How to make an IT company's stand a magnet for visitors
A family festival for experienced IT specialists in the open air is an event that was held with deafening fun at the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve. The LANIT team also made some noise there. At the IT picnic, we organized a stand that attracted a lot of visitors – we didn’t even expect such interest! We managed to come up with many exciting activities and lectures, so that the flow of people did not subside all day. Let's share how it was all organized. We don't mind, but it may be useful to you.
Together to a new level
In order to collect the most reliable information, we interviewed the event participants who acted as LANIT ambassadors. Some of them greeted guests, some helped figure out game mechanics, or shared knowledge and IT wisdom as speakers.
Alexandra Sh., head of the LANIT HR brand development center, is sure that an IT picnic is a good opportunity to communicate with the target audience of IT specialists and talk about the company in an unusual and exciting way.
“We are a diversified group of companies. This year we are celebrating our 35th anniversary. Our anniversary slogan is “Together to a new level.” We at LANIT love e-sports, so this slogan embodies both our desire for everything new and our passion for computer games. When you come to us, you immediately find yourself at the highest level, thanks to teamwork and the level of expertise – this is indispensable in our large projects. The stand represents the very 35th level, where the boss – our mascot Capybara – meets you,” says Alexandra.
We wanted to combine entertaining activities and an expert component in lectures, so that everyone could find something that interests them. And we succeeded. If you want, play your favorite board games, jump on the trampoline, play basketball. If you want, listen to our funny stand-up about burnout, assemble a navigation from cubes, take part in an interactive master class.
We came up with a gamification system at the stand: for each activity, guests received points in the bot, and for the points they received gifts. It was a good idea. The guests liked it
I was surprised by the sincere and enthusiastic interest in simple gaming activities, for example, board games: all the gaming tables were occupied all day. There were queues for the “tap the capybara” and “feed the capy in basketball” activities.
Alexandra Sh.: “We are convinced that at such holidays people want lightness and as much interaction as possible. But we were not prepared for such a flow of visitors. Let's take this into account for the future. With long lines at the food courts, there was very little time to grab a bite to eat.”
As you can see, we do not hide mistakes and honestly share our conclusions. Alexandra, as an experienced organizer, gave some useful tips those who happen to participate in the preparation of unusual IT events. Catch it!
1. Make content for IT people with IT people.
The topics of the lectures became a separate challenge for us, because a picnic is a completely informal event. And not an IT conference, and not an entertainment event in its purest form. A battle on coffee makers about microservices and a monolith, a stand-up cri de coeur about burnout, Lego navigation design… All these topics at the intersection of creativity and IT expertise were born in tandem with the expert guys. And everyone went with a bang.
2. Involve employee ambassadors to work at the stand.
No one can tell you about the company better than them. Take the time to prepare them for the event. Our ambassadors, for example, performed at the IT picnic in several roles at once: as greeters at the stand, as activity moderators, and as promos distributing leaflets. We told the guys in advance what awaited them at the short training workshops and played out different situations. This helped them quickly take on an unusual role for them and enjoy working at the festival.
3. Worry less and collect honest feedback
Murphy's law will still work somewhere when organizing large events: if something can go wrong, it will go wrong. The main thing is to remember this after the event, collect feedback from the team, write down all the mistakes in an excel sheet and take it into account for the future.
How to organize a truly interesting lecture
Another organizer was Yulia P., head of the training and personnel development department of LANIT. It was in her hands that lectures were held that attracted many listeners.
Yulia really likes to systematize everything and put it on shelves. She also did her best for you and compiled a small guide on what you need to consider so that everything goes smoothly.
Lecture program
When drawing up a program, you need to immediately decide in what concept the lectures will be presented.
It is necessary to create a program committee, which will include experts on the topic, experts in public speaking, and HR specialists.
Collect more speakers and proposals on topics so that in case of unforeseen situations you have a reserve and a plan B.
Take into account in the timing the time for shift changes, speaker equipment, launching the presentation, preparing auxiliary materials for the speech, for example, arranging tables, and gifts for the audience, etc.).
Add some slack to the timing between lectures.
Prescribe activities during lectures more clearly and include them in timing. Even presenting prizes to spectators requires time and unity of all involved in the organization. It is worth considering where the gifts will be stored, when to bring them to the stand, determine whether there is a place for this, who will give out prizes to the winners and how.
Julia P.: “An example of one of our mistakes is a lottery that we came up with but didn’t plan well enough. My colleague Masha and I took on this task in a moment and almost suffocated both from the number of people asking us questions, and from the fact that we had to improvise on the spot (where to put the drum, when to put it and in general what to tell people) “
Speakers
Be sure to insist on rehearsing the performance. Conduct at least two runs in person. Provide a rehearsal schedule where speakers can mark their slots so they can all be tracked.
Find out all the nuances and requirements for the performance at once:
which microphone is more convenient,
what will the presentation be like?
do you need help with design,
Do you need sound from the presentation?
Will you have your own laptop or can you use a corporate one?
what activities do the speakers suggest, what is needed for them,
who will provide the props: the author or something else needs to be purchased.
Have separate chats with speakers where you can discuss absolutely everything.
The speaker must coordinate the speech with his supervisor and HR.
Send detailed information to speakers about what time and where to arrive, what parking conditions are, etc.
Prepare a bottle of water for each speaker and make sure no one accidentally takes it.
We hope Yulia’s advice will help you. This is real experience that she gained by preparing more than one event.
A major IT event through the eyes of the participants
How did the LANIT participants see this IT picnic? Did they feel comfortable, what lessons did they learn from what happened, were they tired and, most importantly, would they agree to get involved in a similar project again? We knocked on several guys at once for answers.
Galina S., LANIT business coach, said that her role as stand host was very responsible.
The task was to interact with guests, conduct interactions and giveaways, introduce speakers and maintain an overall positive atmosphere. Galina believes that the event will go off like clockwork if you have thoroughly analyzed your audience and tried to prepare the speakers. It is important that there are no boring speeches, but there is specificity and a twinkle in the eyes.
Galina S.: “I can say with confidence that LANIT lecture halls had their own special feature. None of our speakers gave just a boring lecture – everyone planned an interactive part. When preparing speakers, we took into account the format and target audiences of the entire event in advance. Guests were attracted by technical topics with the possibility of personal participation (for example, assembling a construction set according to a specific task from the presenter). At the same time, the topic of working with burnout in IT aroused particular interest: colleagues shared their experiences and asked questions to the speaker.”
Alexander B., head of IT Service Management from LANIT-Integration, also shared his impressions. He was one of the speakers at the lecture hall and performed an interesting stand-up routine, which he called a cry from the heart.
Alexander B.: “Everyone wants to get into IT first, but some want to get out later. I presented to the public a heartbreaking story about the life of an IT specialist and an escape from burnout. The organizers offered to speak about professional fatigue and the fight against it through creativity. The topic is for a wide audience, without diving into technical details, as well as the possibility of interactivity: you can let viewers touch a handmade wooden flash drive and a mammoth tooth several tens of thousands of years old.”
We asked Sasha how to choose a topic for a lecture so that it would definitely hook the audience, and we received an original answer: “Dale Carnegie said: “I love strawberries and cream, but for some reason fish prefers worms.” Therefore, when I go fishing, I think about what the fish likes.” Choose a topic that will be of interest to your audience and on which you have something to share. Remember that even simple things can be told in an interesting way.”
Anna P., project director from the LANIT – BPM company, was the host of the master class together with a colleague.
Anna was interested in being a speaker, working with an unprepared audience, and communicating with new people. We asked her a question about what such a difficult audience that is going to an IT picnic needs. Below is Anna's response:
Anna P.: “I believe that we need to look for something at the intersection of entertainment and lectures. We talked about different architectural approaches, but at the same time we used a constructor from the World of Cubes. That is, on the one hand, it is a complex topic, on the other hand, we offered the guests a toy. I think that for activities at such an event, an entertainment part is required, because… “They don’t come here for serious conversations, but just to relax.”
Alexey G., system architect at LANIT – BPM, spoke with Anna.
He evaluates his participation as successful, although he is not too familiar with the role of speaker. He believes that what makes a speech effective is a pressing topic, ease of presentation and an idea that may interest the listener.
Alexey G.: “Our topic echoed everyday pain (we discussed design approaches – microservices or monolith). The highlight of the performance was the opportunity to assemble the same construction set in different architectural styles and compare the results. As a result, we received both involvement and interest in how it would all end. Together with the participants, we laughed a little (more out of surprise) at how similar their products and the assembly process turned out to be in real life.”
Aisha F., corporate communications manager at the LANIT HR brand development center, worked in the promotion team, which was responsible for attracting guests to our stand.
In her opinion, the key to success when organizing an IT event is the atmosphere created by ambassadors when communicating with guests and the game mechanics of the event.
Aisha F.: “We combined serious lecture topics with entertaining formats, and light and funny games with a sophisticated point system. We left the meanings and values, but made the presentation easy and attractive. Colleagues at the stand reception created the atmosphere with their openness, sociability and bright smiles! They were also helped by our Capybara mascot, who managed to become the star of the site and take pictures with almost all the visitors to the museum-reserve.”
Mary M., junior manager of the LANIT HR department, was responsible for organizing games (tic-tac-toe, klask).
For her, it was a completely new experience, which differed from her main work related to documents. Mary highlighted what she considers to be the key factors when preparing a corporate stand at an event such as an IT picnic.
Interactivity: It is important that guests can participate in various events.
Professional team: It is necessary for company employees to actively interact with visitors.
Thematic events: organizing special sessions and master classes related to current topics in the industry.
Souvenirs: Distributing branded gifts that always attract attention.
Alexandra Z., head of the HR department at LANIT, temporarily turned into a caring fairy at the reception at the IT picnic.
She supports her colleagues in the opinion that in order to be dynamic, it is very important to support the competitive spirit of booth visitors.
“The guests competed for prizes. Everyone wanted a capybara or merch with it. Plus, interest was triggered, people liked to compete with cars, get a toy from a machine and hit a basketball hoop. Some participants went through the same activity 2-3 times, still trying to win. If we go to an IT picnic next year, I will definitely answer my colleagues’ call to volunteer again.”
Maria B., senior receptionist at LANIT, was responsible for the “Catch it if you can” location, where participants tried to get key rings in the shape of soft capybaras from the machine in a minute.
According to Maria, a huge role in the success of the organized event will be played by how the team was managed to prepare for it. Every company employee should understand how they personally benefit from volunteering in their free time.
Maria B.: “Working on this activity gave me an excellent opportunity to improve my communication skills with strangers in a short time. The impression left was the most positive. I hope I will have the opportunity to become a member of the Ambassador team again.”
Alena R., head of the Digital group at the LANIT HR Brand Development Center, got involved in the process of preparing the IT picnic long before it took place.
He considers information support for the event to be absolutely important, which must be planned in advance.
Alena R.: “As part of my professional tasks, I coordinated posts on social networks on the topic of LANIT’s participation in the IT picnic, supervised advertising campaigns, and monitored publications in the media. During the picnic itself, I managed to work as a stand attendant, as a promotionalist, and also distributed badges to employees and helped guests find their way. We were able to bring to life the same “capybara mood” that we promised in our publications.”
For those who read almost to the end (we are very grateful for this), interesting information not only about the event, but also about technologies from Vladislav B., head of the LANIT data analysis practice group.
He gave a report at the “Experiments and Research” lecture hall. Shared insights into the potential of large language models (LLMs) as a tool for many specialties.
“To make it easier for LANIT employees to use the capabilities of LLM, we in the corporate systems department are developing the “Silicon Assistants” platform. I told the guests of the stand how we came to this platform and why it is good.”
Since Vladislav’s performance aroused considerable interest among the public, we asked him how to properly prepare so that the meeting with the audience was successful. Read expert advice.
Vladislav B.: “There is an approach to learning that is now called after Feynman. It is based on the assertion that if you cannot explain something to someone who is not immersed in the subject, then you do not understand it well enough. Therefore, take any event as an opportunity to talk interestingly about what you do, what is important to you, what you understand. That's the whole secret.”
Good luck in preparing your events and thank you for your attention!
