It’s About the Audience. Always!

Planners, we know this is going to be a little tough to take, but it is time to remove the “me” out of meeting planning and make sure there’s more emphasis on them.

In a recent article for Smart Meetings, Corrine Turke, a senior account executive for Sparkloft Media, espoused the benefits of an audience-first approach to meeting design.

“Meeting planners face the same problems as social media managers-competing for the time and attention of potential attendees,” writes Turke. “Considerations must be made into meeting design to craft a truly relevant event, which target audiences will not want to miss.”

Turke focused on three key trends:

The Independent Traveler – “Attendees are more empowered than ever to explore host cities on their own. Meeting planners must build in formal and informal opportunities for attendees to explore, providing useful and inspirational destination information before, during and after the event.”

The Hyper-Savvy Audience – “Instead of asking attendees to shift their day-to-day behavior while attending conventions, meeting planners should embrace the ‘stories’ binge by getting in on the action on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. When marketing an event, meeting planners must lead with an emotionally compelling benefit of attending-empowerment, community, etc.-in order to capture the attention and earn those RSVP commitments.”

 Authentic, Ephemeral Content – “Consider a partnership with compelling members or industry folks to takeover accounts during conventions, showing a first-person meeting experience that prioritizes storytelling over news and announcements. Meetings are about bringing a community together to create value and bring a compelling human element back to meetings and conventions.”

Looking for more ways to make your meeting design audience first? Give NHS Global Events a chance to share our ideas.