Engaging with your audience can be no mean feat… some people love to get involved, network and have their voices heard whereas some people find it a little bit harder. Creating an environment that makes your guests feel at home or adding a few surprises will not only make your conference successful but will have people talking about it for months to come.
Treasure / Scavenger Hunt
Adding a treasure / scavenger hunt to your conference will get your delegates out of their seats, away from their gadgets and engaging with their fellow colleagues or guests. Treasure hunts are an easy and cost effective idea to add to any event and they can be done inside or outside… so there really is no excuse not to add one into your next conference.
Crowd Polling
Live feedback from guests at a large conference has never been easier with the new technology out there. Create a bespoke app for your event that allows guests to interact with polls and ask questions directly to the speaker, with filtered subjects streamed live onto the screen… easy! Live polls are a great way to break down the barrier between your speaker, CEO and the audience.
Graffiti Boards
Add some creativity to the space with a graffiti board that allows guests to share ideas, business cards or simple to leave feedback for the organisers but in a fun way that gets their creative juices flowing. The boards can be as simple as a cork board to a digital graffiti board – either way, who wouldn’t want to release some artistic energy.
Cosy Conferences
Sometime a conference can feel a little stiff with rows upon rows of chairs, a stage, lectern and screen but this doesn’t have to be the case. Creating a homely feeling, one that makes your guests feel comfortable in their environment is a great way to get them engaging with the event. Simple additions such as; lounges, beanbags, charging stations and delicious interactive food stations can bring your conference into 2018 pretty quickly.
Speakers
A good speaker doesn’t always have to have a background in your industry, in fact as long as they are engaging, your speaker can easily get a company’s message across without being purely focused on business – our personal favourite is Mandy Hickson, who has done some incredible talks for us about her fascinating life. Engaging speakers talking about a topic that isn’t necessarily related to your business is a great way to get guests re-energised, focus and well… engaged.
