As a professional speaker, I spend a lot of time at conferences. I’ve literally been to thousands, and every time, I’m always curious to see how the organizers have set everything up to cater to the hundreds of attendees.
Recently, I was at a large conference and decided to sit in on another speaker’s session. As I approached the doors, I saw a man sitting behind a table covered in cords in the hall. I looked closer and realized that the cords were all plugged into power strips, and they were all powering different types of phone chargers.
Curious, I asked the man what or who his setup was for, to which he replied that the table of chargers was for anyone heading into a nearby session. The conference attendees just needed to plug in their phones, write a sticky note with their name on it, and then leave it to charge as they went to listen to their speaker.
Though a pretty simple idea, the plan for a charging table at a conference was brilliant. Not only would it make the attendees happy to have a safe place to charge their phones, but it also meant that they wouldn’t be distracted by their phones while the presenter was speaking. Something so easy as a power strip, charger cords, and a table, and you’ve got happier, more engaged conference participants.
Have you stopped and looked around your company recently for easy fixes that might make it a more enjoyable, convenient, productive place to work?
I know one company that brings in lunch the entire last week of a sales quarter for all the employees to motivate their sales team to stay focused and not leave for lunch. I know another one that supplies a room with healthy snacks to keep their people energized. At the Curtis Zimmerman Group, we love to bring in coffee and breakfast treats for morning meetings.
Want to get people to pay attention and stay engaged at your next conference? You’re in luck! Since I’ve spent so much time observing what works and what doesn’t at big meetings, I finally decided to compile it all in an eBook to share the 5 Things All High-Impact Conferences Have in Common. Click here to get it! (It’s totally free!)
As a speaker and author, Curtis Zimmerman has impacted over one million people with his life-changing messages and award-winning programs. Curtis is an expert at transforming organizations by inspiring individuals to live their lives at performance level.
Want to be inspired? Check out his podcast The Next 24 Hours.
