Things change.

If you’re the planner in charge of a special event, meeting or party that targets corporate business, you’re going to need an extra edge to engage a diverse demographic.

We’ve covered how to use multimedia to make learning more effective; now we want to give you a foundation so you can create ideas for your event.

A blog post at Corporate Eye gave us a few ideas about engaging business audiences. Consider the following simple how-to tips for planning a memorable meeting.

“Communicate often and use new technology. Get out of your office and be seen by your people. This cuts across all generations and is just effective leadership.”

Ask yourself this question: Am I speaking the right language? Better yet, is it the correct dialect? If you’re not speaking the social language, you’re not doing it right. Make sure the people at your event are still connected to their networks. Use QR codes and label your sessions with hashtags so participants can easily communicate. Let them check in at each session with an application such as DoubleDutch.  Stay visible on the networks they use.

“Make work flexible in terms of work locations if possible and scheduling.”

If you’ve done everything right, there are several different sessions focused on particular subjects. Good job; you’ve nailed the hands-on stuff. Congratulations on reaching everybody at the event.

What about the people who aren’t there? Not everyone wants to (or can) show up at an event, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want your knowledge. Solution: Offer it to them over the web.

We did a post outlining a few reasons you should livestream, but the short version is simple: you need to expand your reach and engage participants in ways that are convenient for them. Live web streaming has made it possible for event planners to do more with less space. Consider inviting the core participants to an on-site event and engaging everyone else online. Knowing how to live stream video will lower your costs without diluting your message.

“Younger workers want things to happen fast and aren’t impressed by titles. I couldn’t agree more; ‘command and control’ style leadership is very ‘old economy.’”

What does this mean for an event? Substance. (Again, with feeling: SUBSTANCE).

Not being “impressed by titles” is a way of saying “rejects arbitrary authority.” Put up or shut up. Produce something substantial or lose your audience from the beginning.

This is a question of usability: What can I offer immediately and how should it be packaged? Décor and design matter, but what you’re offering is the most important thing.

Take the ideas here and create substance. That’s the experience that transforms.