Whether your attendees are serious medical professionals determined to learn something about the latest treatment options for lung cancer or a sales team on an incentive meeting with just a few learning sessions mixed in, the need is the same. Periodically, an event needs a wake-up call, even if the technique is as simple as distributing fragrant washcloths, much in the way flight attendants do on lengthily trips.

Here are some techniques we learned from meeting planners to keep their events lively, surprising and interactive:

“Stick to your schedule,” suggest Anfrea Leskovar, who owns the Leskovar Group in Oak Park, Il. “If the meeting runs over schedule, the moral sinks!”

Likewise, she recommends that you keep the meeting interactive by using a set up by using a set up that makes the group feel that they are part of the meeting, not just passive audience members.

Linda Hamburger, an adjunct marketing professor at Florida Metropolitan University in Pompano Beach Florida agrees with the interactive approach.

“When I teach marketing, it can be tough to keep a roomful of students interested for each four-hour session. I tie concepts into current events and ask for personal responses.”

Another one of Hamburger’s tricks is to change the environment.

“Take people out of the ordinary routine. Have them sit on the floor for a session instead of chairs…” or create a related eye catching theme in the room – like a massive sports mural if you want to emphasize competition.

In her more than 15 years as a meeting planner, Michele Santee Tupps of Safety Harbor, Florida has found that quizzing attendees after a presentation helps to keep them on their toes.

“They stay more involved if they know they are going to be quizzed later,” she said. “As an incentive, I [sometimes] give prizes to the highest score…”

Even attendees at an event as grand as the Olympics need to be kept occupied and amused. Heather Puglisi, president of Plaint Strategies Inc, a New York based company that arranged hospitality tents for a major soft drink company at the Sydney Olympics said, “It’s important to continuously be creative and offer them an array of choices during their free time to ensure they have a great experience.”

Her team arranged for things like 24 hour internet cafes and screens with live feed throughout the hospitality areas as well as applications that could email pictures and videos to family and friends at home.

Nothing like stating the obvious, but these days coffee is being supplemented with healthier options like herbal energy drinks and fruit smoothies.