Take Part — Best Practices for Keeping Attendees Engaged

You’ve chosen your venue, planned accommodations, the menus, transportation and more. Now that your attendees have arrived, how do you get them engaged and keep them that way? The Abbey Resort’s Director of Sales and Marketing, Dan Dolan, offers his experience in getting guests excited and involved at any meeting or event.

Q. Tell me about The Abbey Resort and what you do there.

A. The Abbey is the only full-service resort located on the shores of Lake Geneva and is significant not only historically, but in how it has evolved into a destination of choice for incentive programs or meetings with incentives. We’ve gone beyond the traditional model of design with low rise, shared patio space on the lake and the marina and grown into a destination that caters to meetings and events.

Q. What do you recommend planners do to keep attendees engaged?

A. At The Abbey, we approach each meeting or event by asking three important questions. First, we ask planners if they have identified their objective; the reason and purpose of the event they’re hosting. Second, because these types of meetings or events are a significant investment for any organization, we ask what it is they’re hoping to come away with. With this information, we consult as a team during an ideation process, asking our coaches to develop activities that match that objective. Finally, we take those ideas to the client and explain how they will work to target their objective.

Q. Does it differ if the event is large or small? How so?

A. It does to some extent. While many things do not change based on the size of the group, our ideas and recommendations may vary depending upon whether the group is large or small, as will the execution of the activities or experiences.

For example, we have several boats that dock in the marina right in front of the resort. The boats are available for private charter, allowing a team a way to get together outside of a traditional meeting space and engage. While that’s an attractive option for large groups, we might suggest a smaller group instead choose to take one of the available public cruises at a more affordable rate to achieve that same objective.

Another way we assist small groups with engagement is in the choice of meeting space available to them. At many hotels, small conference rooms are typically just extra rooms. At The Abbey, we’ve designed a set of conference rooms with specific accents tailored to accommodate small groups. Those include circular lighting, new AV, and other amenities you’d see in bigger rooms, such as natural light.

Q. Do you encourage them to utilize social media before the event? How so?

A. We promote our social media feeds and recommend planners tag us, especially on Facebook, so that attendees will discover activities and events that are happening in the area.

For example, the resort is close to a nearby orchard and at this time of year, apples are coming in. By highlighting this on our social media feeds, we give attendees a feel of the type of indigenous, local experience they will have, which helps create excitement about their destination.

Q. What activities do you recommend for making an event more interactive?

A. As I mentioned, we begin by identifying the client’s objective. After that, we identify into which of three categories that objective falls.

First, are they seeking casual engagement? Second, are they wanting to play with a purpose? Or third, are they looking for true team building?

For example, if they’re looking to experience more play with a purpose, we’re experts at arranging that.

Play with a purpose is more fun and games, but it also drives groups toward their objective. One such activity begins by splitting a large group into smaller teams of 5-8 members each. We give each team three materials—cardboard, bubble wrap, and duct tape. We also give them the same instructions and a time limit. Their objective is to build a boat that is seaworthy and can support one person on their team. Once the boats are built, we bring them to the lake and the teams race each other to reach a small marker in the lake that’s about 20-30 yards out.

This activity helps each team work together to examine different ways to approach and solve a problem. People have a great time, they know someone is going to get wet, but they all want to win, and they all are very engaged.

For a more casual engagement, we’ve developed a farmer’s market at the resort. We’re located in southern Wisconsin which is a rich agricultural area with many farms. We take advantage of this by creating a local experience for the guests. We invite local farmers to attend, some of whom are farm-to-table suppliers for our restaurant. We have them set up the market in a manner that creates an interactive experience versus a formal sit-down meal. We make sure that every casual engagement tells a story, so at each stand the farmers communicate their story about the farm, the food, and the region. Guests mingle and talk with one another and the farmers, making it an experience unique to The Abbey, Lake Geneva, and the Wisconsin region.

Q. Any other tips?

A. Make sure when you’re considering a resort, hotel, or region, that you clearly identify your meeting or event objectives and that the venue can match and meet those objectives. Most hotels are focused on how to deliver an experience. When you tap into the available resources of the sales and planning teams who’ve been trained on being experience coaches, you’re making the drive to reach your objective easier.