During the past two months I have organised a number of events and have been interested to hear the number of different motivations people have for attending events. Some were there to learn, some wanted to motivate others, some were there to escape and yet another group were there because they thought they “should be”. It got me thinking – there are any number of reasons that motivate someone to attend an event but what do we need to do to ensure that they leave inspired? How do we as event mangers ensure that attendees leave our events with the desired outcomes?
1. Is your speaker line up powerful, on trend and relevant to your attendees?
The first step to inspiring your attendees is to ensure your speaker line up is powerful, on trend and relevant to your attendees/market. Carefully consider the speaker schedule – ensure it is designed in a way that the speakers topics complement each other, not compete with each other – especially if you have stream sessions. Your final main speaker should be powerful & motivate attendees, have a topic that wraps up the theme of the event and is talented in designing a good close/wrap up/take away’s. Events Outsourced can assist you to plan your speaker line up, click here to contact us for more information.
2. Have you scheduled time for your attendees to interact and network?
Next you need to look at the interactions between attendees during the event – have you scheduled time for them to interact and network with their peers/colleagues? By this I do not mean the arranged “speed dating experience”. I am referring to activities in the foyer area between sessions or planned activities before/after the event which encourage attendees to join together and mingle. Holding a canape and drinks hour immediately following your event is a tried and tested way to make this happen however more out of the box ideas may help to encourage greater interaction between your attendees and allow you brand exposure at the same time.
Think virtual treasure hunts, pop up group fitness, fundraising games and activities for your aligned charity. Events Outsourced have utilised all of the above methods to engage attendees at their client’s events – contact us to find out more. These types of activities help your attendees to bring out their competitive side whilst building some good foundations for future business relationships.
3. Have you outlined the desired outcomes for the event?
Finally, you need to spend the time outlining what the desired outcomes are for the event and ensure that these are clearly communicated with all stakeholders, not just the event organiser. One of my recent events involved training from Tony Jeary, in which he asked the group to select their personal and business goals from a number of options and then proceeded to show the group how they could act on those goals to ensure they achieved them. This is what we should be doing with events – set the goals/outcomes and then ensure that everything you plan throughout the event is tied back to achieving them.
If you don’t take the time to outline exactly what you want the attendees to gain from the event, you have created nothing more than a pretty venue and an excuse to leave work for the day.
Events Outsourced are the trusted event management company in Sydney for growing Australian businesses looking to achieve strategic event outcomes. Based in Sydney, NSW, we provide a national service to our clients.
