To get more people to sign up to your event, and show up again, the environment you promote and place them in, is probably more influential than you realise.
Events are about people coming together at a time and place, and we all need to create inspiring and memorable events. So alongside the date, one of the first and most critical things we must do, is to pick our place, our venue.
Picking the right places
Two things you should have front of mind when you select your venue.
1. Your venue should fit your purpose, not just your logistics
“Your venue comes with a script”
– Priya Parker
In a wonderful book, ‘The Art of Gathering’ Priya Parker talks about how people tend to follow unwritten rules of behaviour that we associate with certain locations. That is, we behave differently in courtrooms and boardrooms than we do at the beach or a bar. People will behave differently when you place them in Corporate Box than they would in Bay 13*.
*Well they normally do!? Admittedly Corporate Boxes can get rowdy and the famous ‘Bay 13’ seating block at the MCG is less raucous than it used to be, but you know what I mean!
So make sure the script that comes with your venue contributes to your purpose. To set the scene, the all-important vibe that your event experience will be judged upon. Creating and influencing the ‘atmosphere‘ is a challenge for any event. So we must influence the environment to get the influence you want to have on people, to change what they will think, feel, and do. To sign up, show up and share.
I was once set the challenge to find an inspiring and ‘never before’ running experience for young Sydney women. So we explored using the largely unknown tunnels beneath the streets of central Sydney. We almost got the approval to use them, but when it fell through, we had to go back to the drawing board. In the end we went for a more traditional park based venue, but we then made sure it would serve our purpose. And we created a running environment that had never been experienced before.
Nike She Runs became an award winning event campaign
2. Be wary of the compromise.
Cost, availability, approvals, size, will all be factors that may rule out your venue of choice. Trade offs will be necessary, so make sure to take stock before you sign that contract, to check you haven’t gone off the track towards you purpose.
It is easily done. We start out with a great vision, only to have roadblocks put in our way. So make sure what you settle on will still give you that wow factor. That the location has, or will allow you to create, some ‘remark-able’ features – something that will be remembered and shared.
Your venue will be one of the very few things that features in all of your promotions.
The venues you choose and the places you put people in, will determine whether people sign up, what experience they will share, and whether the will show up again.
I’ve been studying the importance of these places and things around us. So I’m sharing ideas about how to create environments that influence in the coming weeks.
If you’d like to chat about how to create more influence around your events, just let me know.
I’m helping create more successful events, and more successful event people.
Let’s talk about how I can help you!