Innovative Meetings By Scott Cullather

Take Away

Attendees Just Want toHave Fun

With a little planning, you can make your attendees part of the live entertainment.

Corporations,associations,andlive-event agen- cies alike have discovered an inexpensive asset that’s longbeen underutilized: the attendees them- selves.Attendeesmayhave hidden talents that they maybe willing to share to entertain their colleagues or fellow customers. Enthusiasm is infectious, and with some initiative and a little creativity, an entire crowd of people can become part of the show. A fun way to boost audience participation is

through a flash mob—a group of people who gather unexpectedly in a single area and perform

itsown sales force—whoenthusiastically agreed —to participate in a talent show in the style of “America’s GotTalent.” The competition included a punk band, a rap

group, a solo singer, a comedic performance-arts group (performing a “land-based water ballet”), and a stand-up comedy routine. The company treated the acts as if they wereworkingwith pro- fessional musicians, comedians, and entertainers. It pre-screened those interested in showcasing their talents, worked with them to provide the

Ideas inspired by pop culture are very successful, because there is little to no learning curve required on the part of attendees.

a songor dance act in unison. Several bigconfer- ences and conventions in 2010—includingthe 12,000-attendee Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)AnnualConference and the 42,000-attendee National Restaurant Associa- tion(NRA)Show—featured flash mobs as away to inject energy into their events. Anotherwayto give attendees a boost is by cre-

ating knowledge-based competitive and gaming environments where attendees play against each other as teams or individuals during the event. If designed properly, the competition can challenge attendees to learn while havingfun. Ideas inspired by pop culture are very successful, because there is little to no learningcurve required for attendees to understand the concept or rules, allowingthemto focus on the business messages at hand.

Showcasing Your Audience’s Talents A medical sales company holding its national sales meetingrecently didn’t want to spend a lot of money on professional entertainment. So it asked

appropriate audiovisual resources, and promoted the show to the rest of the attendees. A panel of judges critiqued the performances—all in good fun—and chose winners. The winners received cash prizes ranging from $500 to $2,000. Onanother night during the same meeting, the

company organized a mock “triathlon” at the event site.Competitors—executives pulled from the audience — tested their watermelon- seed–spittingprowess, ability to identify bad-tast- ingbeers, and horseshoe-pitchingskills for laughs. The competitionwas cappedby abuffetdinner.

The evening cost significantly less than bringing the group out to a formal dinner or professional per- formance. But more importantly, it created a sense of camaraderie amongthe employees and gave themthe chance to see their colleagues in a dif- ferent, and more human, light. When you create opportunities for attendees to

participate in—rather than be a passive observer of—your event’s live entertainment, youcan keep their interest level high.

ON_THE_WEB: To see how a flash mob can surprise and delight an audience, check out a YouTube video filmed at a Belgian train station—to a well-known Julie Andrews song, no less—at http://bit.ly/19WvJT.

28 pcma convene February 2011 ILLUSTRATION BY MICK WIGGINS

Part ofthe Action Some other attendee-participant activities to consider, depending on the audience: a friendly competition, such as a relay race or industry-related trivia contest a knowledge- driven scavenger hunt playing Rock Band, Guitar Hero, DJ Hero, or other music-related video games.

Scott Cullather is managing partner of inVNT (www.invnt.com),a specialized communications agency focused on the creation and execution of meetings and events, as well as brand initiatives, product launches, custom- training programs, virtual meetings, print collateral, and video and digital media.

Innovative Meetings is sponsored by the Irving, Texas, Convention and Visitors Bureau, www.irvingtexas.com.