Think back to a time when you participated in a small group setting. It might’ve been during an orientation at a new job, a training opportunity, or even a college class. No matter the setting, you had a chance to receive valuable attention and direction from the person leading the group. For corporate events with hundreds of guests in attendance, that kind of attention is valuable.
Large corporate events bring people together, boost motivation for employees, and allow teams to reflect on goals. But if executed incorrectly, they can fail to accomplish a vital feature: personalization and intimacy in meetings. Incorporating smaller events as a part of a bigger corporate gathering can foster closeness, drive engagement, and build connections among coworkers. In a micro-event setting, attendees receive a higher level of attention.
Quick Links
- What Is a Micro-Event?
- Why You Need to Consider Micro-Events in your Corporate Event Plan
- 6 Micro-Event Ideas for Corporate Events
- How to Plan a Successful Micro-Event
What Is a Micro-Event?
A micro-event is a small-scale corporate event with fewer attendees as compared to other large corporate events, such as company-wide conferences. Many corporate events and meetings have hundreds or even thousands of attendees, but micro-events range from as little as a handful of attendees to a few dozen. This allows event hosts and speakers to narrow their focus on the few who are present, tailoring the content and messaging for those individuals in attendance.
When planning a corporate event, micro-events can be a part of what’s included in the itinerary. For example, maybe your upper management needs training on your new product line. Carving out time and sessions specifically for them in an intimate setting during your corporate event has many benefits.With this setup, your target audience meets in a smaller setting, one where the content can be customized to those in the room and where Q&A sessions are more accessible and valuable to attendees.This can also be a cost-effective move as you will be utilizing the same venue, food and beverages, etc. for both events.
Why You Need to Consider Micro-Events in your Corporate Event Plan
Attendees tend to get the most value from meetings that make an impact on them in a personal way. Because of this, micro-events are worthwhile as they allow attendees to have highly personalized experiences that leave lasting impressions, rather than simply being one of a hundred or more guests attending a conference.
Corporate events are a great opportunity to bring people together and focus on business goals or brainstorm new strategies. A small group setting will ensure that each attendee feels valued. So it’s important to make sure the experience exceeds their expectations. This can be accomplished through micro-events that allow each attendee to participate and focus on their role within the company.
In order to host successful micro-events, planners need to consider what can be gained from these small group settings. In addition to fostering connections, attendees are able to participate in networking activities with people that they might not otherwise interact with.
Boost Connections
Small groups are an excellent tactic to drive deeper connections and conversations among event attendees. Everyone has more time to talk, helping each of them to get to know one another better. When returning to work after the event is over, these newly forged relationships can easily turn into collaboration, allowing employees to work more effectively in a professional setting.
Personalized Experiences
For a traditional corporate event audience, content needs to be broad enough to connect with all attendees. That’s why choosing a keynote speaker who only focuses on a single department’s objectives wouldn’t resonate with everyone attending a company-wide conference. But with micro-events, you can craft more personalized experiences.
For example, event planners can include micro-events that cater to different departments within the company. Not only does this help avoid umbrella sessions that may be too general to be truly useful or valuable, but it also allows your presenters and attendees to focus on the issues that concern their specific department.
More specifically, you could host one micro-event for sales, one event for recruitment, and one event for administrative roles. Rather than one large event that speaks to people in all departments, which might not be relevant for every attendee, micro-events can improve session value and attendee takeaways. Plus, this is a great way to promote more facetime between employees and executives, allowing for recognition of employee performance and alignment on goals.
Hyper-Focused Content
Ever wondered what you can do to prepare attendees ahead of a corporate event? Consider hosting micro-events as an introduction or pre-event motivator. These smaller events, which can take place each month leading up to the conference, can include presentations specifically related to the goals of the upcoming program.
Plus, these events can take place virtually, making them more flexible for attendees. And, since these can be conducted online, this can save time and money as there won’t be venue costs, food expenses, or travel fees for these micro-events.
Simplified Planning
Some large events have restrictions that don’t always apply to micro-events. To present to a group of 200 people, planners need to find a space big enough to accommodate the crowd. However, micro-events allow event planners to explore less traditional spaces to bring people together. Plus, an unconventional venue might make the event more memorable for attendees.
6 Micro-Event Ideas for Corporate Events
There are a variety of ways event organizers can create sessions for micro-events that will seamlessly fit into their conference itineraries. With a creative mind and thoughtful planning, micro-events can be unique and flexible experiences for attendees.
1. Discussion Panels
In a large group, it can be difficult to speak up. When asking an auditorium full of people to reflect on a presentation, you might be left with crickets. However, smaller events make it easier to share thoughts and ideas. A discussion panel among a smaller group of attendees means that each individual has a chance to share their thoughts and interact with the speaker, organizer, and other attendees.
2. Lunch and Learns
What better way to interact with team members than over food? Lunch and learns allow you to bring a small group of people together and share a meal while learning about a specific topic. Plus, this can be a chance to brainstorm goals and ideas, discuss strategy plans, learn a new aspect of the business, and encourage a feeling of belonging among the group.
3. Workshops
A hands-on learning experience is a great micro-event idea because it allows guests to try something new and refine their skills. The person leading the workshop will also be able to pay close attention to those participating to provide feedback and assistance when needed.
4. Guest Speakers
Instead of one large event, ask a guest speaker to lead multiple sessions. In this way, attendees are given the same information, but the discussion may be different each time depending on the specific group of people in attendance. These sessions will promote dynamic conversation and open up the floor in a way that is more comfortable, rather than generalized information that’s presented in front of a large group of people.
5. Games and Activities
To deepen connections, games and activities can be an excellent way to get people to work together, especially those who don’t normally interact regularly. A micro-event that requires teams of randomly selected attendees can introduce guests to new people and foster new connections in a relaxed environment.
6. Team Dinners
Micro-events don’t always need to be focused on a company-specific topic. If the goal is to provide more networking opportunities, it might be beneficial to plan smaller team dinners. Nowadays, especially with remote workforces, there are fewer opportunities to get to know coworkers. So a team dinner as part of a corporate event can be a more relaxed way for everyone to get to know each other.
How to Plan a Successful Micro-Event
A successful micro-event begins with detailed planning. You’ll need to determine who your audience is, what your event goals are, where you’d like to host the event, and any additional resources, such as a guest speaker or food and beverage choices. You might find that all of these details can be difficult to manage, especially when micro-events are supporting a larger, all-encompassing event that requires even further planning. Fortunately, the experienced event planners at Bishop-McCann can help you organize the details in order to execute a well-crafted micro-event to support your corporate events.
Micro-events will help your company engage with attendees through focused activities, discussions, and workshops. These smaller, more intimate events drive connections among event guests and help them break down barriers, so everyone can work better together when they return to the office. For your next corporate event, make sure you reach out to Bishop-McCann for help with micro-event planning.
