To Engage Meeting Attendees, Make it Personal
by Harvey ChipkinCreating personal and emotional connections that will keep attendees engaged and loyal can and should be done at even the largest meetings.
While that may sound like a daunting task, William Reed, CMP, director of meetings for the American Society of Hematology, showed ways to accomplish it during an interactive session called One Size Does Not Fit All at the recent PCMA conference in Orlando.
Comfort food
To make his point, Reed used the example of a meeting of Disney employees where each attendee was asked at registration to name their favorite comfort food. The next day during a coffee break every single delegate was served their favorite comfort food.
 |
The experience led to networking as attendees sought out others with similar tastes. The food choices also led to humorous observations, including the sight of a high-ranking, buttoned-down executive enjoying his pick – cotton candy.
“That wasn’t as challenging as you would think,” Reed said. “Disney simply had to go to a nearby supermarket and work it out. But it blew people away. It was 10 years ago and people are still talking about it.”
People like choices
To give an example of how everyone likes to make choices, Reed pointed out that as attendees entered the room for his PCMA session, they chose different types of seating – comfortable couches, smaller tables, larger tables.
“We have to shift gears if we are to generate loyalty,” he said. “That doesn’t happen with one size fits all. That leads to boredom and empty chairs.”
Use the data
Reed believes planners should change the way they approach a meeting to maximize personalization. A good place to start is by researching the available data on each attendee.
“For an association meeting, use the database that captures everything about the attendees that the association has captured over time,” he said. “Instead of that data sitting there, it can be used to personalize the experiences. It might have birthday information, or maybe an anniversary with the company. Wouldn’t it be great to be recognized for that?”
The awards dinner offers another personalization opportunity, he added, noting that older attendees may prefer a formal sit-down dinner, while younger people may loathe the idea.
“There should be a choice,” Reed said. “If it’s a 50-50 split, do the awards, then let attendees choose between formal banquet and a different kind of event.”
Creating loyalty
To create loyalty among attendees, planners need to plan events that resonate with the four brain quadrants associated with loyalty – social interaction, memory, emotion and rewards, according to Reed. “According to neuroscience, loyalty stems from when people experience one or more of those four sensations.”
To touch those quadrants, planners need to tailor things to personal likes and dislikes.
“Attendees will feel very special if you hit their emotional component – or even the rewards and memories quadrants,” Reed said. “If you remember an attendee’s birthday and have it mentioned at an awards dinner, that will strike an emotional chord. Or if you take a photo at the awards dinner, send it to the person in the picture.
Why is generating loyalty important at meetings? Because it makes building attendance for future meetings easier, Reed said.
“Once you get a loyal person, you won’t have to spend marketing dollars to get them to a meeting,” he said. “Just tell them the date and the city and they’ll be there. That’s true ROI.”
Post-meeting personalization
Post-meeting surveys, said Reed, should not be asking about “whether or not attendees liked Tuesday’s luncheon.” Instead, ask at registration what they hope to accomplish e.g. “meet 10 CFOs.” Then ask in the survey if they met that goal.
The trend toward toward personalization will continue, according to Reed. “In our individual lives we have come to expect personalization more and more. That is where our expectations are going.”
