3 post-lockdown event tips

It’s been a long time since people met in rooms and interacted with each other. In a way that’s good, because it has allowed people to step away from what has always been done and consider what they would like from meetings and events in the future. We have years of experience of hundreds of events and we can guide you in designing something that will make the most of the opportunities and minimise the pitfalls.

Allow people to reconnect and share

“How are you?” “Fine.” “What’s been happening?” “Nothing much.”
 
Sound familiar? Outside of Zoom calls with family and friends, home schooling and binge-watching television there’s not been a lot to talk about. It’s an understandable consequence of being inside for so long, but as the restrictions ease the stories will come back. Every story is an insight into other people’s lives, values, interests and opinions. As these start coming back give people the chance to share them. Make time for people to talk in small groups.

Let the stories shape your decisions

There really hasn’t been a time like this since the Second World War. There is the potential to make the kind of adjustments that people want, but only if you listen to them. 
 
Harrison Owen realised that the best conversations at conferences happened in the breaks, so he devised his Open Space meeting format to replicate this. We love running these, so if you want some real value from your next meeting, let us know and we will put one together for you!

Don’t forget the fun!

This might come as an unwelcome surprise to some people, but no one has missed the 80-minute keynote speech by your CEO, followed by the 65-minute CFO’s report, accompanied by 67 slides that usually open your conferences. What they have missed is each other, and you will most likely be able to see how much in the bar at the end of the day. Trust me, at that point no one will be talking about the Q3 figures or the CEO’s vision for the next five years!
 
The temptation might be to make the day about business and the evening about fun, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

We have dozens of exercises and activities that bring business content to life, allow sharing and reconnection and have tangible outputs that make a difference, using our tried and tested model of context-experience-reflection. Mix the activities in with the presentations and people will engage and contribute more.

If you're looking to bring your content to life, get in touch with us here or have a look at the exercises we could run.