Time to change! Make use of the available knowledge & increase participant involvement

At the moment we all need to think out-of-the-box. Many event managers are trying to keep head above water in maintaining contact with participants of events that were postponed. This shouldn’t be hard work. There is so much knowledge available amongst your participants. Get them involved now and benefit from their expertise and motivation. It is time to change!

You used to be able to pin a date for an event and have fantastically composed content and experience ready. How crazy is it that you can’t offer that at the moment. Events are postponed to later in the year and we are looking for alternative forms. If the event can’t go live for the time being, we’ll do it online, right? The webinar technology is set up to try to mimic the event as much as possible as if it were a live event.

But before you copy your whole offline event to an online one, ask yourself if this might be the right time to start experimenting? Yes I know, if you try new things, you’re bound to experience failure too. But what have you got to lose? Now that everything you knew and did is no longer self-evident? If you don’t inflate the balloon any further, you don’t know when it will snap and certainly no new ‘normal’ will arise.

The postponed events will soon provide an abundance of events in Q4 and Q1. We all try to serve our customers, make up for lost sales and create opportunities. Take a look at the striking scenarios of en-mass postponed events Julius Solaris sketches. An obvious choice, but will it work? Because everyone seems to focus on the same strategy, which creates a peak load there as well. So how do you distinguish yourself from your colleague event organisers?

The alternative? Shift your role in event management to a role in hospitality.
Give your potential participants attention and space, so you can make optimal use of knowledge from the group!

Digitally connect your participants well before the (re)start of the event. Introduce them to each other and facilitate discussion groups. Introduce certain themes and involve participants in the content of the programme. In this way you create a personal environment in which you invite participants to take part in important decisions. Have them cast votes on your proposals or let them contribute topics themselves. Want to get started right away? Check our the step-by-step plan!

More inspiration? Go one step further in involving the knowledge from the group. Give your participants an online stage. They can be the online ‘supporting act’ of the headline speakers who will have the opportunity to share their knowledge and expertise at your event. With this digital support programme, all your 483 participants can share their knowledge. You will enable them to unlock the knowledge and expertise they want to share, in a short pitch for example. This way you make optimal use of the available knowledge that already exists amongst your guests. Your participants are and feel more involved in the construction and design of your event. This approach not only increases motivation to come to the event later on, you give participants a valuable contact moment that everyone is looking for in these times of social distancing. In addition, this digital collaboration with and within the group gives you the chance to have a stronger programme for your event in terms of content. With this new role of hospitality, you respond to people’s social brains. To the need to lay lines and network more than ever. Also at your event later on, everyone will share and be more engaged through this run-up to your event.

Do you dare to think outside the box and try something new? Now is the time! Failure is always allowed, doing nothing isn’t.

Would you like to talk to me or my colleagues about The Event Booster? Call or mail Networkapp via +31(0)30 – 227 0660.

Elma Bassa
Founder & CTO Networkapp