By Jen Derks, Founder + Creative Director of Four Fin

As the world is turning back to in-person gatherings as a way to find truth, connection and opportunity, it’s important to remember that not all events are good events, and if not approached thoughtfully, an event could harm your overall brand’s reputation.

At Four Fin, we just attended VC Comms Con here in San Diego, this time as event sponsors, so we sat down with the event organizer and mastermind, Beck Bamberger of BAM. She is an expert at bringing people together in ways that leave lasting impressions, whether at small intimate dinners, or larger events with speakers and multi-day programming.

I started off with a simple prompt. What makes a great event? She responded, “you have to frame the mind of your guests, execute on that framing, then have a warm follow up after.” She expressed that early on she learned a lot about hosting events from the book The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker. “It is a fabulous book. I love it. It’s like the Bible.”

What does it mean to “frame the mind of your guests?”

It’s about communication and branding. Everything they see or receive leading up to the event will help them show up in the way you intend them to show up. They will show up in the right frame of mind to have meaningful connections. For instance, Beck’s company BAM hosts Media Matchmaking Days to connect founders with the media personas that might cover their startup. When she wants founders to open up more than spitting their typical 30 sec pitch, she’ll make sure they come with that mindset. Invites include, “bring your open hearts and minds.” 

According to Beck, “there should be no one going into an event not knowing what’s going to be happening. Let’s say you have a seat with your name on it. If your guest strolls up late, it’s really embarrassing. Make sure they know to be on time because it’s a sit-down dinner, or tell them ahead that it’s a shoes-off household…etc.”  

At Four Fin, we often borrow the words of Brene Brown: “Clear is kind.” We believe being clear is an act of respect. It saves everyone embarrassment or frustration down the line. This is true of our working partnerships with our clients, vendors and each other. But it’s also true when it comes to any branded communications that are leading up to an experience with your audience, be that an in-person event, a webinar, or even an annual stakeholder meeting. I asked Beck what she thought about the importance of a brand on the success of an event. 

“I think it’s everything. It conveys the seriousness, the fun, the tone, the who.” 

The brand has a huge part to play in prompting the experience people will have. At the end of the day, the success of an event has to do with who attended and the quality of their experience. Your brand’s responsibility is to set the tone. 

Quirky event branding is perfect…for quirky events

For example, Beck and I both got an invitation in the mail from a mutual friend of ours for their house party last Halloween. It was very clear that this was a house party. It was on an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper, quirky graphics, printed at Fedex or similar. The brand was clear. It was going to be a great house party. And even then with a casual event, this host was very savvy in knowing that they have to be very clear with their guests. The theme was clear and so were the expectations. No political costumes. Bring a friend or 2, not 8. As Beck puts it, “people like rules.” Beyond clarity, caliber is pretty easily deciphered from the caliber of materials and communications leading up to an event.

But for big events, you have to step it up

I went to an event in NY last year, against my better judgement, because a business owner colleague of mine thought we should attend, and I hadn’t been to NY in a while. The event was squarely in my niche. The speakers seemed impressive and there were many of them, signaling a rather large networking opportunity. I had to pause because the website was gawd awful and the sign up experience was even worse. But I put those thoughts aside. Maybe they just don’t care about design and experience as much as I would as a designer. Maybe they really do care about the event.

My gut was right in the end. The event was attended by mostly the speakers themselves and didn’t draw numbers. How could they with that brand? Lunch wasn’t provided, the event host didn’t show up to happy hour, and the experience was not well-considered or thoughtful. I valued my time in NY for other reasons, and did meet a couple of interesting new connections during the event, but I won’t make that mistake again.

Beck agreed with the sentiment. “If I see a poorly-designed invitation or webpage, a bad invite experience, etc.—it is a sign that there’s really nothing there. It’s an event I don’t really want to go to.”

She shared with me a time when she got an invite to a curated investor group event, hosted by a very well-known brand. It was cancelled, and rescheduled through the invite. There were people on it she didn’t know. The website page was not clear. She wasn’t drawn to attend. “You could just tell it was some junior organizer tasked with holding this event, and they didn’t get a budget for it.” The experience didn’t give her confidence, even though it came from a huge household name brand. That parent brand’s equity couldn’t make up for the lack of attention to guest experience on the organizing level. But that’s a great opportunity for smaller brands as well.

Small brands can leverage event branding too

You don’t have to have a well-known brand to draw interest in your event. In fact, you would do well to build your brand’s reputation by holding an event that is clear, thoughtful, well curated, and with attention to the guests experience and mindset. You can create the conditions that will leave a lasting and positive impression on your attendees – and in return build trust in your brand as a whole. Four Fin has helped Beck make meaningful experiences with VC Comms Con as design partners every year since its inception in 2019.

These reflections are all too relevant as we gear up to host an event or two at Climate Week in San Francisco. Join our newsletter to stay abreast of those announcements.