OVER the last five years digital technology conferences seem to have grown, in size, ambition and frequency, so that an avid conference delegate can merrily wile away the working week going from one web 2.0 or digital event to the next.

Sadly, many of these events suffer from weak content and speakers spouting a carefully neutered company party line. As a result the only real value comes from the networking lunches, dinners and parties.

However some conferences stand out as exceptional. They take an eclectic and innovative view of an industry and aim to inspire and excite and make bold, counterintuitive predictions about the future.

You leave energised, motivated and hopeful as opposed to exhausted and cynical. Events like the World Economic Forum at Davos, TED in Monterey and Pop!Tech in Maine are often placed in this conference superleague.

The LIFT Conference in Geneva, has been steadily climbing the ranks of the elite so I jumped at the chance of volunteering to work at LIFT and get the inside track on what really makes a great conference.

So, last week I found myself in Geneva at the conference centre opposite the UN, preparing to learn all about the culture, the schedule, the speakers, and trying to remember useful phrases from my year 11 French class.

The feel of the event is chaotic but stimulating, and there’s a real focus on delegate experience and creating the right environment for people from start to finish.

LIFT relied heavily on art installations, discussion corners and other devices to get people involved and building relationships. Naturally you want great speakers sharing, not selling, ideas. You want a programme that’s not afraid to step outside the realm of the status quo. But most of all you want a shared experience; a community feeling that has made the event and time spent all worthwhile.

This in my experience is the key to breaking into the same league as the TEDs and Pop!Techs of the world. These organisations bring tremendous energy to their events and make them the special conferences that they are.

At Codeworks we are busy working on our own mould breaking international technology conference – Thinking Digital. It’s our fourth annual conference but our most ambitious by far. Take a look at www.thinkingdigital.co.uk and see what you think.

Vikki Carr is producer of the Thinking Digital conference, 21-23 May 2008, www.thinkingdigital.co.uk