It won’t come as a huge surprise to any of you that your delegates are busy people. They have jobs, families, hobbies and personal commitments that fill their time to the brim. (Sound familiar?!) Attending your event, however fabulous it is, is another activity in a huge and never-cleared to do list.
The first things that tend to fall off the bottom of this list are often centred around wellbeing. An urgent work deadline will always bump going to gym. A missed train home and that healthy, homecooked meal is too much of an effort and the takeaway menu comes out of the drawer again.
As an organiser, you have the chance to make a real impression on your attendees by giving them the chance to catch up on some of these essential areas of wellbeing by pushing them up the agenda at your event. Take a read and see if you can incorporate any of the following attendee wellbeing ideas into your next conference.
It’s only the most hardcore gym goers who are going to bother to research and pay for a day pass at a gym near your event, so do the leg work for them. Covering the cost won’t break the bank – you might even get them for free if it’s a national gym looking for a marketing opportunity – and your efforts will be really appreciated. Running clubs, yoga classes, cycle hire and routes… there are lots of avenues to explore within this area and as well as your delegates being grateful for your thoughtfulness, your event will also benefit from all the lovely endorphins exercise induces.
Following a healthy diet is notoriously difficult if you’re eating on the go. Be kind to your attendees and give them healthy choices at every turn. That really does mean at every turn. There’s nothing wrong with serving biscuits and pastries with teas and coffees, but for hungry delegates who want to avoid high sugar high fat snacks, why not serve veggies and dips too? As well as helping your guests along their healthy path, you’ll also avoid lethargic delegates dealing with a post-sugar crash.
Some venue’s lighting can be oppressive to say the least. Even with a sympathetically-lit room, artificial lights, glaring screens and a long stint of intense concentration can cause headaches and tiredness. Fill rooms with natural light and fresh air whenever you can and lead your delegates to quiet, outside spaces where they can re-charge their batteries in between sessions.
Plenty of breaks, time to log onto work emails or call home and space to simply process the day’s content should all be high up your list of priorities when compiling your schedule for the day. Back-to-back talks are going to leave your delegates exhausted and your conference will suffer as a consequence.
Do you really need your guests to appear in person at your event, or could you save some people a lot of time, money and stress by live streaming your content for them to access from their office or home? Video conferencing won’t work for every event, but it’s something you should definitely consider.
Travelling to an unfamiliar place is likely to cause a certain level of stress in most of your guests. Even if it’s just a mild anxiety as they approach your venue about whether or not they’re in the right place on the right day. Your event begins long before you meet and greet your guests, so make sure your travel information and signage on arrival is as detailed and clear as possible and that someone from your team is on the door to give everyone a warm welcome.
If you’re looking for an affordable conference venue in London, W12 Conferences has a range of meeting rooms for hire at very competitive rates. We have a fantastic range of catering options and flawless AV facilities and we can also take charge of all of the planning logistics for you. Give the team a call to discuss your next event on +44 (0)20 3313 1606.