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Bidding, planning, design, and management are principles of successful conference execution. In this chapter, an appreciation of context and the specification of concrete guidelines are shared on how to make a conference a success. Micro examples inform the perspectives on how to apply event domain literature in the management of an academic association conference. Practical viewpoints, including strategic planning guidelines, operational documents, and event design philosophies shed light on professional conference management. Key success factors and challenges related to its design provide a yardstick on how to execute a conference. Key summary issues and special tips for success are also highlighted.

This study aims to explore a potential conference experience design strategy, namely, festivalization. It investigates the potential festivalization effects on conference attendees in two formats of business conferences: virtual and in-person.

A series of two scenario-based experimental studies were conducted. A series of one-way analysis of covariance and PROCESS procedures (Model 6) were performed for data analysis.

The inclusion of festivalization elements significantly enhances positive responses of attendees, especially for in-person conferences. This effect is further explained by a serial mediation effect, where enhanced perceived values and conference engagement play key roles in improving attendees’ conference experience.

By incorporating festivalization elements, conference organizers can create a more engaging and satisfying event experience for attendees. This can lead to greater satisfaction, positive word-of-mouth and increased registrations.

This study represents a pioneering effort in revealing the underlining mechanisms that explain how festivalization affects attendee engagement and subsequent behaviors in business event management in both face-to-face and virtual settings.

The purpose of this study is to explore what new knowledge is gained at academic and professional conferences by describing how this knowledge complements or contradicts campus-based learning and previous experiences of graduate students. Through gaining insights into conference-based learning, researchers and policymakers can create more complex and dynamic graduate student learning experiences and design conferences that welcome and encourage graduate student perspectives and voices.

Rooted in transformative learning theory, this qualitative study explores what and how master’s level graduate students learn at professional and academic conferences.

Findings point to four categories of learning through conferences: students acquired empirical knowledge, gained insights into professional and scholarly trends and values, explored diversity of the conference body and their own belonging and benchmarked their knowledge in relationship to scholars and professionals. Interviewees gained this knowledge by linking conference-based learning to their graduate school curriculum and previous knowledge and experiences.

Findings suggest considerations for educators, policymakers and administrators to enhance learning in graduate programs through in-person and virtual conference attendance.

This study adds to minimal existing research on graduate student learning beyond the campus that contributes to holistic learning at the master’s level. The findings on conference-based learning for graduate students go beyond the common notion of conferences as places of socialization for graduate students. These findings are increasingly relevant as academic and professional conferences are being reconsidered in the shift to the virtual space.

States that search conferences originated in the open systems work of Emery and Trist. Covers the following issues: What are search conferences? How did they develop? How do they work? What are the design principles? How do they differ from other large group interventions? Search conferences as learning organizations and for participative strategic planning.

This paper discusses the conceptual and theoretical foundation upon which whole systems change interventions are based The paper first describes six methods of intervention that are currently being utilized to change whole systems: (1) future search, (2) search conferences/ participative design, (3) open space, (4) large scale interactive process methodology, (5) simu‐real, and (6) fast cycle full participation and the conference model. Next, six common values and assumptions underlying these large scale change interventions are identified: (1) organizations are seen as “whole systems,” (2) viewing organizations as whole systems requires the creation of dialogue among all organizational stakeholders, (3) organizations do not exist, but organizing processes and procedures do, (4) what we perceive as our collective organizational reality becomes the organization that is created, (5) individuals within organizations have the capacity to self‐organize and redefine their reality, and (6) humanity shares a set of universal values that are inherently “good” and these values will ultimately influence voluntary collective action. The paper concludes with an appeal for interventionists and users of large group techniques to be cognizant of the assumptions that drive their choice of intervention.

This paper draws on the metaphor of “magic” to explore the role of dialogue conferences and subsequent activities as a tool for organizational development and change. The metaphor is introduced and elaborated as a means of allowing critical reflection on action research projects.

In the empirical setting of a change project in a regional health authority in Sweden, researchers designed and facilitated a development coalition for introducing integrated care. This required an action research intervention that supported the establishment of new relationships and developmental practices across both organizational and professional boundaries.

The unfolding of developmental processes set in train by dialogue conferences are shown as being a dynamic process of magic underpinned by the principles of democratic dialogue.

By drawing attention to the three keywords of development, participation and dialogue three sites have been identified for critical reflection and reflexivity in action research. Magic is argued as an activity wherein the seemingly impossible is made to happen in these areas; equally it can be an activity of simple illusion whereby appearance is at odds with reality.

The aim of this paper is to identify the principles and characteristics of a learning conference which uses action learning and action research (ALAR) processes to create: optimal learning for all participants through a collaborative, inclusive conference culture; further knowledge creation in publishing conference papers post‐conference through a supportive research culture.

The 2010 World Congress of the Action Learning and Action Research Association (ALARA) is showcased to exemplify a learning conference, using the PIP (preamble–interview–postscript) framework to demonstrate the utility of this new genre for research and writing conference papers and action research models as frameworks to support publishing articles.

Discussion offers ways to enhance opportunities for conference learning through creative purposeful activities that promote collaboration, critical thinking and reflection, and models of action research cycles to progress research from conference presentation to journal article.

The paper makes the crucial link between conference procedure and publication of learning from conference to extend knowledge creation. The PIP model used here presents ways for novice researchers to network with experienced researchers through interview, for professional development, career advancement and publication.

Customer journeys have become an increasingly important topic in service management and design. The purpose of this paper is to review customer journey terminology and approaches within the research literature prior to 2013, mainly from the fields of design, management, and marketing.

The study was conducted as a systematic literature review. Searches in Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Knowledge, ACM Digital Library, and ScienceDirect identified 45 papers for the analysis. The papers were analyzed with respect to customer journey terminology and approaches, the relation to customer experience, the referenced background, and the use of visualizations.

Across the reviewed literature, customer journeys are described not only as a means to take the viewpoint of the customer, but also to reach insight into their experiences. A rich and at times incoherent customer journey terminology is analyzed and discussed, as are two emerging customer journey approaches: customer journey mapping (analysis of a service process “as is”) and customer journey proposition (generative activities leading toward a possible service “to be”).

The review is limited to analyzing and making claims on research papers that explicitly apply the term customer journey. In most of the reviewed papers, customer journeys are not the main object of interest but are discussed as one of several topics.

A nuanced discussion of customer journey terminology and approaches is provided, supporting the practical application of a customer journey perspective.

The review contributes a needed common basis for future customer journey research and practice.

A (future) search conference is a carefully planned, custom‐designed, participative event embedded in a longer process of planning and improvement. Its main focus is to create ideas for future action that is to be implemented by the participants. This paper outlines what a search conference is and, by using recent Australian examples associated with homelessness, community development and Indigenous affairs, how it can be a useful qualitative research tool.