The “Gen Y Guy”

Speaker Jason Ryan Dorsey talks about how to ramp up your conferences to bring in the next generation

By Joan Drammeh

What do young people want to hear at meetings? Jason Ryan Dorsey, 31, should know. This “Gen Y Guy” has spoken at some 500 youth events. He’s made a career of understanding what his generation, people born roughly between 1977 to 1995, are looking for in life. He’s the author of the bestselling book “Graduate to Your Perfect Job,” published by Random House. He’s also a consultant to major American companies, helping them bridge a four-generation gap in the workplace, and he’s been featured as a generational expert on “60 Minutes,” “20/20″ and “Good Morning America.” Listen up! Here’s what the “Gen Y Guy” has to say about reaching youth at your events.

Do Gen Y and meetings go together?

Gen Y is extremely event-driven, which is great because we literally plan our lives around events. We will text our friends and talk about it on Facebook. We will really spread the word to say where we are going and who all is going to be there.

Not only is Gen Y event-driven, we are very much drawn to participate in groups where we feel included. I say groups because a lot of times we go to these events, and we are not a part of a group. You are one out of 5,000 people, and that is not only intimidating, it is very uncomfortable. But if you can make it a group-type event, we want to be there and we will come back because we are a part of something that is bigger than ourselves.

Based on my experience, [taking action] really fits with Gen Y because we want to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. And we want to see that we are moving forward and helping others do the same.

Which youth conferences have you experienced first hand?

I have spoken at probably 500 youth events, ranging in size from 25 to 13,000 people. I have pretty much spoken at more youth conferences than anyone else in the U.S.

What do you see that planners of youth events are getting right or wrong?

In general, events have recognized the need to use a lot more technology. But they need to make it more of an event, a spectacle, instead of just a spill and drill. I think they are also getting better at promoting the events and telling people why they should come. But there are definitely some things I see that planners could be doing differently.

At a lot of events, your first interaction is a “here’s your name tag, find your seat” kind of thing. Planners should be sending leads prior to the event either with e-mail, text or a Facebook group that gets people connected. So when they get there, they already know people, can meet at a certain place, wear a certain shirt and meet people that like the same things they do.

Have more youth involved with the conference planning. That’s going to make the event feel a lot more authentic. I also think that a lot of the sessions run too long. Gen Y has a very short attention span and a very high entertainment value. If you want to make sessions multimedia that is fine, but I caution people — just because you use technology doesn’t mean it is a fit for Gen Y. There are a lot of people who rely on technology as a crutch to connect with Gen Y.

How can technology be a crutch?

It’s somebody who has a whole bunch of PowerPoint slides. I think PowerPoint slides are what Boomers use to appear high tech. And my rule of thumb on that is, if you are going to use a PowerPoint slide, I say one every 15 minutes.

You characterize Gen Y as “entitled, instant gratifiers, outcome-driven.” Is this a negative image?

Each characteristic is half of the point. For example, Gen Y has a high need for instant gratification, but that’s because we really want to see ongoing progress. You can take every one of those characteristics and make them into an asset for a meeting. If Gen Y is tech dependent that means they want to use technology to meet people before they get to an event. They want to stay connected during the event and afterward. Outcome driven — they just want to see the results of going to a meeting. Let Gen Y know the five things they are going to get out of your event in your promotional materials.

Young people want to have a voice and be heard. How can a conference not just be an event where they get lectured?

Try having them text message responses to questions. Another thing that is really cool is leaving a session open and let the attendees pick the topic that they want the session to be about. They can do that by voting, by texting or by going online. I also think that there need to be breaks where people can go and connect with other people. In general, I would say you should never go more than an hour without going into something different.

What kind of elements do you believe youth conferences need to have in order to be a success?

It’s hard to go wrong with music. I think that games can work if they are positioned in a way that is non-threatening. Threatening means go meet a bunch of new people. Depending on how big the crowd is, they simply may not do it. I work with a lot of hard-to-reach youth audiences and getting them to do anything outside of their comfort zone is hard.

I’ve been at events where attendees were given text instructions to go do stuff. Sure that is absolutely cool, especially for the teen audience. Teens are also drawn to comedy. It is one of those things that can be a safe place to go. If you are not funny, find something that you can project that is.

Are practical sessions like managing money and preparing for college a good choice for this group?

They are a home run. Gen Y wants things that they can do now, and for many teens college, money, jobs, etc., are very much on their minds because it is a transition phase and transitions are scary. The more you can make an event applicable to where they are in their lives, the more value they will feel they get out of it.

What do you think of meeting planners incorporating current events into the session topics and discussions?

I think they should. Gen Y is the most connected generation ever. We get all the news in the world to our phone anytime. And if a current event is big enough, we’ll want to talk about it.

How important is it for young people to have speakers their own age?

It’s really important, but it is not the only thing because all ages can be effective with youth audiences. But I certainly think there are some initial barriers that are broken down when they see that someone is in a similar life place. There are speakers who are three times my age who I think are phenomenal. Age is just one of many variables.

What other mistakes do planners make when planning a youth conference?

They don’t ask the youth what they actually want. They talk down to them instead of trying to lift them up and the format isn’t one that really caters to young people’s learning style.

What if your group is trying to have a big youth outreach but has a restricted budget?

It’s not how expensive or fancy something is — it is how authentic and unique the program, speaker or event is. Instead of having the world’s most expensive speaker, you might just have a project that everybody in the audience can complete together. It is still getting them engaged and giving the same message.

What would you tell a meeting planner who believes a conference should be a retreat where kids get away from technology?

I am always scared about the word retreat because it basically means “back up.” Gen Y will go to events and let go of their gadgets but you’ve got to then replace them with something else – that can be experiential learning, a ropes course, scavenger hunt or interactive games. But they need to be busy; Gen Y hasn’t learned the skill of how not to do anything.

There is a lot of information about social media, but why do you believe these networks are so important to Gen Y?

I think that the real crux of the matter is that Gen Y is looking for meaning, direction and connection in their lives. Many youth conferences really offer that, and Gen Y will seek out those events if they are positioned correctly.

How to use Social Media at your event

Pre-Conference:

1. Use trusted channels. Spread the word via YouTube, blog postings, RSS feeds and Facebook and by asking Gen Y to forward meeting invites to three friends.

2. Be lifestyle oriented. Promote live entertainment, food events, onsite competitions, interesting people, new technology and good meeting location.

3. Give homework. Up-front homework is good, especially when it is non-traditional and builds anticipation. Ask Gen Y to bring relevant data and their favorite vintage T-shirt.

4. Promote ways to connect. Give them ways to meet other attendees before the event through social networking sites such as Facebook. Another option is to offer a short survey that matches them with other attendees.

At the Event:

5. Provide a forum and motivation. Give Gen Y a chance to share their experiences during the meeting. This could be a conference blog, “follow me” Twitter feed, real-time session evaluations or a Facebook destination for uploading meeting videos and photos.

6. Assign a meeting guru. This would be a person who can answer attendee questions during the meeting via text message.

Post-Conference:

7. Solicit feedback. Ask attendees to share their top three takeaways from the meeting. Surveys are okay as long as they take less than two minutes to complete and offer a place for comments or questions.

8. Establish accountability groups. These groups can be online or by phone — they are where people commit to implementing one or more meeting takeaways per month.

9. Deliver a quarterly newsletter. This would be a “Where Are They Now” e-newsletter with updates, coolest projects undertaken and the latest adventures of meeting attendees.

10. Plan ahead. When planning your next meeting, ask Gen Y to serve on your planning committee and to participate in online voting to select session topics. Give the m a chance to name the conference. You can do this via Web sites such as namethis.com.