Experts have categorised the audiences that are likely to attend your events into about 4 broad groups, namely; the spectator, the participant, the spy, and the VIP. In addition, these audiences possess peculiar characters that make them unique in their class.
For instance, Phil O’Brien, CEO and Event Technology Pioneer at Concise, explains that the spectator is the average event audience member who comes to watch proceedings and listen intently without getting actively involved in the event’s proceedings. He further stated that audiences in the participant group are keen to know almost everything about the event. They are mostly tech-savvy people; they engage in and participate in interesting aspects of the event.
The challenges, however, for most event organisers are getting to know what the audiences really want and being able to convince them to buy into what they are offering. To solve these issues, therefore, organisers may consider these 3Cs as great recipes for understanding what audiences want from events they attend.
Communication
Communication is essential in any type of relationship that exists between people, organizations, or groups of people.Some people may not like to talk, but they want to be talked to. Event organisers must find ways of communicating clearly, especially with the language the audiences will understand. These days, it’s not so much about what you want them to hear as it is about crafting your intent by interlacing it with what they want to hear or what makes them feel good.
Compromise
It was Barack Obama who said that “a good compromise, is a good piece of legislation, like a good sentence or a good piece of music.” Everybody can recognise it. They say, “Huh!” It works, and it makes sense.
The success of most events is determined by the level of compromise that has been attained between the organisers and the attendees. It occurs when the organisers are able to communicate effectively with their audiences, getting them to engage with and buy into whatever objectives have been set.
Commitment
Commitment is defined by an online dictionary as the quality or state of being dedicated to an activity or a cause. As mentioned earlier, commitment is also a critical recipe in any sort of relationship. Partners have to make certain kinds of commitments verbally, in writing, or in any other form; this helps establish a bond and sets boundaries between partners.
Similar to this, some audiences demand from the organisers a certain level of dedication, especially when it will benefit them. When this occurs, it is very likely that the audience will make their own commitment. However, once the relationship or bond is cordial, both partners will always find common ground and agree on what the other is bringing to the relationship.
In conclusion, organisers should cultivate the habit of constantly investing, studying, or researching to know their audiences better; by doing so, they will develop a good sense of understanding and be able to know how to capture the minds of their audiences at all times.