I wrote this article for Smart Meetings in February 2026, about the three values planners should design their events around this year. People in the same demographic category share the same preferences only about 10% of the time, so planning by age, gender or job title gets it wrong roughly 90% of the time. Our data from one million surveys across 180 countries points to the values of Employment Security, Personal Responsibility and Community.
Each of those changes the program in a specific way. People driven by Employment Security want upskilling workshops, help with their LinkedIn profiles, and time with the people who make decisions in their industry. People driven by Personal Responsibility want to leave a session with something finished, like a template, an action plan or a first draft, so I suggested adding Get It Done Hours to the agenda. For Community, break the big crowd into smaller groups built around shared interests or roles. When an event matches what attendees value, engagement goes up by as much as 40%, trust goes up by 20%, and people will pay up to 12% more to be there.
You can read the original at Smart Meetings.
My new book walks you through all kinds of ways to identify (and use) your values, and it's available for pre-order now. It's called The Values Map, and I would be very grateful if you pre-ordered a copy. My publisher would love it too. ❤️
Everything gets easier when you know What Matters Most.
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