2022 is the first year after the Covid – 19 pandemic and we have finally got back to normal life. We are seeing a boom in crypto-conferences and trips again, even despite the arrival of the crypto-winter.
We decided to talk about the event formats that are noteworthy and determine which format is right for your project.
Events have always been and will always be an important part of the marketing activity of any project, not just the ones related to crypto. Even during the 2-year COVID isolation, AroundB agency did online conferences/events, and they were incredibly successful.
With going back to live by visiting crypto events, we see that attendances are bigger than ever:
- Consensus 2022 – 15 k visitors and around 50 side events
- NFT.NYC 2022 – 16 k visitors and around 60 side events
- Paris ETHCC 2022 is more about side events – 50 per one week
How to become visible and how to grow your community, when so much is happening around and your event might be lost in this side event list?
Let’s check what kind of event participation to choose for your project and how to make each of it successful.
Events Formats
There are four main formats for participating in business events:
- Speakings or presentations;
- Exhibitions;
- Parties;
- Side events;
- Events in Metaverse.
Speakings or presentations
Speaking at an event is the best way to express your expertise and talk about your project.
Each project is backed by people who present it, build it as experts, and bring it to the masses, to the end consumer. Thus, in the age of scams, seeing a company founder or representative at a presentation is the best way to show “the face of the project” to the consumer.
Excellent speech, language, stylish presentation, and detailed and structured reports will allow you to assert yourself as a first-class project that deserves the audience’s attention.
Of course, not every Founder is a natural speaker, but showing sincerity and understanding of your product, expertise, and being able to talk about the product will capture the attention of the audience and cause a positive response.
Exhibitions
Participation in exhibitions is a great way to gather the maximum audience if you have something to show, discuss or demonstrate at the booth. Working at an exhibition is usually suitable for projects that need personal eye contact with a potential audience, something to demonstrate, and something to try out – to let the potential user feel the product and get feedback.
Also, product demos work great at trade shows and gather a base by giving out small gifts/samples for a subscription or data for a subsequent “second” contact. All in all, any interaction with potential users at trade shows will always be memorable and vibrant if you can offer interesting perks for your visitor and attract their attention with a colorful booth and additional activities at the event.
Parties
Are the parties after the conference the most bright and memorable events?
Basically, yes! All networking takes place over a glass of some cocktail in a quiet, relaxed atmosphere after the official events. Many projects emphasize this type of event format, gathering a loyal crowd around them, treating them to drinks, and giving them access to the project creators, to the founder directly. This is a great option for “informal” (open-minded) projects, open to communication. Giving people positive emotions, ease of communication, and fun always has a positive impact on the brand of the project and its founder.
Focusing only on this format of events, you should always remember that you, as a project, should, not only make people laugh, but also talk about your project through the manifestations of such events – they should be in unison with the overall style of the project and its creators.
Strict, serious projects can not have “reckless” parties by default because their audience will not understand this “youthfulness” and would likely stay away from such an experiment. But if you are an open brand, your tone of voice is fresh, honest, and progressive, then this format of events is your everything 🙂
Side events
What are they, and for whom?
A side event is any other event that accompanies a large event – a conference or exhibition. Let’s say you came to the conference, listened to the reports & presentations for the whole day, and now the meeting is over. What to do? There are a few possible choices: to go to a hotel for a holiday or spend time with like-minded people in the evening at an informal meetup with a glass of wine, discussing the latest trends in your industry. Would you agree? Of course, you would. Casual events are one of the best ways to find partners, clients, or possibly investors.
Formats of the side events can be as follows:
- meet-up a 2-3 hour event in a more informal setting than a conference;
- project presentation – a tailor-made event to talk about your project, make a report on the results, or pitch to investors;
- start-up pitch competition – a format of short presentations by start-ups, mainly to attract the attention of investors and to test the main idea of the project – to get feedback and to validate the concept;
- private dinner – a closed format of the event, mostly by invitation. The purpose is a formal dinner of a certain circle of people in a setting that is the most appropriate to your audience;
And the last of the most standard, but only limited by your imagination:
- joint adventure on a yacht, in the desert in jeeps, etc. This is the format of the freest communication, an informal pastime for something unusual and entertaining. It is suitable for the more or less established social circle, understanding that all these people are interested in yachting or safari. The joint adventure is a great networking idea for old friends/business partners.
Events in Metaverse
This thing is kinda cool 🙂 Yes, we are all tired of being online during Covid 19, but events in Metaverse will rock this world. Imagine you have your community all over the world and you need to gather them and make a new feature presentation, or you have some kind of announcement, or it’s a new NFT launch and you need to show it to the maximum number of people. An event in Metaverse is a perfect solution for it.
With the NFT market blooming, Metaverse is the perfect place to broadcast them. Virtual treasures look perfect when you show them at the same virtual space – in one parallel. If you create NFTs and tell your NFT story – keep your audience in NFT space, let your audience join your cartoon story and become a part of it – by choosing their own avatar, by talking to the cartoon users around. Involve your visitor in your magic and let him believe in it!
Lots of crypto projects like Dogecoin built their own Temples – to create their cult of community and loyalty to the project. And it works, do you want to try it?
Which format works best?
The format that works best is the one that suits your audience. If your audience is as fun and progressive as you are, parties and side events will work best. Again, though, conferences and trade shows will also work for your image and industry activity. Everything works if you do it wisely and in a creative way. Don’t make it boring because the audience will neither appreciate nor notice it.