What is an event mechanism?

A gimmick is fun for ten minutes. A mechanism stays with you. The difference lies in the link to the message.

A gimmick: everyone gets a sticker with an emoji on it as they arrive. Fun. But what's the message? None. After ten minutes the stickers are on the floor.

A mechanism: everyone gets a question on a card as they arrive. They put that question to one other colleague in the first hour. The questions are chosen to fit the theme of the day perfectly. By the end of the hour, everyone knows something new about a colleague. The message 'we don't really know each other yet' is given substance.

See the difference? A mechanism compels behaviour. A gimmick hopes for a smile. Both are fine, but they don't do the same thing.

The test is simple. If you remove the programme element, does the message also become less clear? If so, you have a mechanism. If not, you have decoration.

The trick is that you mustn't start with the execution. Start with the message. What do you want people to feel, to know, or above all: to do by the end of the day?

Step one: write the message down in a single sentence. Not two. One. 'We want colleagues to dare to ask for help.' Done. Vagueness is forbidden.

Step two: ask yourself what the opposite behaviour to that message is. Colleagues who ask for help are colleagues who admit they can't do something. What's a situation where that's necessary?

Step three: come up with a programme element where that situation genuinely arises. Not acted out. Real. For example: everyone gets an impossible task that only works if you ask other tables for help. Or: a quiz where you can only hand in your answers once a colleague has checked them for you.

Step four: test it in your head. Would this also work without the theme of the day? If so, it's too loose. Tie it more firmly to the story. Would it also work with a different group? If you're afraid it won't work with these specific colleagues, it isn't strong enough.

We run through this process for every concept. It isn't a brainstorming technique, it's forcing precision. Read how this fits into our full concept development process →

Let's get concrete. Three mechanisms from our practice, with the message alongside.

Message: we're one team, even though we work across three locations. The mechanism was a seating plan where nobody sat next to a colleague from their own location. Sounds simple. But just having breakfast with strangers changed the dynamic. For the first time, people felt what their colleagues in Breda were doing.

Message: we dare to make mistakes again. The mechanism was a stage moment where three colleagues were required to share a professional mistake from their career. No trivial ones. Real ones. The director went first. That broke the law of silence that had reigned in the company for years. On Monday, people talked to each other differently.

Message: we're moving to one new strategy. The mechanism was a large wall where everyone had to write their old role, cross it out and write a new role. That wall went back to the office and hung there for a year. That way the message stayed visible to everyone.

Note that none of these mechanisms was expensive. Expensive technology isn't a mechanism. Expensive décor isn't a mechanism. It's about the idea, not the production value.

Not every mechanism works. We've seen plenty that didn't land. A few pitfalls to avoid.

First: mechanisms that embarrass people. Making someone do something unexpected in front of a group of 400 is almost always a bad idea. A good mechanism leaves people free to join in, but doesn't force them into something they don't want.

Second: mechanisms that obscure the message. If your colleagues have to explain afterwards what they've just experienced, it's been too complicated. A good mechanism speaks for itself, even if you don't explain it beforehand.

Third: mechanisms that last too long. A good mechanism captures a moment. Half an hour. An hour in extreme cases. Not the whole day. If you stretch it out all day, it loses its power.

Fourth: mechanisms that don't suit the audience. What works for a young sales team of 30 doesn't work for a board meeting of 15 people over 55. Always check: does this fit who's here?

If in doubt, test the mechanism in your head first with three different people from the organisation. Does it work for all three? Then you've got something. Does it work for one? Then it isn't finished yet.

A mechanism on paper and a mechanism on the floor are two different things. The power of the idea often lies in the details of the execution. Making or breaking a mechanism comes down to details. Think of a cue that lands two seconds too early, or a direction note that's off. Plus a presenter who reads one sentence differently than intended.

That's why we do both the concept and the execution. We're an agency that delivers both, deliberately. A concept executed by another party always loses some of its power, in our experience. The party executing it doesn't understand from the inside what the intention was.

When we handle the production ourselves, everyone in the team understands from the inside why every detail is there. Our direction knows why there's a five-second silence. The technical crew knows the reason for that one lighting moment. Everything hangs on the same idea.

This isn't the cheapest way of working. But it's the way the thinking keeps holding up right down to the floor. And that's where the money for concept work pays for itself.

For your next corporate event, do you want not a theme but a real event mechanism that makes your message felt? Then we'd be glad to help.

We always start with a short conversation. Not about colours or venues, but about what you want people to do differently on Monday. A mechanism surfaces from that on its own.

We work throughout the Netherlands for companies of 150 to 2,500 employees. From strategy events to kick-offs, from anniversaries to family days. Always with a concept that has a mechanism, and a production team that knows why every element is in the programme.

Email us at hello@live-impact.nl or call us directly on 085 401 40 14.

Seriously fun.