Author: Christine Corby

At AMS Event Services, one of our core objectives as professional event planners is to create meaningful experiences that resonate with emerging professionals—those typically between the ages of 22 and 35 who are new to the workforce or transitioning into new roles within their fields. This dynamic demographic brings energy, fresh perspectives, and a strong drive to connect, learn, and grow.

Understanding their motivation is key. Research consistently shows that emerging professionals attend events to learn, to network, and to have fun. With that in mind, here are some proven strategies to align your events with their expectations:

• Tools to Enhance the Experience
  Leverage event technology to streamline registration, provide real-time agenda access, and integrate social media. These professionals are tech savvy and value innovation, so utilizing technology to enhance their experience is key.
  
• Targeted Programs
  Secure inspiring keynote speakers—visionaries who bring industry insight and energy to the stage.  Create sessions focused on career growth, skill-building, or leadership development. Topics like “building your personal brand,” “negotiating your first promotion,” or “navigating industry changes” –  sessions that are an investment in their future. 
• Dynamic Design and Engagement
  Craft a high-value agenda with a variety of session formats (small groups discussions, pre-recorded content for on-demand viewing, etc.) and a diverse speaker lineup. Better yet, let them moderate a panel, introduce a speaker, or contribute to a lightning talk session. Giving them the mic, even briefly, builds confidence and visibility—and helps them feel like contributors, not just attendees.  This encourages engagement, sparks ideas, and fosters ongoing conversation beyond the session rooms.
• It’s All Fun and Games
  Introduce gamification elements to drive interaction and make networking feel more approachable. Try mobile scavenger hunts, trivia battles, networking bingo or create gamified goals tied to a cause your attendees care about (e.g., “For every 100 points earned, we donate to [charity]”). Track progress on a live leaderboard. This taps into their values and community-mindedness and playful incentives will boost participation.
• The Yin-Yang of It All
  Create neurodiverse-friendly opportunities, such as:  quiet zones, sensory rooms, chair massages, and the like.   Prioritize wellness by incorporating varied food and beverage options, stretch sessions,flexible scheduling and meditation sessions. A balanced environment helps attendees stay energized and engaged throughout the event.
• Meet Your Mentor
  Facilitate connections between seasoned professionals and emerging talent through casual but structured networking opportunities just for early-career attendees to connect with each other and with approachable mentors or leaders. Icebreakers, hosted conversations, and light programming (e.g., “ask me anything” sessions) can break down barriers.
• The Afters
  Extend the life of your event with social media, virtual networking platforms, or event apps.  These help attendees stay engaged, reinforces learning, and builds long-term loyalty.   Millennials, which make up many emerging professionals, are highly active on social media and value connection, authenticity, and community, so use hashtags, post questions, and launch a post event challenge.  Encourage attendees to post, repost, interact and share their event experience. 

As a leading professional meeting and event company based in Silicon Valley, AMS Event Services is committed to designing innovative, inclusive, and high-impact experiences.

Contact us at events@amsl.com to speak with one of our Certified Meeting Professionals (CMPs) and learn how we can bring your next event to life.

“It’s his ‘baby’,” said  AMS Executive Director, Mike Parket, with a warm smile.

“It’s not that the events in the past were not successful by doing it all himself,” said Mike. “They were extremely successful and that is exactly why he needed our support.” The event had grown in scope and complexity to a level that required more resources in order to keep growing which was one of the client’s main goals. Mike and his team were hired to manage the event but the hand-off was slow and at times painful for both sides. “I quickly realized that we needed to clarify the scope of work, our respective roles and, really importantly, how the client preferred to communicate. Once we understood that and acted accordingly, we made major progress. Fitting all of these pieces together is what enabled us to identify what was helpful or if there was a duplication of effort. This was a first test for us because without that mutual understanding, the level of difficulty would have been much higher and potentially the event would have suffered.”

Mike created the project plan by assessing the event timeline from the earliest planning stages and building a detailed work breakdown structure. He identified areas where efficiencies could be employed, saving the client time and money, and just as importantly, improved the attendee experience. As part of his plan,  Mike proposed feeding the registration data into a more versatile and nimble onsite badge printing platform utilizing a custom API. By incorporating the onsite badge printing process, Mike was able to successfully eliminate wait times for onsite attendees to register and shortened lines for attendees who had pre-registered. The attendee feedback was overwhelmingly positive and that first experience upon arriving at the event, set the stage for a successful event overall.

Using a combination of custom programming and registration software platforms as the building blocks, and establishing a friendly, supportive rapport with his client while sharing measurable outcomes, like increased attendee satisfaction, Mike established trust with his client. The client began to feel comfortable turning over more of the “nuts and bolts” event planning which created more time for him to focus on developing the agenda, recruiting speakers, and securing event sponsors to help finance his event.

“It’s been such a rewarding experience to provide our event expertise to support our client and his association. Our team has been asked to take on a greater role each year since we came on board and the event continues to grow year by year. That is a testament to the work that we and the client put in to make the event such a success. It’s definitely a win-win.”

Learn more about AMS Event Services offerings.