Alternatives Needed: do you have one?
If three times becomes an annual tradition, then I attended, this past weekend, a tradition that my family has been coming to in Long Beach, CA. The ISNA WZ Conference, with the only difference being that this time I came alone. The previous weekend, my youngest daughter, Rayyan – now 2 months old, came down with a viral infection that landed her in the hospital. But that is a separate story. This conference, after its initial success (some call it beginner’s luck), has been dwindling ever since. This year saw about 800 attendees, down from 3000 two years ago and 1500 last year. A different angle ISNA took in marketing this convention was to encourage our of town Muslims, especially from the North, was to come enjoy Long Beach in the holidays and attend ISNA at the same time. Besides, what else could Muslims possibly do besides freeze at home during the Christmas break.
Although a clever marketing idea, it was poorly executed and covered up the real reason why attendance is going down. First to the marketing: If you really wanted Muslims to come say from the Northern States to enjoy the warm weather, then a little more effort should have been taken by contacting the City of Long Beach and say, Alaska Airlines and Southwest Airlines, etc. to get good deals on airfare, and other things. Most cities are begging for things like these because it increases sales and thus tax revenues. Without these “special offers” it is very difficult for families to save enough money to afford these trips. Airfare ($300/person), hotel stay ($95/night), and food ($25/day/person). A four day trip can easily run a minimum of $1000. So who are these conferences trying to attract? If it is the rich and upper middle class, then they should temper their expectations of attendance, and then cater to the rich and upper middle class.
As for the real reason for lack of attendance, its pretty simple really: it is the same program year in and year out, with very few changes. I had a long conversation with one of the attendees who had brought his family and he was complaining about this same issue. That the programs are great for first time attendees who have not been exposed to conferences before. This can be attested to every year in the wrap up session, when the positive comments that people make are always from the Muslims who begin by saying “this is the first time I attended this conference…….” And end with “I will definitely come again next year.” That’s great, but will they come the 3rd, 4th, and 5th year? And if the program is relatively the same, why would they? One of the reasons for the program being the same is the people who are coming up with the program are usually the same every year, are tremendously busy with their own lives, and write a program from what they want to hear, not what attendees want to hear. I am assuming here, and I don’t think I am wrong, that the organizers are at a different level of Iman than the attendees, without saying whether it is higher or lower.
So looking at the needs of the Muslim population and then coming up with a program that suites them is more appropriate. And the ones they should be focusing on are not the first time attendees, because there are only a few handful every year, but the Muslims whose families and themselves have been brought up in a culture of conferences as a way to strengthen their Muslim Identity. Although mosques have taken on this role in the past decade, the sense of belonging is still felt by people who have friends and family all over the country. So if I am a person that comes every year out of tradition, then Muslim organizations need to analyze me and cater to my needs. In the conversation I was having with the brother I mentioned earlier, it was clear to both of us that Muslim organizations are still catering to the same group of people that used to come to conference 20 years ago in the 80s. What they need to focus on are the children of the people who came 20 years ago and realize that they have some constraints, like very young children, limited disposable income (unless they are MD’s or Lawyers). Even these, in most cases, are just getting established in life. When these people come to a program, they need to find a place to leave their kids that they feel comfortable with, not in a room where they can just run around and/or watch TV the entire time. If the parents are frustrated with Babysitting accommodations, then one parent has to take care of the children, and you lose 50% of the audience. By the second day, the mother is so frustrated taking care of the children in a small hotel room that she begs/forces the father to take them out, and if this happens, which it usually does, then you have lost “the other half”. Thus you see that either the sessions are poorly attended or people just don’t come back.
The other issue that came up was with the families who have kids that are a bit older. Most of the national organizations have not effective youth organization that can handle the participants who come to the conference. That is probably the reason why there are more youth hanging out in hotel lobbies, the bazaar, and the most attended session is the entertainment. Maybe listening to lectures is not the best way to handle this, but rather interactive activities. After being in school where they have to sit and listen to the teacher, I would assume the last thing these would want to do is go on vacation to listen to more people in front/on stage telling them what to do, how to do it, and what they are doing wrong. So rather then listening to what Islam is, maybe they need to experience what Islam is. After all, this generation of youth are media savvy, with iPods, laptops, cell phones, and media hungry. Somehow we need to get to them with these tools and not conferences.
This was not intended to be a gripe session, but rather a way to share ideas of the demise of conferences and what alternatives are available to reach the Muslim audience. I hope this stirs some discussion in your mind as to other effective tools.
Till Next Time………
