Be a customer
Here's the no-brainer idea that has to also be the most under-utilized technique in an executive's arsenal: be a customer.
The idea comes courtesy of Ellipsis Partners' Rebecca Breeden in her "Extending Your Meeting: Before, During and After" session.
She advised attendees to go to other conferences as an attendee so you know what it's like for your members. You can try to think like an attendee or put yourself in your members' shoes, but you can't quite replace an actual experience. Find out the things that surprise and delight you -- then think about how you can emulate it. Find out what annoys you, and think about how your members may get annoyed at your meeting.
(And just as an aside -- a few minutes ago, Breeden asked those who did blogs at their conferences to raise their hands. Kind of a surreal experience, I didn't raise my hand because I was typing this post.)
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