New Ways to Do Business Events: Aquarium, Pecha-Kucha, and Anti-Conference
Ever been to a business event and found it a bit dull? You know, where a speaker drones on while a bored crowd listens, and then a few people ask obligatory questions. Well, things have changed. Event planners now have some exciting tricks up their sleeves to shake up the usual routine.
No matter what kind of business meeting it is, the main goals remain simple:
- Introduce the company, product, or service
- Build and strengthen partnerships
- Get noticed by the media
- Create a positive image
- Attract new clients and partners
Depending on what the event aims to achieve, you can design a setup where everyone gets a chance to share ideas in a lively and casual atmosphere. We use various formats for business events and want to show you how to transform a formal conference into an event that gets people talking on social media and in the news.
Content
1. Open Space Technology
2. Aquarium
3. Pecha-Kucha
4. Anti-Conference
5. Business Game
6. Secret Meeting
7. Enhancing Your Business Event
1. Open Space Technology
A flexible format for tackling tough problems and finding creative solutions.
How it works: The event moderator presents the issue to participants and lays out some ground rules:
- Everyone can pitch in ideas and solutions
- Focus on the present rather than hypotheticals
- Participants set their own pace for discussions
- The event ends when participants decide
Use it for: Complex problem-solving, strategic planning, sharing experiences, team building, and networking.
Duration: 1-2 days.
2. Aquarium
An interactive round-table setup for discussing hot topics.
How it works: In the center (“aquarium”), there’s a discussion with active participants and listeners. In an open setup, any listener can join the inner circle’s debate. In the closed ” aquarium,” participants rotate after the discussion. Once the debate ends, participants and listeners can exchange views. A moderator guides the event.
This format encourages discussions from various viewpoints and helps establish trust among all attendees.
Use it for: Modernizing debates, engaging everyone at professional gatherings, and training.
Duration: Several hours.
3. Pecha-Kucha
Pecha-Kucha (Japanese for “chatter”) is all about brief presentations.
How it works: Speakers present on the event’s topic using a maximum of 20 slides. Each slide gets about 20 seconds of commentary. Often held in the evening at unconventional locations with a stage, these events are lively and informal. Although initially for design and architecture, now it fits almost any theme.
Use it for: A lively spin on classic presentations, discussing popular topics, creating a relaxed atmosphere, and sticking to time limits.
Duration: About 1.5 hours.
4. Anti-Conference
An event where participants, not organizers, make the rules.
How it works: Participants set the concept beforehand, gather ideas, and plan the event. This results in different parallel streams of topics. Everyone can move between these streams freely, and they’re time-bound. No division between speakers and listeners; anyone can lead a stream.
Use it for: Informal discussions on pressing issues, showcasing yourself.
Duration: 1 day
5. Business Game
This is a format where participants simulate business scenarios, playing them out and analyzing the results.
How it works: This practical event offers tasks resembling real-life situations. Participants form small groups, work on solutions, and present them to the audience.
Use it for: Business training, finding innovative solutions, practice.
Duration: 1 day.
6. Secret Meeting
An event with undisclosed details until it begins.
How it works: Teasers build anticipation for the event, keeping the location and/or program a secret. Social media, digital and offline ads, and word of mouth create intrigue. The event itself should create a wow effect among the participants with unique venues, new tech, and free-flowing interaction.
Use it for: Product and service presentations, community building, partner outreach, training, corporate parties.
Duration: 1 day.
Enhancing Your Business Event
We haven’t covered all the event formats available—new ones pop up all the time. You can even mix and match them to create your own. For instance, you could combine an Aquarium session with a Secret Meeting to pique audience interest. Standard speeches don’t impress like they used to. Instead, think multiple stages, dialogues, interactive elements, workshops, and quests. Mixing seemingly unrelated ideas also works. Why not pair a business conference with a sailing regatta or a countryside retreat?
Thanks to technology, we can now attend online events in virtual worlds. You design an avatar and step into a virtual space for real-time interactions with others.
At Galactic Group, we’ve orchestrated countless business events: conferences, summits, press briefings, exhibitions, debates, lectures, workshops, and more. Our main conclusions: engage the audience, stay focused on business goals, and don’t shy away from experimenting.
