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8 Tips for High-Impact Live Experiences From Innovative Event Pros

Speakers at the Event Innovation Forum in Los Angeles covered topics like authenticity and vulnerability in event marketing, working with sponsors, and personalizing live experiences.

Speakers, including Pandora's senior director of events, Nicole Carbone-Rogers, took the stage as part of the Event Innovation Forum in Los Angeles.
Speakers, including Pandora's senior director of events, Nicole Carbone-Rogers, took the stage as part of the Event Innovation Forum in Los Angeles.
Photo: Alesandra Dubin/BizBash

On June 24, BizBash hosted its Event Innovation Forum, part of BizBash Live: The Expo, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Speakers in the 15-minute talks covered topics like engaging millennials, corporate social responsibility, and customizing live experiences. Their top takeaways can provide inspiration for event professionals of all kinds.

1. Draw on data.
Rather than make guesses about attendee demographics and preferences, call upon various data points for a more targeted result. Pandora, which has a wealth of information on its Internet radio platform’s users, uses data to create personalized events based on attendees' age, household income, location, and other factors. That way, sponsors reach the people who matter to them and guests also take home brand messages with sticking power. “It’s not just about getting people in the room with their favorite artists,” said Pandora senior director of events Nicole Carbone-Rogers, “It’s also about having a lasting impact from what we build for them.”

2. Customize the experience.
Audiences are more than just their demographics and taste preferences. They’re also composed of groups who are accustomed to taking in messages in diverse ways, for instance through auditory cues or visual ones. So tailor an experience that allows for people to learn most effectively.

“Know your audience. People learn in different ways,” said MKTG senior vice president of creative services Rob Deal. “We want to start with knowing as much as possible so that we can custom tailor events to what they care about and how they learn.” MKTG vice president of strategy and operations Kerry Lange added, “Remember that your attendees are people. If you design enjoyable, meaningful experiences, they’re more likely to walk away with a positive impression and meet your business objectives.”

3. Do good and do well.
Corporate social responsibility, popularly known as C.S.R., isn’t just an empty buzzword: It’s essential to millennials and therefore essential to businesses’ bottom lines.

Time Warner Cable events director Lizzy Paulson explained that the millennial generation is the biggest generation ever, and by 2020 millennials will wield the largest buying power in history. “Never before has it been imperative for companies to be socially responsible to survive, let alone thrive,” she said. “Now, with the largest generation ever deciding where to work or who to buy from or which brand to offer their consumer loyalty to, now event professionals more than ever before are going to have a real-world business impact on our customers' and clients’ success. Arms-length philanthropy like giant check presentations isn’t going to cut it in anymore. We don’t want our companies to merely donate—we want our companies to invest.”

4. Most of all, be authentic.
To that end, CatalystCreativ C.E.O. and founder Amanda Slavin emphasized the importance of not just looking—and being—authentic when communicating marketing messages, but also allowing for two-way meaningful sharing. “Vulnerability is crucial—the more you can add vulnerability, the more that millennials feel connected to you in a human way. Create different types of narratives throughout the storytelling: The more you give them tidbits of information through your vulnerability, the more they’ll want to [amplify the message].”

5. Make sharable content.
Social media is a powerful tool for driving event buzz, but results of a recent study from FreemanXP suggest event professionals still have significant room for opportunity when it comes to exploiting an event’s social media potential. A critical piece of the puzzle is creating content that any given guest will connect with on a personal level and will want to post. “We need to be focusing on the individual and what they want to share. What they share is a big reflection of who they are. It can't be overly promotional,” said FreemanXP senior vice president of marketing Alison Jenks. “It's thinking about what is going to deliver value back to this individual—plan your events and programming around that.”

6. Listen.
When it comes to relationships with sponsors, take the time to understand the company in a way that goes deeper than just its website. “Everybody wants to feel valued. Business is no different. You have to come with a sense of compassion and knowledge for everything that you deal with," said Laurie Kirby, co-president of AboutFest. "Do you know the identity of the person you're talking to and their company? Know from LinkedIn what sports they played, and whether they have kids, and what are their hobbies. Ask them what they need and what they want in a perfect world. Build out your package with that in mind.”

7. Create a multisensory experience.
An effective way to create a memorable, shareable event that has staying power is to stimulate as many of guests’ senses in a positive way. “If you add a third sense, there’s a 70 percent increase in brand awareness,” said Multi Image Group executive creative director Barry Ross Rinehart. In addition to simply creating pleasant sensory experiences, Rineheart suggested exploiting the senses in unusual ways—like depriving one sense to heighten another, such as dining in a dark room—as a way to “wake the audience up.”

8. Forge meaningful relationships.
Event professionals who assemble and invest in a team—including internal partners, vendors, venue managers, and more—are likelier to succeed than those who mistakenly think they can go it alone. Loyal partners are invested in the shared success of a positive outcome and are likelier to work toward goals like budget shaving when necessary. “Align yourself with people who care about you, and care about them,” said TaylorMade director of global design and events Meredith Silberg. “Bring your partners in early in the process.”

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