Strategies for Personalizing Event Experiences

I’ve been having a lot of conversations with clients that need help with creating VIP experiences on tighter budgets. Sound familiar? I’m going to share some strategies for “smart luxury” so you can create more of those win-win premium experiences while keeping you on-budget and driving the results you want! But first…I love this quote: “Luxury means just giving more; hospitality means being more thoughtful”. Powerful, huh? But what does that mean? Example #1: Rather than spending $100 more on caviar for every attendee, investing in an “event concierge” who will sending a personalized email to every attendee before a special dinner to ask them if they have any special requests, share with them who they can expect to meet, the format, how much you’re looking forward to making personalized intros to them...  Why does this work? If you take the time to invest in getting to know your attendees and showing you’re invested in their personal experience, they are more likely to show up, be engaged, remember to take the action you want them to take after the event. Example 2: Rather than providing fancy but generic gifts, do a little time “researching” guests and personalize a welcome amenity to set the tone for the event. I once bought-out a hotel for an event, and they sent up a “blind tasting” wine experience to my room when I arrived since I had recently passed the Court Master Sommelier exam. They had researched that about me. It was so fun to have a playful moment where I got to taste wine and guess what they had selected for me (it was a Robert Sinsky pinot gris and yes, I still remember 10 years later because it was so personalized and unique!) Why does this work? That bottle of wine cost them roughly $30, but the thoughtfulness that they put into covering the bottle, printing out a blind tasting test from the Court master sommelier site, and delivering it with some nuts/olives and a fun note made such an impact on me, I’ve shared this story so many times! They could have instead sent up a $150 bottle of champagne, but I probably wouldn’t have opened it and also probably wouldn’t have remembered it from all the other bottles of champagne I’ve received. Fancier isn’t always better and thoughtfulness counts! Example 3: Listen and respond. I was once managing a Google Executive event and I noticed in our event app’s chat one attendee was complaining that he was really craving his afternoon Diet Coke fix. So I went to the nearest vending machine, and bought one to hand deliver to him. That Google client was so surprised/delighted that we had delivered what he was craving in the moment, that he booked a meeting with our SVP afterwards, and we closed a major deal! Hospitality is about making your guests comfortable, anticipating their needs, and then delivering a personalized and delightful experience. It can involve luxurious treats, but doesn’t need to. All it takes is time, intentionality and good old fashioned hospitality.

How do you take an experience that is typically 1-on-1 and turn it into 1-on-3,000? How do you make a gathering feel personal -- even at scale? It's possible! Just ask renowned therapist Esther Perel... I was struck by her small choices that turned a lecture into a conversation: 1. We entered the theater with prompts on the screen, "Why are you here", and "What do you hope to learn". These small invitations immediately pulled us in and helped us personalize the experience in our context. 2. "How many of you....", "Who is here..." - Esther asked us to raise our hands, or our phone flashlights to collect data, but more importantly to unite the room to show us what we all have in common. 3. She slowly asked for more vulnerability - inviting us during one especially meaningful section to connect with a small group of people to discuss additional prompts on the screen 4. While she did do an extended Q&A, it was a little different. She collected ~10 questions at once and then lumped and themed her answers together. It's easy to tune out as an audience member when the question isn't relevant to us. This choice helped us stay present and reminded us what these questions (and underlying needs) all have in common. Personalizing a gathering is possible -- even at scale. The biggest effect of all? Reminding us we are not alone.

I threw one of my dream events with FERMÀT last week - an intimate yacht party for senior leaders at top ecomm brands. I'm thrilled with how it turned out. Here are a few things I learned about throwing events like this.👇 1) Highly curated events take so much logistical work. But even if you plan the most perfect day-of experience ever, you need an incredible group of people in the room for an incredible attendee experience. Spend the time on 1:1 email & DM invites; it matters. 2) If there's someone you REALLY want to attend, send them a physical invite that's unforgettable. We sent some of our "dream attendees" a beautiful box with a message-in-a-bottle style physical invite. 3) Make the RSVP process as simple as possible. We tried two different methods - one that was techhy and "cool", and one that was just a basic Partiful. The Partiful test won. (You can always catch me testing & optimizing - even on event invites 🤣). 4) Go out of your way to personalize the event experience. We asked attendees their favorite beverage during the RSVP flow, and made sure we had their favorites on board, down to the brand. This included specific cocktails, N/A beers, hard kombucha, and more. 🥂 5) Add in some unexpected elements. We surprised guests with two different experiential activities on board - a speed painting activity and a mixology class. The activities were designed to inspire conversation and meaningful connection building. Optimize for fun. 6) Don’t give people sh*tty swag. Our guests were given custom FERMAT totes, whiskey glasses, and beautiful hardbound journals. Giving them takeaways they'll actually use and love keeps your brand top of mind. 7) Don't underestimate the value of the "little touches" that make your event unique. For us, this meant custom FERMAT flags on the boat, branded drink cans and straws, bench pillow slip covers, and more. 8) Thank people for attending in sincere ways. I hand-wrote a thank you note for each guest that attended, made time to speak to each attendee 1:1 as best I could, and am following up this week with invites to future events based on their preferences. -- If you'd like to be invited to future FERMÀT events in your city, let me know by adding your name to the VIP guest list here 👉 https://lnkd.in/gR65bkJ4 -- Shoutout to Rishabh Jain, Shreyas Kumar, Evelyn Xue & Rabah Rahil for giving me the opportunity to throw something so rad. Major thanks to Brennan Keough, Hannah Merrill, & Shane Kovalsky for your hard work in making this event so magical. 🙏