ARTICLE
Bleisure: It’s Not Just for Fun Anymore
By Michelle Bruno
February 14, 2024
In event parlance, the term “bleisure”—a portmanteau of the words “business” and “leisure”—describes gatherings that feature work and play. Combining the two can attract a larger audience, improve retention, and enhance participant well-being and productivity.
It’s also possible to think of this cocktail of mission and merriment as more causal, i.e., one thing leading to the other. Getting to know peers personally without the commercial pretense can often lead to a deeper business relationship.
Here are some ways to plan an event where the “lei” can be responsible for more “b.”
Location, location, location
While many organizations turn down leisure-dominant locales for fear their attendees might disappear during the day, there is a way to leverage great weather and built-in extracurriculars for business objectives. Take sessions out of the box, so to speak, with seaside networking, pre-session rollercoaster rides, or a forest bath. Shared experiences help people bond. Bonding can lead to business.
Just do it
Sports, such as golf, pickleball, or something more exotic like boccia, are natural bleisure activations, especially when they accommodate varying skill and ability levels, require group participation, and feature ample downtime for conversation.
Candle making and obscure Japanese vinyl
Attendees are interested in all kinds of things besides work. Creating on-site activations around those topics is a way to conjure conversations that can lead to professional discussions. Activities like these are especially powerful and resonant when participants perform tasks or share ideas collectively.
Seating is all
Fans of the Viking-themed cable television series The Last Kingdom are familiar with the main character’s frequent utterance that “destiny is all,” meaning everything comes down to fate. In events, that’s not exactly true. Planners can and should orchestrate get-togethers. Seating attendees intentionally (based on shared interests, for example) at meals is one of those instances in which a light, personal conversation can turn into a business discussion organically (ish).
Give conversations a push
Even when the right people are in the right room, they may not find each other or start talking. That’s where a company like Jabber Yak comes in. Before the event, Jabber Yak software collects attendees’ interests (from gin to mountain biking to Origami—anything goes). The interests are then displayed on badges, buttons, T-shirts or virtual backgrounds (in the case of online events) and used to spark conversations, some of which will lead to business.
Don’t miss the bus
A captive audience is a beautiful thing. For example, shuttle buses from the airport, between hotels, or to the evening’s networking event are perfect opportunities for team games, contests, or challenges. Get a game facilitator on the ride and go.
Let attendees take the lead
Social butterflies gather groups of people at every business event for evening fun. They’re doing it with text, email, social media and word of mouth. It works great for people who mostly already know each other. Planners can help this activity by providing scheduling tools (like meetup.com, but for a specific conference) to make these meetings happen and open the invitation list to everyone at the event.
Pre- and post-event leisure
Bleisure travel is popular, especially for young professionals who may not yet be able to afford much travel for fun. Event planners can take advantage of this eagerness by offering group tours where attendees can meet people with shared interests in a more casual setting and potentially take those relationships back to the office.
Despite the efforts of many employers to coax business professionals back into the office, workers today are more isolated. They need mechanisms that make it easy to engage. A bleisure-for-business strategy at business-to-business events can help.
Liz King Caruso and Michelle Bruno chatted about bleisure with planner and partner geniuses on a recent episode of Cut the Sh*t. Cue the Genius. Revisit that webisode on LinkedIn or YouTube, and feel free to add your comments.
