3 Ideas to Make Your Next Corporate Event a Standout

It’s one of the most common questions we hear: “How can I get people more engaged at our next corporate event?”

If your annual conference is feeling a bit repetitive, here are three unique formats that will help you shake things up a bit.  Soon, you’ll be on your way to creating an event that wows attendees!

These effective and fun corporate event ideas aren’t hard to accomplish, and cost little-to-no money to do.  Give them a whirl, and add a little extra something at your next annual conference, training event, or national sales meeting.

1. Hackathon: A Hackathon is when a room full of programmers, designers, and other digital professionals are gathered and asked to build a prototype within a set period of time. In terms of your next corporate meeting, gather small teams from various departments, give them a problem and timeframe, and watch the innovation flourish.

One client of ours actually gave their groups new strategic initiatives that the company was trying to develop, and let them take a shot at it.  It not only allowed their teams to do some fun, innovative networking, but also created an incubator to develop some workable ideas related to those new initiatives.  Brilliant!

Give it a shot, and you’ll be surprised at the awesome ideas that get generated by your team.  Throw in some beer and pizza for good measure!

2. Speed Dating: One of the most-desired outcomes at corporate events is connection. Networking and meeting new colleagues is one of the best ways to share best practices, and nurture peer-to-peer learning.  It’s often said, “The real meeting happens at the bar.”

Here’s a fun way to jump-start those connections.  Try opening your next conference with a corporate ‘speed dating’ event.  It can be a very efficient way of helping attendees work a room, meet a lot of interesting people, and not get stuck in one boring conversation all night with no means of escape. 😊  Plus, it’s just plain fun!

3. Table Toys: We’re all kids at heart. Get some fun (cheap) little finger puzzles, stress balls, bendable characters, wire puzzles, Chinese finger traps, etc. and place them on attendee tables.  Believe it or not, playing with these small items stimulates the brain, and can actually increase attention during your session.  If possible, get some items that tie in to your theme.  It’s a fun way to keep your audience engaged – and their minds attentive.

That’s just a few to get you started.  There are SO MANY ways to create more engagement – that barely cost a penny.  Start with these, and you’re on your way!