My big question in #BYDN for Rachel Hofstetter, Chief Marketing Officer at Chatbooks was:
Events such as weddings are temporary communities that come together around a milestone. What are your suggestions for enhancing the connections in these situations (and which in turn may be applied to other situations)?
I mean really! All the planning, all the celebration, all the dancing, toasts and love — and then what? If you think about the next time that community gathers to talk about you…you’re likely running for office or dead and well, let’s not get too morbid.
Let’s focus instead on ways to fully harness this powerful, temporary community for more than a conga line.
To help facilitate those connections, hosts can do three easy things, according to Rachel:
- Appoint ambassadors. Ask a well-connected guest to be the “ambassador” for those outside the close family or friend circle at the event and to introduce around.
- Make the simple connection. If people are traveling from the same city to your event (either via car, public transport, or plane), take a few minutes to connect them via e-mail.
- Help people know who’s who. Simply being able to remember a new name creates stronger connections…To give them help with names and faces, create a guest directory, or personalize name tags and buttons with each person’s connection to the host, event, or couple, and email around a Google Doc with a list of guests and links to an online profile.
