Engagement is one of the buzzwords of the event industry. But what does it really mean and why all the fuss? To define event engagement in our event industry you must look at what we think of as success from an attendee perspective. Most would agree, we like attendees to trust our events, be enthusiastic about them and most importantly to feel a sense of belonging before, during and after our event.
We’ve all seen disengaged people at events. Delegates just there for the freebies, a nice hotel and a day out of the office. People who drift off during speaker sessions (or even sleep!). There are secretive scrolls on smartphones during talking events or attendees who prefer the bar to the sponsors’ stands.
Conversely, we’ve all seen people who love our events. They share their thoughts with others, help overcome problems and care about the event’s success. These people are why engagement is so important to an events success and why we must all find ways to foster it at our meetings, conferences and events- through an event app.
So how do we do get there? There is still a place for one-way communication; the inspiring talk, the emotional video or the jaw dropping event location. These I would class as passive event engagement and can be great motivators for your exhibitors and attendees alike.
The real magic juice in my opinion comes from getting attendees involved in the event itself. Making them feel part of the setting of the event agenda and outputs. Active event engagement.
Event apps are now generally accepted as increasing engagement. Event apps are built for interactive use that encourages, or even demands, that attendees participate rather than just spectate.
Event app features like live polling, attendee networking, gamification and Q&A all help make the attendee feel part of the event – whether they are the event sponsor, keynote speaker or an industry novice.
People want to know they matter and they want to be treated as people. Give your attendees and speakers these engagement tools and they can generate the excitement and active engagement we all crave for our events.
App Talk Host: Stuart Hadden, CrowdComms – Ireland
Stuart has worked with CrowdComms directors, Felix and Pete, to develop leading edge event technology that has shaped the market. Stuart now leads the CrowdComms’ Ireland team to deliver event app solutions to a broad range of clients. Whether it’s polling and Q&A, silent auctions or gamification, Stuart is always excited to find the right event tech fit for small and large events.
