Your Event Structure: Don’t Forget About the Small Things

When you’re putting on an event, the details matter—and when you get them wrong, those are the things your attendees remember most.

More thoughts on that in today’s Social Media Roundup:

How Small Things Ruin the Experience

5 Things You Didn’t Know That Can Ruin the Event Experience http://t.co/5RiCUOZAb6  (opens in a new tab) #EventProfs  (opens in a new tab)

— John Donnelly III (@wheelsdonnelly) June 30, 2014  (opens in a new tab)

Running an event involves a million small moving parts, and if you’re handling them wrong, it’ll leave a bad impression that could come back to haunt you.

That’s what Attend.com’s Doug Haddad writes  (opens in a new tab) in a recent post on the problems that can turn events into nightmares for attendees. Events that run late are annoying, as are check-in processes that seem to drag on forever. A lack of time to ponder what you’ve  learned is frustrating. And music that just gets in the way can be a real turn-off.

But most aggravating of all might be an agenda that’s tough to figure out.

“Even if your guests don’t have a choice as to which speakers they hear or which sessions they attend, everyone wants to know what’s on the schedule,” Haddad writes. “Standing around and wondering what’s next can be extremely frustrating for guests…especially ‘type-A’ guests. Anticipate that frustration and eliminate it ahead of time by spelling everything out as clearly as possible.”

Anticipate the frustration. As an event planner, that’s your top job. (ht @wheelsdonnelly  (opens in a new tab))

How Small Things Win Customers Over

What Two Potato Vodka Distillers Taught Me about Client Engagement #assnchat  (opens in a new tab) #eventprofs  (opens in a new tab) http://t.co/HOYbOPY2Yu  (opens in a new tab) via @dashtonwagner

— Jeff Hurt (@JeffHurt) June 30, 2014  (opens in a new tab)

Careful with this stuff—it’s strong. Recently, Greenfield Services’ Doreen Ashton Wagner stopped by Prince Edward Distillery, located near the eastern tip of Canada’s Prince Edward Island.

What she found there was a really important lesson about engaging with clients. Wagner says the distillery’s two proprietors, Julie Shore and Arla Johnson, have succeeded because of their willingness to build a strong story around what they’re doing—drawing customers in as a result.

It’s “the story of two American women who braved the odds, moved North, and are successfully running a business that attracts locals and tourists to their out-of-the-way part of [Prince Edward Island],” Wagner writes. “Their success, in my humble opinion, is due to their outgoing, personable demeanor and [the] way they tell their story, one customer at a time.”

Read Wagner’s post to get an idea  (opens in a new tab) of what a little potato vodka distillery can teach you about treating your clients well. (ht @JeffHurt  (opens in a new tab))

(Fuse/Thinkstock)