What are the the roadblocks that can really get in the way of your attendees enjoying an event? Simply ignoring the basics can lead to catastrophic results. At best, your attendees do not enjoy your conference. At worst, they tell all of their contacts about how bad it was.
So what areas do you really need to invest in to make a big impact on your attendees' experience? These three usually result in the worst gripes:
Customer Service
All it takes is one rude comment to cast a black cloud over an event for an attendee. So take the steps to prevent that long before you arrive at the event location.
Train your staff in best customer service practices and then take them through different scenarios that might occur at your event. Make sure they know how to handle all of those scenarios in a way that you want to be represented. And if they can’t? Then find someone who can.
Be sure that you have one of your trained staff on hand at the registration desk at all times, since that is where the most complaints tend to be reported. And do not leave volunteers alone. Volunteers may or may not have the training they need to handle different situations that may pop up. Ensure they always have the support they need by having a trained staff member on hand at all times.
WiFi
In this day and age, attendees expect WiFi to be readily available. Even though they are out of the office, they may still have the demands of the office to deal with while at your event. So make sure that the internet is plentiful and reliable.
The best way to do it? A location like the Kingsgate Marriott Conference Center has an onsite audio/visual team. So you can sit down with the people that can really make or break your event. Be honest with them about the size and the techiness of your attendees. Remember that the more tech savvy they are, the more devices they bring with them, which means you will need even more bandwidth.
And then walk the space. Look for cell phone dead spots or places where the WiFi is not reaching. Figure out how easy it is to log into the WiFi. The earlier you do this, the more likely that you can plan how to fix any problems that might exist.
Food
There is a reason the word “hangry” exists. Hunger naturally leads to anger, and nothing good comes from that.
Your first step to taking care of dietary needs should be on the registration form. Make it obvious on the form where attendees should include their different needs, so that you can plan for any unusual requests.
But then know that not everyone will fill that out, usually because it’s not always the attendee filling out his or her own registration form. So be flexible. Work with your caterer on how to best plan for diets such as vegetarian, vegan or gluten-free, and make sure that you have extras for those people that did not ask for a special meal ahead of time. Yes, it may cost a little extra, but hangry guests will cost you even more.
Take care of these basics and you will see happier attendees. And happier attendees tend to want to tell others about how they had a good time. Win-win.
How are you taking care of the basics?
(Images via Kingsgate Marriott Conference Center.)