Industry speaks: How to convert attendees into participants?

One of the most prominent reasons of why events fail even after investing in a lot of money is that it sees no participation from its attendees. Most events that are being organized today are no different than the election rallies where a host comes on stage, explains the occasion of the event and the curtains are rolled out again.

What event planners do not understand is that most event attendees are hesitant in nature and will not become a part of your event or even thoroughly engage themselves into it, if their participation is not weaved into the overall design of the event. But what are the ways one can convert event attendees into participants?

Well, we at EE reached out to event agencies and curators to ask them the same.

Pradyumn Tandon, Founder and Director, The Brand Brewery says, “It is indeed very important to actually engage the audience at your events today rather than restricting their presence to that of passive listeners but how can one do that completely depends on the nature of the event one is executing.”

Adding further he says, “You need to understand your TG better and give them what they want if you want them to be more involved at your event and customization is the key here. To cite an example for a high end property launch which saw attendees of different age groups ranging from kids to the elderly we had created family photobooths for families, hobby class for kids, golf sessions for men and spas for women. So it is boils down to designing the correct experience for your attendees which is dependent upon better understanding them.”

Speaking on the same subject Jatin Dua, Director, Event Jockey said, “For us the process to facilitate more involvement from event attendees goes back to the initial phase of planning for the event. The buzzword here is to surprise your attendees by serving them something unseen and unheard. As an example for a ticketed event recently we had used social media to create buzz before the event by asking people to show their excitement about the event by posting selfies.

Later we used the same photographs as an integral part of the event décor with some lighting effects. The audience was positively surprised with the idea and loved it.”

 Rishabh Panchhi, Director, Panchhi Events responds to the same question by saying, “You have to weave the element of participation by attendees within the concept of an event. As an example as a biker I was a part of this initiative of the Saheli Trust where participants had to come in pay some money and then they get a chance to enjoy a bike ride and also understand the nuances of it. Additionally there were choirs singing customized songs and the overall approach of the event was very focused on the attendees which resulted in its success.”