by Victor Georgescu, M.I.C.E. Division Manager

Corporate events, especially conferences and functional meetings, are important moments in the “life” of a company, either because they mark the achievement of some of the company’s objectives, or because they outline the new challenges of the next period. A successful event is one that allows the fulfillment of business objectives while creating, at the same time, an exciting experience for the participants, so that they understand and assimilate the messages, congratulations and challenges from the stage.

Attention: these two goals can become competing if they are not handled with experience. Also, any solutions we find under the force of these two pressures must respond to another one, exerted by the event’s budget. We see many companies that, from the (positive) desire to provide as much information as possible to the participants, reach (negative) effects that block the openness of the participants to the messages sent.

For example, we see many cases in which extremely busy agendas are proposed, with few breaks and a monotonous rhythm. We still see PowerPoint presentations written in small font size or speakers who are not open to questions from the audience. Even though apparently, all these are methods of delivering the information in an exhaustive way (out of the desire to be understood), in reality, these proposals can inhibit the participants, bore them and, finally, reduce their ability to understand these messages .

We meet these types of intentions by promoting ideas such as those exemplified below:

• The event space “speaks” to the participants, and a special setting will help create a memorable experience!

The arrangement of the conference space in a unified way, starting from a central concept that is implemented in: signage, decorations, stage, presentation design, not only impresses the participants, but acts as a mental anchor that can be easily used as a later reference between colleagues, helping them (collaterally) to retain the messages of the event.

• Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I will remember. Involve me and I will understand!

This old Chinese proverb also applies in the universe of events. Adults take on new information, consciously, only after they understand and internalize it. The inclusion of some well-thought-out activities, which reinforce the messages and objectives of the conference, help the participants to assimilate the information coming from the stage .

• Ga-mi fi… How?

Gamification is no longer just an abstract concept – it is a concrete system that can be used to build the participant’s experience within an event. Every time we think about gamification for a conference, we take into account the existence of several types of personalities. The inclusion of well-thought-out gamification elements will exponentially increase the number of participants for whom the event will make sense.

I was talking at the beginning of the article about the three forces that exert pressure on the organizer: the company’s objectives, the experience of the participants and the limited budget. Even if organize the event with an agency or with an internal team, each entity tends to take part more to one of the parties: procurement “defends” the budget, the agency “keeps with” the participants, the internal manager “protects” the objectives.

Even if apparently these three forces act in contrast, we discover more and more often that it is not quite so. On the contrary, we demonstrate that you can make the most appropriate decisions if you look carefully from all three perspectives. In the end, all that matters when choosing or rejecting an idea are the arguments used!

We do not believe (and do not recommend) arguments such as:

• No, because I’ve never done it that way! (It’s never a bad idea to try something good for the first time);
• My colleagues don’t like to play! (Nobody knows if they like something they don’t know yet);
• We must invest the budget in what is important, not in windfalls! (The link between the central and marginal elements of an event is the same as the link between the directly productive and support departments in a company – the latter help to multiply the effect of the former).

What we learned is that events are complex, and for a memorable staging you need a complex, multi-dimensional thinking, adapted to the culture of the participants, to the realities of the company and closely linked to the present moment. Moreover, taking risks in decision-making is only harmful if the arguments are superficial, if they represent assumptions or if they are anchored only in habit.

When you use solid arguments and implement with experience, risks become inspired decisions!