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Six ways to give your
conference a strong finish
by Connie Jeske Crane
Long-time event planner Sharon Bonner, CEO of Vancouver-based Bright Ideas Events,
hates it when conference organizers let the final day of an event just dribble away. "I've
been to so many conferences where I think, 'Wow, what a fail!' They forgot about us on
the third day and everybody was just catching flights and it never felt closed."
And a lacklustre finale doesn't merely mean disappointed speakers and wasted food—
it could dampen an event's future too. When attendees leave a conference raving,
Bonner says, "I think the rebooking percentage is higher."
The good news? With a bit of planning, savvy planners can entice attendees to stay put:
Where budget allows, a celebrity speaker
or entertainer is a surefire draw. At the
2019 Energy Disruptors conference in
Calgary, Dwayne Maurer, event producer
at e=mc2 events, says, "Our highest
profile speaker, Malcolm Gladwell, was
one of the final sessions…. The venue was
packed when people would normally be
heading for the exits."
Goldstein says continuity throughout
further magnifies the final impact. A
past Big HQ event, he says, saw Canadian
singer Serena Ryder open, astronaut
Col. Chris Hadfield speak midway, then
featured both guests at the close strum-
ming guitars and singing Sweet Caroline.
"Everybody was waving their arms in the
air, a Kumbaya kind of thing. A really
great way to end off."
Hinting at a mystery guest or surprise can work, says Bram Goldstein, of
Big HQ in Toronto, who's successfully staged a "Splash Mob" dance number
at a poolside reception in Vegas and sprung US rapper Flo Rida on excited
attendees. But he stresses customizing thoughtfully for the client. "Don't just
take this off the shelf."
In Waterloo, Ont., Meaghan Kay, senior programs mar-
keting manager for software maker Axonify, says the
company's 2019 annual three-day customer commu-
nity conference will conclude with a segment where
company data scientists unveil exciting lab research.
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12 | Ignitemag.ca | November | December 2019
