welcome back to another episode of not

1:03

the same as last year so in my urge to

1:06

make events more engaging and inclusive

1:09

for everyone I want to look at something

1:11

that I think is becoming more important

1:13

than ever who is not in the room at our

1:16

events and how do we get these people to

1:18

come to them because we all know there

1:20

is enormous competition right now for

1:22

events more and more people are working

1:24

out how valuable they are for business

1:26

so there is a lot of competition and we

1:28

want everybody to come to our events and

1:30

they're looking at all the other options

1:32

and of course that makes life really

1:33

stressful for the event planners not

1:35

knowing if people are going to come and

1:36

indeed people are booking later and

1:38

later often waiting till almost the last

1:40

minute to confirm that they're coming

1:41

and I've seen how this creates anxiety

1:44

and uncertainty how do you plan when you

1:46

don't even know your numbers until the

1:48

day of the event now this reality of

1:51

last minute bookings is something that

1:52

we look into in in another episode

1:54

really how do we deal with these short

1:56

lead times but I was at an event

1:57

recently where even the week before the

2:00

were still biting their nails over the

2:01

final head count despite putting on an

2:03

amazing event they were really in limbo

2:05

not knowing if they'd fill the seats and

2:07

then of course on the day itself people

2:08

booked in at the last minute great to

2:10

boost the numbers but it was very

2:11

stressful for the team it's happening

2:13

more and more the same old audience is

2:15

actually really hard to pin down and it

2:18

feels like everyone is just waiting to

2:20

see what else is out there that could be

2:21

better before they commit but what about

2:24

instead of competing for this same crowd

2:27

of people why don't we broaden the scope

2:30

what are we missing I think there needs

2:32

to be a new approach to getting these

2:33

bums on the seats and I think we're

2:35

missing a trick trying to attract the

2:37

same audience again and again I think we

2:40

need to think about the kind of people

2:42

who would never even have considered

2:44

coming to your event in the old days I'm

2:46

talking about people who would normally

2:48

avoid B2B events completely introverts

2:52

neurode Divergent people anyone who

2:54

finds the traditional event environment

2:57

overwhelming these are people who could

2:58

bring really incredible value they are

3:00

all customers but they don't feel like

3:03

these events are designed with them in

3:04

mind and if we want to stand out now and

3:06

make events that people will choose I

3:09

think we need to change the perception

3:10

about what a traditional event is what

3:12

events are think about it if we're all

3:15

chasing the same audience with the

3:17

similar content and the speakers we are

3:19

just part of the noise and I have to say

3:22

as an MC people reach out and they tell

3:24

me we're going to do this event we'd

3:25

love you to come and host it and they

3:27

share their agendas and it's like I've

3:29

Seen It All Before

3:30

so it doesn't feel like many people are

3:32

really doing different things but if we

3:33

do different things and we reach out to

3:35

the people who never felt like they

3:37

would belong at a B2B event we're not

3:39

just filling the seats we're actually

3:40

creating a really new energy and

3:42

excitement around these events and then

3:44

you set your event apart okay fair

3:47

enough but how do we attract the

3:49

unlikely attendees should we call them

3:51

how do we get them there how do we

3:53

design events that they want to attend

3:56

these are the things I think we need to

3:58

be doing first of all it's creating this

4:01

incredibly welcoming environment really

4:03

thinking about the sensory experience at

4:06

your event making sure that there are

4:08

quieter low stimulation areas for people

4:11

to recharge a simple space with

4:13

comfortable seating maybe some plants

4:15

noise counseling headphones can make all

4:17

the difference just somewhere to go if

4:19

you know you're someone who's going to

4:20

not enjoy the

4:22

noise offer flexibility and a lot more

4:25

choice for people get rid of the very

4:28

rigid very packed very prescriptive

4:31

agendas make sure all the way through

4:33

your day there are breaks opportunities

4:36

for reflection and choice so people can

4:38

say I'm just not going to be good in a

4:40

big loud room I want to go into the

4:42

small group discussions I'm only up for

4:43

the quiet breakouts or even just the

4:45

one-on-one sessions loud auditoriums not

4:48

for me but if I know there's another way

4:50

to engage I'll go to that event and

4:52

rethink the networking experience even

4:55

though I bang on about this all the time

4:58

I still keep finding that there is just

5:00

a half hour set aside in a large room

5:03

for networking at so many events we've

5:05

got to think about the people who hate

5:08

that who just go I'm not going to go to

5:10

an event if that's happening because if

5:11

we think more and more people are going

5:13

to events for networking then we want to

5:15

encourage the unlikely attendee to come

5:17

too they aren't going to go to an event

5:19

where the networking is their idea of

5:20

hell so they're going to need much

5:22

smaller rooms structured networking like

5:25

speed networking or small group sessions

5:28

so you can make easy for all kinds of

5:31

people to connect without feeling

5:33

overwhelmed the other thing is make it

5:36

really easy to get around make your

5:38

navigation incredibly straightforward

5:40

really clear signage simple Maps good

5:43

communication that will reduce the

5:45

anxiety and people who might not have

5:46

come to your event before because maybe

5:48

they've gone once or they've seen a

5:49

video of it and they've thought oh that

5:51

looks like hell how do you find where

5:52

you're going and that is the case at so

5:55

many events you spend a lot of time

5:57

wondering where you are and getting lost

6:00

and of course you're going to be making

6:01

the event much more accessible to

6:03

everyone if you do that I think as well

6:05

the way you message about your event the

6:07

way you talk about your event is really

6:09

important if you make it very clear from

6:12

the outset that your event is different

6:14

that it's going to be incredibly

6:15

inclusive and welcoming and adaptable to

6:18

all people's needs that really helps if

6:21

you ask attendees for their preferences

6:23

before you start really planning this

6:24

event and then you deliver on those that

6:26

will really make you stand

6:28

out and on that line that's the key

6:31

you've got to be promoting what is going

6:34

to be making your event different it

6:36

isn't enough just to implement these

6:38

changes so that the people who've come

6:40

before go oh look it's different this

6:41

year you've got to be telling everybody

6:44

that you're going to be doing that

6:45

you've got to be really talking about it

6:47

make sure your marketing messages are so

6:50

loud and clear about how different and

6:53

how inclusive your event will be that no

6:54

way people didn't know that I cannot

6:57

tell you how I see these great things

6:59

sometimes events but nobody knew about

7:00

them it's chance that we find out about

7:03

them I went to one recently I went to an

7:05

event recently I was at a um a talk that

7:08

I was giving and I asked everybody as

7:10

part of the conversation because it was

7:11

all about networking and finding out

7:12

about people what are you loving about

7:14

this event what's not working for you

7:16

what's not working so well and it was a

7:18

great way I thought to help people feel

7:20

seen and heard and explain to them how

7:21

that can be a really effective way to

7:22

network but it got people talking and

7:25

one person mentioned that he was so

7:26

impressed that when he'd arrived at this

7:28

event he was asked on the door is this

7:30

your first time and of course when he

7:32

said yes they said oh we've got a bunny

7:34

system in place we can get somebody to

7:35

join you now they can show you around

7:37

they can help you get to your first

7:38

meetings um they can give you some tips

7:40

and ideas about sort of stuff that's

7:42

going along alongside the meeting that

7:43

you might know about they just be like a

7:44

friend for half an hour and he was like

7:47

that's amazing it made so much

7:48

difference to him in fact he spent an

7:49

hour with him and he got to see lots of

7:51

different things and learn lots of stuff

7:52

and he said it made a huge difference to

7:54

his experience but then other people in

7:56

my session went well I didn't know about

7:57

that why didn't I know about that I'd

7:59

have loved that so clearly it wasn't

8:01

available when they walked in the door

8:02

and it struck me as amazing that the

8:04

organizers had put this incredible

8:06

initiative into place but they hadn't

8:07

promoted it enough because if people had

8:09

known about it they'd have been asking

8:10

about it on the door instead of just

8:12

walking in and getting lost that's the

8:14

kind of thing it can make such a huge

8:16

difference especially for people who

8:17

wouldn't normally consider going to an

8:19

event if you are doing something great

8:22

and special and unique at your event

8:24

shout about it tell everybody it's front

8:27

and center of your marketing so that

8:29

every one who's coming knows that

8:30

they'll get this extra help and how it

8:32

is actually being tailored to their

8:33

knees and how they're therefore going to

8:34

be considered and that makes you much

8:36

more likely to come the payoff by doing

8:39

all this of course if you haven't worked

8:41

it out is that by attracting this new

8:44

audience you aren't just filling seats

8:46

you're going to be doing it with a lot

8:47

less stress and more predictability you

8:50

are reaching out to people who will then

8:51

be really excited to attend because it's

8:53

the first time there's an event on offer

8:56

that they're going to feel welcome at

8:57

and that takes a lot of the last minute

8:59

Panic out of the equation for the

9:02

organizers so here's my challenge to you

9:05

think about who isn't coming to your

9:07

events like at the next time when you're

9:09

in the room and you look out at the

9:10

event go who's not here who should be

9:12

here what what's missing in this room if

9:14

I wanted to make it really inclusive but

9:17

also wanted more bums on seats how could

9:20

I change that if you just open up to new

9:22

audiences you you aren't just

9:24

differentiating your event you're also

9:26

going to be making your life that little

9:27

bit easier as a planner and who wouldn't

9:30

want that okay that's all for today hope

9:32

I've given you some food for thought on

9:34

how to think about attracting those

9:36

elusive attendees who usually avoid B2B

9:38

events join me next time I'm going to be

9:41

talking about how to bring more emotion

9:43

into your

9:49

events