Picture this for your next conference: You’re all sitting around a huge fire pit with your colleagues. The sun is setting, the streetfood is just going on the barbecue and smells fab. The bar is open, chillout music is drifting across the campsite and people are relaxing. The conference went well, people were really happy to be in a marquee with stunning views of the countryside.
We’ve been specialising in these types of events - corporate glamping conferences with a cool, relaxed, but professional, festival vibe - for over a decade. They really work!
The thing we’ve found and one reason they are so effective, is that the participants really listen to the company message. The environment is very different from a hotel conference room, it’s much more exciting and guests are much more receptive to listening to the message.
This is why...
Back in the day, I was an electronics engineer, I invented The Jamma, - an electronic musical instrument that I spent an afternoon teaching Michael Jackson to play. I love electronics and after chatting with a guy on a plane, I ended up redesigning most of the electronic entrance gates you see in supermarkets today. This redesign was important because after an accident with the original gate closing while a boy was still entering, the supermarket offered his mum a free trolley load of... anything!
Really.
Strangely, the next week, a similar thing happened with a different young person. Then it happened at another branch, and then another... ...
Anyway! The point is, that I learnt a lot about ‘supermarket psychology’ (the smell of coffee, the smell of bread being baked etc), but the main technique - is encouraging customers to walk the opposite way to their natural path. This has the effect of making visitors more aware of their surroundings, it’s a primordial instinct in humans. Being more aware, means we notice more than we might otherwise, like special offers etc.
At The Soul Camp, we use this phenomena in an ethical way; we know that a beautiful country campsite setting, with a well equipped marquee, top A/V kit, teas and coffees and all the things you’d expect, with a professional, outdoor team, makes for a very invigorating conference environment.
You can't throw these events together, they need careful planning with an experienced team, but done properly, in such an exciting and fun environment guests are happy, they have a great experience, they're receptive, and - more aware of the corporate message.
It’s win, win!
Stay tuned for part 2...
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