Have you ever wondered why events are such a thing, or is that just me? I have a history working in events and planning events of various kinds all my life. In adolescence I threw birthday parties, and summer parties, once when I was five I threw a summer star party? In high school the events geared more towards fundraising events, then in college transitioning into sports and sport related community events, some brand activation events post college is when I started weddings and so on until I am here. A common question when planning or marketing an event is “What makes a good event?” and “How do I get people to attend my event?” These are questions any person planning any type of party or event has to answer even if it is unconsciously asking “How do I get people to come to my birthday party” or it’s ten weeks of strategy meetings maximizing community outreach for a brand launch or fundraising event.
Recently, I have been reading about the psychology of events, what kinds of people seek to involve themselves in events and what motivates them to do so?
If anyone was on tik tok a while ago a girl went viral for going to a birthday party for a content creator she did not know. Her reasoning? “Because I am a psychology major!” She was very disappointed because the party was not akin to a brand event. The reason she went viral is ironically due to psychology and the social notion that the reason people attend events is because they have some sort of a personal connection. People attend sporting events because it is an identity trait to be a fan of a team, people attend a friends wedding or a coworkers baby shower, a siblings birthday or go to a fundraising gala to support a cause that has personally affected their life. However, that is only one type of person and one motivation around why people attend events. Event psychology tells us that people attend events for reasons closely aligned to their personality types, some people attend events to spectate and watch others engage in the event and social setting or to learn social behaviors, a large group of people will attend an event if there is a community aspect to it a place where they can feel like they belong, and some people attend events to meet new people and make friends. There are even people who “tourist” events because events are a microdose of a culture and they want to be immersed in that culture if only for a couple of hours. However the relationships between motives, involvement and identity are more complex because identity may in turn intensify associated motives and involvement.
Why should I care about the psychology of events?
One because it is incredibly interesting and when you have the time, definitely read up on it. Most importantly because it helps you throw the best event. As an event organizer there is always a goal for your event whether it is to build community, build a brand, or build relationships. There’s always a goal at hand typically imbued in asking the question “How do I get people to attend my event?” Which your initial thought is “Just throw a good event.” Duh! What does that actually mean? The answer is always going to be the same, craft an event that people want to attend, and understanding the target audience and motives of that audience helps you create an experience they want to attend.
Realistically and on the surface this means for social events like having an activity that allows for community building where you can invite several groups of people where you are the only common connection but people can leave with new friends and connection. If you are throwing a fundraiser and the goal of the fundraiser is increasing your audience or encouraging your audience to engage more with your organization it’s building an event that makes them feel involved in the community your organization holds and builds or helps.
One of the things about event planners is, it’s our job to understand these intricacies with events and how to tell the story that needs to be told through color schemes, and decor, and venue and food to help you reach that ultimate goal for your event.
Sports is one of the easiest ways I can tell how well they understand event psychology, like have you ever been to a game of a team who has permanent realist at the bottom of the league and have not seen a championship game in so long the players were probably in preschool and yet when you go the game or see on social media the stands are filled with engaged fans, people are constantly buying merchandise and engaging with social and even the players are enjoying being on the team, vs a team that despite their record their fans only engage with the team positively or otherwise when they win? One team understands event psychology goes beyond the rudimentary notion of people coming to events because they have a personal connection.
My hope is the next time you are planning an event or thinking about hiring an event planner maybe you will think about the short ramblings of a random event planner on the internet and will up your event game.
And if you are looking for an event planner on site in the Chicago land area check out my website or socials! I also do remote event planning internationally!
Until next blog this is Ren from Sweet Moments by Ren~
Sweet Moments by Ren 
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