In this digital day and age, any and every experience can be turned into combinations of 1s and 0s and downloaded into a five-inch screen that fits in our palms. 

Be it entertainment, shopping, food, and even education, physical spaces continue to battle for attention against their online equivalents. However, these same powerful digital software and event applications can be used to enhance the experience of visitors and clients in various physical spaces like conferences and seminars.  

Visitor experience tips 

A visitor management system ensures the smooth flow of conference activities and makes organizing logistical information much less tedious for hosts-—all while enhancing the experience of every visitor who attends the conference. 

Such a system can help conference organizers set trends in visitor experience. It can usher in attendees who would have been too distracted by their digital devices, turn consumers into regular visitors, and help build a brand name. 

By merging the human creativity of event organizers with the sharp efficacy of visitor management software, one can brilliantly enhance the visitor experience at conferences. Some of these ideas and trends have been listed below.

Rethink the space 

Organizing a conference is more than just placing tables, chairs, and platters of food in the venue. The physical aspect of the event,aka the venue, is the first interaction that the visitor has with you, your event and, consequently, your brand. Thus, it is critically important to design your space to reflect your ideas, your ideals, and what you want your brand to represent. 

Well-organized conference spaces lead the visitor on a tour of their own, letting them explore everything that your brand has to offer. Stalls, tables, and staff should be positioned so they are easily accessible from any point of the venue. Food tables and restrooms should be far enough apart to avoid bottleneck situations if attendees crowd around them. Seating and standing areas can be arranged so the guests can gather and converse with each other over coffee. 

There are a million ways of setting up a venue, and visitor experience software comes in handy when you want to track which ideas work and which don’t—so you can react accordingly.

Here are some ideas that will considerably enhance visitor management and experience at your next conference space. 

Change the seating layout 

Arrange seating so that all the attendees can have proper viewpoints to the entire room—a semi-circle seating layout works well. This encourages visitor interaction and takes away their fear of missing out on any important parts of the conference. 

Keep catering local

Choose local caterers who supply locally cultivated or sourced ingredients to make the conference more valuable to out-of-town visitors. 

Focus on sustainability and "going green"

Sustainable and clean options for conferences can add great value to the whole event. For instance, the use of clean energy can significantly enhance the visitor experience and garner rave reviews for the conference.

Indoor gardens, green spaces, water features, and more can increase the aesthetic factor, which can immediately catch the attention of visitors and provide them with a soothing environment for the conference.  

Let the world know how cool your event is

Focus on the key parts of the conference and after events to advertise with the FOMO (fear of missing out) factor to show how cool attending your conference is. Be wary though—false advertising can take away from the visitor experience, so make sure the FOMO is real.

Personalize and please 

Using a dependable visitor check-in system allows you to keep track of your returning visitors. This gives hosts a fantastic opportunity to personalize the experience for them. It could be something as simple as greeting them by name when they come in, to keeping track of their dietary needs or reserving their preferred seats. 

Everyone likes to be treated like they are special and that is exactly what you can build on with the help of a management system. You want your guests to be pleased enough with the experience to spread the word amongst their friends, creating ample opportunities for increasing your organic reach. It would be impossible for staff to keep track of so much information about an endless number of guests, but with a good visitor management system, it would be comparatively much easier. 

Here are some proven ways in which personalization can help enhance the visitor experience with the help of a visitor check-in system:

• Offering immediate responses to any queries the visitors before the beginning of the event can significantly elevate the customer experience and boost return customers.
• Having vegan, vegetarian, and nonvegetarian food options for the conference not only instills trust in visitors, but it also shows that conference organizers respect their food choices and dietary restrictions.
• Short and easy-to-rate feedback surveys can be provided to the visitors in various stages of the conference, and their feedback can be instantly analyzed by a visitor experience software to highlight the areas where the visitors are having a sub-par experience. This can help in coming up with instant solutions and resolving the issues, which makes the visitors feel heard. 

Turn complaints into opportunities 

One of the most important aspects of visitor management is your flexibility and readiness to redeem yourself. Not every update or piece of feedback on your customer experience will be a good one, but that is no reason to be disheartened. Negative comments are data too and, if the customer took the time to complain about it, it means that they wish to see improvement—and want to give you the opportunity to wow them. 

Exhibitor meetups 

A conference’s main purpose is to connect and educate the attendees. As an event planner, you can encourage connection by organizing a speed meet for all the exhibitors, collaborators, arrangers, and other visitors so that they can communicate and increase their connections.

Some ways you can do this are as follows:

• Add a simple meet and greet type of activity to your conference schedule, where all the attendees, organizers, and guests can network.
• During breakfast, lunch, and dinner, provide a room where the visitors, organizers, guests, and others can interact.

Optimum usage of technology 

One of the trendiest ways to enhance visitor experience is through the optimum usage of technology. Here are a few ways in which technology can be efficiently and effectively used for conferences:

• In visitor check-in systems, ease the process of checking in and checking out for the attendees with features like facial recognition that can smoothen the process and save a lot of time.
• Chatbots incorporated into visitor experience software can be used to facilitate feedback of the visitors, as well as act as a guide for them. 
• Take a visitor-centric approach with wearable devices or tablets for the delegates and attendees. The devices can act as personal guides, with features like feedback opportunities, maps of the location, services requests, and more.
• Use GPS technology to track the visitors, which can help in locating and identifying visitor queries instantly, which eases the process of resolving the issues swiftly.

Conclusion 

Meet opportunities head-on and use valuable feedback to fix mistakes, redeem your brand, and create trends in visitor experience in conferences. Planning an event is no small feat— organize your conference with current technological trends in mind and you will keep your visitors satisfied (and coming back for more). 

Want even more help perfecting your next event? Check out the top-rated event planning software solutions on G2 to help you get started!