Engage Delaney’s Top Five for In-Person Events

Engage Delaney’s Top Five for In-Person Events

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The Engage Delaney team is in full swing, delivering engagement events across the country, and with all the planning, implementation, and soon reporting, we thought we’d share our five big wins and how you can apply them to your next in-person engagement event.

    • Physical Space Matters: More than ever, physical space matters. People want windows, natural light, easy access via public transit, and a comfortable space to connect and engage. If you are hosting an event in a hotel, even if it costs a bit more, it’s so much easier to stay at the hotel where you are hosting. Our team would regularly take our lunch to our rooms to debrief, brush our teeth, and just take a break from being “on.”
    • Details, details, details: The engagement go-bag is back on! Be sure that you get all your supplies ahead of time. You might think: “I’ll just run and out and get Sharpies,” but when you are on-site, you want to be ready to go and not “collecting supplies.” If you have to check your supply bag as airline baggage, be sure to take a picture of it before you close it up and have a checklist on your phone so you can do your best to re-purchase supplies locally.
    • Self-Care for you and participants: We always have hand sanitizer and masks on hand, but during cold and flu season, we also pack our own personal vitamins, Emergen-c, headache medicine, band-aids, and a mini-first aid kit. At nearly every event, participants ask us if we know “where can I get a …” and it’s really nice to be able to help them out with supplies from our self-care kit.
    • Give Yourself Time: We are writing this in the midst of a cross-Canada roadshow, and already we have been so grateful that we booked ourselves down days where if flights are canceled or weather events happen, we have time to re-book or, if needed, move the event online. Don’t cut it close. It’s a big country if you are flying, and if it’s a local event, just assume you will not get primo parking!
    • Define Team Roles: There’s a lot that happens at an in-person event: registration table, client management, facilitation, breakout group facilitation, logistics, working with Elders or knowledge keepers, and then liaising with catering. Be sure that ahead of time, the whole team is clear on their roles and responsibilities, and they know how they can best support the event. It’s even better if they know each other’s roles so they can jump in when needed.

We are grateful to work on large-scale, national engagements and to bring a personal touch to every event. The last few weeks have been a great reminder that being an engagement professional is about many things, including being a welcoming host. The details matter, and people notice them. If we are going to bring people together, let’s make it fun and welcoming, always with lots of fresh, hot coffee.