Memorable Closing Activities for Conferences

🤔Ever heard of the “primacy recency effect”? People tend to remember mainly how you start and end a meeting. Therefore, the way you conclude your session imprints on the memory of your participants and should not be a careless afterthought. 💡 Coming back to the 5E #experiencedesign model, the 4th stage is the #EXIT. WHAT NOT TO DO: 👎 End with a Q&A - it puts people in a questioning state of mind and does not help them feel the learning journey has landed 👎 End with logistics - these can be the 2nd to last thing you do but people remember emotional feelings like connection or ending on a fun / high so make the end count! WHAT TO DO INSTEAD: 👍 End with action steps - This can be as simple as asking everyone to type into the chat or share out loud how they will use this #experience and the learning outcomes moving forward 🎯It’s easy for participants to say they want to do EVERYTHING they learned, but that’s not how #behaviorchange happens. People can get overwhelmed trying to take on too much and eventually give up. It’s much more realistic to have participants pinpoint 1 or 2 key focus areas so they can manage to achieve their goals! 👍 End with #connection - leave the meeting on a high and memorable note! The mere act of ending with a connecting activity helps to foster a feeling of belonging in the group, which may very much encourage them to come back for another workshop! 🤝 For today’s #TrainerToolTuesday, here are some ideas for better closings: 💡Invite everyone to self-reflect with music to the question 🤔 What’s an observable behavior / actionable takeaway / intention / challenge / next step (pick your fav!) you want to be sure to put into practice after this event? 💡For small groups: Go around the Zoom circle and ask each person to share out loud their key takeaways or learning outcomes and at least one action they will take to apply their learning 💡For large groups: Encourage them to share in the chat their response to the prompt 💡 Create accountability partners to help them put the learning into practice Make breakout rooms for participants to share their next action steps and even find ways to support each other and/or set specific deadlines by when they will meet and report on their progress. 💡Have everyone pick an image card that describes how they are feeling leaving the training 💡End with a gratitude circle / chatterfall having participants share with one another what they appreciate about each other 💡 Collaborative drawing activity to re-create a collective visual image of the training (great for longer programs) 💡 1 minute Rampage of Appreciation for participants to celebrate themselves for their effort and growth throughout the learning process 💡 End with music, zoom waves (spirit fingers), virtual high fives, and even a dance party. Ask everyone to unmute and say goodbye all together before exiting. 🧐 What are YOUR favorite ways to end a #learningexperience? Let me know below👇

How you leave an event is AS important as how you are welcomed. 2025 will be the year we move from event planning to moment planning. What does that mean? Successful events will obsess over every moment of the attendee’s journey. Great events are stepping up the welcome. They offer: - Airport badge pick-up - Registration areas with music and food - AI-powered chatbots for key info - Hotel reception and registration What about the goodbye? In January I was in beautiful San Diego for PCMA Convening Leaders and they had a wonderful event person at the airport waving goodbye at the TSA lane. It clicked for me. The way you bid farewell to attendees matters. Quite a lot. Here are some starting points: - I remember attending the first Cvent Connect at the Peabody in 2015. They gave be a bagged lunch for my trip. It’s been almost 10 years, and I still remember it. - When you attend a Boldpush+ event, we provide the video recording, the slides, an audio-only version of the session to listen to podcast style, an executive summary, and key takeaways. I attended the Event Leadership Summit at Connect Marketplace, and we had a very useful Zoom call one month after the event to discuss key industry challenges as a group. A community can be as heavy as a follow-up call. - The video recaps events like MPI’s WeCon, C2 Montreal and Connect Marketplace you can find on my LinkedIn profile are more than brochures with people drinking champagne, they provide practical takeaways I attended AdWorld last year, and as soon as the event was over, I received a sizeable discount for next year. I used it. Can you share any more ‘goodbye’ items from events you planned or attended?

After three years of doing the majority of my meeting & workshop #facilitation work virtually, I still find that there is nothing like the energy and connection of being together in person. Here are some participant takeaways from a recent #leadershipretreat that demonstrate how important it was for us to create the time and space to come together #inperson. The activity I used for closing out the meeting is called “Snowball," and it’s one of my favorite reflection methods. Everyone gets a blank piece of paper and thick black marker, and writes their one big take-away from the day on the paper, anonymously. We then crumple our papers up into a ball, or “snowball,” toss them up into the air, and then everyone grabs a snowball from the ground and reads it aloud. It’s one of my favorite activities for closing an in-person meeting that promotes self-reflection, group cohesion, and it's fun! It also allows me, the #facilitator, to informally assess the participants’ learning and experiences. What is your favorite way to close out a meeting or workshop? #workshopfacilitation #meetingdesign #humancentereddesign