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HelpTop 9 Event Management Wins to Boost Your Event
Image courtesy of Thinstock
Any event can go negatively very quickly. If appropriate measures are not taken in advance, the audience will not be properly engaged and lack interest in the speaker(s), their speech, and the overall event. The engagement thus is key to a successful event, and planners should dedicate a lot of time to getting everything ready.
If you are looking for some quick wins to implement in your event marketing or management and improve your next event, the list below will be very useful to you. It contains original ideas of methods to engage and wake up the audience.
#1. Use name badges
This simple but effective event planning win allows people to mingle, which is something every event planner really needs. Design visual badges with names that could be easily read from a distance to ensure a good readability. Also, if you’re looking to take this to another level, include event-related questions during registration so participants cab include their own answer right on the name badges.
#2. RFID badges
These little helpers of event planners have received quite a buzz recently. Today, RFID is the standard at all music festivals, parties, conferences, and other events. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) provides a great way to boost the event because it delights the participants with shorter waiting lines and interactive experience.
Also, it’s downright cool! People sometimes save RFID badges to remember their experience at an event. So use them to help participants advertise your event and memorize it!
#3. Wristbands
Another way to manage participants without causing them too much problems is wristbands. You can get custom printed wristbands to cut waiting times, promote your company, and identify certain participants (e.g., speakers).
Another option is to create RFID-enabled wristbands for a more engaging experience that allows attendees to tap into what they find intriguing through the use of something like an RFID product kiosk. Attendees tap to get the information they need and vendors at your event can seamlessly collect relevant data without wasting time or money on materials or incalculable ROI.
#4. Show a theme-related YouTube movie or video
Your event has a theme, right? Why not make the whole thing more interesting by showing a YouTube movie or video connected to it? For example, if you are going to be talking about stocks and how to deal with them, why not show some of the portions from “The Wolf of Wall Street” movie?
Or maybe your topic is climate change? In this case, you can use this mini lecture by a well-known British film producer David Puttnam called “The Reality of Climate Change”?
You’ve got the idea. By showing a video or a movie, you can make an introduction or use them as a distraction from the talk.
#5. Arrange present sharing
Yes, this is exactly what it sounds like. Ask the participants to bring a small present to the event that will be given to another person by the end. This does not have to be an expensive present (a book will do just fine). Also, ask them to attach a personal note to that present or a message to the person who receives it.
Upon the arrival of the participants, collect all gifts and tell everyone that you will be distributing them by the end of the event. Then, disseminate the presents randomly. This simple quick win can help you to increase interest to the event because… well, who doesn’t like a small token of appreciation?
#6. Organize the event at a non-traditional location
Thinking about organizing your event at a conference room? This is so cliché! It could be said without any doubt that most of your participants associate conference rooms with long, boring lectures (you probably do, too). Decorating the room will not work, so how about taking the event to a non-conventional place?
“Almost any place outside traditional office settings can be a great option,” says Lisa Greenberg, a professional event planner. “A park, a museum, a swimming pool, a café, you name it! The last event I organized was in a park for professional essay writers who are obviously used to sitting in the office all day. You can imagine how excited they were.” A place dedicated to off-site events, like Offsite NYC, is also a unique option.
Image courtesy of Do Publicity
#7. Avoid having a (long) Q&A session
Although Q&A sessions are a good way to interact with the audience at meetings and events, it’s useful to sometimes shorten them or avoid them altogether. For example, they can be abused by some participants who want to get their point across to the audience or share their opinion. Obviously, with only a few persons talking, you will not have an opportunity to engage the audience in a meaningful way.
Instead of traditional Q&A, have people send their questions through social media. This way, you will be able to select the questions for the speakers and give everybody a fair chance to participate. Such approach to Q&A is used by many prominent organizations, including NASA. More than half of the questions to speakers at NASA events comes from Twitter and phone lines (watch this Q&A session to get a better idea). Live polling apps, like Sli.do, make this more mobile and efficient for everyone.
#8. Let participants interact with people they don’t know
Meeting new people is fun and something not a lot of events permit, especially those events with packed itineraries. Typically, people only speak with their colleagues or other people they know, so the communication is fairly limited.
You can make your own event much more interesting for the participants by stimulating random networking moments. For example, encourage interactions with persons who are sitting far away from them to ensure that they don’t know each other.
#9. Adjust food and drinks to the event
Food and drinks are a major part of event budgeting because a lot of funds are typically spent on them. To ensure a connection between the food and drinks and the theme of the event, adjust them accordingly.
For example, if you decided to organize an event in a park, buy fruits and vegetables to provide an energy boost to the participants. (Healthy event planning doesn’t just stop at the catering, either!)
Guest Author Bio: Tom Jager is a professional blogger. He works at Awriter. He has degree in Law and English Literature. Tom has written numerous articles/online journals. You can reach him at G+ or Facebook.
There are new and more exciting ways to boost event branding and attendee experiences. See the latest when it comes to the event badge:
Topics: badge and wristband printing, event industry trends, event technology, event apps,, event marketing
