Dear Event Planners,

If you want to cultivate today’s young professionals as part of your clientele (and you should!) you need to understand our world. Allow me to educate you. Then you’ll see why big changes are needed to keep us around.

It Costs How Much?!

One thing that will stop millennials in their tracks is a steep ticket price, no matter how amazing the event sounds. Why?

WE CAN’T AFFORD IT!!

Destiny’s Child said it best:

We’ve got serious record setting bills. Millennials have more student loans than any generation in history. A report by the Project on Student Debt found that loan debt for the college class of 2010 ranged from $950 to $55,250, averaging at $25,000. This debt is becoming so much of a burden that more individuals are defaulting on their student loans than ever before. With that hanging over our heads, spending $100 on one evening out simply isn’t realistic, even for a good cause.

Money Honey

Not only are we fighting down mounds of debt, but we are also entering the workforce with the highest rates of unemployment. Getting a job does not automatically make for sound finances:

• Only 58% of millennials pay bills on time
• 36% of all Millennials depend on financial support from their families, including 14% who are working full time
• One-third of millennials cannot pay their bills
• The average millennial has more than three credit cards with a balance of more than $10,000

Let’s Party!

Despite all these gloomy statistics, there is a way to get millennials to come to your events. Lower the cost! I understand that all events need to make a profit, but there  is a way everyone can win: offer a special, discounted young professional ticket. Here are some suggestions to alleviate common problems:

• Want to reduce confusion for your staff/volunteers? Only sell the YP tickets in advance.
• Afraid of losing money? Offer a limited number of YP tickets.
• Don’t want to coordinate a separate ticket? Go through your local YP organization. Have people purchase the tickets through them.

Before you burst in with a bunch of “what if’s” and reasons why this will not work, let me assure you that it can and has worked successfully many times. I’ve seen it. But why should you believe me?

Why Listen to Me?

I know a thing or two about young professionals and events. I served on the Huntsville Young Professionals Board of Directors, an organization dedicated to planning events year-round for young professionals. Currently, I work for Our Valley Events, an online calendar of events, managing the social media and our team of bloggers.

I hope this has been informative and that you will incorporate my suggestion into your events.

Sincerely,

Larkin Grant and the Millennial generation, both ready to attend your events

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To learn more from and connect with Larkin, follow her on Twitter – @LarkinGrant
You can follow the entire Millennial Chat team here.
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Millennials – what turns you off from certain events?
Event planners – how do you try to lower cost to events?  What are some things that just can’t be cut from your event?
Comment below, discuss on Facebook, or tweet us!