‘Send less, receive more’

Young professionals in the event sector often consider the concept of experience as an important precondition when looking ahead to the future developments of business meetings. Not only does this apply to physical events, but it is also a must in the virtual world.

“There’ll be even more emphasis on experience”, says Jeroen Kanters, 29, Event Manager at PostNL. He is responsible for all major internal and external events at the postal company, from the Top70 event for senior managers to the Sinterklaas party for all employees, as well as participation in the Webwinkel Vakdagen e-commerce event and their e-commerce customer event.

Making a connection

“No more PowerPoint presentations with a lot of information presented unilaterally, but more emphasis on making a connection, which can be done by focusing on visitors and giving them control over what kind of programme they want to follow. Interaction is extremely important to collect input, not only during an event but also before and after. Our business visitors are a lot more critical than they used to be. There are so many events they can go to, so they choose carefully. We notice that sometimes taking a more intimate and personal approach works well. For example, an exclusive dinner with 30 clients who are directly invited by our CEO or one of the directors provides that personal touch.”

Tradeshow festival

“It’s important to create real experiences. Sending less and receiving more by making contestants the stars of the show. For example, at the Bouwmaat XXL event, we went from a trade show to a kind of festival, featuring things like a caravan with a ball pit, a mysterious maze, a slide, and fishing for tiles—recognisable things with a special twist. To do this, we asked ourselves what a construction professional would think is cool but wouldn’t easily come up with”, says Sandra Kommer, 31, Production Manager and Creative at event agency Fjuze.

A challenging location

An original and challenging location can also help, claims Danny Hartmann, 27, Marketing & Brand Manager at conference location ECC Leiden. “Meetings and conferences can quickly become tiring, which is why we try to add other types of locations, such as a greenhouse on a terrace or converting an old canteen, gym or swimming pool. It adds value to something that could quickly become boring. You can do crazy stuff.”

Fun first

Fun is increasingly in the foreground since it also helps attract new staff in the current tough labour market. “About five years ago, events mainly revolved around knowledge sharing. Today, fun is the most important thing, with matters such as annual figures or another important message”, says Esther ten Hove, 31, Account Manager at event location De Kaap. “It’s especially important to be agile, flexible and fast. Attention spans are much shorter than they used to be. Draw people in first with atmospheric images, entertain them and incorporate your message into your communication. This also goes for your invitation process, sneak previews, save the dates, etc. Companies will have to make more of an effort to find and retain good staff, which means that more effort will be put into events to make more of a splash. We’re already seeing an increase in overnight stays at events, for example. That also goes for the after-movies shared en masse on LinkedIn and Instagram to show how cool companies are and how they take care of their people.”

Interaction at online events

“Online events will also have to adapt to the call for interaction, maybe even more so”, says Thomas Mulder, 29, Managing Director at We Are Live, which provides live streams, concepts and digital events. “After all, many participants have several tabs open that attract their attention. We see that urgency works particularly well. You want to see a sports match and press launch live, too. But a CEO delivering an annual message is often less exciting. You can look back on that a day later. Interaction also works well, for example, dial-in, polls, quizzes, and submitting questions. It’s giving people access to something that’s not accessible to everyone. Content and image quality are also becoming increasingly important. Good visual storytelling keeps viewers captivated for longer.”

No stereotypes

Experience is not a sauce that you can pour over an event. In fact, these days, a personal approach will prevail. “More than ever, you have to look at the person instead of the target group as a whole. You can no longer stereotype by age. You need to segment and deepen more by looking at what someone already knows and doesn’t know. Otherwise, they won’t recognise themselves in what you offer. This requires continuously challenging ourselves and our clients. In other words, are we talking about or with the people? Are we really listening? Is the discussion censored or not? I see it as our task to propagate the importance of this and to make time for it”, says Patricia Vergeer, 29, Creative Lead and MT member at The Oval Office. A personal approach revolves around data. “We use various trend platforms, such as Foresight Factory and GWI, which allow you to zoom in very specifically on target groups and see how they behave and what their needs are. Social listening also helps, where you investigate what’s being said about a certain topic on social media. If you put those kinds of studies together, you can build a data-driven plan. Many clients actively manage using data, which is the only language they understand. To ensure that what we make works well, we have to do that, too. Really measuring matters, not just using a concept because it’s cool.”  

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Where do you get your inspiration from?

“By following many creators, particularly people who are the best in their field, from music producers and AI artists to very good copywriters. For instance, lighting designer Nick Verstand opened ADE this year with Within Without II, an interactive voice and light installation with music and choreography. He doesn’t depend on just one art direction but provides a mix that makes it unique”, says Patricia Vergeer, 29, Creative Lead and MT Member at The Oval Office. “It’s good to regularly get your hands dirty as a manager. Don’t just sit at your laptop; physically help out on the floor. I always try to be aware of industry trends as well as what’s happening within my team. It’s also different as a younger person since we work much more digitally and make more use of digital technologies to have processes run even more efficiently without compromising the personal customer relationship”, says Kayleigh Heeregrave, 28, Manager Exhibitor Services, Hotel Services & Front Office at MECC Maastricht. “I visit other events, performances, exhibitions, and installations regularly. That includes things that don’t appeal to me at all, because you always come back more inspired. You can’t figure things out at home on the couch, which doesn’t change the fact that platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest can be inspiring in a different way, for example, by seeing animations of things that are not yet real. You want to translate that into the real world”, says Sandra Kommer, 31, Production Manager and Creative at event agency Fjuze. “By combining old and new things, new themes emerge”, says Bo Enthoven, 28, Senior Interior Stylist at Expo Flora. “It can really be anything. Since I’ve been working on events, I think much more in terms of possibilities and usually take pictures of things that would be cool for an event. Inspiration can be everywhere you are and wherever you look, from a tree to a cool LED display and even after-movies of event cases. I always get excited about the world of possibilities”, says Begüm Saker, 21, Event Manager at Aputure, an international developer and supplier of lighting technology for film productions and more. “There are more than 50 entrepreneurs in the building, so there’s always something happening here that I can draw inspiration from. I also find the biodesigners in BlueCity Lab very interesting, as they create textile paint made from fungi. And designers who work with living organisms. To avoid being in my own bubble too much, I also visit museums and walk in nature regularly. That always works out well in the Rotterdam Kunsthal, where they have a lot of varied modern art. I actively seek out new experiences that take me out of my comfort zone”, says Laura-Lynn Smit, 24, Marketing Communications at BlueCity.