INSIGHTS
Enrich your next event
Marriott Bonvoy Events shared their insights about how to make your upcoming event special and memorable for your guests.
When organizing an event, meeting planners wish to create a memorable and engaging event that will leave a lasting impression on guests. Going beyond basic expectations for an event provides an enriching experience that will leave a significant memory for attendees. Utilize this guide to implement some of these ideas into your upcoming event for 2023 and create an extraordinary occasion for your guests.
Create Interactive Experiences
Guests wish for exciting, interactive activities to keep them engaged throughout the duration of an event. Using interactive experiences and group activities motivates and inspires them. By encouraging participation throughout the event such as polls, games, quizzes, and group collaborations, guests will be stimulated and connect on a deeper level with the content and their fellow attendees.
Adding a “Gamify” aspect to seminars and events can include using unique aspects of the Marriott Bonvoy Portfolio’s resorts to engage attendees. From bowling alleys to trivia, and scavenger hunts to swimming pools, there is a unique way to create these interactive experiences for guests.
Offer A Diverse Range of Content
Combining different types of content such as keynote speeches, panels, discussions, and workshops ensures that every attendee’s learning style and preference are accounted for. Diverse perspectives, ideas, and mindsets are also important to share, providing a more meaningful experience for guests. Thought-provoking topics will also stimulate more interaction between peers, creating a closer-knit environment.
Foster Networking
Making connections and relationships that will continue after the event adds a deeper enrichment and meaning for guests. Carefully curate your event to optimize the opportunity to create those meaningful connections. Focusing on group activities, discussion workshops, and icebreakers helps make everyone feel more comfortable and connected. Thoughtful seating arrangements such as roundtables and networking lounges also encourage collaboration and conversations.
Surprise and Delight Guests
Nothing creates an unforgettable and special event like surprising attendees with an unexpected guest speaker, performance, or souvenir from the event. Guests will forever remember a stunning artistic performance or speaker that they are excited to hear from. These surprise guest speakers could be local to the host area and showcase a unique perspective for the audience.
Designate Clear Objectives
Starting any event with clear-cut goals and objectives helps guests feel more accomplished and fulfilled once it has ended. Also, it is valuable to try to implement a few measurable goals that people can see achievement in. Some goals and purposes can be broader such as making connections, educating on a topic, or celebrating a certain occasion. Other objectives can have a more defined outcome such as creating a network connection with at least 3 people, etc.
Utilise Technology
Exceptional events require exceptional creativity and technology. Utilizing apps, live streams, and augmented reality devices increases engagement and peaks interest for an experience. It is also beneficial to implement social media so that guests can feel connected to the day’s events and other eventgoers. For further tips on how any of the prestigious Marriott’s Bonvoy Portfolio resorts can help implement technology into your event, check out this article for ideas.
Ignite The Senses
Talk with the coordinator of your event space and ask about including certain invigorating smells like lavender, lemongrass, or sandalwood. This helps your guests create a certain memory related to this scent. Thoughtful ambient music and lighting also work well together to enhance the atmosphere and aesthetics for attendees. Ensuring exquisite, flavourful meals also allows guests to create memories through taste and presentation.
There are various ways to ensure guests leave an event fulfilled with a more enriching and memorable experience. Thinking thoughtfully beforehand about how to implement these surprises, goals, and experiences can help set up the exceptional event both hosts and guests crave - making your upcoming 2023 event unforgettable!