First Best Practice: Carry the Milken Prosperity Formula in your Day-Timer, wallet or pocket.
One example of breakthough thinking is seen in the detailed conference program listing on the Milken Institute's website. For each lecture or panel of speakers, in addition to the traditional naming of speakers and providing a 100 word abstract of the topic, Internet resource links to 3-5 locations are provided and briefly annotated. This is called "Background Info".
The usage allows the attendee to pre-research the current literature and resources on the topic the speakers will be addressing. While this simple feature (background resource links in the detailed conference program guide) could have been done through out the history of the Internet (1962 for academics, 1994 for commercial institutions and consumers), it has not been a part of the landscape of conference producers' websites.
Another best practice is supporting all panelist having instant access to a long roster of charts, slides, and graphics in real-time during their panel. This practice does not require any new infrastructure resources. It is simply the smart use of existing resources. The way this is used is that mid-sentence, during remarks, rebuttals or answers to spontanious questions, the panelist speaker is able to ask for that particular slide and, within seconds, it appears on the huge conference displays, clearly visible to the entire audience. The speaker then points to details for the audience to focuse on. Then, their counter-part panal presenter can respond verbally and call on their own desired chart or graphic. This addition to the live, interactive panel process allows for a far richer experience.
A third best practice is in giving quizes to attendees.
The Milken Global 2003 Conference offered a pre-quiz that visitors could access from the website page on the conference. The quiz is called the " Global Quiz". The challenge statement says, "See how much you know about the global economy. Take our quiz."
Through its use of simple, straightforward best practices, the Milken Conferences provide its participants a notably high quality experience. Thus, also, the Milken Conferences are a role model to conference producers.