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Did you know that storytelling enhances memory and recall? It’s true. People will only retain five to 10 percent of a presentation if you just deliver the statistics. But if you tell a story, they’ll remember up to 70 percent of the information you share.
Stories activate our imagination, firing up different brain parts to create a richer, more connected experience.
Sound is an especially potent storytelling tool. A storyteller’s tone, pitch and rhythm draws us into the action and evokes a wide range of emotions.
Music and sound effects create even deeper personal connections between what we hear and experience. When combined with visual and interactive elements, audio storytelling creates immersive and memorable experiences.
According to our most recent Planner Pulse, immersive experiences are a top event trend. So, knowing how to use your go-to audio solutions in ways that transform typical event formats into these sensory-enticing experiences can help you meet attendee demand for more memorable moments.
Here are five creative ways to surprise and delight your audience with audio equipment you likely already use, such as speakers, microphones, music playlists and headphones.
1. Make your message resonate with soundscapes
Music choices influence audience behavior, so it pays to be intentional.
How do you want your guests to feel before your opening general session? Is that how you want them to feel before a breakout session? How about during the networking break?
Different sessions and activities call for different ambiances, so try these creative playlist ideas:
- Welcome and arrival: Play lively, welcoming music to create excitement as attendees arrive.
- Opening session: Choose powerful, inspiring music to set a positive and engaging tone.
- Educational segments: Use neutral, subtle background music to reduce distractions and maintain focus.
- Networking breaks and social activities: Play fun, high-energy music during breaks to refresh and re-energize participants.
- Theme enhancement: Select music that culturally or metaphorically reinforces the event’s theme.
- Guide transitions: Employ different sounds or jingles to signal when it’s time to move between sessions, breaks and activities to keep attendees on track.
The sounds you choose will enhance the mood you’re trying to create.
2. Strengthen engagement with sound baths
Imagine you’re in a general session. You hear a train whistle in the distance. The sound grows louder and closer to your seat, until a train ‘appears’ on the stage’s LED screens. When it departs, you feel as if it really is leaving, and you catch yourself turning your head to look as it rolls off-screen.
You’ve just experienced a sound bath.
With a sound bath, overhead speakers ‘move’ sound from one side of the room to another, creating an exciting, immersive audio environment.
This dynamic audio technique bathes the audience in sound, creating a sense of movement, presence and depth that enhances the storytelling experience.
These moments can also strengthen the way you create emotional connections.
Event scenario: Elevating a gala
Let’s say, for instance, you’re planning a fundraising gala for a children’s education charity. Here are some ways you could use a sound bath to enhance the way participants emotionally connect to the cause:
Create a calming atmosphere: Begin the event with a sound bath to help guests relax and open their minds to the cause. The soothing sounds can reduce stress and create a sense of peace, making attendees more receptive to stories about the children benefiting from the charity’s programs.
Storytelling with sound: Share inspiring stories of children whose lives have been uplifted through education, as soothing, hopeful music gradually crescendos. For example, narrate the journey of a child who embraced new opportunities, flourished in school and is now thriving — evoking feelings of joy and celebration for the bright futures ahead
Interactive experience: Encourage participants to close their eyes and immerse themselves in what they hear. This can create a personal and introspective experience, allowing them to reflect on the importance of education and how their donations can provide opportunities for children in need.
Highlighting impact: Integrate sounds that symbolize the positive outcomes of donations. For instance, you could use uplifting and joyful sounds to represent the excitement of children receiving scholarships or new school supplies, reinforcing the importance of their support.
Mindfulness and reflection: Incorporate moments of silence within the sound bath for mindfulness and reflection. This can give attendees the space to think about their own educational experiences and how they can help provide similar opportunities for underprivileged children.
These strategies can help create a memorable and emotionally engaging experience, encouraging attendees to connect with and support the children’s education charity.
3. Incorporate personalization with ‘silent discos’
Another key event trend is personalization. Creating personal audio experiences among large crowds is easier than you think. The key is employing headsets.
A headset can be connected to multiple audio channels. By programming each channel to different audio content, you empower participants to choose their own adventure.
Here are three cases where this approach could elevate the experience:
Personalized audio: When guests arrive, hand them a headset and let them choose which content channel they’d like to tune into. For example, one channel could provide industry trends for marketers, while another delivers technical insights for developers or leadership strategies for executives.
Multi-stage environments or simultaneous keynotes: Each speaker can be broadcast on a different channel. If the stages are in the same space, guests can move from stage to stage as interest and time allow. If the presentations are on one multilevel stage, participants can tune into the content they find most interesting.
Simultaneous translations: Provide access to the same content in various languages to accommodate the needs of international and/or bilingual participants.
By providing a variety of content options, you increase the ways participants can engage with your conference content.
Giving them the option to choose valuable information relevant to their role increases guest satisfaction. And by providing content in their native language, you create a more inclusive and welcoming event experience.
4. Bond participants through audio-based gameplay
Break out of the drink box and do something fun with networking breaks. Here’s a simple idea:
- Use audio clips to create a trivia game.
- Participants can team up or individually compete.
- Challenge them to identify snippets of songs, famous speeches, sound effects or other audio stingers that connect thematically to your event.
These kinds of easy, fun icebreakers fit in well after a long day of sessions. They engage introverts as well as extroverts with a sense of playful camaraderie and invigorate people, activating their creative and social muscles.
They also provide a nice transition to evening activities, where you want to set the stage for more meaningful discussions and strengthened connections.
5. Enhance emotional connections with storytelling stations
Personal stories are powerful. Especially when you create opportunities for participants to interact directly with them.
Here’s an engaging way to create an emotional touchpoint at your next event:
- Capture stories, interviews, narratives, or moving accounts connected to your event, organization or cause.
- Create an interactive storytelling station at your event to play these audio stories.
- Invite guests to interact with these storytelling stations throughout the event.
- Create a way for guests to contribute their own stories for archival or future event use.
Think of NPR’s Storycore or interactive museum installations as inspirations. By inviting attendees to contribute their voices to your story, you help extend the life of your event by creating future content.
The benefits of using audio to create immersive event experiences
Using audio to create immersive event experiences offers numerous benefits:
- Deep emotional connections
- Enhanced learning and memory
- Entertaining and engaging experiences, to name a few!
Best of all, you don’t need fancy tools to create immersive audio experiences. All you need is a little creativity.
Let’s discuss how you can apply some of these tips to create an unforgettable experience at your next event.
Events are one of the most powerful tools for driving strategic value — thanks to their ability to build meaningful connections, spark inspiration and foster change.
In fact, 80 percent of meeting organizers say in-person events are the most influential marketing channel in their organization.
When you craft memorable experiences that truly resonate, you elevate a brand’s impact and demonstrate the measurable value you bring to your organization’s success.
From planning to post-production, the right moves can help you:
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- Demonstrate measurable ROI
- Show how your events benefit the organization in concrete ways
- Position yourself as a strategic leader to your C-suite
Here are five simple steps to help you take charge and enhance your event’s value.
1. Define what success looks like
First things first. To craft a successful event, you need to be clear on what success looks like. What measurable outcomes will you use to show your event’s value? Which stakeholders need to align on this?
Depending on the type of event you plan, your success metrics will vary. Here are a few common ones:
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- Leads captured/converted
- Registration revenue
- Sales/sponsorships
- Attendance
- Repeat business
- Satisfaction scores
- Net promoter score
Along with these hard metrics, your objectives will likely include soft data like audience engagement metrics. These could be educational sessions attended, poll and survey responses, and anecdotal feedback.
These hard and soft metrics will provide insights into what people enjoyed doing once you got them to the event — and help you maximize their enjoyment at future experiences.
2. Nurture potential participants with personalized content
Now that you’ve defined your goals, you’re ready to set the roadmap for how to achieve them. One of the most effective ways to do this is to nurture potential attendees with personalized content.
Here are some good ideas for where to start:
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- Work with your event stakeholders to define the target audience and goals for the event.
- Segment your audience into the different personas who will most likely be in attendance.
- Identify what your event offers that might appeal to each persona. What would motivate them to attend?
- Incorporate those elements into your strategic event design.
- Use those specific experiences or opportunities to personalize marketing content for each persona.
- Ensure that onsite your event will deliver on that promise.
For example, a salesperson attending your event may measure its success by the number of business cards they collect, while a certified professional’s primary focus may be the clock hours that count toward renewing a valuable designation.
Knowing the audience for your event and what they care about will help you make design choices that maximize ROI for each segment.
It will also help you communicate the value of attending to potential attendees, which plays an influential role in capturing a larger, engaged audience.
3. Craft an experience that surprises and delights
What motivates people to attend events? If you want to make an impact, they need to be memorable. One of the best ways to achieve this is through immersive experiences.
In fact, these multisensory events is one of the top three trends that influence planning decisions, according to the Encore Planner Pulse.
Whether during a general session, meal function or social event, incorporating these types of experiences entices participants’ sense to make a lasting impression.
You can use these sensory-rich sessions to enhance learning and networking, for irresistible photo opportunities that boost social media buzz, and to help drive event registrations.
In this way, you’re able to influence audience behavior, which can maximize event ROI. Take, for example, the Miami Make-A-Wish® Ball, which transformed a ballroom into an underwater “supernature”-themed experience — not only delighting guests but generating twice as many donations as the year prior.
Elevating your event design
LED walls are the most popular backdrop for immersive events because they can act as a scenic to transform a space, communicate important messages or transport participants to different physical or emotional spaces without leaving their seats.
If you need support in developing video storytelling, animations or on-theme presentations for your LED walls or screens, we’d love to bring your vision to life.
View how the Encore Content Studio can bring the wow to your messaging.
Looking for inspiration for ways to boost engagement? Consider incorporating:
- Topics that are relevant and address real challenges your audience faces, like trying to do more with less.
- Superstar speakers or industry thought leaders that people would pay to see speak.
- Hands-on workshops that educate event participants.
- Intimate campfires or facilitated roundtable sessions geared toward niche interests and groups.
- Tools like Chime Live that deliver interaction opportunities like polls and Q&A as well as real-time user analytics.
Greater connections, greater loyalty
Networking opportunities build business relationships, reinforce brand loyalty and build community. If you can create events that make it easy for participants to find and make valuable connections, they’ll want to return.
Some good ideas to add to your program? Social activities, like icebreakers or group challenges, help first-timers and introverts forge meaningful connections with other participants.
This fosters a sense of belonging, which can be converted into brand loyalty. The friendships formed around events tend to be as big a draw as the content itself for people who attend year after year.
Networking opportunities also foster participation and demonstratable ROI, which sponsors and exhibitors will look for. You can maximize networking opportunities by using digital tools like Chime Live, which has a matchmaking feature.
Streamline scheduling
Strategic event design can also empower event participants, sponsors and exhibitors to maximize their participation ROI. For example, integrating a scheduling tool on your event website gives sales contacts the ability to book sales calls and meetings directly with prospects.
Streamlining the process and enhancing convenience reinforces the value of investing time and resources in your event. Buyers are also more likely to engage if they have a pleasant experience.
You can save time and effort with a tool that automatically sends confirmation emails and helps participants schedule follow-up calls. Why? Speedy responses improve conversion rates.
By integrating scheduling tools into event websites, you can create a smoother, more efficient networking experience that benefits all participants — from exhibitors and sponsors seeking business opportunities to attendees looking to connect with industry leaders and peers.
4. Entice with pre-event marketing
Pre-event marketing entices people to attend your event. By working closely with your marketing team, you can help ramp up excitement by recommending which stories to tell to create anticipation and how to align the content of pre-event promos to audience segment goals.
In this case, wisely leveraging FOMO is your friend. Show prospective participants what they’ll miss out on if they don’t attend.
Here are a few good ideas to try:
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- Place a countdown timer on the registration page to create a sense of urgency.
- Incentivize people to register early with ‘early bird’ pricing.
- Highlight social events and the caliber of attendees to attract people who prioritize networking or sales.
- Share sneak previews or demos of products people can purchase at the event.
- Promote webinars featuring your event’s speakers to highlight the educational quality of your event.
- Share examples of representative companies and job titles already registered to attract potential exhibitors and sponsors.
- Communicate how past survey data and audience demand have shaped the creation of this year’s agenda.
5. Continue the conversation post-event
Post-event, keep people buzzing by sharing repurposed event content. This extends the event experience, keeps the conversation going and reinforces the positive sentiment generated on-site. When done with intent, this cultivates repeat business.
Trending strategies:
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- Upload or rebroadcast general and breakout session content.
- Send promo or discount codes to redeem products or services.
- Use AI tools to generate blogs or recap videos from content captured onsite.
- Send personalized thank-you emails with fun takeaways, such as highlight videos, photo galleries or playlists.
- Share resources like research or insight papers developed or discussed at the event via email or on the event website.
- Provide additional ways to connect and continue the conversation with online webinars, discussion groups or social links.
Time is of the essence when it comes to follow-up communications, so keep in mind the marketing deadlines your team has set for post-event emails and offers.
Share leads and registration lists with your marketing and business development teams as soon as possible. This will assist them in generating additional conversions.
By incorporating these steps in your event planning, you can prime your sales funnel, enrich customer interactions and amplify event attendance, resulting in heightened revenues and enhanced conversion rates.
We’d love to help you add them to your event strategy and elevate your impact! Let’s chat!
Whether you notice it or not, music is everywhere. It plays in the background of almost every public place you visit — from grocery stores and restaurants to clothing shops. In fact, music is so omnipresent that when it’s absent from something like an event, people notice.
“Having no music creates a void that you’re not used to having in day-to-day life when you go into public spaces,” says Encore Product Manager for Audio and Power Nick Greene. “It creates an awkward silence at an event. Imagine showing up at a company meeting at 8 a.m., and walking into an empty room with no music. There won’t be the energy.”
Music sets mood and creates participants’ expectations. “Do you want them upbeat or relaxed?” Greene says. “If there are heavy things being discussed, we can play ambient jazz. Maybe after a long day of meetings, you want some dance music.” Meeting and event organizers can tell their Encore contact what kind of mood they want to create, and Encore will select the perfect playlist from hundreds of curated options.
If you think you can use a playlist from a streaming service like Spotify, Pandora or YouTube Music at your event, think again. Even if you pay for the ‘pro’ account on one of those services, that only covers your private use of that music. The moment you play that music at a public event, you become liable for copyright infringement or intellectual property right violations.
A much safer — and affordable — option is to add Encore Music to your event order. “Encore Music is a licensed music solution for public events,” Greene says. “It’s a cost-effective solution that will easily help you comply with copyright laws and licensing requirements.”
Product Manager, Audio & Power
Encore Music comes with two options:
- Commercial Background Music features more than 300 curated and properly licensed music playlists to choose from
- Royalty-Free Music solution features more than 100,000 tracks, sound effects and loops for virtual/hybrid events and stingers
If you’re looking for popular hits from popular artists like Katy Perry or Bruno Mars, Commercial Background Music is the best option. “With that type of music, there are restrictions on how you can use it,” Greene says. “You can’t edit or stream it [to a virtual audience]. It can’t be recorded [for playback] or synched with video. But it’s great for playing in the background at meal functions, social events, and as walk-in/walk-out music for general sessions.”
If you need music to play under a video or to be pre-show music for a general session that will be recorded or broadcast, then Royalty-Free Music is the best solution. “It’s high-end production music,” Greene says. “You can edit it and get the segment you want.” Examples include award show music, where you only need a short portion of song to play while the recipient walks to the stage and poses for pictures or stingers to play while you introduce executives and speakers to the stage. Royalty Free Music also is the best solution for hybrid and virtual events or in-person events where segments will be recorded for later rebroadcast or on-demand viewing.
Greene says Encore team members will ask meeting and event organizers about music when they’re talking about ordering other AV gear. “Music is needed in any public event. It enhances meal breaks and sessions. So, our team will ask, ‘Are you using music?’ and go over the options.”
Of course, if the customer wants, they can provide their own music, but must still comply with licensing requirements in order to avoid the risk of incurring financial penalties. “Encore can provide customers who wish to provide their own music with a one-page informational sheet so they can go ahead and look into it themselves and procure their own licensing,” Greene says.
But if you want to save yourself the headache of going to one of the big music licensing companies, paying their sliding-scale fees and then curating playlists of music on your own, Encore Music offers flexible, pre-selected options that take the guesswork out of the process. For a low daily rate, you can buy peace of mind and create an atmosphere that’s perfect for your next event.
Interested in learning more? Contact the Encore team here.
In today’s competitive landscape, creating events that not only captivate audiences but also deliver tangible returns on investment (ROI) and experience (ROE) is crucial.
When it comes to post-event debrief meetings, the majority of your peers not only report on how their event supported revenue growth or strategic goals but also how they elevated attendee engagement and satisfaction.
In fact, two out of three planners report on ROI, while 55 percent report on ROE.
We previously covered insights into common ROI and ROE metrics planners track along with a high-level view of event ROI- and ROE-boosting strategies you can start using to elevate your impact.
Now we’re taking a closer look into how to action those strategies to amplify both ROI and ROE, and influence event success with impactful experiences.
Winning strategies to boost event ROI
1. Streamline invitations & check-in processes
Planner challenge: A crucial part of ROI is calculating the cost per attendee. Without an automated tool, planners are left trying to make sense of this all-important number with loose, inefficient processes: sign-in sheets, manual headcounts, incomplete information from surveys or limited estimations based on venue capacity — none of which lead to solid figures.
Try: Simplify event invitations and check-ins for accurate attendee counts and reporting. This not only reduces errors but saves you valuable time and enhances the attendee experience.
The hero in your toolkit: An event invite and check-in tool, like Encore RSVP. This tool not only gives you a precise headcount but handles the legwork for seamless guest invitations, attendee management and efficient onsite check-ins.
Use it to:
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- Enable a streamlined, personalized experience
- Provide attendees with clear instructions
- Reduce wait times for onsite check-ins
Automating these processes cuts down on the tasks you’d otherwise do manually, minimizes errors and saves valuable time for both you and your attendees, leading to higher attendance rates and positive word-of-mouth referrals — all of which contribute to improved event success and ROI.
2. Leverage data analytics
Planner challenge: A big item in every post-event review? The bottom line. Stakeholders expect planners to communicate:
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- The total amount of revenue generated compared to total budget
- Expense allocations
- The investment that delivered the biggest impact on attendees
You may know the total dollars spent, but to confidently address any further financial questions, you’ll need reliable, easy-to-understand insights to support your responses.
Try: Harnessing data insights for evidence-based post-event reporting and recommendations.
The hero in your toolkit: An event app, like Chime Live℠, gathers actionable data on attendee behavior, session engagement and event performance.
Check its live analytics dashboard anytime during or post-event for a clear view of the number of attendees logged in, session participation, interactions with content and audience feedback.
When it’s time for that big post-event debrief, you’ll have the information you need to show which sessions or activities resonated most with attendees. This empowers you to advise how to allocate resources more effectively towards high-engagement areas so your organization’s future events are primed for optimal attendance and maximized ROI.
3. Increase sponsorship visibility
Planner challenge: Demonstrating a clear return on investment to sponsors is crucial for both ROI and sustaining beneficial sponsor contributions in the future.
Sponsors boost events with essential funding, enhanced resources, broader reach and increased credibility, benefiting both organizers and planners. But how do you meet sponsor expectations and engage their customer audiences to increase their sales while balancing event integrity and the attendee experience?
Try: Ensure sponsor visibility through captivating digital displays. Use dynamic media to make your sponsors’ messages truly sing. These are most effective in high-traffic areas that raise advertising impressions, a key metric for sponsorship value.
By leveraging dynamic digital displays, sponsors gain enhanced visibility without overshadowing your programming. Meanwhile attendees enjoy a more engaging event experience.
The hero in your toolkit: Introduce sponsor brands in creative ways while capturing participants’ attention with digital signage.
Beyond compelling content, Encore interactive signage provides engagement metrics, enabling you to report on the effectiveness of the display advertising.
Why should you incorporate tech into your sponsor promotions? Events leveraging technology for sponsorship activations experienced a 20 percent rise in sponsor satisfaction. And satisfied sponsors are more likely to invest in future events.
Winning strategies to boost event ROE
1. Increase opportunities for interaction
Planner challenge: Participant engagement is a top event goal for organizers, as it influences attendee satisfaction and overall event success.
With today’s shorter attention spans, and higher post-pandemic expectations for in-person events, planners face the challenge of adding excitement and interaction to sessions in order to keep participants interested and involved.
Try: Encourage active participation through live polling and Q&A sessions, enhancing attendee satisfaction and event ROE.
The hero in your toolkit: Integrate an event app, like Polling+ or Chime Live℠, to facilitate audience participation, encourage interaction and foster lively discussions between participants. Do it all with the touch of a button with:
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- Live Q&A/Polling: Facilitate fun icebreakers to get attendees warmed up, open up the dialogue with real-time Q&A and polls, and enable participants to respond to topics with emojis.
- Content Customization: Participants can suggest topics they want to discuss with the Emerging Themes tool. They can upvote those they find most relevant. Providing supplemental resources? Easily offer targeted content to different audience segments within the app. This personalization lets them know you see them and understand their needs to foster a sense of belonging.
- Live Chat: Enable live chat for attendees to communicate with each other and with speakers. Plus, seamlessly connect with social media platforms for sharing and interaction.
These features keep participants actively involved in your program and drive engagement — underpinning your event success and high ROE outcomes.
2. Engage the senses to enhance learning
Planner challenge: A key aspect of ROE is your educational impact. This may be assessed by information retention or the number of continuing education credits (CEUs) offered/registered for . To enhance these outcomes, your challenge is to ensure your educational sessions are primed for success.
If your approach to knowledge sharing doesn’t captivate participants, you run the risk of attendees’ eyes glazing over at exactly the moment you hope to intrigue them with learnings.
Try: Design immersive event environments that engage the senses. These multisensory sessions keep attendees engaged with educational content — while influencing how well they remember it.
Why immersive experiences?
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- A study found immersive learning can boost retention rates by up to 75 percent.
- 85 percent of planners believe that immersive experiences foster greater attendee engagement, according to Encore research.
The hero in your toolkit: Incorporate elements that engage the senses and literally immerse attendees in your storytelling. Your mission? Transform the experience to something truly memorable.
Some ideas for inspiration? Bring your audience along with your speakers as they deliver their message. Transport participants to exotic islands, faraway planets or compelling emotional spaces with wrap-around LED video walls.
Another tactic? Dial up the energy or create a relaxing ambiance by creating a sound bath with overhead speakers that move music in a wave from one side of the room to another.
Interested in more immersive experience hacks? Check out ways to boost learning and engagement with multisensory experiences.
3. Leverage “matchmaking” networking tools
Planner challenge: One of the most valuable part of in-person experiences for attendees is the connections they make at events. Your program needs to balance structured interaction with organic connections, to ensure attendees get the most value out of your sessions. Success requires careful curation and dynamic facilitation to foster meaningful interactions.
Try: Enhancing how attendees meet and connect with valuable peers in their network. Ensure your event strategy includes agenda time for networking and incorporate scenarios in your program that encourage attendees to mingle.
The hero in your toolkit: A robust event app, like Chime Live℠, can facilitate “matchmaking” networking opportunities, foster connections and promote collaboration among attendees.
Chime Live’s customized networking features help participants discover other attendees they’re interested in connecting with, based on industry, interests, job titles and more.
This more personalized “matchmaking” during networking sessions enhances attendee experiences, resulting in successful collaborations and enriched attendee satisfaction, thus boosting ROE and networking ROI.
The power of partnership
By implementing these proactive strategies, planners can unlock the full potential of their events, driving both financial success and exceptional attendee experiences.
Choosing a full-service event production partner, like Encore, can be an invaluable part of this journey. Leverage the experts to help set your event strategy and deliver the end-to-end creative, production and technology solutions that support your ROI and ROE goals.
We’d love to partner on delivering an event that resonates with both your audience and your bottom line. Click here to schedule a free consultation!
Internet service is the thread that weaves together various event elements to help deliver a seamless experience, ensure attendee satisfaction, and manage costs. This is why it’s important to hire a partner to provide dedicated event internet services.
Just like insurance protects you from loss in the case of a mishap, a dedicated internet services partner can prevent attendee dissatisfaction from:
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- Internet outages and slowdowns
- Technical gaffes
- Ordering too much or too little broadband
- Tech-based participant frustration
- Wi-Fi identity theft
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Customers often request digital solutions such as apps, agendas, and handouts to enhance the attendee experience. Attendees may try to access these tools on multiple devices; each person may have 3.6 devices/connections. Having a dedicated internet partner for your event helps bring peace of mind to any connection concerns that may arise.
“[Encore] is one of the only network services companies out there that focus exclusively on events,” shared Alex Wedesky, Encore Director of Internet Services. “We know that events don’t only happen from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.” This means customers benefit from always-on customer service.
The benefits of partnership
Having dedicated onsite tech support allows you to have proactive internet solutions for participants.
“[Often times] people will opt to turn their phone into a hotspot or bring a hotspot,” Wedesky says “Even though you can’t see Wi-Fi, it’s like molecules in the air. You can only have so many in one space before they begin colliding.” When multiple networks collide, web pages fail to load, and people have difficulty getting online.
Because Encore monitors network health and bandwidth speed, onsite techs can detect a problem before it happens. Before the trade show begins, Encore technicians will work with exhibitors to ensure personal networks are set up correctly and are contained so interference doesn’t occur.
Event internet partners provide tools, strategies and support
How do we know the amount of bandwidth required for your event? Encore offers a bandwidth calculator to ensure customers always have the right amount for their needs. Then the Encore team develops a strategy for each event component that needs network access to prevent tech hiccups.
For example, if the internet is ordered as a shared pool for the conference, participant devices, live-streamed content, and presenter videos will be pulled from the same source. The results can be video hiccups that won’t play, polls won’t load, and participants may get impatient.
To solve this, Encore consults with clients to determine which event elements must be prioritized and partitioned off bandwidth accordingly. This prevents participant usage from interfering with things like streaming video or live stream feeds.
How event internet provides additional value and audience insights
Event internet is an investment. When you purchase 500 MB, you want to know whether you used it. This is another way in which dedicated providers deliver value: by delivering insights about internet usage and audience behavior.
While the price of event internet is decreasing, the means of reporting and processing that data is becoming more expensive. This is why Encore helps meeting and event professionals analyze data to help manage costs.
“We deliver insightful analytics so [you] know what [customers] need to do to see success going forward,” Wedesky says. “They learn things about the attendee base they otherwise wouldn’t know.”
Encore’s Aptilo Access Control System provides real-time monitoring of customer event bandwidth utilization. Through the tool, Encore can provide customers with impactful post-event bandwidth reporting to provide insights such as:
- How much bandwidth was utilized
- Timeframes where spikes occurred
- Where most of the traffic was going (event resources, social media, etc.)
From user insights to full internet installations to onsite emergency troubleshooting, dedicated internet service providers offer end-to-end solutions that provide essential support and peace of mind.
“Things change,” Wedesky says. “Having a partner who can navigate those changes with you is important.”
Let’s discuss your internet needs!
Illuminating Insights Into LED Walls
Looking to rejuvenate your event space? Vibrant LED walls offer the perfect solution for captivating content that brings the ‘WOW’ to your messaging. Whether your event is indoors or outdoors, bright or dim, deliver attention-grabbing content across screens of versatile shapes and sizes. Expand your knowledge of this popular scenic solution in our FREE LED Wall Technology Resource Guide!
Explore how to:
- Elevate visual content with innovative LED screen shapes
- Select the right LED screen size for your objectives
- Ensure optimal seating distance from your LED wall for readability
- Determine the ideal LED brightness for your space, whether indoors or outdoors
Seeking personalized guidance on impressing participants with LED walls at your next event? Request a FREE consultation! We’d love to transform your vision into an unforgettable event that sparks connections and inspiration.
From sound effects to targeted audio, learn how to amplify participant experiences
Sounds provoke powerful emotions. The sound effects in a movie make us lean forward with anticipation or jump in surprise. A song on the radio has the power to transport us to another time and place instantly. Conversely, when you can’t hear what’s going on, you tune out. And when sound quality is degraded, it negatively affects people’s ability to communicate, learn and focus. That’s why sonic engagement is a powerful tool in any meeting or event professional’s arsenal.
According to the National Institutes of Health, when people hear sound, it ‘lights’ up brain areas involved in emotion, memory and even physical movement. That’s why intentionally chosen music, video stingers and well-produced high-quality audio amplifies the emotional impact of a conference program and makes it more memorable. Let’s examine how integrating sound and engaging participants’ hearing can enrich onsite events.
Want an in-depth look at audio strategies that improve the attendee experience? Download our free guide for more pro tips and smart insights.
One in eight people in the United States over the age of 12 has hearing loss in both ears. Nearly ten percent of adults between the ages of 55 and 64 have disabling hearing loss. That’s why it’s important not to cut corners on how you employ traditional event audio tools. It’s important that the correct type of amplification is used throughout your event spaces to deliver high-quality audio.
Traditional sonic tools and technologies include:
- Speakers
- Microphones
- Monitors
- Audio mixers
- Closed captioning
- Simultaneous translation
To aid comprehension, consider close-captioning event audio for the in-person audience. This not only helps the hearing disabled, but also for non-native English speakers. Simultaneous translation, whether AI-generated or using a live translator, is a must for international meetings.
Setting the mood with music
Music sets audience expectations and influences their mood. For example, playing ambient jazz can help participants relax before you discuss difficult topics. If you’ve had people sitting in meetings all day, dance music can boost their mood and get them excited for evening activities.
For any public event, music played needs to be properly licensed. Your pro subscription to a streaming service won’t protect you or your organization from liability if you’re caught playing a personal playlist.
One solution is Encore Music. It offers more than 300 curated and properly licensed music playlists for commercial background music use. It also offers a royalty-free music solution with more than 100,000 tracks, sound effects and loops for virtual/hybrid events and stingers that you can edit and use for videos, motion graphics and walk-in/walk-out music.
Combining sound with other senses to create more inclusive events
Some audio technologies engage the sense of touch as well as hearing. One such tech tool is a throwable microphone, called a Catchbox. It’s a fun way to keep your audience engaged. Audience members can toss the Catchbox to each other instead of waiting for mic runners to reach them. Because people don’t have to move from their seat to be heard, it also makes it easier for people with physical disabilities or more introverted dispositions to join in the conversation.
Examples of using sound to create
multisensory experiences
When you’re creating an immersive experience, pay attention to the sound design. Sound effects and cues provide subtle information about our environments and can reinforce the illusion you’re creating. For example, the sound of waves and seagulls transport us to the beach; crickets remind us of relaxing summer evenings.
Flying speakers from rigging gives you better sonic coverage of large spaces than floor-based speakers do. But did you know it also gives you the ability to create directional audio? When sounds ‘move’ from one speaker to another in sequence, it immerses the audience in a sonic bath that moves from one side of the room to the other. This can emphasize motion graphics, key presentation points and complete the feeling of being in a dynamic environment.
Targeted audio can create sonic zones. Museums often use this to educate people as they look at a specific item. Targeted audio can only be heard within a tight radius. Once you move outside that cone of sound, the audio disappears. It’s a fantastic solution for trade shows when you don’t want sound to bleed over from one booth to another.
Next-generation event audio engagement
Wireless technology allows you to create ‘silent conferences,’ where speakers can only be heard by audience members wearing headphones. Presenter mics transmit sound wirelessly only to the headphones in that vicinity. This allows for several activations or presentations to happen in a shared space. When participants want to move on, they can change the frequency on their receiver or remove their headphones.
Audio also can be used to create synchronized individual experiences. A fun example of this is Improv Everywhere’s MP3 Experiments. Participants download an MP3 and are asked to bring a short list of items to a specific location. At the designated start time, individuals play the MP3, which leads them through a series of prompts and activities. The result is a playful group experience that each individual feels they helped create.
The benefits of partnering with experienced
audio partners
High quality sound is a basic building block of any event. People need to hear what’s going on, otherwise they’ll disengage with the content. High quality sounds help people pay attention, connect and enjoy themselves. It’s an essential tool for crafting memorable events.
An experienced audio partner will ensure all your presenters and participants can be heard. They also can recommend fun and unexpected ways to engage audiences sonically, such as through directional sound or attention-grabbing music cues. Best of all, if your audio partner is on the same team as your event technology provider, you can breathe easy, knowing all the elements of your event will be seamlessly integrated with your vision and goals. That makes designing multisensory experiences more seamless and successful.
Want to learn more about leveraging audio solutions to design immersive, unforgettable events? Download our guide Symphony of Sound: Orchestrating Emotional Connections.
Over 70 percent of meeting and event organizers believe networking and engagement will be the future of events. The challenge is how to do that. LED walls are one of the most flexible technology solutions you can use to breathe new life into your programming. From creating immersive environments to transforming presentations into interactive activities, LED walls can enhance indoor or outdoor meetings and events in myriad ways.
Let’s examine some use cases and applications where LED walls can support event goals to facilitate networking and improve engagement.
How do LED walls create more engaging and immersive environments?
“The No. 1 reason why we attend meetings is to interact with people,” says Encore Product Manager Damein Futch.
If you use LED to run keywords from the keynote and use it as a billboard to share critical ideas and information,” he says, “you can transform a cold space into a warmer place for people to connect to your event and each other."
“Instead of you telling me the Top 10 things I should remember, I learn because you’re using the billboard principle in the dining room.”
LED walls also allow you to change the environment without changing the space. “There’s an unlimited palette of opportunities,” Futch explains. For example, there might be a beach scene during the morning session, which turns into a sunset over a mountaintop for the general session.
“You can even put a transparent LED over a window in a breakout room.” This makes it possible to transport participants to different places, planets and emotional spaces without moving them from their chairs.
“Any time you want an interactive display behind something you want to sell or promote, you can use an LED wall,” Futch says. “You don’t have to worry about people walking through the cone of projection.” LED panels can be built to look like a product that you can transform into anything you want with striking visuals.
You may have seen LED walls used to show what people are experiencing while wearing virtual reality (VR) headsets or as a background layer for augmented reality (AR) activations. But have you heard about extended reality (XR)?
“Extended reality is a camera working with a media server and LED wall to create realistic background movement to give viewers the sense of being in another location,” Futch explains. It’s a technique used for TV/film productions to create immersive 360-degree sets. But the same technology can be used for events.
Futch says a professional meeting or event organizer’s use of LED walls is only limited only by their creativity, budget and opportunity. “The ROI of LED is exponentially greater than you see with other mediums. It costs more because it accomplishes more, and you can do more with it.“
A technology solution for all meeting types and formats
“Any time you have a screen or a wall, you can use LED,” Futch adds. “LED walls can be used in general sessions, breakout rooms, digital signage, creative elements, scenic and anywhere else, really.”
What does this look like in practice? The resolution and clarity provided by LED walls make them a good fit for medical meetings or any other gatherings where it’s essential to view high-contrast images. In general sessions, they can be used in place of traditional projections as scenic elements, or they may comprise the entire set. “LED walls don’t have to be rectangular or square,” Futch shares. “You can build and stagger them into any configuration you need.”
Another benefit? You’re not restricted to aspect ratios with LED walls the way you are with traditional projectors. You don’t have to worry about blending because you’re using one surface, whether it’s a window, wall, curved screen or even the side of a building. It can be as large or small as you need without compromising the resolution quality.
LED walls can also be used as creative accents. For example, if you wanted to use a projector for a presentation, you could wrap the presentation with LED walls to drive home the message.
No matter how they’re used, people’s eyes and attention naturally drift to LED walls because they’re so vivid and bright, which makes them an incredible tool for engagement. “You could even put one behind a registration desk,” Futch says. “And people will be drawn in.”
The benefits of using LED walls vs projectors
LED walls possess several technological advantages to projection equipment traditionally used, whether you’re creating scenic elements, relaying information or transforming spaces with projection mapping. These advantages enhance the participant experience and elevate the overall event.
Brightness is an additional advantage. “A projection always competes with stage lights or daylight,” Futch says. You never have to draw the curtains in a room with an LED wall. Examples of this can be seen within exhibit halls or outdoor venues.
Projectors are either rear-projecting or front-projecting. In both cases, a considerable amount of space is required to fit the ‘cone of projection.’ This isn’t the case with LED walls.
“You gain back seating and capacity for your attendees,” Futch informs. “You don’t have to worry about projection distance because everything is displayed on a flat surface.”
When light is projected, it bounces off a screen before it enters the participants’ eyes, making it a passive medium. In contrast, LED walls are an active medium. What they display is directly absorbed by the viewer. As Futch adds, “It is like your TV on steroids.”
It also offers increased opportunities for creative expression. “LED walls are visual LEGOs,” Futch explains. “With projectors, light [is] beamed at a source. With LED walls, the possibilities are endless when it comes to resolution and area covered.”
Think about the events you have coming up. How would you like to use LED walls to surprise and delight, educate and engage, or entertain your participants? We’d love to provide a free consultation on how this technology solution can help you achieve your meeting or event goals.
Interested in learning more? Click the button below to explore our experts’ guidance on dazzling audiences with LED technology.
Humans are social by nature. We are inherently driven to connect and create moments of belonging. This is where in-person events shine — they satisfy this innate human need while fostering a sense of community. By bringing participants together, you enable engagement on various levels, whether through direct communication, nonverbal cues or even physical touch, such as a handshake with an industry peer. All these factors elevate an in-person event’s programming and how it can activate your audience. But are you missing out on opportunities to enhance your impact in today’s tech-savvy climate?
Leveraging digital capabilities through an event platform can be an invaluable part of your in-person event’s success. By incorporating the platform’s interactive technology, you can better engage audiences, strengthen your programming, and gain valuable data insights to enhance future events. Deliberating whether to incorporate an event platform at your next in-person event? Read on to learn six advantages to doing just that — plus, click the button below to download our free Event Platforms Guidebook and explore even more ways to elevate your upcoming events with a platform’s digital capabilities.
1. Boost audience engagement
According to the Encore Fall 2022 Planner Pulse Report, nearly half of event professionals want to improve attendee engagement at their upcoming events. While this may seem like a daunting task, including digital capabilities can serve as a key way to help boost audience participation. How? They offer exciting ways to engage your attendees.
Event platforms, like Chime Live ℠, are an excellent tool for this. From the get-go, you set the tone for a more interactive experience with its second screen technology. Attendees can participate with your content while it’s being delivered, directly from their own Encore-provided iPad. Whether via chat, virtual break-out rooms, gamification elements or connecting via social feeds, the platform’s experience opens up new opportunities for presenters and attendees alike to engage on a more intimate level than in the past. Chime Live is also unique in the way that it supports choreographed event design, allowing you to focus attendees on what they need to see or do in the platform. Push slides and pop-up interactive polls, Q&A and more — right on cue.
2. Strengthen your programming
When it comes to your event, the more targeted the content is for your audience, the more likely it will resonate and leave a lasting impression. With an event platform, you can strengthen your programming by engaging participants pre-event to check their pulse on topics that will be presented so you can best tailor the messaging. Send pre-event surveys and knowledge checks to assess how much background information to cover, encourage discussions via forums to learn about your attendees’ interests, and even provide helpful resources — including white papers or videos — for your audience to learn from beforehand.
Once your event comes to a close, you can use the platform’s tools to drive long-term engagement and reach. This provides people who couldn’t attend a way to connect with your programming while enhancing the overall experience for those who did. Simply include video content in your event platform’s resource section and choose how long you’d like the media to be available – for many event platforms, you can request that it be accessible 365 days a year. You can also efficiently repurpose and reshare event videos, clips and other digital content via email, social posts or blogs. This feeds your marketing pipeline and can expand your impact by allowing you to reach and engage new audiences even after your event has ended. Another advantage? These capabilities help you maximize your return on investment (ROI). With so many benefits at your fingertips, it’s no wonder that 78 percent of businesses that use an event application say it contributes to a positive event ROI.
3. Grow sponsorship reach
Did you know you can offer more sponsorship packages when your event includes digital components? Depending on the platform, you can add a sponsor banner or enhanced branding, empowering you to deliver additional promotional opportunities. With physical and digital options to choose from, businesses have the flexibility to choose the level of participation that makes the most sense for them, which can increase the ROI of their investment.
As mentioned above, using an event platform can also extend the shelf life of your programming, as your content can be available on-demand after the initial live event has ended. This means that sponsors’ logos and other branding elements will continue to be seen by potential customers. If you’re looking to attract sponsors for your next event, adding these digital capabilities will work in your favor.
4. Enable smarter networking
Meeting and event professionals know that one of the most important elements of a successful event is networking. It’s not enough to just have people in the same room; participants should be able to connect with each other on a deeper level. Utilizing an event platform simplifies and facilitates this process — it can help identify attendees who have shared interests or attributes and encourage them to build strong professional relationships with each other. Event platforms can take job titles, interests, skills, backgrounds and even more customizable factors into account to make sure attendees can learn about and meet others who share similar goals or interests.
This makes it easier for everyone attending an in-person event to find the right person to talk to without having to filter through hundreds of people they have little in common with. Additionally, this digital capability facilitates professional development by helping participants identify potential mentors or career opportunities within their network.
5. Gain valuable data insights
At traditional in-person events, you can track attendance and observe attendees’ reactions to the programming. But you gain more specific data by connecting your audience with an event platform, which features a live analytics dashboard. With this tool, you can track not only attendance, but also participant engagement and event results. This type of functionality can demonstrate how engaged attendees were and even get their responses to the experience via surveys or feedback forms.
Because digital components allow for more interaction during presentations than typical offline events — thanks to features such as polling and Q&A — you can gather streamlined data on participants’ preferences and continually develop more tailored content that speaks to their interests. The platform makes it easy to track all this data and more, so you’re equipped with the insights that will help you craft future events that are even more engaging and relevant to the needs of your audience.
6. Impress participants with great-to-know info
Using an event platform, you can present participants with powerful and important information that is easily accessible. Not only does this add to the event experience for all involved, but it can also empower you with more control over your event offerings than ever before. Feature a detailed agenda, bios on each speaker and even multiple language options to enhance how inclusive your programming is for diverse audiences.
Will your event include break-out sessions? With an event platform, you can include personalized tracks for each attendee based on your specific requirements. Your event platform’s “toolset” can be customized to your needs — simply bookmark potential items you’re interested in offering. These may range from preloaded destination information to helpful contact info to nearby sites attendees may want to check out while they’re in the area.
Incorporating digital capabilities with an event platform
According to the 2022 Global Meetings and Events Forecast conducted by American Express, 73 percent of event professionals are very optimistic about their ability to use technology to enhance the attendee experience.
By leaning into digital components, planners can create opportunities for their events to engage audiences in new and memorable ways with an event platform. However, your success in doing so is dependent on your technology. It’s critical to have a user-friendly platform that can host events on any device — whether desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile phone — and that offers easy-to-use digital features that can breathe fresh life into your programming and deliver your desired outcomes.
Want to explore how to deliver more impactful, seamless events of any size, location or complexity? Download our Event Platforms with Boundless Possibilities Guidebook.
Interested in learning how Encore can elevate your next event through our end-to-end event platforms and strategic solutions? Our experts offer free consultations if you want to discuss your specific needs. We’d love to help you develop a transformative experience for all attendees — so that your events can foster a new level of community, inspiration and connection.
When you’re organizing events, the desire to be a good fiscal steward means you should examine every additional cost. But one that you should approve is laptop rental for presentations, videos, or streaming the hybrid portion of your event. “Rental for a laptop on average is less than – $300,” says Encore VP of Product Management Matthew Johnsen. It’s a small investment for buying peace of mind and ensuring your tech suite is fully capable and integrated with the rest of your set-up.
Let’s examine why that is.
What could go wrong if you use your laptop?
“Some organizations will lock down your USB port,” Johnsen points out. “That’s a problem because web cameras connect through the USB port on your laptop.”
Your work laptop also might not have an internet jack, which is a must if you want a secure, reliable wired Internet connection to stream videos or other content.
Connection settings and software compatibility are other potential hold-ups that can be circumvented by using equipment owned by your event technology provider. With a personal laptop, you can’t troubleshoot connections and compatibility in advance. “Renting a laptop allows our technicians to properly set it up. We know it works with our web cameras. And if there’s audio associated with the web camera, we can make sure that it is tagged,” shared Johnsen. It’s the best way meeting organizers can show up knowing that everything is ready to go and to eliminate surprises.
“Another issue meeting and event planners don’t think about when using personal equipment is how that ties their machine to the meeting and might expose potentially personal information to the meeting participants. For example, if you have Microsoft Outlook open while you’re sharing your screen, everyone in the meeting might see email previews pop up during the presentation. This not only is distracting, but it might also reveal sensitive information.
In this way, renting a laptop reduces risk. “We can lock down the rental laptop so there won’t be any distracting pop-ups,” Johnsen explains.
What could go wrong if you use your laptop?
“Not all laptops are created equal,” Johnsen says. Laptops possess different processing powers. To narrow down the options, ask yourself:
- Is this a presentation-only meeting? Or will you be showing videos and other rich media?
- Will there be audio connected to your presentation that has to be heard by remote and in-person viewers?
If you will be showing videos, you will need a laptop with a higher-quality graphics card, audio output, and level of processing power than a presentation-only meeting. Depending on the content and quality required, the event technology provider may prefer to provide a second laptop or dedicated video playback device solely for your rich media content.
If there will be hybrid remote as well as in-room participants, make sure your event technology provider knows the platform you’ll be using so they can pre-load the proper software. For example, Teams, Zoom, Webex, and so on. That way, the meeting can truly be plug and play.
“Renting a laptop provides peace of mind and ensures that the machine you use is secure and properly configured,” Johnsen says. “Plus, it frees you up to do your thing during the meeting.”
That’s a considerable return on a minimal investment. And that’s why you should consider a laptop rental for your next event.
Laptops are just one of the hybrid essentials for small meetings. If you want to learn more about other essential components that enhance events, download our free workbook here. You can also view our ProEDge session on Hybrid Essentials for Small Meetings here.
Remember: Event technology doesn’t have to be complex or confusing. The Encore team offers technology solutions and expert advice to help you navigate the boundless possibilities and identify the best solution for you. Contact us for advice on how to transform your next meeting or event experience.