A great pre-conference workshop does more than add another session to the agenda. It helps people arrive at a conference already connected, engaged and ready to contribute. For organizers of associations, summits and leadership events, that early momentum can shape the entire experience.

Dr. Darin Eich, founder of InnovationTraining.org, designs and facilitates customized pre-conference workshops, often called pre-cons, for events of all kinds. These interactive sessions give the most engaged attendees a hands-on experience before the main programming begins and set the tone for everything that follows.

Why Organizers Add a Pre-Con

Conference planners tend to add a workshop for a few consistent reasons.

• Deeper learning. Every conference has attendees who want more than sessions. A workshop lets them practice skills instead of only hearing about them.
• Added revenue. Pre-cons are usually priced as an add-on. A well-designed workshop can sell out and raise the perceived value of the whole event.
• Momentum for day one. People who co-created ideas the day before arrive at the opening keynote energized and connected.
• Lasting community. Conferences increasingly compete on connection, not just content. People bond by doing things together, and a workshop is a reliable way to make that happen early.

What Participants Experience

A pre-conference workshop feels different from a presentation. Participants move between individual reflection, small group conversations, playful activities, real challenges, idea generation and rapid prototyping. Within the first hour, people are working together rather than sitting in rows.

Jennifer, a participant at the CultureCon pre-conference workshop, described the room as “electric.” She said attendees experienced design thinking in action through play, improvisation and a strong bias toward action, co-creating solutions and leaving with options they could act on.

Participants typically leave with ideas they can use right away, connections with peers they will see throughout the conference, and methods they can take back to their own organizations.

Popular Workshop Topics

Every pre-con is customized to the conference theme and audience. Common topics include:

• Innovating organizational culture with design thinking
• Design thinking and innovation for teams and leaders
• Technology adoption and human-centered change, keeping people at the center of the conversation
• Facilitation and workshop design skills
• Storytelling for leaders and organizations
• Future-ready leadership and change
• Turning conference learning into action

Daniel, who attended the workshop at the CultureCon AI Summit, said the session focused on design thinking and bringing the human element into the technology conversation. In his words, it was about curiosity, co-creation and using new tools in ways that honor the people at the center of organizations.

Formats and Customization

Pre-conference workshops usually run as half-day or full-day sessions, in person, for groups of 20 to more than 150 participants. Larger formats, hackathon-style sessions, and virtual or hybrid versions are also available.

Each engagement begins with a discovery conversation about the conference theme, the attendees and the goals for the session. The workshop is then built around the event, so the challenges participants tackle, the stories they share and the outcomes they leave with all connect to the main program. The result is an on-ramp to the conference rather than a disconnected add-on.

What Organizers Gain

Beyond the participant experience, organizers report several benefits:

• A distinctive agenda item that helps registration marketing
• Early arrivals, which supports the venue, exhibitors and opening-night events
• Attendee testimonials and social posts that promote the conference
• A repeatable annual tradition the community looks forward to

Case Study: CultureCon

CultureCon, a leading organizational culture conference, has opened with a design thinking pre-conference workshop every year since its inaugural 2018 event, including the CultureCon AI Summit. Participants work together on real culture challenges from their own workplaces, close with a group reflection that captures their shared wisdom, and carry both the connections and the ideas into the conference.

Feedback from attendees reflects the impact. One participant called it a great way to kick things off, with many ideas to put into action right away. Another said it was a huge experience, adding that they made new friends and learned plenty to take back to the office. A third praised Dr. Eich as an engaging, in-the-moment speaker who captures the audience’s imagination.

About Dr. Darin Eich

Darin Eich, Ph.D., has spent more than twenty years designing and facilitating innovation, design thinking and leadership development experiences for organizations ranging from universities to Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has led conference workshops, interactive keynotes and pre-conference experiences for associations and events across the country.

Bringing a Pre-Con to Your Event

For anyone programming a conference, summit or association event, a pre-conference workshop can turn a good gathering into a memorable one. It deepens learning, builds community early and gives attendees a reason to arrive ready to participate. Organizers interested in the idea can contact InnovationTraining.org to talk through their event, their attendees and what a session could look like.

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