Keep It Moving Forward

When was the last time you watched a television show from the 80’s? The pace of hugely popular shows back then seem excruciatingly slow now. There’s a lot of recapping and plot exposition. How times have changed. Now, television shows are much faster paced and the recapping, if any, takes place before the new program starts in a quick montage burst. The dialogue is snappy, and you have to really pay attention or you might miss a joke of something relevant to the story. Television programming has come to reflect the “hurry up” world we live in. The people behind the scenes creating these shows assume that the audience knows what’s going on and understands the plot.

This increase in speed is important to keep in mind for the next event you plan. You have to keep things moving, energized, and interesting. Of course, as an event planner, you can’t always have influence over each presentation, but there are other things you can do to keep your event flowing.

It is essential to organize the speakers for the general sessions and breakout sessions in a logical order. Oftentimes, meeting planners do not think about the flow of the presentation and the content delivered by each speaker. A detailed communication plan is key. Aligning the speakers’ messages in a way that creates a continuous stream of information that supports and keeps building the message will keep the audience engaged and moving forward. Create net information gain for the audience by providing a foundation with information that is already known, topping that with news insights and ideas.

Also, every conference has some down time where people enjoy taking a break from listening to speakers or participating in an exercise, but that doesn’t mean you can take a break. It’s up to you to keep the meeting  alive and dynamic when there’s a break in the action. Interactive exhibits and activities fostering organic networking are great places to start.