5 tips for sparking emotional connections at events

The adage God lies in the details holds extremely true for the events industry. Those slogging and toiling in this market to create magical experiences for their audience have an OCD for details but make sure that it looks like a fairy tale on the outside. A successful event takes a lot of planning and communication. We have all been to events where all the small and big elements have been perfectly in sync – be it the food, the décor, music, overall ambience, among other things – but the beating pulse is running slow. And then there are events, which are indeed mega experiences that make you feel at the centre of the cosmos and send your pulse racing.

Here are some tips for sparking emotional connections and creating a magical world for your audience:

1. Rethink EVERY factor:
Don’t fall prey to repeated formulas and make sure you have considered each and every consumer touchpoint, every single time. In a brainstorming session if you hear yourself saying ‘we did for xx client and it worked, let’s replicate it here’…that should be your wake up call. Treat each project like a masterpiece in the making and deliver accordingly.

2. Stay high on emotional quotient:
To deliver a spectacular event and put wide grins on your attendees’ faces, what pivotal is your core teams are smiling and having fun while putting the event together. Excited and empowered teams who are enjoying their respective roles will deliver on their responsibilities and that will clearly reflect in the event outcome. Conversely, exhausted teams and staff will be cranky and the collateral damage is it will become out on the guests.
Allow us to let you in on a secret – treat everyone, and we mean everyone, with respect, right from the person who serves juice, the interns, to the CEO of the company.

3. Delight them with engagement:
Plug in surprise elements wherever possible and create unexpected moments to trigger emotional connections. This is challenging, but that’s exactly what makes it fun! Consider every touchpoint, make a list and with the most creative lot of your organization analyze the list with a fresh perspective. Be it food, performances, décor or something else, try and turn it upside down and let the magic unfold.

4. Make your event an exploration:
This is the formula: guests walk into an event, get a drink, munch on something and just hang around waiting for something to happen, whatever that is. Change that formula; for that matter, to hell with the formula…create moments of discovery for your guests. Keep their interests high and keep them moving through the venue, exploring something.

5. Go all guns blazing:
When an individual registers for an event, they attend it either because of a good past experience, a recommendation or because something on the website really caught their interest. Whatever the reason, don’t let them down. Map a dream guest profile and envision all the details with your old and potential guests in mind. No matter what, every single time, take the experience notches higher.