| What makes a meeting
truly stand out from others?
It's not
necessarily how much money was spent but how many positively memorable experiences the
attendees recall. Many
conferences involve a theme, reinforced through a logo, theme, events, and speakers to
create an overall "feel" and value throughout the convention. Why not further
reinforce your meeting content and mood by enveloping attendees in planned sequences of
memorable moments that involve sensory combinations of smells, tastes, sounds, sights, and
even "touchable" experiences? Few meetings
can or should be able to compete with the sizzle of a modern amusement park or an action
movie, but meeting planners and hotel and other site managers can multiple the number of
positive exposures attendees experience and thus increase the possibility that those
attendees will rave about their meeting. Conduct a Sensory Exposures
Audit
To make the most of the event, conduct a "Sensory Exposures Audit" of all the images to which your attendees will be exposed, from the pre-meeting mailings and other contacts, through the meeting itself and post-meeting reinforcements. Just as political campaigns have "advance agents" who walk through every step of an event ahead of time to consider all that might go right or wrong (from slippery steps to photo-opportunity backdrops), you can mentally visualize each "vignette" attendees might experience. Ask hotel and
convention center staff for photos of the actual colors and patterns most frequently used
in their sleeping, eating, meeting, and gathering spaces, and take notes on the
combinations during your site visit, so your theme colors and images are compatible and
even complementary. Ask the staff where you're going to find the most conflicting and comforting background sounds from piped-in music, other meetings, mechanical operations, catering procedures, or beyond-the-facility noises. Where do the
smells go from the cooking and catering areas? Are the walkways carpeted? Is the carpet
plush or thin? Is the facility signage large and easy to understand? What do the chairs
feel like? Are there many comfortable places to relax and converse between organized
activities? Is there much access to natural light (to elevate attendees' moods) during
some of the daytime activities? Consider the impact attendees might experience on all the
senses. Drive and
walk through the major and minor "paths" your attendees will use from the time
they leave an airport (if they use one) to the time they arrive back at the airport ñ and
observe what sensory delights they might receive before they go or upon their return. Storyboard
the Meeting Experience Borrow a
storyboarding trick from TV advertisement creators. Write out the meeting
"story" as a three-part series of sequences or "exposures" attendees
will experience: pre-meeting, meeting, and post-meeting. For each
"exposure" you identify: 1. Write a
brief description of the exposure in chronological sequence, as the attendee is most
likely to experience it, down pages of paper in one of three columns: positive, negative,
and neutral (exposures). Describe how
the exposure is most likely to be: * positive:
Candid photos taken as they enter the opening-night mixer, placed in pressed-board white
frames inscribed with the meeting theme and hung on fishing line strings in the buffet
breakfast room the next day for their take-away souvenir. * negative:
Inevitably long treks between certain meeting rooms * mostly
neutral: Conventionally decorated hotel rooms 2. Then write
out what the potential attendee will see, hear, smell, taste, and/or touch. How many of
the senses can you include in each exposure to make it more positively memorable? Try creating
more "low-tech" sensory experiences, such as more human touch. Increase the
number of times an attendee is greeted by name or a handshake. Two studies were done in
1996 and 1997 in which two groups experienced the same public event, with the only
difference that people in one group were safely touched (for example, shaking hands, touch
on the top of the hand) just twice in a three-hour period. The so-called "touched
group" described the people sponsoring the event as more intelligent, caring, and
good looking than did the other group. Try
higher-tech sensory moments, such as scenting a general session in keeping with the
speaker and convention theme, gradually changing the scent three times, from lemon to lime
to suntan lotion during the course of the 40-minute, midwinter, pre-lunch keynote speech.
Lightly scent the handouts to match. Technology does now make it possible to scent to
refresh, relax, or renew ñ without allergic reactions. You'll begin
to see your meeting as a theatrical production, considering the attendees' every waking
moment. The possible payoffs? You'll find ways to move more of the exposures to the
positive side, often not through more costs but through changes in planning. Inflame
Their Imaginations For a
"negative" exposure such as a long, boring walk between meeting rooms, you could
"Burma Shave" the build-up of interest and excitement in the trek with a
sequence of messages on stands or on the walls, like the old highway signs of rhyming
phrases car passengers passed on long stretches of road. The messages could build suspense
toward the identity of award recipients, an entertainment event with a surprise guest, a
contest they can win with the right answer for a vendor, or a trivia contest that
encourages attendees and exhibitors to talk. Messages
could also be placed in sequence around corners and on the way into meeting rooms, some
with cryptic instructions to look under their chairs for more. Related
messages can also appear on the backs of meeting leaders at the podium, who turn for
attendees to read them, followed by some of the waiters who appear to serve each other
"back" messages. Other messages and clues and teasers might appear under
attendees hotel room doors while they sleep, next to their plates at lunch, or on the
seminar handout on their seats. Prior to the
meeting you might send a "Burma Shave" series of postcards (sending them with
increasing frequency as the event approaches) offering more reasons to attend and to sign
up early. For example, the first postcards for a midwinter meeting in a sunny locale might
be a series with images of blue water and yellow sun, messages to come prepared for warm
sun and sizzling topics, and scented with coconut suntan lotion. Send companion messages
via e-mail, directing attendees to your web site for a convention preview and contest. Use the
Tricks of Blockbuster Movies As in a blockbuster movie, the most important exposures are the "opening scene," the handling of potentially slow times, the climax, and the ending. Many meetings
have a slow beginning (hotel check-in, meeting registration, dead time before the first
meeting).
Consider
having a team of people greet arrivals at the hotel door(s), perhaps in costume and
certainly giving them a welcome gift. Make the gift fun to see, touch, and taste. Have a
second gift waiting for them in their room, perhaps a contest announcement. The more cared
for attendees feel up front, the more they will perceive subsequent meeting experiences in
a positive light, want to participate, and forgive later mishaps.
In all
waiting times, from registration to coffee areas, plan amusements that catch the eye or
that people can hold or play with or hear. For example, have modern clowns or
ventriloquists or magicians roam the gathering areas around registration areas to build
movement, excitement, and involvement. Or mimes might follow and imitate attendees in
gentle fun, perhaps giving mementos provided by exhibitors that make them eligible for a
drawing if they visit the booths.
Create ways to get attendees involved and interested soon after they arrive. The best ways are to get them in motion and to let them see motion around them, because motion literally increases the emotion people feel. Here are some
examples: 1. A videographer can capture attendees' responses to the interactions for later use in a continuous-feed loop shown on TV monitors at eye-level in gathering places between meeting rooms. 2. The videographer can interview people for their opinion on a meeting topic and/or comments on a favorite co-attendee. Let the resultant video run as a continuous-feed loop on eye-level TV monitors for future waiting times. 3. Several
photographers with Polaroid cameras can photograph groups and individuals. These can
quickly be taken to a local copy center and produced as enlargements for an ever-enlarging
"Meeting Montage" on a central wall attendees see frequently.
Consider
adding "localized sound" along the "paths" attendees will walk. At
strategic times and in excitement-starved places, place portable audiotape and CD
machines. Obviously the security of needed equipment is a consideration, so you'll want to
place equipment where staff or volunteers can see it. Consider the registration area or
inside the doors people enter for banquets. The
"sounds" can be music, related to the meeting theme, or sound bites of attendees
who have been interviewed about their advice or praise for their peers, or an
"Eavesdrop": lively conversation between meeting leaders about the meeting high
points. Change the tapes sometimes so attendees can look forward to new experiences. Sweet Smell of Success At an association conference designed to strengthen member unity and celebrate success, our theme was "Success is Sweet." Here ís how it goes: When
participants enter the opening evening "Five Heavenly Chocolates" mixer in a
ballroom, they are enveloped in the enticing, wafting scent of chocolate from the
AromaSys-designed scent machines. As they arrive, they are given scented "player
cards" with the name and "stats" of a person's accomplishments, printed in
brown ink in the format of a baseball card, and invited to find the person who matches the
accomplishments. Huge enlargements of the cards are projected on the walls and constantly
changing. When
attendees find their person, they can return to get a new card for a different person. The
ten people who find the most matches win chocolate player-card prizes and chocolate
"MVP" statues later in the evening. People can use roving mikes to ask for help
in finding their person. As attendees mingle, a singer's song list naturally features
chocolate and athletic themes. Continue
the Story Through the Meeting At breakfast
the next day, all attendees receive two forms: one to fill out their own MVP player
accomplishments and another to fill out for a colleague they admire, who is attending the
convention. All attendees who fill out forms are eligible to have their photo taken for
their own two-sided MVP Player card, enlarged to poster size. The poster of the attendee
who is most written up by his or her colleagues is blown up to wall size and mounted on a
wall the last day of the convention, when the person's name is announced with game music
in the background and a rally squad dancing to celebrate. Make
Memories Palpable in "High Touch" and "High Tech" Ways Before the
convention even starts, lay out a post-meeting newsletter filled with comments the
speakers will offer, awards announcements, and news of important dates. Include actions
such as signing up for the next meeting or volunteering for a committee. Leave places
for photos and attendee comments you gather during the convention. Place them in the holes
left in the newsletter, and then quick-copy and label the newsletter on the last day of
the convention so attendees receive this unexpected "Meeting Memento" very soon
after returning home. Send an e-mail version of the newsletter, too, with a "Thank
you for participating" message. Further
Reinforce Meeting Memories in Their Minds A week later, send a gift pack of gifts provided by some exhibitors, along with their product offers, and your message, again thanking attendees and reminding them of the calls for action on their part. Few meetings include immediate follow-up to attendees. Fewer still follow up more than once, soon after a meeting. Stand out in their senses and their minds, so they'll step forward for your next meeting. |
