There are events, and there are … events. The same way as only a few startups end up becoming the true unicorns of an industry and attract multimillion-dollar investments, only a handful of events have gained traction and transformed into worldwide-recognized brands.
How can you evaluate the influence and impact these events have? First, almost everyone (regardless of the industry) knows about them. Second, the speakers and guests are top-notch. Third, they propel industries forward and power up their attendees through meaningful contacts or groundbreaking information. Finally, they have extraordinary media and social media coverage.
Web Summit, Pulse Europe, SXSW, World Economic Forum, CES Las Vegas, Mobile World Congress—all these events have a tremendous impact on their respective industries and are an attractive meeting point for countless of high-class professionals and business leaders.
The road to transforming your event into an influential one is quite stiff and bumpy. It takes a great deal of strategizing and a powerful boardroom to achieve this level recognition for your event brand. However, you can always improve your attendees’ experiences by taking a look at what we learned from these top events. Here’s a list of best practices you can apply to your events right away:
Focus on sharing top-quality content
Let me ask you a quick question: Do you usually read low-quality blog posts or watch different videos that just repeat the same things? Probably not. Well, the same thing is true for events. The content makes or breaks events.
Forget the catering or event logistics—if your event content isn’t insightful or valuable enough, you’ll never reach a higher level of recognition.
The organizers who run truly influential events focus on filling up their programs with roundtables or keynote speeches that are more than worth hearing and will have a profound effect on the attendees’ professional lives.
Build an event community of influential industry leaders
The more value your speakers and guests can add to your event, the greater the chances your brand will have a bigger outreach. If you want to build an influential event, start by inviting industry leaders.
And if they decide to speak at your event, they won’t come alone. They’ll attract their followers, who’ll want to attend the event just to be in the same room with them.
Since industry leaders always provide excellent content and different perspectives, they’re essential to expanding the influence of your event.
Enable not only the conversation, but also the design of the future
What are your attendees usually doing when attending your events? Are they simply listening to the attendees and networking during coffee breaks? Or are they participating in shaping the industry’s future by attending different workshops or World Café activities?
All influential events are real catalysts that shift the tonality of different industries. From offering the platform for groundbreaking insights to facilitating meaningful connections, world-renowned events invite their participants to rethink the future together.
Focus on influencing the industry, not just the attendees
Stop thinking of your event as a knowledge-sharing platform; instead, see it as a medium for experts and professionals to work on finding solutions to existing problems and changing the industry positively.
Subsequently, you can share your event’s content through online media, videos, or future gatherings.
Choose an innovative approach to planning your event
To change the industry, shape the future, and transform your event into a prominent brand, you can’t limit yourself to planning a regular conference or congress.
You need to step out of the box and get creative.
- What activities will unleash your attendees’ creativity?
- How should you run the networking sessions to actually help your guests build relevant connections?
- What unusual experiences can you design while making good use of the event destination?
The answers to these questions will help you approach the planning of your event differently and search for truly groundbreaking settings, frameworks, and experiences that will make your attendees feel inspired and eager to change the world.
Wrap-up
There’s one thing we can tell you: If you truly want it and work hard enough, you can transform your obscure event into a highly regarded brand. However, there’s no magic trick or tip that will get you there. You have to put in a lot of effort and truly build an authentic platform for your guests and your industry.
Source: Photo: CES
