Creating a customized event experience is a structured and strategic process for the top event planners in the industry.
The strategic process in customizing events starts with understanding what the attendee profile is made up of and what they want to get out of the event. Once you know that, the next step is to tailor aspects of the event to suit their needs, rather than the overall crowd.
That being said, it is apparent that top event planners have more choices than ever in terms of finding products and services that satisfy attendee needs and wants. Having the ability to customize products and services to deliver the attendees’ requirements, is what separates the top event planners from the rest.
So, what do we mean by customizing an event experience? Well, it’s surely not about creating tailored invitations and using unique marketing tactics; it’s more about customizing the actual event experience itself in order to engage the guests more and ensure that they find your event memorable.
Here are the main points to remember. In order for top event planners to customize an event experience they must:
- Incorporate new “event paths”
- Plan out more interactive items at the chosen venue
- Generate comfort and plan activities that will surpass the event-goers’ expectations
- Customize communication technology
- Find the right balance between a tailored event experience and aggressive marketing
How Top Event Planners Incorporate New Event Paths
Audience responses. It is now more significant than ever for top event planners to identify the interests of attendees by gathering data during the registration process all the way up to when they arrive at the event. Don’t be scared to ask detailed questions about their desires and interests, or about their business if it’s a corporate event. Conducting a survey prior to the event is a thorough way of collecting particular data, and you could also leverage past attendee information if you have it.
Using event apps. Once you’ve gathered the information about each attendee, you can set up your own event app to guide them through the breakout sessions or areas of the event venue that will be most interesting to them. This is really valuable if you have numerous sessions running at the same time, to ensure attendees don’t miss out on the ones that would deliver the most worth.
3 Ways for Top Event Planners to Create a Customized Experience
Interactive items. Use interactive items that will spark interest such as a tweet wall. Creating a wall that displays user-generated content will keep attendees fascinated in their event experience. Same goes for items like, touch screens, crowd-responsive lighting, interactive whiteboards, and photo booths (to name a fraction of what’s out there).
Create comfort. A typical break room is anything but comfortable and doesn’t do much for the imagination. Top event planners give their attendees the feeling that the break room has been designed just for them (with their ease in mind) and it draws them in more. Use playful and mobile furniture that will allow them to mold the area to suit their expectations of what downtime should be about. With that type of flexibility, attendees who need some time alone to review their email can sit away from the crowd that’s in there mingling and excited to network.
Event experience vs. aggressive marketing. With recent concerns about data security and privacy, it’s also crucial to find the right balance between a customized event experience vs. aggressive marketing. Your goal should be to customize to the point that it feels like something was intended for attendees because top event planners care about their experience. It surely shouldn’t give the impression that the host is only trying to serve their own purposes better. You don’t want people feeling that their privacy has been violated by “over customizing” aspects of the event. This would give them great cause for concern.
Attending The Event Planner Expo each year is the best way for top event planners to learn about new and creative ways to produce event experiences for attendees. Contact us today to learn about the upcoming workshops that will be available at the 2019 expo in New York.