Your event should be an investment — not a cost

The typical internal conference

I've taken part in events large and small where most attendees are really just waiting for the party that's usually held in the evening when the company has called everyone together.

Hundreds of people sit in an audience being bombarded with messages from different speakers on stage. Messages that sometimes contradict each other, which makes the audience's interest waver even more — and they remind themselves of that important email that just has to be answered. The phone slips out of the pocket or handbag, and the presenter lost the room a long time ago.

The result: the cost is high and the investment minimal. It can also lead leadership teams to question the point of arranging this kind of meeting next month, next quarter or next year. A decision that in turn can lead to lower productivity and lower morale among the most important resource in the company — the people.

This is what I want to fix

Through my services, my goal is for your event to be exactly Yours — and for you to invest in meeting your employees, your customers or other stakeholders. Again and again. So that the people who took part tell others about their experience.

An experience. Something that takes you to a new place of creativity, an active break from the everyday challenges. Something that brings people together and lets new ideas form.

What it actually takes

To make this happen you need more than a good facilitator or konferencier who:

• gets to know what the company wants and stands for
• ties the messages together
• protects the timeline

Speakers need to prepare

It also requires that every speaker is well prepared and ready to deliver the message. Preparation that has to be allowed to take time. What will you say? How will you say it? What's the primary message? Do you really need PowerPoint? What happens if the tech fails? What are the others saying right before and after you? All of this is fairly simple — but it takes a bit of time.

Think about how a play would be if the actors hadn't rehearsed beforehand. Your memory of that night would, at best, be okay.