Beyond the Keynote: Creative Ways to Entertain Attendees Between Conference Sessions

A conference isn’t judged only by its keynote speakers. Some of the most memorable attendee experiences happen between sessions, in hallways, networking lounges, and common areas where conversations spark and brands have the opportunity to make lasting impressions.

Those transition periods are often overlooked, but they’re where attendee energy can quickly rise or fall. Without engaging experiences, people instinctively reach for their phones, drift away from exhibitors, or disengage altogether.

Chalk it up to human nature: Most people like to stay entertained. When there’s nothing interesting on the way to and from presentations, food, and exhibitors, they can start to lose interest and energy. That’s not good for you as an event planner.

HOW DO YOU KEEP CONFERENCE ATTENDEES ENGAGED BETWEEN SESSIONS?

With $488 billion in direct spending, North America has the most economic activity, followed by Asia Pacific at $353 billion, and Europe at $328 billion. 

According to survey respondents, “The value of face-to-face engagement remains difficult to replace. Seventy percent identified relationship-building through face-to-face interaction as the event outcome most difficult to replicate, while an additional 12% cited community, trust, and emotional engagement. Respondents also reported that participation in in-person events increased awareness by an average of 37%.” 

What does that mean for the rest of 2026? Providing commerce, value, and community at in-person events is more important than ever. This dovetails with Maritz, a respected events and association management company that released a new trends report last month. Its focus is on how visitors want to attend and engage when at live business events.  

SIX CONFERENCE ATTENDEE ENGAGEMENT IDEAS FOR IN-BETWEEN SESSIONS

Set up multiple digital signage kiosks throughout your venue.

What can you do to keep people from looking at their phones while they’re walking? Strategically place a few sophisticated digital signage solutions in areas where you believe your attendees have little to look at, such as hallways.

As you work with your event technology partner, consider the type of images you’d like to show on your digital signage displays. For instance, you could set up your digital signage to show live feeds from other areas at your event. Consider utilizing 4K multi-touch kiosks that support interactive wayfinding or multi-layer agendas, allowing attendees to toggle between speaker bios and venue maps. Or you could showcase short videos featuring attendee, vendor, and presenter interviews that you took earlier in the conference. The content is up to you, so take the time to consider how best to captivate your audience.

Create LED storytelling walls to build a unique attendee experience

With a long panel of LED tiles, you can create a unique digital story wall that tells any tale you’d like. Perhaps you want to share your brand’s history, for instance. You can do it with written text, visuals, and even videos displayed along the digital wall. By utilizing modular LED tiles (such as seamlessly integrated LED skins), you can build a digital story wall that contours to your venue’s specific architectural layout, whether that means wrapping around hallway curves or structural columns.

A story wall isn’t just a visually stunning corporate event activation, though. It can be a way to foster greater attendee loyalty for your brand and grow your company’s reputation. In essence, it can become an impressive billboard that keeps your organization top of mind with attendees.

Offer attendees charging stations

Show your attendees that you understand their need to stay connected by offering them charging stations between sessions. However, show a little imagination. After all, a charging station doesn’t have to be boring or drab.

Instead of simple, generic power strips, deploy specialized event hardware like our high-top charging tables. These serve as functional networking hubs, equipped with wireless charging pads, charging cables, USB ports, and A/C outlets. These stations also double as premium sponsorship assets and a place to hang out between sessions. Think outside the box and provide massage chairs to help attendees relax between presentations and other sessions. 

Bonus points if you’re able to connect the theme of your charging station locations to the theme of your event.

Gamify your mobile event app interface

It’s safe to say that most major events these days have mobile apps that attendees can download. And a bit of gamification can help ensure attendees use your event mobile app beyond just finding out where lunch is being served. Scoreboards and leaderboards are great ways to encourage friendly competition throughout your event. 

To drive physical movement between sessions, integrate location-based digital scavenger hunts within the app that require attendees to scan QR codes or interact with specific booth displays to earn points.

How can you know if your app will appeal to a crowd? Ideally, you should test it on some users before your event. Testing a prototype will show you any areas that need updating before you make it live.

Hire live musicians to play sets between sessions

If you want a mix of tech and non-tech “between-session” experiences at your event, you may want to hire musicians to play as people walk around your venue. The only caveat is that you’ll need the right audio equipment to properly amplify and mix sound for each musician or band.

Imagine how surprised your attendees will be when they see and hear live music. Most events simply pipe recorded music into spaces, which is absolutely fine. However, if you’re trying to differentiate your event in a memorable way, your willingness to hire live musicians could get you more accolades and user-generated content on social media sites.

Measure what works using AI behavioral analytics

AI-powered behavioral analytics can help organizers understand how attendees move throughout an event, measuring foot traffic, dwell time, and engagement around activations. These insights make it easier to understand which experiences resonated most and demonstrate event ROI with measurable data.

The next time you’re planning a major event like a conference or summit, spend as much time considering what your attendees will do during the in-between moments. Then, share your ideas with your event technology partner. Together, you’ll be able to come up with ways to entertain every crowd, gather more meaningful feedback, and position your event as a leader in your industry.

Want to strategize beyond the keynote with SmartSource? Get in touch with our event technology experts to schedule a meeting and learn how we’ve helped hundreds of clients transform their live events.