What makes a great event, great!
I was sharing the business love very aptly on Valentine's Day by attending a speed connect event organised by my local Entreprise agency Down Business Centre Limited.
I got to know lots of diverse businesses and had lots of fascinating conversations. One of which was with the owner of 4 bars who said that people hadn’t gone to bars to drink in 20 years and that it’s all about the experience! That boggled my mind a bit but when you think about it, he is right! It’s about the music acts a bar has booked in, the theme nights, the variety and sustainability of the menu and cocktails, the atmosphere and keeping with the latest trends ( good offering of cocktails, proving source of local food etc.)
I'm helping at the moment to set up an all day event for startups and it's very easy to get tied up in all technical details but for any event its important to consider what makes a great event, great!
Here are my 7 top tips
Understand your audience needs, challenges and desires (what stage of business are they are, what have they got going on in their personal lives, what time of day /night suits they best to attend an event) .
Curate an engaging and diverse running order - a diverse mix of events with opportunity for people to interact, learn from their peers, relax AND challenge themselves.
Choose a venue which is unique but is easy to access and has good support on the day.
Create a welcoming atmosphere, be hyper aware that participants may be nervous about coming to an event alone. Give clear instructions of how to reach it, make name badges to make it easier for people to interact and have an ice breaking activity.
Inform your speakers ( if relevant) on the makeup up of the audience, what they expect, what stage they are at, what type of business they are and running order of the day.
Keep up with the trends- Be conscious of importance people put on sustainability, eco friendliness and a varied break and lunch menu with vegetarian and vegan food options.
Wear branded wear as the event hosts to make you more memorable and easier to find. Give away branded gifts as mementos to keep you brand visible even when outside the event. Tom & Ollie (who are artisan makers local to me) give out for example large branded shopping bags at the artisan fairs they trade at and everywhere I go in Northern Ireland I see them. People don't want tat. They want useful eco-friendly merchandise like travel mugs or water/thermos bottles. I was chatting to Marie Walker from MCS branding about this the other day and you can check out their fantastic range here. If you have a lot of events why not have your own merchandise store? They also do that! It's the gift that keeps on giving all year around.
I'd love to hear what events you are planning !
Have an idea for an event but not sure it can fly?
Have started to think about one but are stuck on how to sell it or overwhelmed with how to organise it?
Have advertised an event but ticket sales are very slow?
Whatever creation stage you are at I've a service to help you ! Just reach out to me alison@virtuali.uk
Check out my services at
https://www.virtuali.uk/services
