Let’s Face It, We Are All “Events” People
We are all events people, whether we identify as one or not. We experience live events and are constantly evaluating and identifying ways our own personal journey at an event we are attending could be improved or amplified. We are inherently looking to be wow’d in every aspect; from ticketing, to FOH line management and F&B, to the bells & whistles of the show, to the performance and merchandise afterward, all areas are up for scrutiny and a careful, sometimes subconscious, pro & con tally.
I recently saw Billy Joel at MSG for a friend’s milestone birthday. While Billy himself was fantastic, and his incredible catalog of hits make the experience great regardless (the exception, not the rule), the overall guest experience is set up to push you in quickly, and dump you back out just as fast once the show is over. The technology in the show wasn’t anything spectacular, but again, I wasn’t going in thinking it would be that way as my expectations were already low on those types of enhancements, I just wanted to hear his music and enjoy the night. But on careful examination of my total experience after the show, the pros only slightly outweighed the cons, and as I said, my expectations were already set fairly low based on what I knew already about the show. Now I’m no perfectionist, and I understand events come in many different shapes and sizes, but I’ve come to expect more across the board as I’ve been actively involved in more live events, conferences, and performances.
Then I go see another concert, Anthony Ramos, at the Music Hall of Williamsburg (a decidedly much smaller venue than MSG) and the show itself is so good that I am blinded to everything else). I’m ok with paying $24 for my double bourbon and squeezing into the back of the capacity space. I’m ok with no video component and just simple lighting queues. I’m ok with an opener who runs way over. The performance and music elevates everything, and I temporarily forgive it all...until I started writing this post and I suddenly remembered all the things I subconsciously noticed and put into a running “cons” column.
Again, I’m not some event-elitist, but we are events people who can discern quality from mediocrity and genuine effort over show-in-a-box. We know what creativity is because we are aware of what seeing something truly innovative or heart-felt feels like. Brands need to seriously consider the value of live performances and creativity on stage as well as FOH planning and execution. This isn’t about just getting people in the seats quickly to then push uninspired content or slides at them. This is an opportunity to enforce and reinforce brand identity, values, story, tone, and set the pace for the balance of the event.
If you are responsible for putting on an event, either as a budget manager or a producer for a brand, its imperative that you put a mirror up to planning process and make sure that this is an event you yourself would want to attend. What are the key dials you can turn to ensure the energy and innovation are turned up, which then has a positive snowballing effect of driving higher engagement in the content and better organic social media output from attendees who are proud to share.
So take that discerning eye for detail and betterment and apply it to everything you do. And if you're not in charge of the event, you should feel free to contact those who are and let them know ways you think the experience could be heightened. All feedback is data, and data drives better engagement and develops more engaged relationships.