As many as one out of every five meetings you plan in 2023 might be hybrid, according to the Encore Fall 2022 Planner Pulse Report. Understanding how to plan for multiple event formats can make them painless to create. Learn how to prepare for multiple formats at a single event in the ’The Dual Event Mindset,’ the fourth section of the Encore Break Free From Conventional Thinking Guidebook. Download your free copy below and discover how to take your dual-audience events to the next level.

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What's Inside:

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Learn how to enhance your hybrid events by conquering top challenges

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Planning a meeting? Strengthen the power of your programming by incorporating adult learning strategies!

Whereas German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus found people typically retain just 10 percent of new information after one week, adult learning techniques can help combat this ‘forgetting curve.’

Explore how to use these strategies to aid memory retention in ‘Help Participants Learn,’ the third section from the Encore Break Free from Conventional Thinking Guidebook. Download your free copy, and ensure your message leaves its mark long after your next meeting comes to a close.

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What's Inside:

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Use adult learning strategies to help your message leave a lasting influence

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Have you heard events referred to as ‘culture keepers’? The events you plan create space for connection and collaboration to spark ideas and change people’s perspectives. In doing so, they can also help strengthen an organization’s culture, which plays a big factor in employee engagement.

Learn how in-person events and elements like immersive technology can create or reinforce an organization’s culture in ‘Events as Culture Keepers,’ the second section in the Encore Break Free from Conventional Thinking Guidebook. Get your free copy below and discover easy ways to incorporate elements that reflect a company’s values, personality, mission and vision into their events.

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What's Inside:

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Gain insights into reflecting a company’s values, mission and vision with events

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Environmental sustainability is one of the Top 3 attributes most meeting and event professionals look for when selecting venues, vendors and suppliers, according to the Encore Fall 2022 Planner Pulse Report. But are you missing opportunities to ‘go green’? If you’re interested in incorporating more eco-friendly initiatives in your event planning, learn the micro-moments that hold opportunities to be environmentally conscious with ‘Next Steps in Sustainability,’ the first section from Encore’s Break Free from Conventional Thinking Guidebook.

Find smart and simple ways to reduce the carbon footprint of your next in-person, hybrid and virtual events, with a guidebook developed with your priorities in mind.  

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What's Inside:

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Key ways to make your events more
environmentally conscious

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Challenge

Phillips 66 was looking for a partner for their Marketing Conference that could elevate their general session production, expo floor, and gala event. They wanted an event partner that could match their level of progress and innovation. The event needed to educate, celebrate, and engage their customers in a way that felt fully immersive and true to their brand.

Solution

Leading with strategy, Encore and Hargrove worked together to create a total end-to-end solution for the Power Ahead conference. The creative, design, production, expo, and gala all tied together to create an innovative, transformative experience with comprehensive Phillips 66 branding.

The expo floor had a modern look with hard wall structures fabricated by Hargrove that were branded for each exhibitor. The floor plan layout was based on the Power Ahead arrow design that allowed for the C-Store of the Future and Power Theater to be central focal points.

The thematic design was inspired by the colors of each of the Phillips 66 brands. A custom-built stage, decorative elements, signage, lighting, and graphics were all used to create a comprehensive look through the entire event space. All elements tied together to create a fully immersive and engaging event experience

Results

The Phillips 66, Encore, and Hargrove teams developed a strong partnership that led to an incredible event for over 1,200 customers. Education and hands-on learning were the focus of the daytime schedule, and the evenings were dedicated to celebrating and honoring their customers’ hard work. Highlights included a engaging learning sessions, inspiring keynotes, and energizing celebrations and entertainment.

Phillips 66 team members and attendees raved about how “this was the most amazing show we’ve ever seen!”

Let’s Talk About Your Event Experience Needs.

Call us at (866) 351-1144 or click the button below to get started!

Learn how to design educational experiences

What attendees hope to learn—your—content remains one of the TOP TWO reasons to attend events. Participants were tuning out of lectures even before 2019. After working remotely for years, attention spans are even shorter. How will you keep learners engaged with your conference content?

We’ve created a guide that walks you through engaging your audience before, during and after your event to help them retain your valuable conference content. Download our free guide, Designing Educational Experiences, for three pages with three core content concepts to captivate today’s adult learners.

Download the free guide: Designing Educational Experiences

More meeting and event professionals are actively booking or sourcing new events now than any time since 2020. According to the Encore Summer Planner Pulse 2022 report, that number represents 71 percent of 461 survey respondents, who represent a diverse swath of corporate, association, administrative, marketing, third-party, independent and special event producers and organizers.

More than half of the meeting and event professionals surveyed say they are booking new events. And only five percent are currently rescheduling or re-booking events — the lowest number since the pandemic began.

Despite rising costs, in-person events are expected to increase in the second half of 2022.

Key survey findings:

      • 80 percent of events will have an in-person audience
      • 20 percent of events will be hybrid, with both in-person and remote audiences
 

The demands of keeping these dual hybrid event audiences engaged and planning two parallel events are a major stressor, the report finds. Perhaps that’s why the participant experience is becoming a greater factor in event design, with professionals layering technology over the in-person experience to create events that feel like they are in-person+ — with or without hybrid participants.

When asked how future in-person events will compare to pre-pandemic in-person events:

      • 45 percent of respondents said better attendee engagement
      • 38 percent of respondents said more networking
      • 37 percent of respondents said more attendee personalization
 

This trend drove Encore to create a free guide to help meeting and event professionals meet shifting audience expectations: Boundless Possibilities for Engagement. The Encore team also offers free consultations on how to enhance the in-person and remote attendee experience.

Other challenges meeting and event professionals say they face include lead times, specifically for large events. Event professionals report that a third of their events for more than 250 people (34 percent) must be organized within a three-to-six month window. Only half of these sized events are planned more than six months out. Most small meetings with one to 50 participants (43 percent) are being organized within one to two months out. Most mid-sized events with 51 to 250 participants (43 percent) are being organized three to six months out.

Want to read the full report? Download it here.

Learn how to practice
radical inclusion

Attendees’ feelings of belonging and inclusion at events are critical for positive recommendations and repeat attendance. When was the last time you evaluated your event ecosystem to recognize and remove barriers to enjoyment? Do your events connect with people in ways they are comfortable being involved in?  

This guide will help teach you to be radically inclusive. By mindfully evaluating your event ecosystem you can ensure your attendees feel engaged, wanted and included in your event experience. 

Download our free guide, Practicing Radical Inclusion, and learn the strategy and benefits of bringing your attendees together in a positive way. 

Download the free guide: Practicing Radical Inclusion

Learn how to create healthy 

event ecosystems

Events comprise multiple components or ecosystems, where different people come together to interact in-person or on digital platforms. How do you know if you have a healthy ecosystem? Do your events promote interaction in a positive way?

This guide will help identify whether your event ecosystem is unhealthy, audit your events, and build ecosystems that are healthy.

Download our free guide, Creating Healthy Event Ecosystems, and learn the strategy and benefits of bringing your attendees together in a positive way.

Download the free guide: Creating Healthy Event Ecosystems

Learn how to map the attendee journey 

Do you know the 5 key steps in mapping your attendee journey?

Learn how to map the customer journey for your event participants and key stakeholders so your event design achieves your desired outcomes. Download our free guide, Mapping the Attendee Journey, and learn the strategy and benefits of attendee journey mapping.

Download the free guide: Mapping the Attendee Journey