As the Membership Director for a large west coast chamber of commerce, I have attended over 2,000 networking events in the last 7 years. Of those 2,000 event, I was the organizer of more than half those events. When the success of your business meeting depends on getting people to show up, it’s important to figure out very quickly how to get them to show up. It’s a scary feeling to be standing in the doorway of your venue, looking virtual roundtables at an empty room on one hand and the clock on the other. Here are my two secret weapons that have helped me nearly double the average attendance of the business events I run.
The secret ingredients to get people to attend are bribery and nagging. Sounds like the method your mom used to get you to clean your room when you were young? Well, I call it that for the fun and shock value of the words to help you remember the two pillars of getting people to attend your events.
Bribery is how you answer the age-old, vital question that we all have of “What’s in it for me?” As event organizers and business event planners, we get caught up in the process and forget that the luncheon, mixer or meeting is NEVER for our own benefit. It must be for the benefit of the people who are attending. You must have a compelling reason for them to be there. And then you must communicate that benefit to them when you market the event.
Food is a great bribe, but you want to think carefully if that is the main attraction will it bring the people you want to have there. Do you want to have a trade show with 1,000 “lookie-loos” or 300 dedicated buyers and prospects? There are liability issues if adult beverages are the main attraction and would you only want to attract the “cocktail crowd?” For my chamber of commerce, one of the best bribes was the quality of people who were attending.
Nagging is making sure that you reach your target market in as many ways, as many times and in as many different forms as possible. Hopefully you’ve got a great list of people who you want to attract. Use multiple outlets for your announcements and reminders.
The combination of bribery and nagging are the secret to help you get more people to attend your events. I’ve doubled the attendance at mine and you can too.
Beth Bridges has attended over 2,000 networking events in the last 7 years as the Membership Director and Chief Networking Officer of a large west coast chamber of commerce. She has double the networking activities and the attendance at business events for the chamber.