Tech helps the brand experience world go around, from audio-visual solutions to the latest innovations in digital marketing. Tech is precise, mathematical and useful. It can be eye-catching and fun, too. But ultimately, tech is just part of the show organizer machine that powers event marketing and sponsorship.

Stop the engines for one second.

What if I told you event tech, at its best, can make shows more personal and create deeper connections between you or your sponsors and audiences? It seems counterintuitive but it’s true.

Corporate events come in many types and sizes, but all have a few elements in common: online registration, some type of check-in process, and a credential (badge, wristband, or digital) assigned to each attendee.

At the simplest prospect or consumer events, in a single location for a few hours, the credential may be just a paper badge with the attendee's name printed on it. Or it may not be a physical credential at all: a QR code in a smartphone app may work fine.

It’s hard to believe that 2018 is already here. Corporate Event News was launched just over three months ago, on Sept 20, and the time has flown by. Thank you for your readership, for subscribing to our weekly newsletter, and for contributing your ideas, suggestions, and content.

A potential new client called me the other day asking for help planning a large meeting in conjunction with a much larger citywide event. When we received the initial inquiry, we were guardedly optimistic that this was a solid piece of new business. We prepared for the call, outlining who would handle what aspects of the conversation, establishing a flow for follow up questions and doing some preliminary research on the citywide, the client and possible venues.

Corporate events have the potential to be interactive meetings where industry leaders share new ideas and products with their colleagues, fostering discussions and increasing engagement. From conferences to team building events and quarterly board meetings, a number of simple factors can make a big impact on guests’ engagement and satisfaction. When planning your next corporate event consider repurposing some ideas from the most exciting social events you’ve been to.

Every summer on beautiful Cape Cod our Convention Data Services (CDS) team organizes an advisory group event for our clients. Our annual event gathers people of different backgrounds from all over the country to network, share ideas and build relationships. With 11 years of experience planning and executing this meeting we’ve gained first-hand knowledge of what makes a corporate event successful. Here are a few tips and ideas for creating a memorable event:

Define your objective:

Your title may be meeting planner, event coordinator, event marketing manager or vice president of conferences or some combination of the above. No matter what it is, my goal is that in five years’ time that title will be out of style and the word, ‘strategic’ will be the first word that describes the position you hold. It’s not just a title change that I want to see, it’s an entire industry shift to a strategic mindset.

I recently spoke with a number of procurement representatives and event professionals from large corporations about how the two groups interact. For the sake of keeping to a reasonable length, the article didn’t cover everything I wanted to share.

The following tips are based on those conversations, plus my own personal experience.

1. Formally Define Your Processes

Event attendees don't just want a mobile event app. They expect it. Mobile event apps create a better user experience – making schedule-building, networking, wayfinding, and attendee engagement and interaction more efficient and trackable than ever before.

But what happens once the event is over? Without a plan in place, that time, energy and resources put into developing your corporate event app can quickly be forgotten. Or worse, the app gets the dreaded “delete.”

Corporate events are supposed to bring some joy and refreshment to your workforce - but anyone can agree that a boring and uncomfortable corporate affair is the last thing most people want to go to.

Event planning has faced considerable developments and significant changes in recent years. New event trends bring about fresh opportunities and challenges. These recent trends in corporate events will help yours outshine every work party that came before, and will make your staff eager for the next one.