Events To Engage A Younger Audience

As an event organiser, you might find that you have some difficulty engaging a younger audience. For the most part, the interests of a teenager vary massively from those of a 40 year old. So how do you go about engaging with a younger audience?

Why not tailor your next event solely to them? Below are a few ideas to get you started.

Video game tournament

The first, and possibly most important step in organising a video game tournament is deciding the games to be played.

If you’re opting for games such as Call of Duty or Fortnite, will you be running a team based tournament? Similarly, if you’re heading down the avenue of Mortal Combat or Injustice (1 vs 1 games), it might be best to have more than one console set up to avoid attendees becoming bored. Depending on your audience size, you need to find a suitable venue. Will a function room and 50″ TV be suitable or can you hire out a screen at your local independent cinema?

In terms of prizes, the chances are that most attendees will already have a console (hence their interest in the event). Therefore, consider a prize that adds to their home entertainment system with a new TV or surround sound speakers.

From there, you’ll need to work out the bracket system (who plays whom) and ensure that the tournament is run fairly.

Keep the tournament as friendly as possible to avoid any tantrums. Your event liability insurance will not cover a bruised ego.

Music festival

It’s very rare that someone will have survived through their teenage years without attending a music festival.

However, it’s very unlikely that you will manage to get Ariana Grande headlining your event. Therefore, try reaching out to local bands. Keep in mind that teenagers, for the most part, want what’s current. It’s difficult to imagine hundreds of 16 year olds flocking to see Rick Astley or Chesney Hawkes.

It can be a mean feat to organise your own music festival. Luckily, we have a relatively comprehensive article on organising a DIY music festival.

Role play party

When someone says “role play” you may automatically think of L.A.I.R.E (live action interactive roleplaying explorers). However, this is not the full extent of the possibilities.

Murder mystery parties are once again becoming extremely popular. Similarly, escape rooms and problem solving games are all the rage. They can be organised using a small group of people, or even paid performers with a large audience.

For a small group, simply source a venue and design a situation. Are the participants trapped in a scary environment? Have your attendees been named as suspects in a murder? Whatever you choose, make sure the idea is vivid with every eventuality mapped out.

Following from the idea, you need to assign roles to your participants. Depending on the event, you can make a full backstory for each character ensuring the immersion is comprehensive. For an escape room, they may all be convicted prisoners. If you have opted for a murder mystery, why not make someone the obvious suspect with a criminal past, and then twist the narrative half way through to point the finger at the most seemingly innocent character.

Some performance companies host murder mystery’s where their paid performers act as the characters, essentially putting on a small play. Subsequently, the audience all act as the detectives. They are encouraged to ask questions, interview the suspects and examine the crimes scene.

For examples of murder mystery events, following the link: murder mystery events.

Technology exhibition

Why not encourage teenagers to look up from their screens? What better way to do that, than by giving them other screens to look at?

A technology exhibition depends on stallholders and exhibitors providing the content. After you have found the suitable venue, you should advertise that the event is looking for exhibitors to display their technology.

The stalls can range from phones, computers and video consoles to robotics, gadgets and home appliances.

Just make sure that your exhibitors hold their own event liability insurance as you cannot be held responsible for their negligence.

Ensure you have adequate event insurance

Any event you organise can come to a nasty halt if you’re unfortunate enough for an attendee to suffer an injury. Ensure you have comprehensive event public liability insurance to cover any compensation and legal costs should a claim be brought forward.

You might be asking yourself questions such as how much is event insurance and wondering how to get liability insurance for an event. Never fear, we have a handy page featuring all of the frequently asked questions.

If we haven’t answered your queries there, give us a call and our account handlers will be able to deal with any questions you may have.

If you’re looking at entertaining an even younger generation, our Becoming a Face Painter blog might just help.