What makes events truly valuable and impactful? Maybe it’s the content of the presentations, or the unique experiences?
The truth is that, against all odds, events are more and more relevant, even in the digital era. How can this be, considering that things such as communication, networking, and knowledge sharing have become a commodity?
The answer is simple: Nothing can replace the human element events convey, no matter how much time people spend on social media or how many emails they write daily. There’s nothing more authentic and transformative than having an in-person experience and sharing it with like-minded people. That’s why attendee engagement is so crucial.
People want something that will take them out of their offices, keep their eyes off their electronics, and help them connect more genuinely with other professionals. These higher levels of engagement and interaction subsequently lead to industry-shifting collaborations and projects that continue outside the event.
However, the paradox is that it gets harder and harder to surprise your attendees and get them on board with new engagement or interaction methods. To help you come up with something new for your event, we’ve put together a list of recommendations on how to improve the interaction experience for your attendees:
Use the unconferencemodel of attendance
Sounds weird, doesn’t it?
However, unconferenceis a legit event model that involves a loosely structured conference that emphasizes the informal exchange of insights and ideas between attendees, rather than following a conventionally structured event schedule.
As entrepreneur Robin Zanderindicates, "After attendees arrive, an empty conference agenda is posted on the wall with time slots and a variety of meeting spaces. Leaders share a theme or question they would like to discuss and post it in a time slot. If you post a topic, it is your responsibility to turn up to that session and introduce your topic or question. If you are not hosting a session, you are free to attend whichever of the sessions you are interested in."
This new format requires three types of attendees: The leaders (those who set up the bulk of the informal conversations), the scribe (someone responsible for taking notes), and the nomads (the attendees who can switch between workshops and seminars during breaks).
The beautiful thing about this event model is that everyone is encouraged to participate.
Run quizzes with personalised results
People like to find out things about themselves. That’s why personal quizzes are an important element to unlocking attendee engagement and interaction.
For example, one of your moderators or speakers could run a personality test for your guests, asking them to write down answers to certain questions. Depending on their answers, they can be classified into different groups, and then asked to sit with the people in their group.
Subsequently, the moderator or speaker can proceed and explain what each group represents and the meaning of the quiz results. If done correctly, this can be extremely fun for the attendees and spark their interest in interacting more with the event environment and other fellow guests.
Engage your guests in real-time problem-solving
Let your attendees be protagonists by asking them to participate in real-time problem solving. This means you could create different groups and ask each one to come up with a solution to specific industry-related problems.
You could equip the groups with all the necessary tools that will help them find pertinent answers to different challenges. This activity will strengthen the bond between your attendees and get them to interact more with each other.
Quiz the speakers at the beginning of the session
Everyone expects a Q&A session after a speaker’s presentation. But what if you did something completely unexpected and actually had attendees get to know the speakers better by having an off-topic Q&A before the session?
Poll the attendees before the event and ask them to think of silly questions for the speakers that have nothing to do with the event topic (such as their favourite TV show or least favourite food). This activity should be fun and lighten up everyone’s spirits, and it’ll also encourage the attendees to be more open and active in their interactions with the speakers.
Include live polls with a unique twist
According to Kevin Van der Straeten's book EVENTPLANNER, there’s always new ways to get your guests to vote on topics. One of these methods is voting with their feet.
He says, "Asking people to express their opinions physically can be a useful alternative to expensive voting systems. You can do this by asking them to move to a voting area that corresponds with their views or by asking them to move further left or right along a wall in accordance with the strength of their feelings on a particular subject."
Kevin notes that this method not only creates a higher level of engagement, but also allows you to see at a glance what the group, as a whole, thinks about a particular problem.
Are you ready to get your attendees to interact more?
Your event is not about you. Your event is about your attendees, their needs, and their expectations. So make sure to design a safe and relaxed space where everyone will feel listened to and welcomed. This will help your guests open up and be more willing to engage with each other and the event environment itself.
