Organizing a Pop-up Event: 4 Keys to Success

Pop-up events have been around for some time, especially in the retail sector. More recently, pop-ups have become increasingly popular among restaurants and art galleries. Pop-up events are very popular in the UK and interest is spreading to North America.

More and more, corporate event and meeting planners are using pop-up events for meetings, product launches, and even hybrid events. When they are well executed, pop-up events can create excitement and have a high impact in a short time period.

Pop-up events are temporary, unexpected events in unique spaces. They pop up and, after a few hours or days, they pop down. By definition, most events are temporary. It is the element of surprise in unexpected locations that distinguish pop-up events.

Pop-up events can be:

• Face-to-face
• Virtual 
• Hybrid 

In this post, we’ll explore the keys to a successful pop-up event:

1. The Right Venue
2. Smooth Logistics
3. Event Technology
4. Strong Marketing to Create Buzz

In fact, the right venue, decor, event technology, and the element of surprise can create excitement for any product category. Here’s an example from an airline.

The Right Venue

Pop-up events can take place in temporary venues like event domes, igloos, and marquees or permanent structures like retail spaces and resorts. To surprise employees, companies can set them up on-site overnight in the parking lot, corporate green spaces, or even the lobby.

Temporary pop-up event venues are a perfect fit for guerrilla marketing events as they generate a lot of buzz by seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Temporary event venues do create special challenges; decor, electrical outlets, sound, lighting, AV, WiFi, and bandwidth must all be brought in. With a little imagination, it doesn’t take much to create a temporary event structure.

At one time, hotels were concerned that pop-up events might compete with their offerings. Yet more and more properties are coming to the realization that pop-up events do not necessarily need to take place in a pop-up venue. They can take place on hotel property or in a function room. The advantage is that all infrastructure is already in place

Even though pop-up events may seem impromptu, they require a lot of planning and attention to detail for successful execution.

UK- based Sventa, known for exciting pop-up Christmas event venues and on-the-beach summer pop-ups, created The Cool Conference for a client.  This example shows the importance of going through and identifying the technology required to ensure smooth event operations.