Engaging attendees is one of the most important aspects of meeting planning.  However, it is often one of the most difficult challenges planners face when organizing an event. Creating a stimulating, impactful atmosphere is key to ensuring your guests have an overall productive and positive experience. To help meeting planners deliver an engaging event, we’ve put together the following tips that are sure to do the trick: 

5 step steps to creating engaging events

Destination Meetings

Ditch the boardrooms and ballrooms and give your attendees an unforgettable experience. Destination meetings are a great way to engage your attendees simply due to the excitement of being in a new environment. A new location can give meeting planners plenty of opportunities to introduce attendees to the local culture and vibe of an area. Seminar laden programs will enjoy a respite with the fresh locale waiting to be explored. Additionally, group dine arounds will give attendees a true taste of the area. In a destination such as Newport Beach, CA transfers to dine arounds are as exciting as the dinner itself beginning with a cocktail cruise through the estate-lined harbor and pulling up dockside to one of Newport’s harborside restaurants.

Personalization

A successful event stands out and leaves your attendees with unique experiences, which differ from the numerous other events they may attend throughout the year.  The ability to connect to each attendee on an individual basis will provide them with higher means of motivation and more opportunities to grow. Allow your guests to build their own event schedule based on his/her own interests! Tailoring the event to suit their professional interests, will maximize engagement and leave your guests feeling productive and valued.

Interactive Speakers

One of the oldest tricks in the book, but also one of the least utilized! We all know what it’s like to sit through seemingly endless seminars – being talked at rather than to. Ask your speakers to split their information into 10-15 minute sections, pausing to engage the audience with questions that invoke discussions and create small group breakout sessions. Studies show that people are more likely to retain information when it is presented over multiple mediums, stimulating more than one sense. Encourage your presenters to work in some visuals, such as short movie clips or pictures. Not only will this engage the attendees and force them to reflect on the information being presented, but it also allows the opportunity to get up and move – which can be imperative for maintaining focus!  

Networking

Arguably one of the biggest take aways attendees should experience during any event. In today’s modern world, technology makes networking seem almost too easy. However, it’s very common for people to walk into a session with a jaded awareness about just how to network, let alone whom to network with. As a planner, it’s imperative that you allow time for your guests to connect with one another. Equally important is to provide your attendees with the tools and techniques necessary to put to use themselves, for example; meeting hashtags, social media links, attendee list. This will not only give your attendees the perfect business connections, but also have them feeling confident about their ability to build a strong network moving forward.  

A key ingredient to running an engaging event

Convenience

In today’s fast-pace society, we are constantly looking for ways to make our lives more convenient, so ensuring that your event is as streamlined and efficient as possible is imperative for success. After lengthy travel, demanding schedules and early mornings, no attendee will enjoy waiting in an endless line for check-in or searching for the meeting agenda. Incorporate automatic check-in with on-demand name-tag printing and utilizing mobile apps that will help alleviate these tedious processes. Consider prepping attendees by sending the links to download these apps a week in advance, will engage and excite them before your event even begins!

Creating a productive, interesting and engaging experience for meeting attendees is no easy feat. It requires organization, patience, support, and all those little details that lead to meeting excellence. When you’re ready to begin organizing your next group meeting, contact the staff at Visit Newport Beach, the destination marketing organization for Newport Beach, CA. Visit Newport Beach opens the doors to this Pacific paradise with destination expertise, customized site visits, strong partnerships and valuable resources.