Are People Missing Half Your Event Because You Missed the Signs?

I’ve been to 2 events over the weekend and for both, I missed at least half of the experience, and maybe the best half.  But I’ll never know.  Now, I’m talking about big events.  Events that are long standing, events that are backed by highly experienced teams that have done this and many other events for many years.

So how is it, that I missed half the experience?

Both events missed a very simple step in the system, and that was effective signage.  Yep, an easy one to implement, but one so many people miss. 

So why does signage matter so much I hear you ask.

Because when we arrive at an event, we want to be lead by the hand into your experience.  We want to leave all the thinking at the proverbial door and just immerse ourselves into what you have created for us.  We want to go “all in”.

The problem with the first event was the external signage first.  This event was in the Botanical Gardens and a large portion of the gardens was fenced off to enclose the event.  But there was no signage on this fence to indicate where the entrance was, and so we spent a ridiculous amount of time walking around one way, only to find out it was at the other end where we had to enter.  Simple corflutes every 100m on the scrim of the fence would have saved us from walking unnecessarily around the site and back again.

But here’s why it made me miss the half the experience. With my 7 year old granddaughter in tow, we had already walked so far to get into the experience, she (and let’s face it – me) were pretty exhausted by the time we got there.  But we kept going because we knew something exciting was coming, but again we were faced with no updates.

How far was this walk?  What could we expect at the next step?  Was this the experience? A nice wander around the park with pretty lights and storytelling over the PA?  I’m sure there was more to it, but because there was no signage, we didn’t know, and so we cut out of the line early, and left the experience.

What started as a fun journey of discovery, ended in frustration, a lengthy walk, and tears from the 7 year old.  Not, I’m sure, how the organiser wanted us to feel.

And alas Sunday wasn’t much different.  A longstanding stunning exhibition of sculptures on the beach, I couldn’t wait to get there and see the magnificent works I had been seeing on social media.  A glorious walk along the beach, I got to see incredible works of art by the most amazing of artists.

But again, I missed half of it due to lack of effective signage.

When I reached the info ten from where I started (about 1km round trip), I asked about the 2 pieces I had not yet seen.  Oh, she said, there’s more on the other side of the surf club, about 1.6km that way.  As you can imagine, I didn’t quite have the wherewithal to walk back….  So I missed the 2 sculptures I really wanted to see, and I’m sure, many more.

This festival had to make quite a few changes due to the cyclone a few months back, and that meant extending the trail.  I spoke to a few people who didn’t know it extended past the surf club this year, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who missed a lot of artworks.  A missed step in the system. A few simple signs showing us where to go. 

All this needed was a sign at the surf club end to advise that the festival extended past its usual site.  And hey, maybe it was there – maybe I missed it.  But they missed many opportunities to tell me (along the trail, at the info tent, at the surf club, posters in the café and convenience store, etc., etc.).  With artists selling their work at this festival as well, they too may have missed many opportunities.

So what can you do to make sure your audience doesn’t miss half of your event?  I think what’s happened here is that no-one is looking at these events from the customer journey perspective.  Noone is walking through it (visually), when it’s all put together, and doing a final check.  Or maybe no one has been allocated the job of creating the signage??  I remember the signage at the Commonwealth Games was a big deal. It was someone’s job to make sure everyone knew their way around.  On my site at least, it was done exceptionally well.

So this is your reminder to double check, are you giving enough information to your audience as they venture in to and through your event?  Can they leave their world behind and enter (and stay) in yours with ease? Can you make sure they receive all that you intended, by simply letting them know the next steps.  All it takes is a few signs along the way.

I recorded a podcast episode on an event I visited a few weeks ago that had me scratching my head about whether I was in the right place.  Subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when it drops.  It’s in 2 parts because there was so much to say.