Surprise and Delight: How to Make Your Meeting a Sleeper Hit

Meeting planners want their events to be smash hits. But there is power in the sleeper hit, too—one that delivers more than promised and has attendees returning home to rave about their experience.

“I think sleeper hits are places where everybody feels comfortable, and then there’s more than you expect when you get there,” said Tory Ondrla, conference manager for the Association of College & Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association.

Here are four ways to create an unforgettable sleeper hit.

Choose a Sleeper-Hit Destination

Sleeper-hit events can originate from sleeper-hit destinations, and one of the biggest determinants of that type of destination is value. “The price point usually tells you,” Ondrla said.

“People are making decisions with their travel budgets, and when you can offer something that’s affordable and accessible, you have their interest. It’s not crossed off by the price tag,” she said.

Although Cleveland wasn’t her first choice for the ACRL 2019 Conference, Ondrla was visiting a friend in the city and decided to check out the convention center. She quickly understood how it could be a sleeper hit for her members.

“I was so surprised. I was like, ‘This is amazing. I think this could really happen,’” she said. “I had a great weekend in Cleveland with my friend, and then I brought my boss back, and we were like, ‘Done and done.’”

Build Excitement in the Lead-Up

With the sleeper-hit location locked in, next on the list is getting people pumped up about it.

“Do what you’re best at. Show them you’re going to deliver on what they expect,” Ondrla said. “Then tease out new information a little bit at a time about what’s coming with this event. Build that excitement. And then get your best members to be your hype people for you, because they’ll listen to each other in a way that they’re not going to listen to you, frankly.”

If you have members from the destination city among your hype people, it creates an even stronger draw.

“Use your local people to talk about that destination: ‘I’m so excited you all are coming to my city,’” Ondrla said. “Have that person be someone who can speak with passion and authority and knowledge about wherever you’re having your event.”

Line Up Local Speakers and Entertainers

Having locals or people who have local connections at your event builds on the sleeper-hit feel. “That’s a dream matchup,” Ondrla said. To find those people, rely on your partners.

“Good destination management companies and good keynote speakers bureaus will feed you those people to either match your theme or your location,” she said. “And it’s in the speaker’s best interest, too. A lot of them don’t have much time, and they don’t want to travel real far.”

Destination Cleveland routinely meets with planners to offer localized solutions. “We say, ‘Hey, we have a couple of speakers who are specialized in the field that you’re bringing here. Would you like us to engage them to see if they’d be interested in being a part of your event?’” said Gordon Taylor, the organization’s chief sales officer.

Having the right speaker is crucial, he said.

“The best events I’ve attended have hired people who don’t just go up there and explain data but tell a story,” Taylor said. “Powerful speakers have a story to tell that ties into the association—their values, their mission. That seems to captivate the attention of people.”

Create a Sense of Place

To have a sleeper hit on your hands, you’ll need to embrace what’s special about the destination.

“Really create a sense of place in everything you do,” Taylor said. “Make sure the cuisine is local, because everyone’s obviously there talking about the food. Make sure the entertainment reflects what the city might be known for.”

Ondrla had success with this approach to her programming in Cleveland.

“When a city has something unique like the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, you really have half your work done for you already. You just need to lean into what is authentic about that place,” she said. “We had our big reception there for about 3,000 people, and we told everybody to come in concert T-shirts and denim. And then instead of wearing their name badges, we had little stick-on badges that said either ‘my first concert’ or ‘my best concert.’ It gave people things to talk about right away.”

If you can surprise and delight your attendees with a well-executed sleeper hit, they’re going to remember it, Ondrla said.

“People had so much to say about Cleveland,” she said. “Our attendees were really pleasantly surprised and would not hesitate to go back. I certainly feel that way.”

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