For Any Event, Prevent This! "Are You Ready to Leave Yet?"
You might know someone or maybe that someone is yourself who is ready to leave an event before it has even started. I kind of feel that way about surgery, but some people feel that way about events and weddings. I don't know if it's the opposite of the way kids can be on a road trip and they are saying, "Are we there, yet?" or maybe they grow up to be adults wanting to leave any event early. You know who they usually are. Typically it's a husband leaning sideways toward his wife's ear to say, "Are you ready to leave yet?" If it's really bad he might say, "I'll be out in the car".
When you're hosting an event you've obviously put a lot of time, money, thought and energy into something that will not last nearly as long. A host will often feel disappointed or like a failure if their guests leave early. Everyone should host an event to see what that might feel like. For a business event, it can feel like a failure to meet your ROI. (Return on Investment) but it's not really a good measure for that. There are a couple of simple things that will make people stay longer.
For a social event, I found one thing that works to keep even the most reluctant attendees from leaving early! In my experience, it's been having an ice cream cart or truck. Trucks are better in hot weather, obviously. Ben and Jerry's (my favorite) is only one of similar operations. Dessert trucks are great, too. Everyone becomes a kid again and will find ways to get in line multiple times to try each flavor in a cone. Then, little justification is needed to try another flavor without a cone. It reminds me of variables and probability.
For a social event, I found one thing that works to keep even the most reluctant attendees from leaving early! In my experience, it's been having an ice cream cart or truck. Trucks are better in hot weather, obviously. Ben and Jerry's (my favorite) is only one of similar operations. Dessert trucks are great, too. Everyone becomes a kid again and will find ways to get in line multiple times to try each flavor in a cone. Then, little justification is needed to try another flavor without a cone. It reminds me of variables and probability.
Remember the cone holds the ice cream, but the ice cream holds the power!
Music is another key to having people linger. Music affects more areas of the brain and will also make people remember your event. When I'm helping a client plan an event, I frequently go into a science lesson as to why this is the case.
Remember these simple tricks that will make your guests want to stay longer whether they know the reason or not!
As always,
