Strategies for keeping your attendees energized and on-track:
- Offer sweet and savory snacks during breaks
- Have trivia games that reinforce teambuilding and offer a prize to the winning team
- Hire a photographer to take photos of the guests, give each attendee a CD of photos or put photos in the a digital frame
- Choose a couple of gifts within the same price range and let the attendees choose which one they want to take home
- Let attendees set the agenda- allow them the chance to lead sessions or decide on an event schedule together
- Help your attendees connect before the event using Social Media such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter etc.
- Hold the after-party in the same space as the conference so guests will naturally gravitate towards that area. Make the atmosphere relaxing so attendees can unwind.
- Boost networking time, Four Seasons in Chicago offers a charging station for PDA’s so attendees have the opportunity to network over good food and leave their phones behind
- Use social media to share ideas during a presentation. Offer a preset hashtag on Twitter so attendees can comment and communicate about a presentation. Often times this will let a speaker know how he/she is presenting and if a change is needed.
Source: Biz Bash, Spring 2010