Step In! You’re the VIP
To make an in-person event as successful as possible, you want to ensure that attendees feel welcome from the moment before they walk through the door and are ready to enjoy your event
From working in events over the last 7 years, here are our top 11 tips to make your attendees feel welcome.
1. Personalise as much as you can
Think about what information you want to gather from attendees
pre-event. Do you want to personalize messages to them afterward? Make name badges with their first name? or last name. Organisational name? For some people (myself included), having name badges at an event (sticky labels or name badges) is a godsend. ( Name badges versus sticky labels versus lanyards can be another article!)
2. Give clear instructions on how to reach your venue
Nothing is worse than attendees arriving stressed to an event because they didn't know where to find it or where to park. Send out clear instructions by email a few days before and a few hours before your event, and if possible, make a short video explaining how to get to the venue if it is tricky to find. Ruth Young did this for our Freelancer's Christmas dinner 2024, and it worked well. I take in information easier in written format and like to read emails, but remember, your attendees have diverse needs, and a video may be much more manageable for someone else.
*when planning your event make sure no major events/demonstrations are happening on the same day and if they are communicate that
3. Clear signage
Ensure there is clear signage to signpost your attendees to the room where your event is held.
4. Placement of registration table
Make sure you have a registration table strategically placed at the entrance of your event and staff it 15 minutes before you tell people the registration desk is open and up to 15-30 minutes after because, as true as night follows days, there will be early birds and not so early birds🐦.
5. Have at least 1 or 2 people tasked to staff it
Nothing annoys attendees more at an in-person event than waiting ages to check in, so make sure you are efficient.
If you have sold your tickets through a platform like Eventbrite -download the Eventbrite App to the event host's phone to manually check people in (*this only works on one device)
https://www.eventbrite.com/l/organizer-check-in-app/
If you don't have Eventbrite and are using a list, sort by Christian name or surname alphabetically to make it quicker to check people off.
If you have the budget or can enlist some volunteers, have additional ushers to help show people to their seats and make your event feel much more welcoming.
6. Have tea/coffee on arrival no matter the cost, and everyone remembers the events we didn't. Many of us need coffee to wake up and absorb the information we will hear!
7. Communicate the location of the toilets and exits and the all-important coffee!
8. Mind Your Words
Think about your language in everything you write, from your event description to social media marketing to follow-up emails. On tip two here, I nearly wrote 1 or 2 people tasked to 'man it,' and my Grammarly app flagged it to me, asking, 'Is your language inclusive enough'?
Ask for feedback
10. A smile costs nothing
Most importantly, remember to greet them with a smile, say hello, and welcome people when they come in! And they say goodbye when they leave. Manners cost nothing but leave a lasting remark!
11.Pre community feel before the event
If you are able to create some pre-community before your event with a Facebook Group, live Zoom event, or WhatsApp group, do it so people can make those connections and get added value before they even attend your event! I'm attending Atomicon in June and am pleasantly surprised with the community they are building with pre-event networking events, masterminds, and expert sessions, all online, so people do not have the additional time and travel expenses.
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