Let’s imagine that you’ve been given the assignment of closing out a conference.  You’re the final speaker and you want to leave the audience happy, motivated, and ready to come back for more.  Assuming you’re not just going to give your usual speech and wish the audience bon voyage, you want to figure out some way to sum up the conference without just going over the main points of each of the preceding speakers.  That’s way too boring, so I'll suggest 5 ways to close out a conference with style, in order of ascending complexity.

1.  Give a brief, focused summary that talks about "Here are the 3 most important ideas I've learned.  Here's what I'm going to do differently when I get back to the office.  Here are the 3 ideas we should look for more information on going forward."

2.  Focus on the future:  give a short talk on the implications for the future of some of the key ideas you heard.  Use these to fit in some of your favorite ideas or issues that weren't addressed fully during the conference.

3.  Poll the audience for their ideas about aspects of #1  & 2.  In other words, quote people you've interviewed along the way for the 3 most important ideas, what they're going to do differently, further research, implications, etc.

4.  Take along a video camera, and interview audience members during the 3 days. Get their very quick reactions to selected talks, ideas for the future, etc.  Then show the video as the closer. (I've used this last idea at several conferences to huge enthusiasm, because people love to see themselves on camera, and the idea builds cohesion and excitement during the 3 days.  It works best if you have a camera AND a sound person; the quality is much better.  But it can be done with a simple hand-held video camera.)

5.  (Just for fun.)  Play a quick game of conference trivia.  Offer prizes (cash, easy things to carry, champagne, gift certificates) to all who can answer the questions (of what went on during the 3 days).  This means that you have to pay close attention during the entire conference, for good trivia. 

Have fun!