slots.  And second, this is how the marketplace defines thought leaders.  Brand yourself accordingly.

• Instant attendee feedback on your presentation.  Planners hope for higher response rates and specificity in attendee comments.
• Instant buzz for your presentation.  Apps will aggregate social networking tools, spreading the word fast on your presentation.  This is a double-edged sword.  Bring your “A” game and be prepared for quick responses.
• Longer lead times.  Approval from Apple can take up to three weeks; current thinking is to create and launch the app at least three months in advance.  Prediction:  this will force speaker selection decisions to be made far in advance, as planners will use programming to promote the event.  This is good news for those of us who customize our talks.

Our next best step:  start strategizing now about how you are going to participate with apps — what info can you contribute and how you will immediately respond to the inquiries and buzz.  Build a timeline and tactics to promote your presentation and add value via apps.  Experts predict apps will be standard within a year or so.  Don’t wait on this one…