How to make events more interactive

When we organise an event of whatever kind, we know we have to offer an attractive agenda to encourage attendance. That is the beginning. When we have the audience in front of us communication, both among the participants, and for there to be fluidity with the organisers, becomes the prime objective. We want to listen, we want interactive events and this must be worked on.

What do participants look for?

There are several reasons why a person decides to attend a corporate event, whether it is a congress, incentive, convention, product launch…. to learn more, step outside the daily office routine, promote oneself, meet new suppliers… but above all, to make new contacts. This is the star purpose. Networking or, what is the same thing, meeting up with other people in your field.

Knowing this, we can deduce that to facilitate communication is a highly valued factor and the feedback obtained on completion of the event is going to be much more positive. When we increase interaction and participation the experience is going to be much better and more highly remembered.

How do we manage to achieve that fluidity in communication?

You will probably have guessed that technology is going to place these connections on a plate. There follow some ideas:

Specific Apps

When we design a specific app for an event the possibilities are limitless. We can include chats, social walls, instant messaging, lists of participants on your own profiles, individual or team competitions…..  

The information generated on an app is as useful for users as for the company, as it facilitates greatly the sending of important messages or communications and, in general, increases connection among all those who are active on the app.

Also we must not forget that these tools are useful for surveys the results of which are very important for the companies. You can read more about apps for events in this other article.

Your Own Social Network

Nowadays social networks form part of our lives. We enjoy using them and they keep us in communication with people who are within our surroundings or not, form part of our professional field or not, are friends or not,…. Depending on the social network we choose they have a more private or professional profile, as we know.

Well, if we create our own exclusive social network for our event and encourage participation via that network as a channel to communicate as well as bringing participants together, it will be an incalculably value tool in relation to the opinions of those participants in terms of the post event evaluation by the company.

In any case we must be aware that in spite of using our own social network we must encourage the use of one or several hashtags on general social network sites for our event to reach the greatest number of people possible.

Company social wall  

Another way of stimulating communication is using the company social wall. The idea is that this wall should appear in the meeting room or banquet so that the interaction among all users can be seen live and, of course, encourage that interaction.

We know that we all get distracted at some moment with our mobiles, wherever we are. Let´s see if we are able to ensure that those moments of distraction are spent dedicated to participating in that social wall so we can see the comments arising live. What about if we offer a prize to the comment achieving the greatest engagement? Imagination to the fore!

Intelligent devices or bracelets  

The idea is to surprise participants with the infinite potential of virtual reality. This type of bracelet works like a credit card, holding all the details that the person wearing it has provided to the event organization. In this way, when accessing an exclusive private area of the event the wearer can identify themselves.

But the uses of the bracelet are many. We can adapt it as a method of payment if we believe that makes the work easier. Or even, it is possible to connect the device to social network so that if 2 people are at a minimum established distance an automatic friendship request is sent. Is that a tool to generate contacts or not?

Gamification

Or what would be the same, something as easy as proposing a game in which all the participants have to use their mobile devices to join in. As well as gaining points for the person or team, depending on what is established, there is usually a final prize.  

For example, make a puzzle, search for a treasure or unblock missions. All of which would be via (one of many options) QR codes that we scan with the mobile. A combination between digital and “face to face” that can be great fun and break the ice among the participants.  

The fundamentals: that the participants know what your objective is

One thing is clear, if we want something, we surely must ask for it. It is not enough just to wait for it to happen. If we want to add value to our efforts to enhance communication both among the participants and between the participants and organizers  we must ask for it! If not, the result may not be what we are expecting. Ask your audience to communicate, they need to know you are expecting that from them, if not they may remain in cosy anonymity.

Ask them to communicate with each other and with you, to use hashtags on their social networks so that, as we commented above, it all reaches the greatest number of people possible. Remember that what you experience in person and when interacting, captures more attention. Creativity, ingenuity and professionalism are the keys to achieving the objective we speak about today: more interactive events. 

We hope you have found this article interesting. Please contact us for ore information. We will be happy to hear from you!

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