The American Marketing Association emphasizes good fun, great food and an atmosphere of connection at all of its events. Whether it’s bringing in an Elvis lookalike or inviting attendees to dress up in costume, there are endless ways to maintain the balance between work and fun at your event. Photo by Mark Campbell

It’s the body language that association meeting planners can spot from a mile away — heads buried in smartphones, eyes glazed over, folks yawning and staring off into space. It all tells them that an event has lost its audience. Whether it’s a speaker who has run over the allotted time, or the after-lunch slump or some other unintended element, keeping up the energy at an event isn’t always easy, but planners have plenty of tools they can use to keep attendees attentive, excited and engaged.

First Impressions

Your event destination plays a pivotal role in luring attendees, building excitement and delivering a memorable experience. For large organizations that host annual meetings, selecting a new location each year will drive increased registrations and set the tone for a dynamic event, while also giving each gathering its own identity and appeal.

As vice president of professional development for the American Marketing Association, Molly Soat plans meetings throughout the year, including the organization’s annual meeting for marketers who work at higher education institutions. “Every other year, we focus on the West Coast, and then the East Coast, for this event,” she says.

Consider planning offsites at museums, aquariums, historic landmarks and centers for arts and culture to keep the energy flowing during a working session. You can also encourage attendees to explore these attractions after the sessions end. These unique experiences provide attendees with opportunities to network, unwind and immerse themselves in the local culture while also building bonds.

As the conference services director for the North American Society for Trenchless Technology (NASTT), Michelle Hill plans the annual NASTT No-Dig Show, the largest trenchless technology conference in the world, welcoming around 2,000 attendees on average. NASTT’s No-Dig North show, held in Canada annually, hosts about 1,000. The multiday conferences offer courses, technical sessions, an exhibition hall, networking events and more, and Hill has been working to integrate the uniqueness of the conference locations into inspiring offsites. Part of this effort stems from the lessons of post-pandemic out-of-the-box planning. “Ever since COVID, we have been more focused on trying to do some new things,” Hill says.

For the 2025 No-Dig North, she planned an offsite at the Niagara Parks Power Station & Tunnel, which opened just a few years ago. The venue is a restored hydroelectric power station, originally constructed over a century ago. Hill’s attendees descended 180 feet below the generator hall in a glass-enclosed elevator, viewing the many underground floors of the station on their way down to the historic, 2,200-foot-long tunnel. Starting in 1905, the power station’s spent water flowed through this engineering marvel as it made its way back to the Niagara River.

“We’re in the sewer water main line business, so being by the falls is just spectacular for our water people,” Hill explains. “We actually had one of the engineers that worked on the project, converting the building. He was our keynote speaker for our breakfast, and then we had a social event there the next evening … I’ve been event planning for almost 30 years, and it was one of the best venues I’ve ever been in.” She concedes that offsites aren’t as budget-friendly compared to staying in one location, but as attendees leave both energized and inspired, it’s something she’s prioritizing as she looks ahead.

Setting the Scene

Creating an energetic event starts long before attendees arrive, by leveraging newsletters and other outreach materials to build excitement and engagement from the outset. For example, some organizations announce the next event’s location with a creative reveal, such as a video or performance at the conclusion of the current event. This strategy keeps attendees’ energy high as they anticipate the next meeting. Pairing the reveal with an exciting giveaway — such as a helicopter tour or exclusive experience tied to the destination — amplifies the excitement.

In the months leading up to the event, maintain momentum with consistent communication. Post announcements about registration deadlines, keynote speakers and workshop topics. Engage your association’s online community by conducting interactive polls to gather input on components, including breakout session themes. This approach not only increases anticipation but also ensures that the content aligns with attendees’ interests. You can also generate buzz by sharing short videos of high-profile speakers previewing their sessions, or by posting about compelling topics. You could even release short interviews from association leadership hyping the event to give a glimpse of valuable insights attendees can expect, creating anticipation that builds over time.

Seamless From the Start

“When considering how to keep the energy up for attendees at an event, it’s really important to create a flow and a story throughout the day, and think about the kinds of content that they are engaging with at different times of day,” Soat says.

Setting an agenda with clearly stated start and end times is also essential. A well-structured schedule sets expectations and ensures participants know what to anticipate each day, alleviating any worry about when they’ll have time to, for example, answer important emails, touch base with the office or clients or make personal calls. When attendees can balance sessions with ample time to tend to professional and personal needs, they are more likely to stay present and more fully absorb the information being shared.

From the instant attendees register online to the moment they pick up their badges onsite, every interaction should be hassle-free to keep the vibe optimistic and positive. Consider creating a mobile app via a platform such as Yapp, CrowdComms, eShow or others, as they can be used to communicate critical information, including the agenda, interactive maps, speaker bios and networking tools. Push notifications and real-time updates ensure that attendees are always informed.

“Using an app replaced our 120+ page onsite printed notebook back in 2021,” Hill says. “When we had to throw them all out in 2020 after canceling our conference just a few weeks before due to COVID, we knew we needed to switch to a greener and more cost-effective way to communicate.” After trying a few app platforms, Hill is using eShow for the 2025 event, as it features the agenda, locations, speaker listings, bios and exhibitor/sponsor advertisements and listings. “The added benefits include real-time updates, survey data, more robust exhibitor and sponsor listings and push notifications when we really want attendees to pay attention to something happening right then and there.” Hill adds that attendees can use the app to build their personal schedules for the day by flagging certain sessions, events or exhibit hall hours and then viewing a summary of the items they selected. “It’s also an easy way for attendees to connect with one another while they are onsite, and well after the conference is over.”

Even better, planners can extract valuable analytics from these apps, such as seeing which sessions lured the most attendees, and other data to help plan future events.

Keeping the energy up also starts with creating a space in which attendees feel welcome and included, Soat says. “A big, big focus for the AMA, really a key performance indicator when we look at our live events, is: Do folks feel welcome when they come to our event?” she explains. “That shows up in a lot of different places, right? We make sure that we have gender-neutral and inclusive bathrooms. We make sure that we have self-care rooms — that could be for any kind of physical needs that folks may have, some comfortable privacy.”

Another way the association makes members feel included and energized is by offering menus for all diets and food restrictions. “We make sure that we reach out to our attendees beforehand so they feel welcome to let us know exactly what they might need throughout the day,” Soat adds. “All of those things are really, I think, going to make people feel most open and ready for learning and really stretching that professional development muscle.”

Programming Success

Kicking off the day’s programming with fresh and inspired energy can be a tall order, and Soat doesn’t leave that to chance. “We always have a dynamic and energetic speaker first thing in the morning,” she says. “That first program is really an opportunity for folks to get in the right mindset, to be absorbing, to be learning, to really be creative and, maybe, in some cases, get outside their comfort zone and be thinking differently about their work, and maybe be thinking differently about how they learn to do their work.”

Soat also says that sessions longer than 45 minutes should be interactive. “We want folks having their blood pumping, having their mind going and really being creative,” she explains. There are many ways to digitally engage attendees, from incorporating live polling to using an app, texting or any method that enables attendees to directly ask questions of speakers or panelists, fostering a two-way dialogue that keeps participants engaged. “We make sure that our instructors, our speakers, our workshop teachers incorporate that into their programming,” Soat adds.

As vice president of administration and member relations for the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts (AICU Mass), Kaitlyn Pires plans meetings for the organization. She says that while focusing on the meeting content is key, it’s also important to give attendees time to decompress. “Making sure that you build in appropriate break times is good so that people feel comfortable to get up and have a quick phone break,” Pires says. “I think that’s always huge during the meeting, so that they know that … they can check their emails, which keeps their focus when the speakers are talking.”

Hill says the pandemic forced her staff to get creative, and part of that meant abandoning old traditions and discovering new — and successful — ways to approach their planning.

“It was kind of a way for us to re-energize and definitely look at doing some different things to make sure that we’re giving everything we need to give to our attendees,” she adds. One example was doing away with formal, sit-down dinners and lunches and embracing more casual, networking-focused events that combined dining and mingling. “Rather than a gala dinner and an award ceremony where we’re sitting there for an hour watching people get awards, we’ve stripped that down and said: ‘You know what? We’ll certainly honor a few people for 10 or 15 minutes, but we want people to be able to network and get the most out of the event, rather than just sitting there with nine other people for three hours,” she says.

Hill and her team at NASTT created a casino-themed networking event with food stations to foster an environment for attendees to mix and mingle while enjoying low-stakes fun along the way. “That’s been really successful for us, something people just loved. It just brings a different energy to it, going from, you know, no offense, a stuffy gala to a more high-energy, casino-themed, fun event, has been really fun for us as staff.”

After seeing the response, Hill reconsidered the sit-down lunches at the organization’s conferences as well. “We had put it back in [the agenda] once the COVID restrictions lifted, but we realized again: ‘Do people just want to sit here with a handful of people, or, and especially for our exhibitors, do they want more time in front of them?’” Hill says. “So, we moved it to a more casual lunch where they could grab and go, and put it in the exhibit hall instead of in the ballroom. That gave our exhibitors more time in front of our attendees, which, you know, they always do appreciate.”

Energizing With Inclusivity

With nearly 20 years of experience at the association, Pires also knows how to read a room better than most. It’s a tenured skill, and one that empowers her to make tweaks in real time if necessary. “If you’re looking around and people are on their phones, and if the energy doesn’t feel like it’s where you want it to be, we do have the ability to pivot,” she says. “I’ve worked with our CEO, who’s been here for 19 years, so the ability to send a message from across the room that we need to move on, or to try to push the speaker — we can do that, and I think that does prevent people from losing interest if things start to go on a little long.”

Soat adds that as she’s planning an event’s programming, she makes sure there’s a healthy balance of skills-based content. “It’s really a big focus for AMA, really important for us to think: ‘How are folks going back to their job and doing their job better right away? How are we giving them the tools and the insights that they need to be better at their job right away?’” Soat says, adding that it’s important to allow ample time for speakers and attendees to “dig in deeply” with certain topics.

Prioritizing Wellness

Centering self-care is critical for both meeting planners and attendees, but wellness can look different to different people. For planners, building dedicated time into the meeting agenda for wellness enables and incentivizes attendees to take ownership of — and fully focus on — their self-care. This can manifest in a multitude of ways. You can organize opt-in wellness activities, including guided meditation sessions, chair yoga or deep-breathing exercises. You might also simply offer designated wellness zones, such as a quiet or screen-free space to encourage attendees to beat burnout by resting and recalibrating as needed. In their material or on the app, include maps with local walking or running routes so your visitors can get some fresh air, decompress and take in the destination — all while sticking to the same healthy habits they maintain at home.

Pires says she works with the catering teams at her meeting venues well in advance to be sure that, in addition to the ubiquitous coffee and pastry stations, there are more nutritious snacks to keep attendees’ energy up. This can include protein or granola bars, fruit, parfaits and other healthy offerings that they can grab on the go or take into meetings.

But wellness efforts don’t just benefit attendees — they are key to helping planners stay productive and energized, as well.

“I think it’s super important, and so we have done it internally with our staff, where I bring in a [therapist] and do staff chair massages, because some of us are onsite for nine days. They’re very long days,” Hill says. She adds that while NASTT attendees have not asked for wellness practices in their feedback, it is on her radar. “I would love to incorporate it with the attendees. It just hasn’t been something that’s really been requested … yet.”

Planning an effective event that is both energizing and inspiring is all in the details. You have to think outside the box, celebrate the best of the destination and set expectations. You must also organize thoughtful and diverse programming, embrace new technologies, continually communicate vital information and give attendees the chance to rest and recharge. Do all that and even your most demanding event will be one to remember. | AC&F |