If you’re like us here at Pink Social Strategies, you don’t want to simply throw an event—you want to thoughtfully craft a memorable experience for you, your client and guests. We recently read (or perhaps listened via Audible) The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker, a book that has us inspired and ready to change the way we gather and plan out spaces for guests to come and feel welcomed and most importantly, cared for.
Professional Facilitator and author, Priya Parker’s latest book The Art of Gathering, centers on gathering intentionally and artfully. She emphasizes the importance of having not only engaged guests but also an equally engaged host when it comes to gatherings. She also argues that engagement doesn’t have to begin once the crowd reaches the door but can start as soon as the theme of the event has been constructed. Parker believes that how a guest feels entering and leaving a space, is probably the most crucial element for hosts to consider when planning out an event.
At Pink Social Strategies, we want to help you create a space that encompasses these elements and more. To do that, we’ve summed up a few of our key takeaways from Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering in the hopes that the way you view event planning will transform to create events that leave your guests awed and inspired.
Be present when hosting. Yes, you and your team have worked tirelessly to make this event happen and now all you want to do is sit back and relax while it all unfolds. While we hear you and encourage you to take it all in, we also want to remind you that you are still needed to make this thing a success. Make sure there is someone on the team who can remain available for guests if they have questions or comments at any point during their experience. By staying visible throughout the event, there will always be a helpful resource to guide frazzled first-time attendees and mitigate any confusion should there be an unexpected turn of events.
Provoke thoughtful and engaging questions before guests even arrive by sending out the theme of the event and a relevant article via an email to welcome them to the space. This provides guests with the assurance that there is true thought and intention being put into your event in addition to the effort to build excitement for the activities to come.
Make room for connections beyond your event. All good things must come to end, as they say. Help your guests continue to connect even after the event is over by creating a space for further engagement and discussion. Facebook groups are a fantastic way for people to connect and discuss a shared experience. What better way to keep the momentum going for your event than by having guests continue to chat about what they learned and took away from it?
Throughout the chapters of this book, Parker makes it abundantly clear that the focus of event planning needs some serious shifting: away from things and towards people. It’s time we realize that the most important aspect of an event isn’t the photo booth, or the floral arrangements, or even the food—it is the sincere human connections that are fostered through an intentionally crafted experience.
