Engagement is More Than a Coffee Break or Open Bar
- Recorded January 18, 2022
Why do people go to events? To learn, yes. But also very much to meet and connect with colleagues and peers. In many cases, this connectivity is actually what’s worth the price of admission; it’s what attracts attendees and sponsors and gets them to return to your next event. But, despite the high-value attendees and exhibitors place on meeting other people, events largely leave this to chance. We set out coffee and hope it connects people. We offer an open bar and assume it will be a magical lubricant to generate great partnerships. Alas, people often walk away from events feeling like those magical moments didn’t happen. To address this, the session will really focus on easy, practical ways to build in real networking and human engagement to your events (online or in-person) and therefore add significant value that keeps people coming back over and over.
EVA welcomes Lee Gimpel from Better Meetings to discuss the best practices for an enhanced engagement at virtual meetings and conferences.
What you’ll learn:
- Understand the connection between networking quality, satisfaction, and event ROI
- Learn 3 connection techniques to apply to your own events.
- Identify a practical opportunity within your own events to improve connection.
Who should attend:
- Meeting and Conference Planners
- Education Directors, Managers, and Coordinators
How to prepare:
- You’ll be part of an interactive event, not a passive presentation.
- Join on a desktop or laptop, not devices with small screens, i.e., phones or tablets.
- Plan to use a computer with a working microphone, camera, and speakers.
- Have some paper and a pen handy.
Speakers/Moderators
Lee Gimpel, Founder, Better Meetings
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Lee Gimpel is the founder of Better Meetings in Washington, DC. The firm helps organizations turn meetings from boring and unproductive to engaging and effective, be they staff meetings, board meetings, retreats, or annual conferences. His work blends meeting facilitation, audience engagement, collaborative innovation, and human-centered design.
Vinnu Deshetty, CEO and Founder, EVA Event Tech Hub
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Vinnu Deshetty is the Founder and CEO of EVA – Event Tech Hub helping clients embrace digital tools that improve their attendee experiences while making the meeting planner’s job easier. With over 25 years of meeting and conference planning experience in the association and nonprofit industries, Vinnu brings a unique understanding of both the tech and event planning worlds. Vinnu focuses on making tech accessible and productive for meeting planners. She leads development teams to bring a sense of humanity to AI development making EVA’s technology a reality that is easily implemented and activated. Raised as a coal miner’s daughter in western Kentucky, Vinnu stays true to her southern roots by valuing community in both her personal and professional lives. She obtained a Bachelor of Science from Vanderbilt University and a Master of Public Administration. Vinnu now works and resides in the Washington, DC area.
