In business, building relationships is a crucial part of being successful. You can’t grow without strengthening the connections between yourself and other people. Why? Well, humans are social animals at heart. We thrive on positive interactions; they’re almost as important to us as food and water. It just makes sense that our work will improve when we have a network of good relationships built around us.
A positive business relationship enables you to direct your momentum toward improving and enhancing your organization rather than overcoming the issues that come with negative interactions. In other words, it pays to put your energy into improving relations with the people in your industry. And there’s no better place to encounter a number of folks in your particular industry than a conference, which makes conferences an ideal place to build these vital relationships.
Create An Environment For Relationship Building
You can make your conference a prime spot for solidifying new relationships in a number of ways. Offering ample opportunity for attendees to mingle will not just give them the chance to relax and ingest the information you’ve been giving them but it will also allow them to network.
Networking might sound like a buzzword, but it’s really a very valuable way for attendees to share their experiences and exchange information, offering them even more value from the conference. They can trade ideas, tell about their successes and failures, and go back to their day-to-day with many new contacts who understand their particular pain points better than anyone else. They can return the favor, offering to lend an ear to hear about another attendee’s issues and offering to help grow their business in any way possible. It’s a win/win for everyone!
If conference attendees are given plenty of time to get to all of the other people who are in attendance, from peers in the industry to vendors, networking will occur naturally. As people exchange ideas and build memories through genuine interactions, they will develop positive feelings about the conference itself. What else can you do to enhance these feelings, ensuring that your attendees will be eager to come back to the conference again next year?
Tips for In-Conference Relationship Building
Daily Interaction— Mealtimes are an excellent way to ensure that attendees are able to spend time networking. Plan special themed meals to entice people to join in the fun!
Games— Of course, there are the old-fashioned “ice breaker” games, but technology has advanced to the point that games can be introduced to your presentations. A tool like OptionPower Group Competition Module will allow you to create an easy and fun game using one of our templates, encouraging engagement and interaction with some gentle competition.
Creative Sessions— Avoid the standard sessions in which someone stands at the front of the room and talks at a group of people who are struggling to stay awake. Introduce some fun to your session, allowing attendees to share ideas, successes, and failures, building relationships as they learn.
Overall, relationship building will not just benefit your attendees, but it will also lead to positive feedback and good word-of-mouth that will improve attendance in the future. A person who leaves a conference feeling energized by the connections they’ve made and the new information offered will share these experiences with their friends, colleagues, and other contacts within the industry.
Are you interested in learning more about increasing the value of your conference? Download our ebook today!
