Best Activities to Make Events Unforgettable

We know that small, intimate gatherings drive the most impactful conversations and relationships, but field events have gotten boring. So how do you create fun, engaging experiences that bring customers and prospects together for an experience that feels more like a gift than a burden? Here are 10 ideas that you can turn into incredible field events: 1. Behind the scenes museum tour. Work with your local museum to create a behind-the-scenes experience with the curator, or take one they already have and customize it. 2. Find something weird, wild, and local in your community - If you're in the Dallas, Texas, area, did you know that ShangriLlama exists?? (https://shangrillama.com/) Just 40 minutes outside of the city, you can meet and hang out with llamas! 3. If your city has a zoo or aquarium, look for animal encounters or your audience might enjoy something like a Water Conservation or Sustainability tour of the facility! 4. Photo shoot! Rent out an epic location, bring hair and makeup artists, an amazing photographer, and do headshots & lifestyle photos for your customers. 5. You sent out enough cocktail kits for virtual mixology classes... so don't just host a happy hour at a bar, host a legit mixology class! Add in a Mocktail option so everyone feels included! 6. How long has it been since you rented out a movie theater? YEARS, right? You don't have to wait for the next blockbuster (though that's cool, too), you can bring back the classics for an experiential movie night in a private theatre! 7. Since stores already have their Halloween stuff out, what about a nice dinner followed by an incredible ghost tour of your town? 8. Got a lotta coffee lovers? What about a barista training experience - or really stretch their creative muscles with a latte art class! 9. Host a ukulele class! We found the most amazing nonprofit music school in Austin called the ARMSTRONG COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL that can teach your participants how to play three songs on the ukulele within 90 minutes of picking up the instrument for the first time! Bonus: a great Ukulele costs between $50 and $100 - what an awesome gift for your customers or team members to take home!! 10. Want the ease of something turn-key like Topgolf? How about adding a behind-the-scenes tour of the golf retrieval and gaming operation? Or (our favorite idea for groups between 30 and 75 people) add in a Spontaneous Think Tank to the experience: Use the meeting room to crowdsource and then use bays for small breakout conversations! Then end the day with a great game! Need more ideas or someone to bring the experience to life? Drop me a line! Don't worry, we have a gazillion more ideas just waiting for you! -------------------- Hi, I'm Liz. I help marketers connect. 🔔 To follow my content 💻 thecommunityfactory.com ✉ liz@thecommunityfactory.com Communities I run: 🏯 www.weareichi.com 📣 www.teamcmo.com #community #events #marketing Nicole Osibodu, XOXO Kamryn Bryce

The 95/5 Rule of Event Execution: The Smartest Money You’ll Spend In events, every dollar counts. Budgets are tight, your bosses expect ROI, and costs add up quickly. The difference between a good event and an unforgettable one often comes down to how you spend the last 5% of your budget. The 95/5 Rule: Manage 95% of your budget to the penny Be strategic, efficient, and precise. Spend the last 5% “foolishly” Use this money to create unexpected, high-impact moments. Why? Because attendees don’t know or care if your venue came in 10% under budget, but they will remember how they felt at your event. Putting the 95/5 Rule into Action at User Conferences 1 - Surprise & Delight Moments Imagine a hidden lounge only accessible via NFC wristbands, a one-night-only collab with a cult-favorite local chef, or a limited-edition piece of merch designed exclusively for attendees (and not for sale). 2 - Immersive Storytelling Build an atmosphere. Scent branding in key spaces, live data visualizations showing real-time attendee engagement, or stage design that evolves throughout the event based on major themes. 3 - Personalization at Scale Use tech to create hyper-personal experiences. Things like session recommendations based on past behavior, QR codes at networking stations to exchange LinkedIn details, or a VIP concierge that texts updates tailored to your attendee’s interests. 4 - Moments of Joy Surprise is the most underutilized emotion in events. Think: a mysterious, invite-only after-hours experience revealed via text, a product demo staged as a live mini-theater performance, or an "Easter egg hunt" worked into the event with hidden rewards for attendees who discover them. 5 - The Grand Finale - Departures Most events end without...well much. What if you offer: Luxury rideshare codes that appear in-app just as attendees leave the venue. "See you next time" golden tickets—attendees randomly receive an upgraded experience for the next event. Ship it home! Let attendees scan and send swag, printed materials, and even personal items straight to their door (so they’re not stuffing their carry-ons). Managing budgets tightly is key, but that last 5%? It’s an investment in the moments people will talk about, share, and remember. Have you experienced anything at an event that made a huge impact on you? -------------------- Hi, I'm Jay Designing experiences for events that drive ROI for our clients. #business #branding #sales #marketing #eventprofs

If you want your event to get the most buzz and attendance - follow this one simple concept. Refuse to feel traditional. Organizations are reimaging how they produce events - and I'm about to tell you how to apply these ideas to your own event. 🔹 Immersive Brand Activations Spotify and LinkedIn took to Cannes Lions and transformed spaces into branded lounges that doubled as networking hubs. 👉🏾 Your Turn: Versus a Step-And-Repeat wall, create a space where guests get to interact with your story. Think: Hands-on demo Branded lounge with entertainment A Themed environment 🔹 Reinvented Corporate Conferences Shopify gave attendees hidden speakeasies, garage style brainstorming rooms, and teaming building via hackathon labs. 👉🏾 Your Turn: Get out of that ballroom beloved. BizBash reported on FX celebrated their season premier at a laundry mat. Unexpected venues will forever surprise attendees and spark interest. 🔹 Fan & Sponsor Engagement Wins During the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) All-Star Weekend, Nike and American Express built fan zones that converted foot traffic into measurable leads because they were interactive. 👉🏾 Your Turn: If you have sponsors, design experiences where guests are actively engaging with them and not walking past yet another logo. 🔹 Purpose-Driven and Sustainable Events Meaningful is the new Must Have. This goes beyond dietary restrictions and plant based food. 👉🏾 Your Turn: Add on elements that shows your value: sourcing local vendors including minority owned, reducing waste, and tying a cause to your event. My key takeaway: Your attendees don't just want to show up. They want a new lived experience, discover something new and have a story worth telling. The question you should always ask during the event planning phase is what story will attendees leave telling. P.S. Did you find this helpful?