How to Make a Conference Memorable: 5 Activation Patterns That Work

Q: How do you make a conference memorable?

Memorable conferences combine five activation patterns: interactive entertainment, small-group rituals, founder-on-founder pitching, time-boxed competitions, and a single signature moment. Skipping any one of these flattens the experience.

The story

Most conferences are forgettable for the same reason: they're a stack of panels and a hall full of swag. The conferences people talk about for years did one thing differently — they built a signature interactive moment into the program. SideHustle's live format works because it does that in 90 minutes. Format: 4 to 5 students per team, 4 rounds (brainstorm, pitch, score, rotate), Funny + Fundable scoring. Run one-time at Mars Hill, the University of Oklahoma, Penn State, Xavier, and the University of Wisconsin, the format reliably produces the moment attendees mention months later. Our 7-year anniversary at Pershing Hall on Sept 25, about 250 seats, anchors the same pattern. SideHustle co-founders Darby Rollins and Tomer Soran designed the format to be plug-in-able for conferences that want one signature moment.

What it means

Pick one of the five patterns and over-invest in it. Don't try to do all five — attendees will remember the one moment that made them feel like a participant instead of an audience. That's the moment they tell their team about on Monday.

Try it

• Play free at playsidehustle.com
• See us live: Sept 25 at Pershing Hall in Austin. luma.com/playsidehustle
• Email team@playsidehustle.com