If you’ve ever gone to a conference or an exhibit and found yourself with nothing to do, you know you’ve just wasted the most valuable resource on the planet, time. Attendee management fixes that issue for the organizers as well as the attendees. It’s all about engaging the attendee and informing them of the best places in the conference to spend their valuable time.
Communication
Too many times conference attendees don’t realize that there is an app or an event technology that they can use to engage with the event better. This is because they’re not aware of the release and they don’t bother to look over the entire event besides what they wish to attend.
It’s important that the type of tools and apps being used to engage the audience are available everywhere and that organizers are able to show them how to use these kinds of apps.
How to Increase Attendee Management
This is a matter of not just giving people more options, but giving them the right options. Hence, the first step is to avoid overload. Any planning should make sure that the Keynotes are scheduled for the end and that the heavy sessions are spaced out.
As far as any heavily technical seminars and conferences are concerned, you should schedule them early since the audience is more likely to be fresh and more receptive. Of course, this planning is most effective when the seminar lasts for several days rather than a single day.
Breaks should also not be exclusively set for rest. They need to be for cooperation and for team building as well. Of course, it’s important to give the attendees a little time to themselves to take it all in and to rest and eat. However, if all the breaks are like this, then the chances of the attendees learning diminish considerably.
Participation and interaction should also be encouraged in attendee management. This can be achieved by organizing learning activities and inviting people to speak at random on different topics of interest. The games and activities designed should have some point of achievement. It is not enough to simply give them something to do but to objectively offer a result in the end. Some sort of problem-solving activity that has actual meaning in people’s professional lives should be suggested.
As far as the participation is concerned, instead of putting people on the spot and asking them to give long speeches, this is better achieved by asking people short questions individually. Not only does this
encourage participation, but it keeps the audience fresh by diverting attention from a single setting to another.
Another major tool at your disposal is social media. Encourage team building by making groups on different social media so that interaction can continue while people are attending different seminars.
Types of Engagement
There are four different types of engagement in seminars and conferences. The first is engaging through content. This is most evident with presentations and slides or videos that the presenter shows during the seminar. It can also be relevant to a speech or a dialogue that is being performed in front of the audience.
The second type of engagement is through dialogue with the audience. As the event organizer or attendee management team, you have to effectively communicate with the audience through promotional content, through consultation or some sort of cooperative activity.
The third type of engagement is with the sponsors. If you have sold sponsorships at the event, then you have to make sure that those paying customers establish real connections with the right kind of attendee.
The fourth type of engagement is among the audience itself. This involves social media, engagement activities, games, problem–solving activities, etc. This helps make organic connections that last long after the seminar is over. It allows the conference to actually lead to some fruitful connections that the attendees can take with them.
These engagement opportunities are often neglected at seminars and conferences, which is why the point of attendee management is to make sure that doesn’t happen. Pro Active Attendee management involves the audience in the event as much as the sponsors and the exhibitors.
