ļ»æ00:00:00 Hey, I'm Jodie, event manager, business owner, educator, and podcast host. I'm an introverted homebody wannabe winemaster, and I truly believe in the power of events to inspire, delight, and ignite human potential. Every week, I take you backstage into the wonderful world of business events and give you the insider scoop on how to take your event to the next level. Before we begin, I'd like to acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the traditional custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and listen. Let's get into it.
00:00:39 Well, welcome back to another episode of the Events Insider podcast. I'm your host, Jodie, and as always, a pleasure to be with you today and thank you for tuning in. Well, we are well and truly into the year now in May, it's hard to believe, and we are heading full steam ahead to the end of financial year, which I'm sure is a super busy time for everyone working in admin. But before we get into today's episode, speaking of the end of financial year, I did just want to let you know that our Events Academy signature program opens again in June, which is very exciting. We only open it a couple of times a year and it's basically my complete blueprint for planning business events that I have refined over twelve years and we teach it all to you in a six week program. If that's something that you would be interested in, if you are someone who plans events and would love some training and not just training, but also access to a full library of templates and checklists and resources, then make sure you're on the waitlist so we can let you know when that opens in June. So I'll pop a link in the show notes for you. But for now, let's get into today's episode. Today is all about low cost additions to enhance your event.
00:01:48 Now when I say low, everyone's perception of what low budget is is going to be different. But I guess what I'm not talking about here is your multi thousand dollar band or DJ or roving entertainers. What I'm talking about is things that are either no cost or under a few hundred dollars that you can add to enhance your event. Things that add a bit more excitement, add some more layers to your event, and ultimately go towards making your event more memorable and more impactful for your guests, which is always our end goal. So today we're going to go through five, but I do have a full list available that you can download and again, I'll pop that link in the show notes for you, but we're going to chat through five of them today and then you can download that list and access the others as well.
00:02:33 There's kind of a few different categories that I put these into, and the first category we're going to go into is what I call facilitated activities. Now it doesn't sound very exciting and for lack of a better word, that's what I'm kind of grouping them together as. But I guess what I mean by that is your host or your MC facilitating a short activity with your attendees. So there's two that we're going to discuss today that kind of fit under this category that you can easily add to your next event. So the first one is conversation cards.
00:03:06 Now this is something I absolutely love and I've used it so many times and there's a few different ways that you can use conversation cards. If you've ever seen the school of life have them and there's a bunch of other companies popping up that are providing these conversation cards. It's basically a great way of prompting people with questions to ask each other that encourages conversation and discussion and encourage people to kind of break the ice and get into a deep conversation. So one way that you could use conversation cards is to hand them out when people arrive. So everyone sort of gets one.
00:03:41 And whether it's all the same question or everyone gets a different question, that's something that you can give to people when they arrive, and they're then encouraged to go and mingle. And that way they've got something to kind of prompt when they go up to maybe a random group of people that they don't know. It gives them something to kind of start with and break that ice. But also if people do know each other it still works really well. Perhaps in that situation you could even include conversation cards that are a bit deeper or aligned to the kind of theme that your event is on.
00:04:11 The other way you could use conversation cards is if it's a seated lunch or dinner event then you could have them on the table either in an envelope. A fun thing that I've done is had them blue tacked to the bottom of the chair so people didn't know they were there at the beginning and then sort of partway through. When you want to have this activity, your host or your MC can announce that everyone needs to reach under the table. And then they've got a conversation card, and you can go from there. So there's lots of different ways that you can add these into your event and it's a super easy low cost addition that you can add.
00:04:44 You can obviously, as I mentioned, the school of life, you can buy them but you can easily Google questions as well. And what I like to do is actually get some designed and printed and that way you can have them on brand with your company logo and things like that. That is the first low or no cost addition to enhance your event. Okay, so the second facilitated activity that you could add to your event is speed dating. Now obviously I don't mean actual speed dating, but this is basically where you get people to connect with each other for a short amount of time and then connect with someone else.
00:05:19 So obviously great for networking events but also good for internal company events and things like that, where the objective of your event is that people would connect and get to know each other better. So this can come in many forms and again it's just about thinking about who your audience is and kind of the format of your event and what's going to work well. But obviously the traditional sense is that you would be seated kind of one on one with someone for a certain amount of time and then a bell goes off and you change seats. So people moving around the room and connecting with someone one on one and then kind of changing seats. But if your event is more of a stand up event, then this can definitely still work.
00:05:59 And it's just about facilitating from the front, getting people to find another person to stand with or maybe even a group of people to stand with and chat about X particular topic or answer X particular question. So it can definitely work seated or standing in its most basic form. You could simply have your MC, say, turn to the person next to you at your table and ask them this question. But you can definitely make it more of a longer format where people are connecting with more than just the person sitting next to them. So it can definitely become more of an activity, a longer activity, something that takes maybe even the whole event if that's your whole concept.
00:06:40 If it's a networking event, this can definitely come in many formats and I think it works really well because it's structured and kind of run by someone. And so what I struggle with is the events where it's sort of just a big empty room and there's no format and people, some people are really good at going up to people and meeting and chatting. But where speed dating can work really well when it's facilitated is that it helps everyone to connect in the room and that way you're achieving the objectives. If one of your objectives is networking and that you will meet other people, or if it's internal, that it's team building and that you're going to meet your fellow colleagues, then I definitely suggest having something facilitated like a speed dating activity so that everyone feels a bit more comfortable because they're being told what to do as opposed to just being in a room and not really sure what to do. And a bit awkward.
00:07:32 So facilitated speed dating is obviously very low cost. You could obviously add in some prizes and things like that if you wanted to, but this is a really easy way of adding something in that's going to enhance the experience for your guest for little or no cost. So we're going to move on to another category now and this is what I call activity stations. So it's still an activity that your guests do, but it's a station that they would go to in a particular area of your venue and it's more something that they can go to throughout the event whenever it suits them and whenever there's a break in the content. So rather than facilitated activities, which is sort of everyone all at once at a particular time, activity stations are there for the whole event and people pop in and out when it suits them.
00:08:20 So the first one that I want to talk about is a photo booth. Now, if you're like Jodie, photo booths cost a lot of money. Yes, traditionally they do. But I guess what I'm talking about is more leaning towards like a selfie station. So this is something that you can DIY yourself.
00:08:37 So the best way to do this is and look, this is not going to be zero cost, there will be some costs, but it still can be done very low cost. So if you've got a venue that already has a nice backdrop, whether that's a nice view or a nice wall, some venues might have a nice greenery wall or a nice brick wall somewhere that would give you a nice backdrop that's not just a blank white wall, unless that's the look that you want. And this might be something that you think about when you are selecting your venue, but finding somewhere in your venue that provides a nice backdrop for photos. And then what you can do is set up a selfie ring light. A lot of people have these already these days, but otherwise you can invest in one for a couple of $100.
00:09:20 You want a floor standing selfie ring light and that way people can attach their own phone, which actually people sometimes prefer than a photo booth when you don't know where you're going to get the photo from. That way people can use their own phone and attach it and take photos. So some other things that you can add if you do have budget is obviously you could bring in your own backdrop or you could add some company branding. You might already have a company sign or a neon sign in your colours. Or if you do have budget, that's something you could invest in.
00:09:53 But obviously in its most basic form, a nice area in the venue with a selfie ring light and you've got a photo booth. Photo booths work really well for social events, particularly where people know each other. So internal company events, end of view parties, things like that. But they can also work well at events where people are meeting each other for the first time. If your guests are people who like taking photos and would like to post that they're at your event, then that can work really well.
00:10:22 I don't want you to always think of a photo booth as expensive and something that you might not be able to do. Obviously, if you do have the budget, then going professional is great because you're going to get a really high quality and a great experience, but they definitely can be done low cost as well. And it might just be a case of investing in a couple of things once and then you've got that for all of your events going forward. The second activity station that I want to talk to you about today is a live art station. Now, there are lots of different creative and artistic stations that you could have at your event.
00:10:55 One example is a live art station. Now I have done this with a professional artist before, but obviously that brings with it a cost, but in a basic form, in a DIY form, you can essentially bring in a large canvas and some paint and either let people run free or have some kind of instruction around it. So there's a lot of different ways you can do this. But if you think kind of paint by numbers vibe, you may have a sketched out artwork and then people basically paint a section of it throughout the event. And by the end of the event you've got this complete picture that maybe it reveals a message or the new company branding or something like that.
00:11:34 Another way you can do it is everyone gets a small canvas with instructions of what they need to paint and then when they all get put together, it reveals this big picture. Obviously, the more detailed and complex you get, the more likely you'll need to bring in an expert to make this happen. But as I said, in its basic form, a large canvas, some instructions, maybe a sketched piece of art on it and some paint. And people love it. People love using their hands and contributing to something.
00:12:06 It's a great way of making people feel like they've all had a part in creating something. And yeah, it's an easy way to enhance the theme of your event and kind of reveal something at the end. So people love it, people love watching, people love getting involved and so live art can be a way of doing that and then reinforcing, I guess, the messaging of your event. Obviously something to think about is the venue you choose and whether you can obviously bring in paint. So again, that might be something you need to think about from the beginning.
00:12:38 But yeah, a live art station or any other kind of creative workshopy type station can really go a long way to making people feel involved and something that they can go to and immediately do. If maybe they don't know that many people or they don't feel as comfortable socially, it's a great thing that they can navigate to and participate in and feel like they're doing something. Okay, the fifth and final low cost addition that you can add to enhance your event is not an activity, but rather something that extends beyond the event after it finishes. And that is a gift, something that people can take with them after the event. And remember the event by now I hear you and you're saying, Jodie, gifts are not low cost and they're definitely not zero cost.
00:13:27 But hear me out. I've got two options for you in order to do this low cost. Option. One is that you could get something sponsored or gifted by another company. So even if you're running an internal team event and you're like, we don't have sponsors, trust me, there are companies that want to get to the people that are attending your event.
00:13:49 So it's just about thinking, who do I have in the room? You've done the effort. You've put in the hard yards to put this event on and get people in a room. What companies out there would want to get in front of those people that you've got in the room? So even if it's internal team or whether it's not, there are companies out there that want to get in the hands of the people that you've got in the room.
00:14:13 So never discount that. And there's value there. You might not be asking for money, you're just asking for a small gift. Do you want to gift something to our attendees? Obviously, you want it to still tie in with the event, but that way you're adding something to the experience.
00:14:27 For the guest, they're getting something that they can take home, which is always nice, and it's at little or no cost to you. So think about who you could partner with to gift something to your attendees. That's the first option. The second option is to think of something low cost that you can give that really ties into the theme of your event. Now, normally, I'm not one for giving away junk and things that are crappy and of no value, but if it's something that really reinforces what the event is about, then a small token thing can actually be a good thing.
00:15:05 And I'll give you an example. We ran an event for women in business, and the theme was around finance. So it was a finance themed event, and we gave away chocolate coins so they were on the table that people could take with them at the end of the event. Now, they cost about $2.50 per person, so really low cost. And it was something that, whilst yes, might seem a little bit crappy, normally, it really tied into the theme of what we were talking about.
00:15:36 It was a funny thing that people saw and also brought back childhood nostalgia because people were like, oh my gosh, I love chocolate coins. And it was something that they could take with them snuck on the way home. It reinforced the message of the event and it was just so low cost and easy. So think about is there something that is cheap that you could get, but there's a reason for having it. It ties into the theme.
00:16:01 So there are two options for providing a gift that you can do, low cost or no cost, and that way you're enhancing the guest experience. So those are just five ways that you can enhance your event for little or no cost. Now, if you liked these ideas and you want even more, then you can head to Eventsacademy.com.au/lowcost and we've put together a whole list of ideas for you that you can download. We'll leave it there for today. Thank you again for tuning in and I hope this was helpful and I'll chat to you next week.
00:16:34 Thanks for listening to this episode of the Events Insider podcast. If you loved it, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, share with your friends and I'll chat to you next week. Bye.
