I wrote this about the phenomenon experienced at events in my book, entitled Power to the Meetings: “When event organising brings you happiness, unique energy is born with it. We are like theatre performers, and we cannot fake our hugs, kisses or meetings. Similar to acting, event organising has to be felt, understood and lived. Time and time again, we search for on-stage chemistry. Participants can feel this, as they are attracted by the scent of events and their surroundings and united by human closeness. Brave and authentic stories always win. A full-breed event organiser speaks with their soul and body and leaves their heart on the stage.”
Event organising is love at first sight. As it is such a complex area, it seems bold that we dare to define and toy with such complex emotions.
As event attendees, we usually evaluate an event’s success through two interconnected aspects. On the one hand, technical quality includes satisfaction with the content, technical execution, and event logistics, which are prerequisites for events with happy, grinning attendees. On the other hand, subjective functionality is related to events. It is measured by psychological and emotional stimuli and trust, which is impossible to measure.
In practice, poor functionality can ruin the impression of an excellent technical execution and vice versa. Creating happiness and satisfied attendees is a never-ending process. In this sense, event organising is like elite sports.
Thus, it seems almost unbelievable that we still spend so much time at boring events. Countless studies on this topic confirm that we waste too much time on unnecessary events, boring social meetings or uninteresting conferences:
A study by Microsoft has shown that the average employee spends ten hours on meetings weekly. Half of those are unproductive or unnecessary.
That means we spend five hours at boring or redundant meetings weekly. According to research by Verizon, 91% of people daydream during events, while 39% said they have at least once fallen asleep.
A survey by Eventbrite has shown that 41% of attendees at business events believe a part of the event was a waste of time.
According to a study by OnePoll, an average person spends over two hours weekly in social situations they find boring.
There are copious reasons for boring events. One of them is the radical decrease in attention span. In my experience, attendees have enough attention for one TedX meeting – between ten and twenty minutes. Then, even event organisers must think of new and original tricks to reinvent the wheel.
Two Pizza Rule
Whatever your take on Jeff Bezos, the tech magnate’s Two Pizza Rule seems rational. He advocates a simple rule that says the ideal size of a decision-makers’ meeting is rather small. A smaller group means more inclusivity, as no one can hide behind a throng of people and avoid responsibility. Bezos believes an effective meeting is one where the group members can be fed by two pizzas (between 6 and 8 attendees).
In other words, event organisers must ensure smooth event moderation and a thought-out concept. We must envisage effective event formats.
All of the above seems relevant today, although we are not the most crafty at implementing these principles.
Instead of dishing out valuable tips, I will conclude today’s article with a thought from Dan Podjed, who won the Bob Award of the Year in 2022, awarded by the Slovenian media house Večer. His award-winning statement was: “We are surrounded by countless gurus of happiness, who convince us that we are unsatisfied and must strive for more. But I think we will be the happiest when we stop striving for satisfaction and give attention to one another.”
P.S. Event organisers have a key role in shaping attendees’ experiences. A boring event is not only uncomfortable for the attendees but can detrimentally harm a brand’s reputation. Hence, event organising is a profession that, contrary to popular belief, not everyone can excel at. A professional event organiser ensures an event is well-designed, dynamic and peerless. Would you entrust the construction of your dream house to your relative or a professional architect and construction manager?
