The year 2016 no doubt has been the best for some while for some, it was gloomy. In terms of events and entertainments it’s been a year filled with rewarding experiences in non-general terms. However, with the year 2016 gradually exiting like a perfume, events and entertainment planners must in terms of looking forward begin to make hay when the sun shines. Find below very unconventional ways to make 2017 the best that events and entertainment has to offer.

Learn from where you were.
Experience they say is the best teacher; there is no experience without an event. Its time you looked back to know where you are. There is a saying that if you forget where you are coming from, then you may not know where you are going. Event and entertainment planners must a matter of seriousness begin to do a retrospect and begin to find better ways of delivering better experiences. Event is all about experiences and must be in the fore of your mind, heart and page. If yours, was a year of failure, then congratulations, because you made a giant leap for trying; after all. It would have been more disastrous if you did not try at all. Well, if yours was successful don’t say hurray yet, because it could have been better than it was. Looking backwards let you re-strategies for the better. Please this time around think out of the box. Don’t go for conventional methods because your clients and guest are tired of seeing the same thing all over again. Modern inventions would have never been made if conventional methods were used. You must make this a target “my events must deliver a whole experience or else I’ll never roll it out”. If it does not work on page, it will never work on the stage.

You don’t know your guest yet

Never make a mistake to think you have known your guest enough. We live in very interesting times and change is the only constant thing. Successful events and entertainment planners are the ones who know their guest’s ever changing needs and behavior; simply put psychographics. In this jet age, guests have little or no time and will definitely bounce anything that will never favour the worth of their time. It’s about what they need and not want you want. They will listen to you if you have what you they want. Do a thorough research to know your guest in and out. Take a survey, initiate a persona, listen to their inner thoughts and be close to their pulse. According to John Levine, the founding Director of Northwestern university’s media management center, the harder it is to know your guest the better it is for you and the better it gets in terms of knowing your guest. Once you have their attention to your side you have got their loyalty. Then top of their mind’s recall will be you and you only even though there would be others winking at them.

Think out of the box.

You will have done wonderfully well after getting their loyalty but that does not guarantee their continued loyalty. For instance, Coca cola remains coca cola but keeps beating the imagination of their loyal fans; I mean those that identify with the brand either through drinking of the soft or by just admiring the soft drink. They keep bringing out new programmes that resonate with the heartbeat of the people, appealing to almost all age grades. This is in spite of being the world leading non-alcoholic beverage
Thinking out of the box means that you will never do things the same way; yours should be looking for ways to give your guest an experience they will never forget in a hurry. It means doing things differently from the rest and working to be known for doing things in a particular way. Engagement is a word consistently used in the social media parlance to mean a two way communication model between a particular audience and an entity whether individual or cooperate. During engagement you get to hear the audience and know what they want, how, where and when they want it, their likes and dislikes, even up to their fears and emotions.
In conclusion, events and entertainment planners and managers must re-engineer their style and strategy all to suit their guest needs creating an atmosphere where guest will part with an unforgettable experience.

Written by
Mfon Barry

Mfon Barry is a PR professional, a content manager and a social media Strategist with Doxa Digital.
Contact: realmfon@gmail.com