Elevating Your Attendee Experience

If you are asked to plan an event for your firm or company, but don’t even know how to plan an event or where to host an event in Philadelphia, the experience can be daunting to say the least. It’s difficult enough to find a space and develop a menu, let alone select the decor, create invitations and distribute them on time, and add your own unique touches.

Many people are tempted to stop after they have secured a venue, selected a menu and bar package, and ordered a couple of flower arrangements for the tables. The world in which we live, however, isn’t impressed by the bare minimum—and neither are your guests. It’s no longer enough to produce an event; you need to create an experience.

But how to do that, while being mindful of your time, your event goals and objectives, and your budget? Read on for a couple of ideas that are close to home:

Make your photo booth the focal point: Vendors like CliqueCam Photo Booth Company take an elevated approach to their customer’s events. Blending a passion for the event industry, social media, digital marketing and customer service, owners Carlos Caceres and Nicole Morgenstern offer customized on-screen animations, digital green screens and social features like Boomerangs, to name a few. 

Add an element of play: I recently went to a networking event where we played a workshop-wide game of Rock, Paper, Scissors—complete with fake money and losers cheering the winners on. Save for the paper money (which could be substituted for candy or an incentive gift), this activation was completely free. Budget-friendly event games like this create a memory and an instant connection. Thank Sharon Fisher from Play With a Purpose for this idea!

Select a unique venue: From museums and art galleries to abandoned warehouses and everything in between. Selecting a venue with a unique feature, like the National Constitution Center, which features an exhibit that guests can interact with during the social components of the event, offers an alternative to the traditional cocktail hour.

Select entertainment carefully: Sure, your guests might love to hear a local band or DJ, but what about a magician? A live artist who will paint the scene as it unfolds? Think differently about what your guests would enjoy most, and earn bonus points if the entertainment has some sort of takeaway—physical or mental—like Denise Fike’s incredible sketches.

Overall, if you’re stressed about entertaining your guests or clients, it’s never a bad idea to explore hiring an expert. Even if you have the best ideas in the world, if they are missed on execution, they are a waste of money.

Have any questions about planning an event? Ask in the comments or fill out a contact form!