Pop-Up Communities: Creating Event Engagement

In our next instalment of Community Management information, we tackle Event Management, specifically one trend that is making a significant impact – the rise of pop-up communities. These temporary, highly interactive groups are transforming how event organizers and community managers engage participants. The beauty of this and the art of it, comes in ensuring that enthusiasm and interaction extend far beyond the event itself. It’s all good and well to go to DisneyLand, but they want to leave you with something that means you want to go back, that you want to talk to your friends about it, that you want to share images of it. Then, after, they send you deals to get you to book again, don’t they? Don’t close the door once people leave, let’s make it a revolving one!

What is a Pop-Up Community?

A pop-up community is a purpose-built, transient forum created specifically for an event. It’s primary aim is to build interaction, knowledge sharing, and collaboration among attendees all about a specific topic. Unlike permanent communities, these pop-up versions are designed to support big, intense bursts of activity with a focus on immediate goals and are often disbanded after the event goals are met. Compare a sprint and a marathon…

What Are The Benefits of Pop-Up Communities for Events?

Engagement: By creating a dedicated space for discussion and interaction on that particular topic, pop-up communities keep participants engaged and invested in the event’s content. This active participation from community managers is crucial for virtual events, where in-person dynamics are absent. Your Community Management Team needs to be ready with ideas if conversation drops or have a structure in mind of how to move the conversation along to the next topic. The added beauty of this is that your usual community space stays active and unless those users want to join in the event, they don’t have to. Your site isn’t taken over by something that not everyone is interested in.

Increased Participation: These pop-up communities do offer a structure that a general chat doesn’t – consider someone who is shy and often stays on the sidelines in general chat areas – if there is a topic in a pop-up event that they feel passionate about, they could become one of the most active participants there. In turn, they ma return to the general chat with a boost of confidence or with friends. Interaction is boosted in event and in the community – two birds!

Post-Event Engagement: The end of an event doesn’t have to mean the end of the conversation. Pop-up communities can continue to thrive, allowing for extended networking and discussions which maintain interest and interaction after the main event has concluded. Maybe it could lead a community manager to realise just how many users are interested in that one topic and they dedicated a space to that topic long term? Or maybe the event becomes a staple event once a month or once a year?

Our CMX Chat Case Study

Our latest Pop-Up Community was our Eurovision Party 2024! Our Lead Moderator gathered everyone that wished to attend and created a space for them to talk all things Eurovision. She even offered 10k of gold (site currency) to the person that chose the winning act. During that two/three hour window, the engagement was fully active, with people from all across the globe joining in. Users who had never even heard of Eurovision, streamed the programme so they could be involved with other users. Everyone who participated loved it and the feedback was 100% positive. We were also inundated with requests to make it a yearly party – Absolutely we will! The following day, the users who attended then began telling the other users funny stories and the way that the event had worked. “You should come next year – it was hilarious!”. Our users are doing our advertising for us! Amazing!

How do you Set Up a Pop-Up Community?

Starting a pop-up community requires careful planning and the right tools. Platforms like Discord can be quickly adapted to create temporary event communities. Key strategies include:

• A Clear Plan: What do you want the community to achieve – whether it’s networking, discussion of specific topics, or support during the event.
• Strong Moderation: Active moderation helps keep discussions on track and engaging. Plus, due to the digital nature of the event, people may join late, how are you going to accommodate for that? Be welcoming, tell them where the discussion is at and keep your moderation open – “welcome … we have just been discussing… feel free to jump in anytime you want to.”
• Engagement Tactics: Use polls, Q&A sessions, and live discussions to fuel engagement. Keep it as interactive as possible and the rest will flow.

The Future of Event Engagement

As we look to the future, the role of pop-up communities in event management is expected to grow, particularly in digital and hybrid event formats. Their flexibility and effectiveness in enhancing participant engagement make them an invaluable tool in any event organizer’s arsenal. Get ahead of the trend and find new and inventive ways to manage your community.

Pop-up Communities represent a powerful strategy for enhancing engagement at events and a whole other world open to Community Managers. With an engaging and interactive environment, these communities help maximize participation during the event and maintain interest long after it ends. As the digital world continues to evolve, the use of these communities is likely to become a new norm, redefining how we think about engaging audiences in any setting.