Time for a breakout session? Why your events should include them, and the best way to manage them

Your next event needs a breakout session. They can enhance your event management and transform your events by helping you provide elevated, engaging guest experiences. Discover breakout session ideas and learn how to manage them seamlessly with zkipster.

What is a breakout session?

Understanding what a breakout session is can help you plan and execute successful events. You might call them breakout events, secondary events, microevents, or sub-events: at zkipster we simply call them Sessions. In a nutshell, a breakout session is an event within the main event. They are indispensable at events that require more than one check-in moment and events that have different attendance time slots as part of their schedules.

What’s the difference between a breakout session and an event?

In zkipster there are clear differences between a Session and an Event. In an event you can manage your guest lists and RSVPs, design Seating plans, send Communications to guests, and much more. 

Meanwhile a session is a specific moment of your overall event that needs to be accounted for. For example, if you are organizing an event that includes several breakout sessions and sub-events and need to know not only which guests attended the event, but also which sessions they attended. You can use zkipster’s Sessions feature to account for each individual breakout session and collect data from them independently from your main event.

What are some breakout session ideas?

When planning your next event, consider incorporating a mix of breakout sessions to engage your guests. Here are some original breakout session examples for different types of events.

• Some corporate event or conference breakout session ideas are panel discussions, forums, keynote speeches, presentations, mixers, networking events, one-on-one sessions, Q&As, showcases, welcome events, wellness sessions, innovation labs, VR experiences, social media activations, and live polls.
• As for breakout sessions in teams, all-hands and town hall meetings can be complemented by smaller workshops for individual functions or departments, strategy meetings, brainstorms, interactive training, guest speakers, team-building activities and ice-breakers such as escape rooms, role play and arts and crafts.

When it comes to invite-only events, special events, and VIP events, think of a breakout session as a different moment within the event; one which might also include a different list or group of guests.

• A breakout session at a gala might include a welcome cocktail, a performance, and a dinner with fundraising auction.
• Exclusive parties are often followed by even more exclusive after-parties.
• A breakout session for a brand activation could be a splashy launch event, a store opening, an intimate dinner for brand ambassadors and VIP customers, a luxury wellness experience (especially for a beauty brand), a private tour or a tasting. 
• A wedding event schedule might start with a small rehearsal dinner for the wedding party, have different guest lists for the ceremony and reception, and conclude with a relaxed farewell event.
• Political and diplomatic breakout events include formal receptions, ceremonies, inaugurations, investitures and banquets.

What are the benefits of event breakout sessions?

A breakout session is a highly effective tool that empowers hosts and guests to curate memorable event experiences, and enhances event management for the organizers.

At B2B events - such as conferences, trade fairs and corporate events - that include large, mass participation sessions alongside smaller, more intimate forums, attendees can register for breakout sessions and microevents that are most relevant to them, and curate their own tailored event programs. Incorporate a variety of interactive, educational and engaging conference breakout sessions to cater to diverse interests and ensure that your event stands out.

Hosts of some VIP and invitation-only events also allow their guests to choose session events and create their own tailored experiences. At other special events hosts curate the experience and the flow of the event for themselves and their guests; for example by choosing exactly which guests to invite to each breakout session. 

What’s more, event planners can improve and streamline their event management by using the Sessions tool in zkipster. Instead of creating a separate event for each breakout session, it’s easy to create, manage and collect check-in timestamps for each session within the same main event and keep track of every aspect, all in one place.

The Sessions feature gives you more control, better oversight and enhanced reporting for your breakout sessions. It also provides opportunities to automate aspects of your event management, meaning less manual work and a more dynamic and seamless experience for you and your team.

8 reasons to manage your next breakout session with zkipster

Regardless of the event goals you hope to achieve, and whether you’re organizing conference breakout sessions or special events, here’s how zkipster Sessions can improve and simplify every stage of planning and executing your next event...

1. Once you create an event, you can instantly start creating and managing multiple Sessions within it.
2. Now for your guests. You can either decide to curate the experience for them, selecting and manually assigning guests to Sessions, or...
3. ...you can harness zkipster’s multi-channel event Communications suite to invite and request RSVPs from guests. Create bespoke response forms that let guests select which Sessions they’d like to attend, then automatically send customized confirmation messages with RSVP details and QR codes for check-in.
4. Control guest capacity at a glance, and easily manage demand for each Session.
5. By linking Sessions to the Seating feature in zkipster you can connect each Session to a floorplan, then choose to seat guests automatically or manually, for a more curated session event.
6. zkipster’s industry-leading event check-in app facilitates smooth, secure and stress-free guest arrivals. You can opt to automatically check guests into Sessions when they check into the main event, or have them register for each Session individually to instantly upgrade your check-in data.
7. Speaking of data, Sessions reports provide detailed analytics on your breakout session attendance, check-in timestamps and any guests added during the event.
8. Use zkipster on your desktop whilst your event is in the planning stages, then switch to the zkipster app on event day to check-in attendees and easily switch between the overall guest list and your individual Sessions.

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Ready to get started? Find out everything you need to know about managing Sessions and controlling event capacity in zkipster by watching the on-demand Sessions webinar, which covers all of the stages mentioned above in detail. Watch the Sessions webinar.

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All images via Unsplash