Planning the flow of your event is one of the first, and might I add, the biggest challenges in the event planning process. Am I right?

Following a recent event, the venue lead turned to us and said, “I’ve never seen any client utilize the space the way you did.” High praise from the one who lives and breathes the event space.

So how did we do it? When considering how to utilize event space and plan the event experience we like to apply our theory on Human Nature.

Here’s our four-step approach:

Consider the Challenges

Let’s face it, there’s always challenges with event space. There is no perfect venue because your needs change depending on audience size and the type of event you’re planning.

You pour over PDF’s of floor plans, arrive to a site visit with print outs and you’ve already mapped out your room assignments. You’ve assigned your meeting rooms and evening event space. In your mind, you’ve already planned an unforgettable night. But wait, now you’re standing in the space and despite what the capacities and layout looked like on paper, now you’re not so sure this space is the dream you thought it was going to be.

We had this very typical challenge at a recent event for a group of 1000 attendees at a conference at the Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando. An evening celebration event is one of the cornerstones of the conference and is always much anticipated. The venue has a glorious atrium and we were keen to keep the event indoors, while still experiencing an outdoor vibe. Because July + Florida = unreliable weather.

It became clear we couldn’t fit all 1000 people in the Atrium’s Emerald Square. This is where the catering stations would be, along with a band performance. The audience is a keen group of celebrators and the dance floor is an important component of our event plans, with the entertainment being the centrepiece.

Consider the Space

In touring the atrium space, we viewed another adjacent ‘fort’ area with a balcony overlooking the atrium.

Given our space restrictions, we wanted (actually, we needed) a portion of the audience to congregate in this fort area. It was accessible through a garden pathway with a ‘grotto’ like vibe on the lower level. This is where Human nature comes in.

Play to Human Nature

Our approach took into account human characteristics. In our experience there are three different types of attendees:

The joiners: This attendee will do anything you tell them to do (keeping it all legal of course). These are the ones who want to be at the center of the party. In fact, they lead the celebration. We love these attendees – we can count on them to get the party started.
The observers: This type of attendee wants to feel part of the party, but not be in the thick of it. They sing, they sway, but you’ll never find them on the dance floor.
The loners: They are the ‘keep it quiet please’ bunch. These are the attendees who really want a place for good food, good drinks and quiet conversation, a little entertainment is a bonus.
How to cater to human nature then? We like to think of it in the words of an old movie – “If you build it, they will come.”

Now Plan your Event

Our design catered to all types of attendees:

For the joiners: The main atrium space was ear-marked for the largest crowd, with food stations, bars, and a live band on the elevated platform.
For the observers: The balcony overlooking the atrium was dedicated to this crowd. We used the entire space and created a craft beer lounge. The close proximity to the overlook, allowed those who wanted to stand at the balcony and feel like they were part of the bigger party to have access to it, while those who wanted to simply mingle, used the bar and lounge as their hang-out.
For the loners: The main floor of the fort with the grotto atmosphere was reserved for a Guitar Circle – an acoustic performer complete with Muskoka chairs to create a campfire type sing-a-long. Bars, more food stations, and a silent movie playing on a wall with gamification codes built in, completed the experience.

How It All Played Out

We called it: Rock the Garden. When the lights go down, the garden comes alive.

Brand ambassadors were stationed along the garden trails and in the atrium directing guests to the different areas.

At sunset, a special Illuminate the Night performance utilizing all the evening’s performers congregated at the main stage to kick off the celebration portion of the event and the band’s leader pointed out all the event spaces.

We transformed the space using ‘black lighting’ to bring the garden to life. The effect produced neon lighting to illuminate the garden paths to each of the party spaces.

The Guitar Circle fort experience with a dedicated performer had its own fan club develop over the course of the evening.

Butterfly stilt walkers wandered the space, drawing attention to event elements.

Gamification through the mobile app was incorporated via a Treasure Hunt where attendees received points for discovering hidden codes. This ensured we moved guests through all the event locations.

You could say the party was a study in human nature at its best. Most often we complete an event and we look at one another and we say – “See, they did exactly what we wanted them to do.” That couldn’t be more accurate in this case. Every corner of the event space was used. Success was evident through feedback on conference surveys, comments from leadership and our venue manager marveling at the party spread out throughout the atrium.

The post How Human Nature Dictates your Event Plans – A Four Step Approach appeared first on TK Events.