Knowledge Matters™

Professor Robin Dunbar has researched the size and structure of human social networks. This research, combined with his work on primates, provides some interesting insights into our cognitive cache (to use a machine metaphor). To generalise his work seemingly we have circles of about 5, 15, 35, 80 and 150 people, which correspond to our family, our close friends, our colleagues and acquaintances, our club and business affiliations, and finally our village or neighbourhood. (For more information on these network circles review the papers on Dunbar’s website ). Now this work has implications for all sorts of business initiatives, including event management.

Take for example conferences. I suggest the ideal conference size is between 35 and 80 people if one wants to network and learn. We have all been to conferences of 150 or more people where we feel lost and tend to revert to our known social contacts rather than mix. Recent commentary on the actKM list suggests actKM 2007 was the best conference ever. Perhaps this was in part because the conference was attended by less than 50 people and allowed intimate interaction? My own experience at ACKMIDS 2005, PACIS 2007 and ICKCC 2007 would seem to confirm this view. I enjoyed ACKMIDS because it was focussed and small. PACIS 2007 and ICKCC 2007 were valuable but far more impersonal. Further because of their size I was unable to network effectively and unable to attend some of the presentations because they were held concurrently.

What about exhibitions? Is there an ideal size or is size measured by the number of exhibitors? I don’t know, but it seems to me Dunbar’s numbers give us some insights. Recently I was in Singapore and went to a super store which had seven floors of computer hardware and software shops. My interest was to browse the shops to see what was available and perhaps pick up a bargain. I don’t know how many shops there were, but there must have been over 150 shops. I was simply overwhelmed and was in sensory overload. In the end I didn’t buy anything because I didn’t know what was or was not a bargain, and I couldn’t remember where the things of interest were! Using this experience as a guide I guess the ideal number of exhibitors is probably around 80. This would give sufficient diversity without overloading our cognitive caches.

This brings me to events like band competitions. I attended a competition on Sunday. In fact the band I play for won, but I digress. It was a good competition because there were about 35 entries in three events (march, ensemble, and drumming), across four grades. Bands were able to listen to other grades and hear most of the competitors in their own grade. Socialisation was easy. Next year in November the Australian championships will be held at the same ground. I don’t know how many bands will compete, but my previous experience suggests there will be well over 100 entries across three events and four grades. I’ve never enjoyed the Australian championships, despite having won twice. They are simply too impersonal and I find myself in constant sensory overload – my cognitive cache can’t cope.

Perhaps I have over-generalised Dunbar’s work, but it would appear size matters. Event organisers take heed!

Regards, Graham