by Nathalie Neider, Congress and Location Marketing, 08.03.2019
Review Fit4Congress workshop "EventDesign" with Gerrit Jessen
- Dresden Convention Service
Event design, what is that? And what does fishing have to do with events? No idea? Event design expert and coach Gerrit Jessen gave us the answers at our Fit4Congress intensive workshop at the end of February.
The workshop started in the morning with a great panoramic view over the rooftops of Dresden, from the meeting room of the new The Student Hotel.
The workshop started in the morning with a great panoramic view over the rooftops of Dresden, from the meeting room of the new The Student Hotel.
The official get-to-know-you round at the beginning of the workshop revealed organisational talents, trailblazers and some exotics but everyone was immediately excited about the day. Gerrit Jessen (link: https://www.gecoman.de/) will introduce us to the world of event design today. With more than 25 years of experience in the event, congress and conference sector, he is the official trainer and consultant for Event Design Collective GmbH in Germany.
What is Event Design with the Canvas Method?
→ Video Event Canvas https://edco.global/germany/
How to apply it? That's what we learned on 28.02:
Most important insight at the beginning of the workshop: Event design takes place before planning and conception and should help to tailor one's own event to the needs of the participants, but also of important stakeholders, and to develop a holistic strategy.
Then it went into detail. In the first step, we were introduced to the professional handling of Post-its. This sounds banal, but it is indispensable as a tool for the event design method. Gerrit Jessen then used "The Long Night of Science" to explain the process of event design. We brainstormed, stuck notes, discussed and documented our results from the perspective of the respective stakeholders at the event. So, what does he think, how does he act and what are his emotions, attitudes, needs?
The second half of the day
In the second half of the day, we were asked to apply our new knowledge to a case study.
The task: A brewer wanted to create a new image for his somewhat forgotten beer through an event. Two stakeholders were identified and each was worked on in detail by a group.
After two hours of intensive brainstorming and exciting discussion, three event prototypes were presented.
In practice, we would then have tried to reconcile the prototypes with each other in order to be able to reconcile the needs of all stakeholders and derive the event strategy. Instead, we watched the resolution of the case study as a video and could see some parallels to our ideas.
The best comes at the end
And now the reward: the workshop ended with the awarding of the certificates, so that all participants can now call themselves certified event designers
Thank you very much! We would like to thank Gerrit Jessen once again for the interesting and informative day, as well as the team of The Student Hotel for the delicious food and the location.
But one question still remains: What does fishing have to do with event design? Fishing is about choosing the right bait for the right fish. It should be the same with an event: You have to offer the participants the right incentives so that they get added value from the event.