My worked asked me to staff another client's Annual Meeting. Having never attended another clients' meeting, I agreed, hoping that I would learn a few additional tricks for my own client's meeting (how do they run their registration, exhibit hall, staffing, etc).
This particular client has attendees that are your typical science nerds (P.S. I LOVE Science Nerds). These particular nerds love their scientific sessions, and will not miss a nanosecond of the presentations. Their breaks between sessions are used for restroom breaks/refreshment pick ups and walking to the next rooms. At first, I was witnessing 0 minutes of networking/socializing in the hallways, which is completely different from the annual meetings I run....But then I saw the other spectrum of their personalities.
One particular thing that this meeting does, that my client's meeting does not do, is hold a Friday night party, with a cash bar, snacks and a live band. This year's band was an 80's cover band, who were really good! The attendees seemed to dig them as well, because about three quarters of the party people were up and dancing. They had formed a large dance circle. If they saw one person standing alone even slightly moving the upperhalf of their body, they grabbed that person and pulled them into the dance circle. It was an adorable sense of science nerd community. They danced like no one was watching or at least like they didn't care what they people watching were thinking (which was good for them, because I was on the sidelines giggling softly at the white-boy shuffles).
Normally you only get this type of action at weddings, but apparently you get them at conferences as well!
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