Small touches can already create a 'wow' feeling

The more personal the experience, the greater the impact and involvement for visitors, ­allowing the message to stick better. This is essential knowing that the younger generation has different wants and needs.

Like everyone in the room, shake hands with the person sitting next to you. Write down your own wish for the world on a string full of leaves. Attend a special meet & greet. Have a connecting selfie moment. They are all sparks: sparkles of light-heartedness in the seriousness of an event. 

Take the concert that the British idol Adele gave in Munich. Fans saw their own message, ‘We love Adele, all the way from Vienna and Boston’, appear on a large screen with their ­photos and will remember this moment forever. This is how it can be when an event goes beyond a live performance.

“Live communication is a very powerful tool that’s unfortunately underused,” explains Pieter Bas Boertje, CEO at Daymakers Group. “For 100 percent reach, it’s important to get everyone on board.”

It’s about not leaving anybody behind. When everyone feels seen and heard, they grow more connected to the organisation, brand and event. During its conference in 2023, the American ­Psychological Association took a unique approach. The motto ‘You belong here’ encouraged participants to wear clothing that expressed their identity, such as nationality or gender. The organisation handed out large badges on which attendees could write their own messages.

 

Bart van Wanrooij: 'The multi-mediality of content and campaign ensures a broad approach'

 

Bringing people closer

Make sure people belong. There’s no one-size-fits-all formula for an event that brings together thousands of people. “People want to feel connected, which can be done by focusing on a subject that close to people’s hearts. We go quite far in this regard,” says Bart van Wanrooij, Managing Director at creative agency OVAL, which organises events for major clients like Google.

He mentions the campaign with a strong ­‘connect for real’ character for a large healthcare institution that is now being rolled out, which includes a number of live events.

“The assignment was to involve all 5,000 employees in our transition to a different, future-proof healthcare model with an ageing society in mind. We’ve translated this into a multi-year campaign that strongly seeks connections.”

The staff play the leading role in a documentary. It has had several live premieres; there are events, training courses, online contact moments, ­newsletters, and more. “The multi­-mediality of content and campaign ensures a broad approach. The method used to deliver the content is just as important as the content itself. People are active on different platforms, and that’s where they need to get their content. You can’t address everyone in the same way,” says Van Wanrooij.

An approach that conveys a personal character does not necessarily have to increase costs, he adds. “It’s mainly about actually listening to people, and listening is free. There are hundreds of thousands of ways to bring special storytelling to life, and that’s what we do.”

In particular, combining physical and digital is the way to achieve greater reach and effective­ness. Digital tools let you easily enhance the experience and give it a personal touch. A digital journey is essential to involve the younger ­generation.

 

Raya van Hugten: 'Planning an event often starts three, four, or five years in advance. That's when it's time to make the connection'

 

Warming up

Young professionals will join in more quickly if ­there’s something in it for them. They don’t ­consider being present at an event for a whole day as a particularly valuable use of their worktime. “Warming up is done digitally in advance, followed by a live meeting with clear added value,” explains Raya van Hugten, Director Institu­tional Division of CMI the Netherlands. “Planning an event often starts three, four, or five years in advance. That’s when it’s time to make the ­connection.”

Part of the global MCI Group, CMI Netherlands organises live and digital international conferences for clients in various industries. “The first point of contact is on the event website and then during registration. Visitors register because they can get content here that they cannot find anywhere else. They can meet speakers in person who they would not otherwise be able to meet,” says Van Hugten.

“We often bring people together to plan a ­session. Or we ask for research and call for abstracts, with the opportunity of being selected for the programme. And once they’re together, we host a variety of social events, including ­networking opportunities, lunches, dinners, and coffee breaks. Of course, there is an app available for each event so that people can communicate, meet up and stay connected. This is how we create a community with personal added value.”

Limited means

“There are options even with a finite budget,” says Marcel Dekker, Business Development Director at Kenes Group. “Of course, we try to make every conference an unforgettable experience for everyone involved, which can sometimes be challenging. Our conferences, which are generally for medical nonprofits, have limited resources, so we make due with what we have. We often plan field trips to hospitals and scientific laboratories in the host city, which is espe­cially exciting for young participants.”

“We also hold networking meetings in the ­evenings, usually somewhere else than the conference centre. There are ‘Meet the Professor’ sessions where participants can talk to key ­opinion leaders in a more intimate setting. And we strive for interaction instead of the tradi­tional lecture with a speaker. You can achieve this with large groups using technology such as voting rounds and asking online questions.”

 

Marije Sant: 'We're not changing the entire concept of a conference; that is the basis, but by adding small details, you can quickly create an experience'

 

Wads of questions

Marije Sant, Account Manager and Team Lead at Congress by design calls it ‘adding sparks’. “The traditional format of days filled with long presentations is a bit dull and outdated, espe­cially for the future generation. They want variety and interaction.”

Congress by design has developed a meeting design tool for this purpose. It provides the means to organise a conference in such a way that goals are achieved and the conference makes an impact.

“We’re not changing the entire concept of a ­conference; that is the basis, but by adding small details, you can quickly create an experience. They can really make a difference,” says Sant.

She mentions the world map that the organiser hung up at the start of a conference. “Everyone could point to where they came from. That’s a networking moment right there. It’s classy and adds a playful touch to the standard half-hour of questions afterwards. If people write down their question on a piece of paper, crumple it and throw it forward, that’s also a nice touch.

We’re also seeing more gamification. We hold small competitions in teams during our conferences. People invest time in conferences; therefore, you want them to feel like it was worthwhile.”

Definitely paying off

“That’s certainly important to the next generation. They no longer want to sit in a room all day and just listen; they want different things. Five to ten years ago, we were mainly concerned with the logistics of the entire conference. Now the added value has become much more important. We have a workgroup looking at how AI can play a role in this. We now guide our clients much more towards strategic decisions about how to handle a conference, and that’s definitely paying off.”

 

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Cuddling puppies

Maintaining a personal touch as an event grows can be viewed as an additional challenge. NatCon had to come up with a new approach for a larger location while still creating meaningful connections. It was inspired by the ‘Guiding Principles for Event Design’, a study by the PCMA ­Foundation, Storycraft Lab, Marriott International, and Corporate Event Marketing ­Association (CEMA).

The exhibition floor was transformed into a successful place with all kinds of play and wellness areas, complete with pinball machines, video games, massage stations, and even puppy ­cuddling corners.