The event email that made me block the sender and why you should never do this 📩

Here I am on a leisurely Wednesday afternoon, cleaning up my emails when I come across a rather scathing email, passive aggressively berating me for not turning up to an event! 

The email reads "so sorry you couldn't make the event on ....  you missed a great session.  Our events are very popular and so next time you can't come, let us know so we can release the waitlist.". 

There were many more words than that, which is what made it passive aggressive in my view, but you know what? I had cancelled my ticket a week or so before the event when I knew I couldn't attend! I'm very particular about never being a no-show, which is why I was surprised with this email.

And so you know what I did next?  After double checking that I did in fact cancel, I added them to spam and deleted the email, never to be seen again.

You might think this is harsh but I think their approach is a list killer.  They used one of the big registration systems which has obviously failed either in cancelling my ticket or informing them of said cancellation, and instead of reaching out to me and asking me say...

• Is everything okay?  We missed you at the event.  We hope you're safe and well.
• We know that emergencies happen and we're sad you couldn't make it, but here's a link to the next one.
• Our technology failed us and we didn't get your cancellation. We hope we see you at our next event

And so many other responses they could have sent, and assumptions they could have made, rather than the one they chose.

Yes, it's really frustrating when people are a no-show and maybe like some memberships I know, 3 no-shows in a row and you're out.  But a first time attendee (which I was), registrant, guest or member, these are the ones you need to take very good care of until you know them a bit better.

I'm sharing this with you because if you handle your communications right from the time of registration, you will never wonder if your guests were simply a no-show or they had a very good reason for not showing up.

At my events this year I've achieved greater than 95% show up rate and that's because I've implemented a few lessons from people like Priya Parker and Julius Solaris.

1. Communicate early, thanking your guests for the registration, letting them know the next steps.
2. Communicate often, give them small pieces of information about what to expect to keep them excited (and aware) about your event.
3. Give them a reason to show up.  At my networking events, I hand out the guest list and encourage people to tell me who they want to meet.
4. Connect with people emotionally. Business events don't have to be boring or technical.  Gather some social proof by including fun activities that keep people coming back, and bringing their friends!
5. Be grateful for your audience, love the ones that show up, love the ones that don't.

Rarely are people a no-show if they know the effort you have put in to give them a great experience, but even if they did decide that one time just to stay home on the couch, don't send an email berating them, they probably needed it, and you'll probably never see them again.