Event Trends for 2014: Tips to revamp your event registration

As a corporate event organiser, getting people to actually come to your event is one of the biggest challenges that you will face. Here we take a look at how corporate events have evolved and highlight some of the most important trends going into 2014, thereby offering you everything you need to know to evaluate (and reconsider) your current approach to event registration.

Successful event registrations

Here are the seven things we’ve noticed:

1. A successful event offers collaborative planning. 
Allowing potential guests to give input into who they would like the speakers and topics of discussion to be will increase their desire to attend the event.

2. Offer your guests options. 
Once at your event, delegates like to have a choice in terms of which lectures, discussions, panels or speakers they want to attend. Invitations that offer attendees a degree of autonomy are more likely to attract positive RSVPs. 2. A successful event doesn’t have to call itself an ‘event’. Sometimes your delegates may be more inclined to attend an event when it goes by the name of ‘hackathon’, ‘camp’, ‘colab’ or ‘jam’, all of which illustrate that they revolve around an activity. Delegates may want to feel involved and get active rather than just passively attend an event.

3. A successful event connects people.
Networking shouldn’t just be a by-product of a corporate event, it should be a priority, incorporated into the programme design. People are far more likely to attend events with innate, guaranteed networking facilitation, where they are not only going to learn something practical but they’re also going to meet like-minded people. The opportunity to do both usually proves irresistible.

4. A successful event needs to be collaborative.
Delegates no longer want events based on the exchange of information, but rather the assurance of participative learning. Event organisers need to think carefully about how to configure their venues and who to choose to run sessions in order to deliver the most engaging guest experience.

5. A successful event makes use of apps. 
Delegates don’t want a lengthy check-in process, so utilising an app that can be accessed on a smart phone or iPad offers the assurance of a painlessly smooth signing-in process. The RSVP Agency’s event registration technology does just that.

6. A successful event does something good. 
Events that raise funds for a worthy cause or in some other way benefit a good cause are more likely to attract a crowd than those without any such added factor.

7. A successful event is fun.
With corporate budgets taking strain during the recession, there often hasn’t been money available to have fun. It’s time to remind ourselves that people are the most engaged (and engaging) when they’re having a good time. If you can find some fun angle for your event then you can use that as a hook in your invitation to draw delegates into attending.

The biggest thing to remember when planning your next corporate event is to bear in mind who you are planning for. This might sound like very basic advice, but it’s all too easy to get caught up in the logistics of planning speakers and itemising timetables and therefore forget that the most important part of any event is the event delegates. All the 2014 trends in event registration are centred on the guests, and understanding what they want from the experience. Bear this in mind and we’re confident that your event registrations for the year will turn out to be a great success.