Elite event planners know how to foster a sense of community and connection that helps build momentum for future gatherings. Courtesy of Amanda Safa

Want to create the kind of event that has people talking well before it begins and long after it ends? Then it is essential that you offer a truly engaging experience in which attendees can discover valuable content, foster meaningful connections and enjoy unique and unforgettable moments — all of which will make them want to come back for more.

Building Anticipation & Facilitating Connection

A well-structured event with strong opportunities for networking and learning with interactive elements can turn attendees into enthusiastic advocates, fostering a sense of community and connection that can help you build momentum for future gatherings.

Timothy Arnold, CMP, CMM, PCA, regional vice president with Hospitality Performance Network – HPN Global, helps several associations plan their events, and he believes that in order to build anticipation, it is essential to promote the content.

To get attendees looking forward to your event, it should be billed as a learning opportunity that will benefit their organization and the work that they do, Arnold says.

“I’ve seen conferences do this so badly, and I’ve seen them do it so well,” he says. “The ones that do it well articulate what the learning objectives are and how the content and networking opportunities are going to help your attendees know how to scale their business.”

According to Arnold, one example is when event organizers bring in a professional athlete to speak — thinking it will attract attendees — only to be disappointed when there is less interest than they were expecting. The lesson is that your content should always justify someone spending the money and taking the time off work to attend, he says.

Amanda Safa is senior director of meetings and events for AMPED Association Management, which orchestrates events for many associations. She says she usually ramps up email marketing and social media as the event approaches, so attendees have all the information they need.

“For one of our groups, we recently began launching the event app two weeks in advance, giving attendees early access to meeting content and the opportunity to start connecting with one another,” Safa says. “This proved especially valuable for our industry partners, who were able to schedule appointments with attendees ahead of the event.”

Lindsey Hess, CMP, an events and administrative associate with the High Road Strategy Center in Madison, WI, says that in order to help get potential attendees excited, she sends out the details and a “save the date” notice well before an event takes place.

Hess applies this strategy in her work handling events for the State Smart Transportation Initiative, which comprises officials from state transportation agencies across the U.S. The group holds one meeting a year, assembling to talk about policy, roads, budget cuts and other industry issues.

She also supports events for the Mayors Innovation Project — a network of mayors from various U.S. cities — which holds two meetings each year, one in January after the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C., and another during the summer. While the winter meeting is more policy-focused, the summer gathering is a more laid-back affair that is held in a different city every year.

“It’s a pure learning network group, where mayors are getting together, talking policy and all the things that mayors need to talk about,” Hess says. “They can talk openly. They’re not with their constituents. They’re not with their boards. They can just truly be open and honest on what is working well or what isn’t working well, and they are able to bounce ideas off other mayors.”

Using Word of Mouth to Generate ‘FOMO’

According to Hess, with meetings for the mayors group being held in a different destination each year, guided tours — whether on foot, on bikes or on a bus — are always popular and keep people coming back to her events year after year.

“Our attendees are able to get out of the conference room and walk around and see what other cities are doing,” Hess says. For one meeting held in Scranton, PA, the group was invited on a coal mine tour, while in Knoxville, TN, attendees toured different art murals throughout the downtown area. She adds that the annual meeting for the State Smart Transportation Initiative usually includes a tour of interstates or road projects.

Hess says that whenever possible, she looks for opportunities to hold meetings in unique locations within the host cities, adding: “We try to avoid being inside a conference room at a hotel.” For example, the Knoxville event took place in an old train station, and an upcoming meeting in Albuquerque, NM, will be hosted at the Albuquerque Museum.

Creating memorable experiences not only helps to bring people back year after year — it also attracts new attendees through word of mouth. “We make (our HPM conference) such a great conference for everybody that all of our attendees become salespeople for the next [one],” Arnold says.

Of course, social media is a great tool to generate buzz. Arnold posts video clips from the previous year’s event to engage potential attendees and make them feel like they are part of the event narrative, but perhaps the most important thing is to foster a sense of “FOMO” in people.

“Creating that fear of missing out on social media from last year’s conference is really key to driving this year’s conference,” he says.

For example, a dodgeball tournament held at one of Arnold’s events was such a hit that attendees were inspired to promote the experience among their peers and colleagues. “We made 500 people salespeople for this meeting,” he says. “They’re talking to other people and saying: ‘You have to go to this event.’ We have a lot of evangelists because of the content, as well as the networking opportunities.”

During his events, Arnold always has a video team onsite to record testimonials about the program. These are then used to attract new attendees to future gatherings. “There’s a small upfront cost to having a video team, but the overarching value is significant,” he says, stressing the importance of creating strong content to generate return attendance. “Make it about them,” he says. “Tell them how the content in your event is going to help them drive revenue, drive whatever their goal is, and help them solve problems.”

Arnold also recommends changing up that subject matter every year. “I don’t want to go to the same conference every year that talks about the same stuff. You want to definitely shake things up,” he says.

To create an event that attendees will look forward to, it’s important to listen to your audience and integrate their feedback, rather than forcing experiences that don’t resonate, Safa says. “With one of our medical groups, we repeatedly tried to push networking events, only to realize over time that meaningful connections happen more naturally — often in the context of an educational experience,” she adds.

Providing Networking Opportunities Is Key

To orchestrate what attendees consider to be a “must attend” event, it is essential that you foster an environment in which they can easily network and learn from each other.

“[What] I’ve really found, over the years, is the conferences that I choose to go back to are the ones where I’m feeling it’s not a one-sided conversation,” Arnold says. “You need to structure networking so that you can have industry experts [connecting] with industry novices.”

It is also important to make first-time attendees feel welcome and comfortable, Arnold says. “If I go someplace and I don’t feel welcome, there is zero chance of me going back there,” he says. “A first-time attendee walking into a program and not knowing anybody kind of feels like high school. The more you can break down those walls and make people feel welcome, the more you’re going to increase their interaction and increase the chance of them coming back.”

Safa says that, in recent years, AMPED has seen the associations they work with place a strong emphasis on building community. “There’s a renewed need for belonging and connection, and our groups have been intentional about fostering that through mentorship programs, diverse learning experiences and opportunities for onsite collaboration and networking,” she adds.

Hess reiterates that during the summer mayors meeting, the city tour offers an opportunity for attendees to connect with each other in a less structured manner. “Our mayors are always asking for more networking time,” she says. “As we’re walking, everyone’s able to network.”

After her events, Hess sends out an evaluation asking attendees to share what they feel worked well and what could have been done better. “Our staff is constantly meeting with our mayors to find out what is working for them, what they really enjoy… This meeting is for them, so for them to keep coming back, we need their feedback,” she says.

However, because her attendees are civil servants (i.e., mayors and transportation staff), their participation might require the spending of government funds. As a result, budgetary limits or cuts could prevent them from taking part in an event, even if they want to, Hess says. “That one’s really hard because it’s kind of out of our hands,” she says. “We try to cover as much cost as we can for them, to make it possible for them to attend.”

According to Hess, all this makes it even more important that leaders have the opportunity to network with peers who might be dealing with the same struggles. “Right now, they’re all having some hard times, and we’re giving them that space to be able to get together and talk,” she says.

Keep Attendees Coming Back for More

Developing an event that attendees look forward to year after year requires more than just good planning. It demands a focus on providing meaningful content, engaging experiences and strong networking opportunities. If you can successfully incorporate these important elements, you can create a one-of-a-kind buzzworthy experience that people can’t stop talking about. | AC&F |