Have you attended an event organized for business networking where the online invitation shows 150 people RSVP saying they are attending and only 10 show up? This problem seems to be trending.
However, there are those few events that work the other way around, where there were far more people attending the event than the count accumulated on the invitation. However, they are very rare and usually the popularity for the event is based on who organized the event instead of the subject matter or venue.
Still, the question remains..Why do people sign up for an event and do not show up?
I’m Only Here for the Free Drinks
In a survey I did with people who attend business networking gatherings I attend and who say they are attending on the invitation but did not, I found the attitude some people have towards their attendance of these events somewhat depressing. I also gained some insight into how some events overflow with attendance.
Here is the rough of the information I gained during these visit with over 100 people in a three month period of time:
When asked why are they attend the event… the expected 88% said..
- to find a job,
- promote their business
- or some other form of business marketing.
It was the remaining 18% of people at these gatherings that provided the reasoning for attending the event that is trending upward to being a higher percentage towards the end of the survey period.
These are some of the remarks and statements..
- “Oh, I am a college student. I am not here for the business networking I am here to meet (opposite sex).”
- “I heard about the event from someone on Twitter and heard that (an attractive person) was going to be here and just wanted to be in the room with (him or her).”
- “Someone told me there were free drinks so here I am.”
- “I did not see the invitation on the internet. I was asked by one of the people attending to go with her so she had someone to talk to. She asked several dozen people to go with her so we could all hangout with her in case the event was a bust.”
The No Show People
On the other side of the coin, eventually I run into people I know who RSVP to an event saying they are going, but did not. The reasons they gave for not attending was astonishing and really highlights the problems I am seeing so many event planners are talking about.
- “OH, I had no intention on attending that event. I know the person who was organizing the event and felt that it would help her attendance if I marked the invitation that I was attending.”
- “Yaw, I guess these people who send me email invites just need to get over themselves. I mark ‘I am attending’ on all the online invitations since it populates my photo and a link to my profile on the invitation. That is the only value I see with the event. I am into how it can help me, not me helping them.”
- “The event planners have to expect that not everyone is going to come. I understand they need to secure headcounts so they know what to expect..but you know…I have my own life to live… and I really don’t have the time to go back and mark that I am not coming.”
- “Yes, I remember that event. I marked that I was going to attend when I saw on the list of who was attending that (so-n-so) was attending, but when I called (him or her) they said they only marked the invitation that they were attending to help out the person organizing the event to bring in more people to attend.”
Seems the problem with why people attend gatherings and ‘No Show’ is wide spread.
There are a number of discussions being held on MeetUp and in blogs around the country concerning the apathy people have about attending business networking events. I am not sure there is a solution to the problem since it seems the problem stems from the way the culture is set up for there being no penalties for bad behavior.
Maybe you have some input into what business networking events need to do to improve attendance. Let me know how I can help.
