On the 4th of April President Ramaposa announced the end of the national state of disaster. After 750 days South Africans waved goodbye to the lockdown and most of the restrictions that came with it. Unfortunately, the pandemic brought some changes with it that is not likely to subside any time soon. Event managers are no strangers to these changes, and they are still experimenting with new and exciting ways to invite attendees back to in-person events.
Many event coordinators are utilising micro events to re-enter the world of in-person events with safety in mind. If not for safety reasons, one can argue that micro events allow businesses to create more authentic relationships, which in turn help them to achieve business goals. Whatever the reason may be, micro events are on the rise and will likely continue to dominate the event industry.
What Are Micro Events?
In the pre-pandemic world, micro events were typically referred to as online events directed at targeted audiences. These events varied from networking events to live gaming sessions, and had a simple set up. Nowadays the concept has shifted quite significantly, and rather than standing in contrast to large-scale events they beautifully coexist to help businesses achieve their goals.
It goes without saying that micro events are smaller than average events that used to be attended by upward of 4000 people. This number has been on a decline since 2019 and smaller, more exclusive events are growing more popular by the day. When hosting a Micro event, you are presented with the opportunity to hand pick your attendees. If you provide these attendees with a curated eventing experience, you will see a noticeable increase in their engagement and participation. This is the key to an impactful micro event: focus on quality rather than quantity.
Now, let’s get you up to speed on some great advantages of these events.
What Benefits Do They Hold?
Seamless Online and Offline Experiences
Micro events hold endless possibilities. You can host them online, offline or you can combine both platforms to create hybrid events. Hosting hybrid events have become increasingly popular, this may be one silver lining that came from an otherwise difficult time for most businesses in the pandemic. The event industry has been nudged to adapt to a new era of digitization. .
These combination events have been proven valuable, yet there is a delicate balance that needs to be perfected to host a successful hybrid event. Too many in person attendees will likely cause the online experience to fall flat, and vice versa. Remember to create memorable experiences for your attendees, regardless of the fact that they are attending the physical event or not.
Safety
Even though the national state of disaster has come to an end, there are still some safety precautions that need to be considered to continue curbing the spread of the Coronavirus. If you are hosting an in-person micro event, having fewer attendees will help you to regulate certain safety guidelines, like making sure that all attendees are wearing masks if your event is indoors.
Micro events offer a certain amount of flexibility. Event planners can limit the amount of attendees according to venue size, or they can opt for multiple venues in different locations if a larger in-person audience needs to be accommodated.
Cost-Effectiveness
Hosting less people naturally means that your micro event will cost less than the large-scale events we were all used to in a pre-pandemic world. Micro events offer the possibility of using fewer onsite staff members, less speakers and smaller, more affordable venues. In return, this allows event planners to ease back into the world of in-person events without breaking the bank.
Micro events are here to stay, and it is impossible to argue against the fact that these events play a crucial part in the success of the event industry going forward.
What’s Next?
Are you ready to host a micro event? If you have a micro event coming up, book a demo with us to find out how Flock can help you.