What does a conference do?
Conferences are a way of aggregating – of bringing together – several different valuable things.
Conferences aggregate people…
A conference brings together a group of people who are focused on a shared interest. If the people at your conference are similar to each other but not interested in similar things, you’re wasting your time. The more their interests align with the focus of the conference and the greater their interest, the greater the value of the conference.
… which enables the organisers to aggregate better speakers and content…
An audience with a high level of shared interest is a more attractive audience, which attracts better presenters and content.
… which creates a better cohort…
The more interesting the speakers, the more people will attend, creating a larger and better cohort.
… which creates a network with more possibilities…
With more attendees, the number of possible connections and partnerships multiplies rapidly (see Network Opportunities), so a larger cohort creates increasing (possible) returns in terms of connections and partnerships between people.
… which is more attractive to more people…
And so the virtuous cycle continues.