Captivate and Motivate
From basic to high-tech, PEC has the latest and greatest ideas on how to engage your event audience.
In considering how to best engage an audience, we start with a three-part paradigm called the “Equilateral Meeting Paradigm” (or EMP). All three components together represent VALUE for your attendees and deliver that one thing that we all require – ROI, or return on investment. The EMP is made up of the following components:
Location | Content | Technology
1. Location: Where you go is just as important as what you learn while you are there. Consider location to be the primary draw for bringing attendees and guests to your meeting or event. Without an appealing location, there are no attendees. It is necessary to view “location” from different angles. Consider the climate – what climate will align with the overall purpose and goal for the meeting or event? Consider the city – will historical Philadelphia truly be a good fit for a conference held indoors all day long? Consider the venue – is it a generic and boxy venue, or something creative and out of the box? Lastly, consider the cost and convenience – as budgeting is vital for a successful meeting or event.
2. Content: On the surface, content seems like a fairly broad subject when it comes to a meeting or conference. However, there are components that make up the overall presentation of your content, and not just the information itself. Content can also be broken down into several viewpoints. Consider the “talking head” to be ancient, and replace it with interaction – have your speaker or educator become a facilitator of a more hands-on experience. Consider education to be valuable to attendees – a tight economy means individuals are more eager to learn how they can still receive a successful ROI in their respective industry. Finally, consider shaking things up – think shorter meeting times, shorter and more occurring break out times, and more content sans fluff to keep the engagement level high.
3. Technology: Technology is officially the pinnacle of success for meetings and events. What was new a year ago may no longer have value today. Consider live social media feeds – attendees can interact and engage without the noise. Place a live social media feed on the presentation screen for up-to-date social interaction. Consider video conferencing – to have a guest speaker give a live presentation from thousands of miles away. Finally consider low or no-cost mobile apps – to be used for agenda referencing, conference updates, audience polling, content distribution, digital maps of conference space, social networking, and analytics.
Creating a worthwhile meeting or event where attendees are fully engaged does not have to be difficult – it simply takes the right formula backed with careful planning.
