Here’s news you need to know: Your corporate event, conference or meeting has a lot in common with the hottest nightclubs in the world. People are there for the experience, to meet people, to move – but their attention spans are getting shorter every day. To max out the moment, keep the vibe going and leave attendees energized and excited, you need to stop thinking like a producer, planner or organizer. You have to be an event content manager and think like a superstar Content DJ.

Music Royalty

If you think that all a DJ does is play music, you need to get out more! Master DJs are performing nightly in the world’s top venues – and earning top paychecks. Here’s what the top three mega-DJs earned in 2013 alone:

1. Calvin Harris – $46 million

2. Tiësto – $32 million

3. David Guetta – $30 million

What makes them worth it?

What a DJ Really Does

When discothèques became popular in the 1970s, club owners realized something critically important: The more people dance, the more they drink. The more people drink, the more they dance. It doesn’t matter if it’s a local DJ playing a small club or mega-DJ David Guetta playing in Monte Carlo … the dynamic is the same.

DJs feed business to the bar. They deliver content that encourages a specific group of people to do something specific that they want them to do. Hey … that’s what we do! (Not feed the bar, the other part.) Utilizing what they know can help make your next event better.

The Experience is Everything

Master DJ’s know that the “product” sold by a club is the emotional, intellectual and social experience. Next to being there, the second best thing is remembering what you experienced and telling your friends and colleagues. So the DJs have a plan for reaching all participants at every level.

Nothing is left to chance. Scottish DJ Calvin Harris is known for obsessively planning, revising and remixing his music before every engagement. You know, when you’re an international celebrity you’d think that you could let details like that slide. But that’s what makes the biggest difference. His single goal is generating a planned reaction from the crowd. Everything else is just a show.

What a DJ actually does is curate, sequence and present content.

1. A DJ has a thorough knowledge of the artists and songs = Content.

2. He (or she) arranges the songs into different playlists and blends them into one continuous song, allowing the people to dance without interruption = Agenda.

3. He understands the audience, feels their moods and gauges their response. Then he plays music that gets the crowd fired up and on the dance floor = Responsive Event Management.

Responsive Event Management

Whoa – how does this Responsive Event Management thing work? First, an agenda shouldn’t be an inflexible schedule that’s created far in advance and then announced. An agenda should be a flexible schedule that’s a collection of smaller agendas that respond to the needs of each audience group.

Imagine your meeting agenda as a bunch of different playlists, tailored to each group.

Everything starts by segmenting the audience. You do that for every event anyway, right? (In case you need some tips, you can check out this article.) It’s actually easy to customize each audience group. Just use this incredibly powerful tool. It’s called “If I Was …”.

“If I Was …”

Here’s how it works.

•  Select one of the groups and ask yourself or your team, “If I was (a member of the group), what three things/topics/sessions/workshops would be most valuable to me?” Write them down.

•  Then ask yourself or your team, “If I was (a member of the group), what person would I want to speak with the most?” Write it down.

•  Next, look at the sessions, speakers, topics and workshops and put together a list of session ideas (your playlist) that gives that group of people what they need.

•  Repeat “If I was …” for all of the other major groups. It won’t take long to see where each group has unique needs and interests … and where they overlap. The overlaps tell you what content you should focus on in the general sessions.

•  Finally, decide what sequence of content, people and activities will create the best emotional, intellectual and social experience for each group. Now you can play Content DJ and have fun working out the custom blends, mix and flow for your audience groups and the entire event.

Build The Blend

Let’s say you have an audience group of: General Managers of 100-150 room hotels along interstate highways and not in major cities. Yep, that’s what an audience group definition looks like. With any major U.S. hospitality corporation, that group can represent thousands of hotels and a major revenue stream.

Based on “If I Was …”, you would create their group agenda. You can call it a journey, a track – whatever you want – but cluster those elements so they are logical and convenient to attend. Don’t scatter them over 2-3 days and expect your audience group to find them. Communicate the specific agenda to that group. It’s like when a DJ plays a request. You have to announce whom it’s for.

Go for a Content Mashup

Forget one-size-fits-all event planning and producing. Take time to customize the experience for each audience group. Think of the content as music. Create mashups of different content and speakers. Mix them in response to that specific group and then use whatever channels are best to get people energized and moving. Remember:

“Standardization is the enemy of engagement.”

Every group has a different rhythm and beat based on the people in it. No two groups are exactly the same, so don’t try to make everything orderly, standardized and sanitized. Mix the hell out of it. The more ways you mix content, the more you increase your chances of it being experienced, valued, shared … and remembered!

A Radical Idea that Will Make You a Star

Schedule the general sessions last instead of first. If we’re honest, we know that few people attend an event for the big sessions. They come for the breakouts, the workshops, the people and the activities.

So schedule the general sessions around the group agendas. Remember, these sessions are where the group interests overlap. You don’t have to begin or end the day in a ballroom! The benefit of doing it this way is the general sessions are scheduled where they have the most impact and value. They contribute to the flow of the day and instead of disrupting it.

Be a Superstar Content DJ

Now you’re thinking like that superstar DJ. You realize that an event or conference isn’t just a group of content, sessions or workshops. It’s a set, a playlist of relevant ideas, valuable messages and essential skills. Instead of just plopping a bunch of it into an agenda – you’re ready to make it a mix. Go for the blend.

•  Create events within an event.

•  Know the crowd and the groups.

•  Reflect their personalities and needs.

•  Create an atmosphere of exclusivity.

•  Mashup content to make each group unique.

•  Create a Hot Mix for each group to keep them energized and engaged.

Not every piece of content has the same energy level, interaction and participation. Like Tiësto, don’t start with a slow song and then group all the fast ones together. Look for that blend where the audience has a chance to catch their “mental breath” and digest what they’ve just learned. Remember what any DJ will tell you – “start strong and end strong.”

Now you are ready to do it! You can be more than just another average planner, producer or organizer. You can be a Content DJ. Go for the blend of content, people and experiences and you will make attendees sit up, take notice and look forward to the next part of the agenda.

Keep Them Dancing!

Let’s spend 15 minutes talking about your next project or challenge. It’s a free consultation so we can get to know each other. Just click on CONTACT US or send an email to andy@ideagroupatlanta.com and get in touch.

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