When it comes to a hotel meeting or event, guests often expect a cold ballroom and a steady flow of coffee. When you want to create a more memorable event, a Verizon Business study reported that 89 percent of people believe better technology makes for better overall experiences. And each meeting or event within a hotel should be an experience for your attendees.
So how do you go about adding that “wow-factor” to your next hotel experience? You do so not only by incorporating great use of technology, but also by keying in on the local environment and encouraging guest interaction. Here are three ways to do just that!
Technology
When technology is effectively used, it creates a seamless experience for attendees and helps to leave a memorable impact. Utilizing a switcher, for example, is a great way to streamline your meeting. Often between speaker transitions or room transitions, attendees will see black or blue screens on the video monitors. Using a switcher prevents this by continuously displaying an image or video such as the event agenda, sponsor and brand logos, or speaker profiles. This creates a better flow and a clean, more polished look as opposed to blank monitors without a feed.
And when it comes to brand recognition, digital signage, projectors and even gobos, will ensure that your brand is clearly identified. In fact, digital signage is not only great for branding, but gives you more control of your entire event when it comes to messaging, allowing us to make last-minutes changes on the fly!
Digital signage is also more dynamic and an overall attention-getter – often better than regular, static messages. Plus, it's a cost-effective step in an eco-friendly direction for Millennial audiences.
Of course, a little can go a long way to transforming a space. The use of LED uplighting throughout a space can turn a standard ballroom or meeting space into a venue entirely unique to your brand or theme colors. Lighting is also an effective tool to add a certain ambiance to the room or set the mood whether that be serene or high energy.
Experiential
If you really want to energize your attendees, be sure to engage them. More modern event trends include the use of virtual reality experiences, elements of social media, as well as paperless agendas and meeting materials. The use of a conference "app” can complement the modernity of an event allowing for more attendee interaction, push notifications, as well as access to resort maps, agenda and social media.
Another interesting way to enhance the experience might be to include the use of a Gifn; i.e. today’s modern photobooth. The Gifn allows attendees to share their event photos directly to their personal social media feeds, thus inciting FOMO amongst their friends.
Mic “catch” boxes (plush microphones), are also a fun and inexpensive way to get guests out of their seats and interacting with one another. Plus, who doesn’t love throwing a microphone?
Localize
Finally, you’ve come all this way, why not take advantage of what the local area has to offer. Research from the Experience Institute reports that nearly 80% of attendees consider the destination when deciding to attend an event. “Bleisure”, or business-leisure travel is only becoming more popular. Attendees are looking for a mini-vacation experience in the hopes of returning as a transient visitor. With that in mind, try providing guests with a local feel. Provide coffee from a local coffee shop, or have the event catered by the area’s most raved about restaurant. Food trucks are also a big hit!
While the hotel undoubtedly has numerous amenities and delicious foods in-house, consider getting out of the venue and take your attendees out on the town. End the experience with an off-site team builder or activity - Is there a rock-climbing gym in the area or golf course? What about attending a sporting event and cheering on the home team? Then top of the evening with dinner or drinks at the city’s best hotspot or microbrewery.
Hotel events often come with a certain stigma, but we at AVmedia are changing the stigma of in-house audiovisual and want to help you in designing a unique experience that will captivate, engage and inspire your audience and make your message more memorable.
Your event is a reflection of your brand and company culture, so take this opportunity to design the best experience and leave a lasting impression. For questions or assistance with your next big event, feel free to reach out to our AVmedia family. AVmedia is known for its international production and creative services team, as well as its growing on-site audio visual and production services arm that is focused on changing the stigma around what people think about “in-house AV.”