You’ve now had weeks of peering inside the minds of event attendees. What did you see? Hear? Sense?

People are at once very complicated and very simple. They’re a bundle of desires and expectations and want all the things—simple and rewarding. Yet the little things really matter. Being greeted with a smile matters. The garnish on food matters. A touch on the shoulder and check-in from the host can transform a moment. 
Reading those stories, we see people set adrift in expo halls and executive dinners left to fend for themselves—not told where to find what they’re looking for, not given the structure to feel at ease, and not offered the thing they hoped for from the event.

However clear you feel you have been, you don’t really know until you ask. Just have a listen.

In every one of these stories are a dozen opportunities for building quality events that engage people and leave them feeling energized, not drained. Inspired, not left to wander. 

What would you have done differently at all these events? Here’s our checklist for avoiding situations like this. 

☑️ Use stories to make events unforgettable.
☑️ Set ground rules well in advance.
☑️ Reveal the story in pieces, not all at once.
☑️ Test the attendee experience yourself.
☑️ Find vendors/partners who you’re sure can deliver.
☑️ Leave little up to chance.
☑️ Assume what can go wrong will go wrong.
☑️️ Fill the room with groups that want to meet each other.
☑️ Design the area to allow those connections to flourish.

And the most important of all? Talk to your attendees. And journal your own experience as an attendee. Just as easily as things can go wrong, they can also go right. For a sense of what that feels like, I highly recommend taking another one of our courses, about finding event inspiration in unlikely places. It’s full of videos, photos, and tales from attendees who left glowing. 

That concludes our course, The Hidden Lives of Attendees. If you found it valuable, share it with someone?