Corporate event planning gets tricky when it comes to staying creative yet professional. At times, Corporate Event Planners get stuck on what to do with their conference breakout sessions for business functions.
As event planning tips go, there's always room to add an element or two to even the simplest of activities. When looking to enhance an experience for attendees, every tip can bring new light to designing an unforgettable (or at least entertaining) outcome. That said, here are:
5 Killer Breakout Session Ideas for Corporate Event Planners
1. Gamification
When you’re planning activities for business functions in corporate event planning, gaming is never on the top of the dome. However, when you add gamification to lure those who are fans of the virtual world in, you’re allowing your attendees to explore the subject rather than spoon feeding it to them. Plus, gamification falls into the VR and AR event trend for Corporate Event Planners! You can incorporate VR training and keep it fun with some AR scavenger hunts. The opportunities are endless.
2. Escape Room
Corporate Event Planners are guilty of keeping things a little too…well....vanilla. So, here’s a little idea that will add flavor to your corporate event planning ideas. Design a real breakout room!
Creating an escape room will in fact take a bit more time and effort, but all attendees will love it! Just remember to develop rules for the game, helpful tips for those who get stuck, and add in some props they can break out of. Attendees should be able to slowly break out of the escape room by working together as a team, through every block as they learn more about the subject of the session.
3. Take it Outside
During the warmer seasons, Corporate Event Planners can take the breakout session outside to allow attendees to experience a more relaxed setting, take in the sun, and enjoy the cool (or maybe not so cool depending on the day) air as they learn something new.
Corporate Event Planners who host an outdoors seating session, will need to ensure that they have appropriate seating and triple-check that the weather will be tolerable to all. With this type of breakout session, your participants will have more of a relaxed feel and that will help inspire ideas and push engagement. As is true with all corporate event planning, it’s smart to have a backup plan for this session type just in case the weather isn’t cooperating.
4. Roundtable
For a more intimate feel, Corporate Event Planners can add a Roundtable Breakout Session to the agenda to allow the presenter to split the audience into smaller groups to discuss a variety of mini topics.
As far as corporate event planning activities go, jigsaw learning is one of the latest methods in corporate event planning and it entails creating various sections or tables where various topics can be discussed. Once each group has had some time to discuss and learn their mini topic, the presenter can split the groups up again so that every participant is originally from a different round table and every person has a diverse mini topic to present to the table. This breakout session type will provide time for teamwork and gives each participant ownership over their topic.
5. VIP only
This breakout session will be beneficial for Corporate Event Planners who have a list of VIPs that will participate in the event by invitation only. This will give these attendees exclusive access to specific breakout sessions that the general audience will not have access to. This is a great corporate event planning tactic to invite buzzworthy speakers and deliver access to exclusive giveaways. Let your VIP list have first dibs on testing the latest and greatest products while also including complimentary food and drinks. This is actually a great session idea to add to any business event!
Conclusion
When Corporate Event Planners plan conference breakout sessions at their business events they should present a variety of topics that fall beneath the main idea to design a more personal feel which will boost motivation and engagement for the audience. In corporate event planning, breakout sessions are always good to think of ahead of time so that you can anticipate what will happen and have a plan for each instance.
Make sure to inspect the venue beforehand with the themed breakout session in mind. Run down your checklist and make sure you have appropriate lighting, sufficient space, and the technical components you’ll need for each breakout room. Use tools that will foster engagement and think of themes that will leave your audience inspired!
Now that we’ve shared some of our breakout session ideas for your next business function, it’s time for you to pay it forward! Share our post with others that you feel can use these ideas for their next event!
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