If you were lucky enough to be born into the age of JNCO jeans and the Spice Girls, chances are you’ve also been unfairly stereotyped as a Millennial. This umbrella term is used to describe anyone who was born between the early 1980s and the late 1990s.

As the children of Baby Boomers and older Generation X, if you look up the term “millennial” in the Cambridge dictionary, there’s an example sentence that reads “Millennials have grown up with the internet and can’t imagine a world without it.”

See what we mean about those pesky stereotypes?

The fact of the matter is that the millennial generation currently makes up ⅓ of the workforce today, and is currently entering their prime earning and spending years. As 29% of the world’s population, millennials hold a large share of the world’s buying power which means marketers need to listen up when it comes to executing events that are millennial-friendly.

Today, we’re diving into some of the most common stereotypes millennials have to endure and showing you exactly how you can leverage these thoughts to your benefit and boost Generation Y attendance and engagement at your next event.

“Millennials are commitment-phobic.”

Just because one in six millennials admit that they don’t want to get married, and 44% of them probably won’t have kids, it doesn’t mean they’re anti-institution like some older generations like to believe. If anything, millennials are weighing the pros and cons of these choices, looking at the economy, planet, and various other factors, and making an informed decision.

When it comes to marketing your event to this generation, you’ve got to understand a few important factors first.

They’re fine with going against the flow and prefer to spend time and effort on things that are actually beneficial to their lives. They prefer flexibility and authenticity. And they don’t want to waste their time.

So make your events just that — easy to opt in to, flexible, and enticing.

Gone are the days of boring, 9–5, everyone-sit-in-the-audience-and-listen type events. You’ll need engaging speakers and panelists, a moderator who knows how to work a room, lots of breaks for your attendees to check their phones or get some fresh air, and plenty of valuable resources — whether that’s something tangible or intangible.

You’re going to need to step up your game when it comes to hosting millennial-focused events — and have some fun with it! Stop the stuffiness.

“Millennials are addicted to their phones (but won’t answer a call) and don’t know what to do without the internet.”

First of all, rude. Second of all, yes millennials were born in the age of the Internet, and have the unique experience of not only acting as tech support for their aging parents and grandparents but also getting flak for knowing how to get around the World Wide Web with ease, too.

Regardless, as an event marketer, this little tidbit of information is invaluable — because you know exactly where your target audience is going to spend a lot of their time, and can meet them right where they are.

Use social media to promote your upcoming event, develop an easy-to-use app to navigate your next multi-day conference, or use interactive games like Kahoot to engage your audience in real time.

You can even use AddEvent’s event solution to easily share your events and calendars with our add to calendar buttons and links, embeddable widgets, RSVP forms, and countless other integrations. The easier it is, the more likely you are to attract this particular audience.

One thing to note: just because millennials love their phones and computers, it doesn’t mean they necessarily want your events to only be online. They still very much want in-person events, especially after the pandemic’s year-long social disruption.

“Millennials waste their money on coffee and avocado toast.”

It’s clichè to say, but this particular stereotype hints at something deeper — millennials value experiences above almost everything else. They’re fond of rewarding themselves with a little treat.

Your event should offer some of these little treats as a good incentive for attending and participating! It can be as simple as some good-to-turn-down coffee (as opposed to massive percolators full of burnt coffee that some other generations may have preferred to drink straight black) or delicious pastry options.

Also, we don’t know a single millennial who would turn up their nose at a charcuterie board. Truly, many of these adults can be super simple to delight and entice!

“Millennials are more concerned about their personal lives than their work lives.”

Yes, and?

The millennial generation is redefining the traditional work structure. They’re killing it in a remote work environment, still managing to get all of their work done in a timely fashion and throwing in a load of laundry while waiting for the next creative spark to ignite.

Millennials are the generation that embodies the concept of “work hard, play hard”. They are fully dialed into their work during normal working hours, but when the time comes for them to log out they have no problem closing their laptop until they’re forced to open it back up again the next day.

As an event coordinator, you can totally play to this characteristic by being respectful of the balance between “actual fun” and “forced fun” with after-hours events. When you can, incorporate happy hour networking opportunities a little before five o’clock. Don’t ask attendees to stay late for something unless it’s actually worth their time — no one wants to stay for a no-name artist but if you were able to book someone major or at least recognizable, people will definitely stick around!

When it comes down to it, millennials are all too aware that life is short. Between the multiple wars, not one but two economic recessions, the growing climate concerns, and a few major terrorist attacks, they’ve seen how fast things can change.

Keep this in mind when you start planning your next event, and you’ll produce an irresistible, captivating, and inviting event that any millennial would happily attend!