This concept was originally introduced during a Talkbase virtual event on October 31, 2023. I’ll bet you’ve heard of having a Keynote Speaker(s)…but I think we need to start seeing Keynote Connectors! What IS a Keynote Connector? Well, they are hired or appointed by the host brand or org, and their job is first and foremost: CONNECTION.
This is a brilliant idea, Jenny. I loved hearing you talk about it and thanks for outlining all the points here. It stands to reason that attendees feeling connected and engaged would boost the overall sentiment surrounding the event.
PS — thanks for doing this so beautifully at CMX. As a newbie, it surely was nice to know where to go and how to make the most of my time in CA.
Love this idea and definitely going to be spreading the word about keynote connectors after reading your post! So clever yet so simple - we need these connectors in our lives!
Love this Jenny! This is so me, I just never thought of it as actually being a role. Keynote Connector fits so well with Community. I think as a Community leader you have to have these skills, both online and in person. Re: applying this to virtual events, I could see this as a part of a Community Group, helping to connect and introduce people, before an after a virtual event!
We've done this through our volunteers at Ministry of Testing where they take on the role for a certain chunk of the conference and still have plenty of time to enjoy many aspects of the conference too.
They volunteer roles as designed to be helpers to the attendees, which includes looking out for them, talking to people, guiding them, etc.
We've found that being overly generous with the amount of volunteers actually makes a big difference to the vibe of the conference overall.
This is such a great idea!!
This is a brilliant idea, Jenny. I loved hearing you talk about it and thanks for outlining all the points here. It stands to reason that attendees feeling connected and engaged would boost the overall sentiment surrounding the event.
PS — thanks for doing this so beautifully at CMX. As a newbie, it surely was nice to know where to go and how to make the most of my time in CA.
Love this idea and definitely going to be spreading the word about keynote connectors after reading your post! So clever yet so simple - we need these connectors in our lives!
Love this Jenny! This is so me, I just never thought of it as actually being a role. Keynote Connector fits so well with Community. I think as a Community leader you have to have these skills, both online and in person. Re: applying this to virtual events, I could see this as a part of a Community Group, helping to connect and introduce people, before an after a virtual event!
We've done this through our volunteers at Ministry of Testing where they take on the role for a certain chunk of the conference and still have plenty of time to enjoy many aspects of the conference too.
They volunteer roles as designed to be helpers to the attendees, which includes looking out for them, talking to people, guiding them, etc.
We've found that being overly generous with the amount of volunteers actually makes a big difference to the vibe of the conference overall.