Times are changing and so should our habits. Join us at looking at some of the things we can do without nowadays at corporate events.
Paper Badges
Badges have traditionally been the biggest lost opportunity in events. Printouts of very un-useful information that generate awkward looks at one another. Of course you can get them sponsored and of course you need them for security, but there must me a better way.
Things to try instead. Mobile Apps, beacons, RFID, NFC badges. The possibilities are endless. Badges become the remote control of your event. They let you check into places by just walking by. You can purchase merchandise, drinks, food. You can participate in games, you can quickly share content on social media Smart Badges offer powerful real time analytics and they offer incredible feedback mechanisms.
2. PowerPoint
Used at events since being created 26 years ago, that alone should tell a story. Slides in general can be a great visual tool to give some tangibility to a talk, but what is the percentage of good slides you see at events?
So what can you do? We won’t suggest a list of alternatives to PowerPoint. Get creative and think about other ways to get speakers to illustrate their point. Mix the types of media you can use: video, images, sounds, objects. In some types of events slides will always be necessary, they are almost expected by the audience. You can make a difference as an event professional. You can give precise guidelines or even coaching to your speaker as to how they need to use and not abuse the tool. It takes a lot of charisma and experience to talk without slides and experience. Get the speakers to use slides as part of the new speaking mix – mobile app, live interaction tool, or app powered mic, props, music.
4. Business Cards
For ever it has been expected that if you go to a networking event you must take a lot of business cards as it is the “done thing”. Do we really need a business card to connect with people? There are so many better ways to exchange information at events. Smart event professionals make sure that whether you have card or not, you can still network.
Why not invite attendees to take advantage of social networks and optimize your network with the existing technologies? Use smart badges, contact business cards, beacon business cards. You name it. The alternatives.
Of course there will always be some people that will use them. The thing is that you, as an event professional, can encourage attendees to use better ways to connect rather than producing an incredible amount of waste.
In Conclusion
As event professionals we are always short on time and will sometimes rely on traditional solutions as it seems like the quickest or easiest thing to do. Maybe we have always done it that way and taking the leap to do things differently fills you with fear. But so we can focus on the important content and real experience of our event, rather than the admin and logistics, now is the time to make the change.
Push your boundaries and you will realize that the power of your content can be amplified if you update your tools and choose the best modern solutions to support your organization.
