Creating an event community is a great way to increase attendance and engagement at your events. By engaging with your attendees on a deeper level, you can create a more enjoyable experience for everyone involved.
In this article, we will discuss how to build an event community that leads to success.
Introduction: What is an event community?
Event communities are online social networks that allow people to connect with others who are also attending or planning to attend events. They can be found on websites and apps, and typically offer features such as shared event information, discussion forums, and photo galleries.
Event communities can be helpful for organizing and planning events, finding friends and partners, and meeting new people.
Why is an event community important?
Event communities are essential for both organizers and attendees. Organizers can find support and advice from fellow event enthusiasts, while attendees can find new friends and stay updated on the latest events. It also helps them with their marketing concept.
Event communities provide an offline forum for discussing events in a confidential setting. This prevents attendees from feeling intimidated or uncomfortable when asking questions or sharing feedback.
Event communities also help to foster creativity and innovation. By encouraging collaboration, Event communities facilitate the development of new ideas for events and promote the spread of best practices across the community. This helps to ensure that every event is unique and offers something special to participants.
The Benefits of Building an Event Community
Developing an event community can be a great way to connect with others who are also interested in events, build relationships, and promote your event. Here are four benefits of building an event community:
1. Increased awareness and engagement
When you create a community around your events, people are more likely to become aware of them and take action. This could mean inviting friends to join you at the event or promoting it on social media.
2. Greater attendance and participation
Building a community around your events can lead to increased attendance and participation. People who are interested in events may want to join your group and participate in the discussions. This can help encourage others to attend future events as well.
3. Enhanced branding opportunities
When event planners have a community of event enthusiasts, they have the opportunity to network with potential clients and partners. It helps them in developing a marketing strategy.
4. Increased members
Event planners can also attract new group members, engage them in discussions, and get them involved in future events.
The 3 Types of Event Communities
There are many different types of event communities, but they all have one common thread- they’re all built around a shared interest or activity. Here are three types of event communities:
1. Hobbyist Event Communities
Hobbyists are community members who love to engage in creative activities and often form communities around them. For example, a musician might form a community of fellow musicians, a photographer might form a community of other photographers, and so on.
These communities can be incredibly supportive and helpful to each other, and they offer opportunities for members to exchange advice, feedback, and ideas.
2. Private employee community
Private employee communities are similar to hobbyist communities in that they are created around a specific interest or activity. The main difference here is that they’re formed by people who work together on a regular basis, and they often meet outside of the workplace.
3. Private organizational community
Private organizational communities are similar to private employee communities, but they’re formed around an organization or business.
Types of community platforms that will help your event succeed
There are three main types of event community platforms: social networks, website/mobile app-based platforms, and event management platforms.
Social networks
Social networks are the most popular type of platform, as they allow organizers to create a profile for each event and post updates and announcements. This allows attendees to find events easily and connect with other attendees before, during, and after the event.
Website and mobile app-based platforms
These platforms allow event organizers to sell tickets or merchandise related to their events to the community members, thereby, helping in your marketing strategy. This can help offset costs associated with hosting an event and provide additional revenue.
Event management platforms
Event management platforms are useful for organizing all aspects of an event, from registration to ticket sales to help event organizers in the marketing concept.. They can help manage the logistics of an event, from creating a timeline for the event to managing ticket inventory.
How to create an event community platform that achieves success
Building an event community platform is a difficult task, but it can be done successfully if the right steps are taken.
1. Build community guidelines
Guidelines can help keep the event organized and running smoothly, as well as ensure that everyone who attends the event has a positive experience. By following these guidelines, organizers can create a welcoming environment for all participants.
Some tips for creating community guidelines include setting clear expectations for behavior, establishing rules of engagement, and providing resources (such as FAQs or meeting times) for newcomers.
It’s also important to be transparent about how decisions are made and to provide a forum for feedback. By building a foundation of trust, organizers can create strong bonds between participants and create lasting memories of their events.
2. Create a waitlist
Waitlists allow people to join the event when they are available, rather than forcing them to sign up immediately. This allows more people to get involved in the event and make it more likely that everyone who wants to attend will be able to.
Additionally, having a waitlist also ensures that the event will not fill up too quickly and that everyone who wants to participate can do so.
By creating a waitlist, organizers can also create a sense of community among those who are interested in the event and help ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to participate.
3. Provide exclusive sign-ups
By offering exclusive sign-ups, businesses can ensure that their events are more desirable to potential customers. Additionally, by limiting the number of participants, businesses can create a more intimate experience for attendees. This enhances the connection between participants, making them feel more connected to the event and its purpose.
On the other hand, individuals can also benefit from exclusive sign-ups. By limiting the number of people who know about an event in advance, companies can avoid overcrowding and ensure that their events are more personal and memorable.
Furthermore, by signing up only those who are interested in attending, individuals can cut down on the amount of time they spend looking through potentially irrelevant listings. This allows them to focus on events and opportunities that are most relevant to them.
4. Have an event community manager
When organizing an event, it is important to find an event community manager who can help create a cohesive online presence for the event. This person can help promote the event on social media, manage RSVPs, and answer any questions that attendees may have.
In addition, having a community manager can increase the turnout for an event by fostering an engaging atmosphere among participants.
Additionally, finding a community manager who is familiar with your specific industry or topic can be helpful when building an event around that topic.
5. Focus on audience engagement
Attendee engagement is key when building an event community. Focusing on engaging attendees helps create a sense of connection and camaraderie, which can result in higher attendance and participation rates. Here are four strategies to help engage your attendees:
Have Live Q&A sessions
Make sure to enable your audience to ask questions at the event and also share their experience on what they enjoyed most. This allows you to better understand what you’re doing well and where you could improve, making it easier for you to continue creating great events.
Conduct livepoll
This is a great way to get feedback from your attendees and make sure you’re creating the best event possible. Sending out an online livepoll allows you to collect real-time feedback, which is essential for making improvements to your event.
Live quizzes
This is a great way to encourage collaboration and teamwork amongst your attendees. You can even use this technique to help create a sense of community amongst your event attendees.
Generate word clouds
Word clouds are a great way to get your attendees to visualize the outcome of your event. By using a word cloud generator, you can help visualize the different outcomes and make it easier for your attendees to see the big picture.
6. Plan hybrid events
Hybrid events, or events that incorporate both physical event venues and virtual events, can be much helpful event community. By including both elements, you can create a stronger connection with your event attendees and create a more engaging experience for all.
Additionally, you can foster even greater connections between event attendees by tailoring the event to your community’s interests and needs. Planning hybrid events is beneficial because it allows organizers to manage a large-scale event while still maintaining the intimacy of in-person gatherings.
Furthermore, by integrating social media platforms into your event planning, event organizers can increase engagement and build a following before ever hosting an event. Finally, by incorporating interactive activities and competitions into your events, you can engage participants on an individual level in the hybrid event venue as well as encourage group interactions.
7. Find event sponsors
Sponsorship is an important part of community building. Sponsoring events allows organizers to build a strong relationship with their event attendees, which can help promote and grow the event. Additionally, sponsorships provide financial support that can be used to improve the quality of the event experience for all participants.
Finding event sponsors is a critical step in community building. By networking with potential donors, organizers can develop relationships that will be beneficial when seeking funds for future events.
Additionally, finding sponsors who share similar interests or values to your own is beneficial because it strengthens bonds within the community.
When searching for event sponsors, it is important to target those who are interested in your event and who have the resources available to support it. Event organizers should be sure to clearly outline the goals and objectives of their event in order to make sponsorship proposals more appealing.
8. Create a discussion board
Creating a discussion board is beneficial for encouraging community conversation. By providing information, participants can create a foundation for discussions and connect with others who are interested in the same events.
Participation in the discussion board also allows organizers to gauge interest in upcoming events and make necessary changes before launch.
Additionally, by hosting discussions, organizers can create a welcoming environment for newcomers and encourage all members to actively participate.
9. Have a membership plan
By offering your memberships at different levels, you can create a sense of community and loyalty among your attendees. This will help to boost attendance and keep people coming back for more events.
Additionally, by providing different benefits and privileges to members who commit to attending more events, you can encourage involvement in your community. Having a membership plan also helps you control the flow of information and keeps people from becoming too attached to one specific event or group.
Ultimately, having a membership plan is essential for any event planner looking to build an active and loyal community of people interested in their events. It also boosts your branding opportunities and enables your business to grow.
10. Provide valuable content
By providing valuable content, organizers can attract new followers and participants. Additionally, by being active in the community, organizers can provide support and advice to others.
However, while creating valuable content is important, it is also necessary to be approachable and engaging. This means providing useful tips as well as answering questions.
In addition to being helpful and informative, organizers should also be entertaining and engaging. This way, participants will want to stay connected with the community and participate in future events.
Why use event management software?
Event management software has become increasingly popular among online communities for a variety of reasons.
First and foremost, event technology allows event organizers to keep track of all aspects of their events, from registration to post-event follow-up. They also make it easy to manage all aspects of an event’s communication and marketing efforts.
In addition, these programs make it easy for community members to find and join events, and to contribute content or ideas. It encourages community conversation and also conducts breakout sessions.
Finally, many event management software packages offer built-in social networking features that help communities build connections and create a sense of community.
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Wrap Up!
In conclusion, there are a number of strategies that organizers can use to build an event community. Some of these include providing valuable content, using event community platforms, and hosting hybrid events that are relevant to the participants. By taking the steps mentioned in this article, organizers can create a thriving event community around their event, leading to increased attendance and profitability.
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