Finding new and exciting ways to engage attendees at your event is always an important aspect of the planning process. Beyond the sessions, networking events, and other details, keeping your attendees interested and engaged while on-site plays a large role in having attendees return and your event’s success. We’ve put together 7 ways to engage your attendees and give them an experience they won’t soon forget.
1. Get Active on Social Media (The right way!)
I know, this one seems like a no brainer, but social media is more than just posting a message on Facebook or sending out a quick tweet. Create a unique event hashtag well ahead of your event and start using is ASAP! Ask a question to your followers about your event and use the hashtag in your post. Encourage users to respond to the question and include your event hashtag in their answer. This will help promote your event and get your attendees engaged before they even arrive on-site.
2. Play A GameÂ
Everyone enjoys a little bit of competition, right? Games are a great way to get attendees engaged at your event but also and great way to get them to engage with each other. Incorporating games builds excitement among attendees and can even bring them together to cheer each other on. Consider hosting a trivia happy hour event after the exhibit hall floor closes to keep attendees engaged. The trivia could be related to your industry, trivia about the keynote session from earlier that same day, or just fun trivia questions to make people smile.
3. Keep Them Moving
Attendees may get tired out after spending the day going from session to session and networking with their peers. If you want to make sure attendees have enough energy to make it to your evening reception, try incorporating afternoon yoga sessions or fitness workshops to help them stay active and wake up their muscles. This will help your attendees feel healthy and recharge from the day.
4. Create a Compelling Space for Networking
Events are a great place for attendees to network and make connections they may not make otherwise. When planning your event, remember to dedicate a space that is open to attendees and invite them to network with each other. This could be a small area on the exhibit hall floor setup with a coffee cart and a few couches. This area should be comfortable and inviting, helping your attendees meet one another while staying engaged. Add live music, food and maybe a couple local specialty vendors to entice attendees to stay and relax.
5. Technology Attractions
With so many new and exciting technology trends in the event industry right now, you can’t pass up the opportunity to use a few of these ideas to engage your attendees. Video walls can be used to play video from last year’s event, interviews of other attendees, or other content to get people engaged. Augmented and virtual reality technology can be used to create an immersive experience for your attendees that they will remember and tell others about. Incorporating technology will help create a buzz and get them interacting with each other.
6. Mix it Up and Get People Talking
Changing the format of your sessions or keynotes can help engage attendees and get them talking about important topics and ideas. Different formats like roundtable discussions or fishbowl discussions help include attendees in the conversation and can generate ideas and brainstorming that may not have happened otherwise.
7. Amp Up Your Mobile App
Most attendees these days have their nose down in their phone in between speakers and sessions. Use this to your advantage and create custom content and engagements in your event’s mobile app like an interactive game or exclusive video content. You can even use the mobile app as a matchmaking tool to connect attendees with each other based on common interests.
These 7 ideas are good to keep in mind when it comes to engaging attendees and your next event. Remember to think outside the box and try new, exciting ways to create an experience your attendees will love.
Looking for more ways to enhance the attendee experience? We have plenty more where this came from! Contact us
