Incredible, once-in-a-lifetime event experiences don’t just happen, they are mindfully created. Today’s audiences desire experiences that capture the imagination and take them on a journey. Some call it “meeting design” others call it “event design”, whatever you call it, it’s the most important skill and needs of the event industry today. Indeed, extraordinary event design extends beyond caterers and mood lighting.
Designing an experiential event that inspires attendees isn’t easy. For an event to be a lasting success “uniqueness of the experience” is a key factor.
What is Event Designing?
Event designing is about intentionally designing an event experience that addresses the motivations of the key attendee personas. If we don’t design designedly, we risk leaving the attendee experience to chance. But if we do, we increase the opportunity of success. However, copying cookie-cutter tactics from the past isn’t a wise move, either.
Just as attendee expectations are dynamic and constantly evolving, we also need to keep up-to-date on tactics that engage attendees before, during and after the event.
In years past, events typically followed the standard norm; a big show room filled with vendors that had attendees walking up and down the rows. How is this appealing to the audience? To put it simply, it doesn’t. Design is a critical aspect that makes your attendee’s overall experience worthwhile.
Why is it an important aspect?
Assume you are walking down the street and stop by a restaurant or store you’ve never been. The ambience is your first impression; despite the products you have or the food you serve, people aren’t going to embrace it if they aren’t impressed by the overall character of the place. The impression you make on your attendee is valuable, since
every little detail matters!
Events are very powerful. They can incite people to take action, share knowledge, collaborate., or even buy a product or service. When you strip away the design elements of an event, it’s just a crowd of people in a room. And that’s not very inspiring.
Empathy is important for event design: Finding out what motivates the attendees will aid in creating a more relevant experience. A good event design is attendee-focused. If you know what they want or need from the event, you can design an experience that meets or even exceeds their expectations.
Today’s event attendee expects a seamless experience at all points throughout their attendee journey. The event industry is constantly evolving and new technologies that enable us to wow the attendees are introduced every day.
But before we look for trendy ideas, we need to make sure our attendee is the focal point. We need to take a walk in their shoes to ensure we design the best experience possible. Also, keep in mind that a happy customer (attendee) is often a returning customer (returning attendees). Ensuring our events are memorable for the right reasons and keeping guests happy will keep them coming back to your next event.
At Shobiz, with all these attendee expectations, we make sure our events are educational, meaningful, motivational, interesting, and above all, on budget. The design concept is a natural extension to our responsibilities as experiential event agency. We are by our very nature the designers of experiences. By understanding the character, needs, and desires of the key attendee personas, we gain powerful knowledge that guides our event designing, from beginning to end.