Waikato Business News September/October 2018

CHRISTMAS CONFERENCE AND EVENTS
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS September/October 2018
37
How to get the most out of your
company or association conference
The core purpose of a conference is
to engage, educate and connect your
delegates. While it is often easy to set a
theme, venue and date for your conference
it is the finer details that make the biggest
impact and are often the most challenging
to get right.
By ERIN MITCHELL
Director, Momento Group
Conferences, Incentives,
Events and Travel
Below are Momento
Group’s top tips to
help with the planning
of your upcoming conference.
1. Be diverse. Should you
require speakers at your
conference, ensure that you
deliver diversity, consider
speakers from all walks of
business, community and
industry. This trend will
help engage a wider audience.
2. Encourage conversation.
Standing in front of delegates
and reading content
from slides is no longer
enough. Delegates want to
interact and feel a part of
the moment. Engagement
and unique conference
moments are the key.
3. Choose a venue that is
unique. Think a little further
outside the square and
select a conference venue
that will push boundaries.
Don’t just use production
and decoration, rid yourself
of the ‘boring conference’
label and choose
a non-traditional event
space.
4. Use an event app. Event
apps are almost a necessity
these days. Don’t just use
them as a way to go paperless.
Use them to their fullest
capacity. Encourage
interaction, networking,
and engagement. Leverage
sponsorship and branding
opportunities with key
suppliers.
5. Use your event app as a
measurement tool. Drive
improvement and prove
ROI. Collating data from
event apps gives organisers
an opportunity to use data
from every scroll, tap and
swipe to help improve their
next conference.
6. Extend your conference
reach through live video
and virtual reality. The
use of live streaming and
virtual reality technology
will help create an additional
experience for your
delegates. Anyone with a
phone can watch or even
present at your event.
7. Build a conference community.
Delegates attend
live events to connect
with their wider industry
or community. This gives
organisers an opportunity
to create a platform that
will encourage engagement
for delegates to
engage all year round.
8. Give your attendees the
power to perform. Allow
your attendees to create
breakout sessions, create
ideas for workshops or get
up on stage and voice their
opinion about a key topic.
9. Provide instant response
to attendees’ questions.
Provide onsite conference
ambassadors or an online
conference concierge who
will answer frequently
asked questions (FAQs)
and help delegates navigate
their way around your
conference.
10. Make sure your conference
is worth sharing. The use
of social media platforms
and hashtags has seen an
increase in social sharing.
As well as the standard
Momento Group
your local specialists in:
hashtags create moments
that attendees will want to
share. This creates virality
and helps to draw attendees
to future conferences.
Erin is the director of
Momento Group, your local
specialists in conferences,
incentives, events and travel
here in Waikato.
Give Erin or the team at
Momento Group a call on 07
949 9990 to discuss your next
conference and how they can
help you create an event worth
attending!
• Travel • Incentives • Conferences
• Events • Delegate registration
Contact Annie at Momento Group
on 07 949 9990 or
email anniec@momentogroup.co.nz
to discuss your requirements.
Travel. Conferences. Incentives. Events
SOMETHING DIFFERENT
FOR yOuR NExT EvENT?
With great food and coffee and an interesting space,
Hamilton Airport is a great venue for your next
business meeting or event.
Email admin@hamiltonairport.co.nz to find out more.
www.hamiltonairport.co.nz