Well, that's not quite the headline of Chris Brogan's awesome post (The Art of Butts in Chairs), but he's right, putting together a conference is an art. One that entails the sort of vision that makes it easy for attendees to take it all for granted, just as we take for granted the way the paintbrush marks build up the detail in a painting.
The most artful part, I think, isn't so much in the overtly creative-seeming things like room sets, formats, props, or entertainment. It's in the part he calls "being empowering": My goal with building events is to put the right people together in a room...It’s important that we empower people to connect. Easier said than done, but when done right, it makes a meeting truly a thing of beauty.
Thanks to InXpoLive for the pointer!