Welcome to 2021!  It’s a new year but Darryl is still taking things too literally. Amanda talks him off the diving board and back into pants as they welcome Shawn Cheng of the MCI Group to talk about Event Mapping and the D.I.V.E methodology.

Takeaways:

1. Event Mapping is a great way to design your event so it follows a specific path resulting in higher attendee engagement and satisfaction
   
2. Even if you have the same meeting every year, design thinking and event mapping can help. Go back and look at your objectives. For example, has your target audience changed? How are you designing your event for them?
3. Which Platform is the 3rd question. If you don’t have a strategy you need to create one. Then the journey then the platform.
4. Shawns Best Engagement Idea: Give people more choice in how they engage: some like to say hello and then go back to checking email. Event planners have to use multiple options: chat, 1-1 meetings, verbal feedback, polls
   
   DIVE System (https://divebymci.com/)

Define: agenda, target audience, success factors (KPI)
Ideate: experience touchpoints, look at the bigger picture to find the best solution (virtual, hybrid, face to face)

Visualize: plan the user experience journey and tailor the way your events will connect with the audiences

Engage: How do you create the “WOW!” and how do you expect the audience to respond.

To connect directly with Shawn, visit him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawncevent/

Links Mentioned on the Show

• Mental Health Screening: https://screening.mhanational.org/
• PCMA Foundation: https://foundation.pcma.org/ 
• Meeting Industry Fund: http://www.themeetingsindustryfund.org/

Opening Theme: The Universe and my so-called life by Hans Atom (c) copyright 2014 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/hansatom/44772 Ft: Fireproof Babies