🌟 Afterwork Presents: The Ultimate Guide to Planning Successful Events in 2024! 🌟

Hello, hello. We are kicking off with our Monthly Event Newsletters again! And its going to be all about events: everything from planning them to showing how impactful they are on company’s bottom lines!

Today’s edition will cover how to elevate your attendee’s experience, how to prove ROI for your events, and how to build after your event is over.

Below are some tips and tricks we have put together to help you plan your events (more to come!)

PS: If you would like Afterwork’s FREE Notion Event Planning Template (used by teams at Google, Pinterest, Microsoft and more), sign-up here:

Get Afterwork’s Event Planning Template.

Alright, without further ado, we want to tell you how you can plan for your teams and clients!

1) Elevate Your Attendee’s Experience 🎉

Gone are the days of boring conferences in a Marriott Ballroom basement. Today's attendees demand more – Especially when they are giving you precious time from their bust work schedules. Think about creating memorable, engaging experiences for your attendees.

Here's how to make your event stand out:

• Personalize the Experience: Use AI-powered tools to tailor the event experience for each attendee. From personalized agendas to recommended people they should meet, customization is key here.

• Interactive Sessions: Move beyond traditional presentations. Incorporate fun elements such as live polls, Q&A sessions, or interactive games to keep your audience engaged and invested.

• Focus on Well-Being: Offer moments of breaks where attendees can reflect in the space you brought them too. Set up spaces where attendees can relax and kickback before they go back to interacting with others.

2) 💡Proving ROI: Measuring Your Event’s Success

The year of 2024 is all about DATA, DATA, DATA. So how do you as a planner show that your event was successful? Well you show how it increased revenue or brand engagement from attendees.

Here's how to prove your event's worth:

• Engagement Metrics: Use event ticketing platforms like Luma, Eventbrite, and Partiful to understand how many people attended and see how well your event campaigns did on social media. Drop this all into a report and BOOM you have the start to your data to show your bosses.

• Post-Event Surveys: Surveys on how much people liked your events is a must. Gather feedback directly from attendees to measure satisfaction levels and learn what worked or what you need to work on next time.

• Business Impact: Align your event goals with your C-Suite. If the event is to generate more leads, make sure you are reporting all your attendee metrics to your sales teams. If it’s to increase brand awareness, use social listening tools to see how your event did with customers.

🎯 Building After the Event

So you had a successful event! What now? Well you should probably follow-up with your attendees and start to build some loyalty.

Here's how to build repertoire with your attendees:

• Follow-Up: Send a text or email to your attendees thanking them for coming! This not only shows your appreciation for their attendance but also keeps the conversation going, making them feel valued and understood.

• Exclusive Content and Offers: Provide attendees with exclusive access to post-event content. This could be anything from recordings of key sessions, additional resources related to topics discussed, or special offers for your services.

• Community Building: Your event should be the beginning of community engagement. Invite attendees to other events, follow your company’s updates on socials, or build a channel where they can continue discussions from the event

Here's to extraordinary experiences,

Zoya Khan
CEO, Afterwork

P.S. Got your own unique event ideas? Share them with us – we're always up for some innovative inspiration! Let's chat!