Planning a Company Event in 2020
When you’re tasked with planning a company event, instead of looking at the venues, music, food, and entertainment from 2019 — you wake up in 2020. And you may mumble a few choice words under your breath.
The Importance of Meetings and Events
We’re facing the landslide effect of a pandemic world that has created an emotional, physical, and professional gap. People are lonely and need genuine connections — but they're also tired of watching screens and being fed information virtually. Creating a corporate meeting or event this year is an essential and challenging task.
When people log into a virtual event, there’s a glimmer of hope for educational value and personable interaction — but you'll lose your audience in less than 3 minutes if they don't get the WIIFM hanging in there. The content was king before 2020 and is king now — even more so. Whether it’s a socially-distant roadshow, networking event, or virtual conference, your goal should be to craft a strategic event with content that creates meaningful conversations between professionals.
Attendee Engagement in Meetings
Most people sign up for an event hoping for a smooth ride, an educational package, and a slightly-entertaining experience. As you brainstorm ideas for effective meeting strategies, bring everything back to the basics. Don’t let your audience forget why they signed up, and start scrolling! Here are a few things to remember as you formulate the content for your next event.
Know your audience. To gain peak attendee engagement, evaluate what information the attendees are missing and how you can deliver as personalized a journey as possible. Why are they attending, and what amount of time are they willing to invest in the content — and what kind of things will speak to them? If you can survey a subset of your attendees, you can get a much clearer picture of their personalities, familiarity with the subject, and what formats will support them best. Look for other similar events you can attend to experience how audiences engage with virtual or hybrid elements. Do your homework!
Build a journey to the vision. As you narrow down your main points, try to find the common threads and weave a journey that starts with introducing ideas, asking your audience questions, reaffirming what they’ve heard — and then taking a quick break with something fun or engaging before jumping into the next thought. Capitalize on fun and engaging elements to help your audience remember what you explained. If at all possible, create a storyline and share it with them upfront — we remember and engage better with a heads-up of where this event is taking us. Give the audience bite-sized pieces of intrigue, entertain them along the way, and connect the dots by the end — your attendees will love you, and stay tuned for the next piece!
Customize how you deliver the content to your audience. Find out what delivery method makes the most sense for your content. When you have information to teach, have multiple speakers engaging with each other. If your audience has many questions that need to be answered, utilize breakouts to address those specific niches. If you need the audience to do some work before the event, send them the prerequisites and leave them wanting more. No one wants to waste their time. By customizing how you deliver the content, you ensure that you provide seamless delivery and engaging experiences.
Equip them to succeed. Whether the call to action is a sales pitch, a new project, or an idea to implement, be sure to clearly articulate the next step, where they can find the information if they lose it, a follow-up plan, a link to a final survey, and the contact information for those who would like to network. An essential piece of strategic planning is giving the attendee every opportunity to complete their goals. A huge win in crafting the attendee experience is empowering them to be productive and help them continue to build upon the content they absorbed.
Strategic Event Planning
The primary purpose of corporate events is to communicate well and engage the attendees so that they walk away with goals, an actionable plan, and a genuine smile on their faces. Whether you have an online or in-person event, you can plan a strategic event that engages the attendee and communicates that you care for them!
Suppose you need help crafting a winning message and building relationships at your next event; set up a strategy call with the team at Iron Peacock Events. We’d love to help you pull off a winning event with measurable results!
