Serving absurd amounts of alcohol at an event is not good for our Guests. Alcohol companies themselves invite you to ‘drink responsibly’

We need to erase for good the equation lots of alcohol = great event. If that was the case this post should not exist. What’s the point of giving you pointers on making events better if all that counts is getting drunk?

So what does change look like? We think we should give options to your Guests, and also think we can make a big difference with small changes.

Here are 5 ways to preserve your Guests wellbeing while giving them the choice to ‘let go’.

Low Alcohol

The line is very fine, but it can make a giant difference. If you have to proactively ask for alcohol, you will undeniably drink less than if someone constantly pours it into your glass.

Tell Your Guests

Low alcohol events translate in high communication requirements. Several Guests may in fact be disappointed by the lack of a basic pillar of so many events.

After a long day at the conference, guests feel they ‘earned’ their booze. But and experience without alcohol means they can actually talk to people, and people truly listen to what they had to say, enjoy the food, feel healthy the day after. Your experience of the event will be incredible.

The communication part is such an important piece of the puzzle. Let your Guests know what you are up to. Don’t let them get the wrong impression, tell them you want them to have fun rather than feel sick. Some won’t like it, but the majority won’t even remember this was a low alcohol event. The amount of positivity coming from a true social experience cannot be compared to a bottle of wine.

Pump Down the Volume

In a networking or social environment, loud music is the strongest ally of binge drinking. There is a correlation between high music levels and alcohol consumption.

We tend to lose control when the music levels are high. Speaking with our counterparts becomes more difficult.

Close the Bar

An open bar is never going to play nice with the objective of limiting alcohol. Opening a bar in a social environment is very similar to throwing a huge piece of cheese to hungry mice.

You can use a ticket system to allow a certain number of drinks on the house and then make Guests pay for their own drink. Money seems to be one of the strongest deterrent humans react to.

Once again communicate your plan to Guests, tell them you are not trying to be cheap but you are just looking after them. Try to discourage as much as possible the link between alcohol abundance and success of the event.

Give Them Distractions

Stimulate networking, playing, interacting among Guests. Technology is the strongest ally in your quest to take the focus away from getting drunk. Put up social media walls, have networking apps, gamify the event, give away prizes, have event entertainment performers, offer content. The options are endless.

If you only put up a sign with ‘open bar’ on it, do not expect Guests to achieve any of their networking, entertainment or education objectives.