The clever scientists at Yale University told us deliberately engaging all five senses at events has the ability to grasp attention, increase recall, and inspire conversation thus creating a truly memorable experience.
This is particularly important at conferences or meetings where it can be challenging to keep your delegates’ attention throughout the entire event. Similarly, at exhibitions, mass product launch events or buying roadshows, you need your product or service to cut through all the noise and stand-out against competitors.
Here are ways smart event planners are tapping into sensory experiences to deliver effective events.
Sight: Use captivating visual content to stimulate the sense of sight
Lighting can transform a plain stage into a dynamic environment. It can control the mood of a room, hype up its energy, add drama to a keynote speaker coming on stage and create an event-atmosphere that’s both striking and unforgettable.
Use visual content to stimulate the sense of sight. Start your gala dinner with a stunning multimedia presentation to ensure everyone remembers why they’re in the room and primed for what’s coming. For example, a charity fundraiser presenting videos of people who have really benefitted from donations or an awards night with highlights of sporting achievements from the past year. Themed events can use projection onto walls and surfaces to set the scene and immerse attendees.
Set up the perfect environment for taking photos at your event using an event backdrop communicating your brand or message and then encourage them to post on social media and display on screens in the room.
Sound: Create a memorable atmosphere with clever music and sound effects
We all have songs that take us back to a memory, emotion or time and place.
Nothing is more pleasant than having the right kind of sounds or music at an event. You want to create the perfect mood for your attendees – not irritate them, make them yell or struggle to hear.
Whether it’s creating an atmosphere, delivering a polished onstage interview, or a professional multimedia presentation, perfectly balanced audio is vital for a successful event. Imagine if the winner of your award couldn’t hear they’d won or if microphone feedback made your keynote speaker inaudible!
Taste: Tantalise attendees’ taste buds with strategic catering
How do we leave a pleasurable taste in the mouth of our attendees (literally and figuratively)? We all remember a really fantastic meal, or a really terrible one. The food you present can be just as much a part of your event theme as all the other elements. Think modern Australian for an international sales incentive; French delicacies for a burlesque theme; ribs and burgers are perfect for a taste of the Wild West and noodles and Asian delights for a Chinese New Year theme.
More practically, many attendees have a dietary preference, and making sure they are well taken care of shows you really care. Attendees remember that.
Smell: Don’t underestimate the power of smell at events
Smell is not to be sniffed at, it is an important and often overlooked element. The smell of chlorine reminds you of childhood summers by the pool. A familiar perfume. A new car smell…!
Smells at your event venue can be the one thing that makes or breaks it. Imagine if you stepped into a conference where the venue had just been refurbished and you were overcome by the smell or paint or carpet glue. That would be a sensory overload and not a good thing for an attendee to experience.
Scientists tell us our brains react to smell before anything else. Good retailers understand this fact. It improves our perception of a product’s quality and encourages customers to linger a little bit longer, thereby increasing interactions with the product.
Scent can really enhance and event, think Arabian Nights, the scent of pine and wood for an enchanted forest, delicious spices for Bollywood or the smell of salty sea air for an Underwater theme.
Touch: Textures, interactivity, activities at events
Of course there are many ways you can introduce a sense of touch, such as tactile styling elements, textured decorative panels, interactive technologies or even physical activities. Think about how the visual aspects of the props, decor, furniture and other physical objects at your event and how they will make it memorable.
Touching something creates a real connection. And that’s where touchable technology comes in. First made available in smartphones, the trend for ultra-responsive surfaces has accelerated and can now be incorporated into events.
Encore offer services that allow for interaction during your exhibition or event like touch screens and Touch Kiosk technology. You can use these touch screens for presentations or quizzes, encouraging your guests to participate and get actively involved. The sense of touch is particularly important for attendees which are Kinesthetic learners – who actually need to physically do or touch the activity to learn it.
From textural styling elements to the latest in interactive technology – there are a myriad of ways to engage your attendees’ sense of touch at events.
Use an expert AV & event services company
Successful events turn attendees to advocates. Studies show engaging all five senses creates a deeper connection and makes the experience memorable. The hardest part is continually coming up with new ways to engage the senses at events, whilst also keeping up with event trends. This is where an experienced AV and event services company comes in. From the latest AV techniques, total event design, theming, content and event technology – Encore is the one provider you can count on to continually deliver impactful events year after year. Our passion and commitment to the events industry motivates our teams to keep pushing creative and technological boundaries to make our events unforgettable. Let’s not waste another precious planning minute, speak to an Encore representative today by sending an online enquiry.
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