Intentionally Connecting With Your Guests

At your events, the most important thing you can do is connect with your guests. Attendees come to the event from many different places, some are already close to the organizations, some are just trying it out for the first time, and then there is everyone in between. I find it really easy to get lost in a good conversation and then miss an opportunity to meet someone new or connect in a deeper way with a guest still learning more about the organization.

Especially when you have an event that is well attended, it is important that staff and key volunteers can come into an event with a couple of assignments. Assign two or three names of guests to each internal attendee before the event. It’s a good idea to do a little bit of research beforehand that will help staff get a conversation started. Let them know the names of the people you want them to connect with and give them a little fact about those guests such as where they work or if they are a part of rotary. Sometimes those little facts are a great way to start a conversation.

This way you can focus on a couple of key actions yourself and you know that every guest will be taken care of. Circle back with each internal player after the event and ask them how their conversations were. This reinforces the value of the internal individual as well as allowing you to capture some valuable information on the attendees after the event. If your guests receive a take-away packet or are considering making a gift, you now have a person who can naturally follow up with them.