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How To Plan Seating Arrangements [infographic]

Posted on 16 Settembre 201618 Luglio 2017 by Fedra

So you have found the perfect venue for your next event, now you need to start to think about the room layout and in particular the seating style for your audience.

As discussed before, the communication factor on any event is critical.

Whether you are setting up a business presentation, training classroom, hosting a full scale gala dinner or product launch, the arrangement of the seating can make all the difference.

You have invited your audience to communicate a message, so it’s important that your audience is seated in the best way to achieve the maximum impact for your message!

Check the infographic below and follow our tips:

How to Make Your Event Paperwork Paperless

Posted on 7 Settembre 201618 Luglio 2017 by Fedra

If you’ve ever had to send event paperwork to attendees, you already know the pain that comes along with managing a ton of documents. Papers get lost or misfiled. Attendees forget to complete an important field or don’t write legibly.

Thankfully, modern event organizing technology offers plenty of ways to get event paperwork completed quickly and easily — and makes illegible handwriting a thing of the past.

Here are three simple ways to get your paperwork signed faster and more reliably:

1) No more chaos

There are a couple truths behind successful event organizing: people like to know what to expect, and they like things to be easy.

You can achieve both when you give attendees the early heads-up about event paperwork they’ll need to sign. This sets expectations and onboards attendees to future actions they’ll need to take.

Most importantly, introducing paperwork early on minimizes the day-of-event chaos for both event organizers and attendees. When registrants have the opportunity to receive and sign event paperwork before the event, it cuts down on day-of document chaos.

So when your big day comes, your staff will be able to focus on more pressing tasks, and your attendees can focus on having a great time at your event.

2) Time Saving

eSignatures – like traditional signatures – are a legally-binding way to sign documents online.

Compared to pen and paper signing, eSignatures come with a few extra perks. They’re trackable. They can generate reminders for documents that still need to be signed by attendees. And you usually have the option to automatically store signed copies of documents in one easily-accessible place.

Another bonus of planning an event with online paperwork? You can cut down on the redundancy of formatting paperwork. Online templates make it simple to prep once and then send as many documents as you need. This can be a huge time saver for any event organizer who’s juggling different forms for big events.

3) Make it easy

Instead of having to print, sign and fax forms, online paperwork allows attendees to sign online in a few clicks. To get the most out of online signing, though, it’s super helpful to think about mobile-friendly signing. After all, more people access the internet on mobile devices than desktops.

Luckily, most people already carry the capability to complete paperwork in their pocket.

Mobile-friendly documents make it easy for attendees to fill out, sign, and complete event paperwork from wherever they are. That way, they can use their phone or tablet to sign as soon as they’re ready—and you can get paperwork filed faster.

Don’t forget about other devices, too. Attendees and event organizers often use tablets for live, in-person signing at events.

For Events, Story Matters

Posted on 6 Settembre 201618 Luglio 2017 by Fedra

Storytelling is often associated with entertainment, but stories are also a powerful tool for your event marketing toolkit.

Why? Because stories inspire people to take action. The right narrative can compel someone to attend your event and help them spread the word to others.

So how can you use stories to sell more tickets and registrations? It starts with understanding why they’re so effective.

Hardwired to Understand Stories

After centuries of oral tradition — telling stories around the evening fire and passing crucial information for survival — evolution has hardwired our brains to understand stories.

According to Dan and Chip Heath, authors of the best-selling book Made to Stick, stories provide mental training.

“A story’s power, then, is twofold: It provides simulation (knowledge how to act) and inspiration (motivation to act),” they say. “The takeaway is simple: Mental simulation is not as good as actually doing something, but it’s the next best thing.”

Put differently, if you want people to come to your events, share their experience on social, and develop a positive relationship with your brand — stories inspire those kind of actions.

Putting Stories to Work

In his presentation, Storytelling: Using Creativity to Help Sell, Connect, and Differentiate, Craig Chaplin, Senior Creative Director of global branding agency Jack Morton, shared the secrets behind successful storytelling. His tips teach you how to foster creativity, garnering new ideas for your events by creating a story that sells.

Check out a sample of his best practices:

Kill Your Darlings.

William Faulkner once said, “In writing, you must kill your darlings.” No, he wasn’t advising you to commit a crime. Faulkner’s advice was for storytellers to cut the parts of their stories that didn’t serve the reader — no matter how near and dear to their heart.

What does this mean for your event? If something isn’t relevant to your audience — a session that isn’t valuable or a piece of copy on the event page that doesn’t help them — let it go.

Get Personal.

In the mid-2010s, Coca-Cola did the unthinkable and removed its iconic logo from the side of bottles and cans. The “Share a Coke” campaign personalized the beverages with 250 of the most common names and nicknames, giving customers a way to tell their own story and share an experience with someone.

Personalization stands as the ultimate way to immerse someone in the story you’re telling. So make sure to avoid sending emails addressed “Dear Attendee” and utilize technology that lets you get on a first name basis with them.

Use Hashtags.

When Petsmart toured the United States to interact with pet owners, they created the hashtag #inspiredbypets. As the Inspiration Waggin’ traveled from city to city, the hashtag acted like the binding of a novel, connecting over 100,000 inspirational customer stories.

If you’re planning on using a hashtag for your event, put some thought into it before you do. Chaplin tells us that hashtags can be a great way to facilitate conversations with attendees and encourage storytelling.

From captivating pitch techniques to creating authentic brand experiences, all aspects of the marketing and event process should be a part of a powerfully told story.