10 Questions to Ask Before Buying Event Management Software: Question #6

We work with a variety of customers from small to mid-sized businesses to global organizations with thousands and hundreds of thousands of employees. But each customer – no matter how large or small – has very similar questions when it comes to buying event technology. We brainstormed the top 10 questions that we believe smart companies should ask before buying event management software. In this blog, I’ll spotlight the importance of each of the questions – and their answers – in a series of 10 posts.

Thanks for following this blog series. In our last post, we discussed how event management technology can make attendees happy.  Here’s another question you should ask before buying event management software: “How can event technology deepen my relationship with attendees?”

In an ACTIVE Network/Event Marketing Institute survey of 2012 event tech trends, 94% of meeting owners said their top event need was to improve the attendee experience. Meanwhile, 85% said expanding customer engagement was their top concern.

When considering event management software, ask yourself if it helps you increase your ties to attendees via:

• Social media that creates blogs and other communities and lets attendees view YouTube videos
• Mobile event app so attendees can view and schedule sessions, download agendas, view daily news updates, participate in goal-oriented business games
• Data and insights allowing you to personalize the event experience for your attendees

Read all 10 Questions Smart Companies Need to Ask before buying event management technology!

Next blog:  Question #7– How will event tech improve my relationship with exhibitors?

Other Resources:

- The Connected Event – an analysis of technology use, best practices and benchmarks.

Written By: Don Munro

10 Questions to Ask Before Buying Event Management Software: Question #5

We work with a variety of customers from small to mid-sized businesses to global organizations with thousands and hundreds of thousands of employees. But each customer – no matter how large or small – has very similar questions when it comes to buying event technology. We brainstormed the top 10 questions that we believe smart companies should ask before buying event management software.  In this blog, I’ll spotlight the importance of each of the questions – and their answers – in a series of 10 posts.

How to improve the event experience for attendees? Make their lives simpler! In an ACTIVE Network/Event Marketing Institute survey of 2012 event tech trends, 94% of meeting owners said that “improving the attendee experience” was their top event need.

It’s a snap to simplify the attendee experience. Just make sure the event tech you’re considering buying can make it easy for them to:

• Register and engage with your event via:
  • Pre-populated forms for easy registration
  • Automated communication tools, such as surveys and messaging
  • To network with attendees via such tools as:
    • A portal that participants can use to search for and connect with others
    • To recommend, share content using a mobile app

Read all 10 Questions Smart Companies Need to Ask before buying event management technology!

Look for our next post:  Question #6 – How will event tech improve my relationship with attendees?

Other Resources:

- The Connected Event – an analysis of technology use, best practices and benchmarks.

Written By: Don Munro

10 Questions to Ask Before Buying Event Management Software: Question #4

We work with a variety of customers from small to mid-sized businesses to global organizations with thousands and hundreds of thousands of employees. But each customer – no matter how large or small – has very similar questions when it comes to buying event management software.  We brainstormed the top 10 questions that we believe smart companies should ask before buying event management software. In this blog, I’ll spotlight the importance of each of the questions – and their answers – in a series of 10 posts.

In this post, we’d like to talk about one of the most important questions you should ask before buying event management technology: How can event tech help me show cost savings?

In our previous post, we looked at how event tech can get you the ROI you need to justify your events.  Well, tracking and reporting savings is a key measurement of ROI. In the 2012 Strategic Meetings Management Study, produced by Business Travel News, nearly one in four respondents indicated their firms have centrally consolidated all meetings purchasing functions. Of those, more than half said they have gained the benefit of leveraging buying volume with suppliers. Plus, more than four in five noted they have a higher degree of budgetary control.

That’s great stuff. But being able to track, measure and report on savings is even better. When looking at providers, consider the following tech and how it can help you cut 10-25% off annual meeting costs*:

• Process automation. Event planning process automation can cut from 3%-6.5% from your outlay;
• Procurement automation. Electronic Request for Proposal (eRFP) tech can help you save 4.8%-8%;
• Automation to boost visibility & control. This can help you cut from 2.4% – 5.5% from your budget;
• Compliance & Risk. Look to pare 1.6% – 5% from your budget using this tech;
• Meetings Effectiveness. On-site event reporting on attendee satisfaction with speakers and sessions, as well as reports on lead generation, can pare annual meeting costs by 0.5% – 5%.

Tell us how you’re saving on meeting costs and achieving efficiencies! We’d love to hear your stories.

* Source: CWT Travel Management Institute’s 2010 study, “Meetings & Events: Where Savings Meet Success,” which polled 222 event planners worldwide, among other methods.

Check out all 10 Questions Smart Companies Need to Ask before buying event management technology!

Stay tuned for the next post:  “How will event tech make my attendees happy?”

Other Resources:

2012 Strategic Meetings Management Study, produced by Business Travel News

Written By: Don Munro

Join Us at HSMAI – Experience Event Management Software Solutions

The meeting and event planning industry’s premier show, HSMAI MEET Mid-America, is coming up later this month in Chicago, IL at Navy Pier. We’re excited to be there as a diamond sponsor and meet with attendees, where we’ll be showing our ACTIVE RegOnline™ and ACTIVE Conference™ event management software solutions.

Meet with Us

To learn more and see the software in action, sign up for a one-on-one meeting with ACTIVE Network (booth #419):

• Tuesday, April 23
• Wednesday, April 24

By meeting with us, you’ll receive our complimentary event management software buyer’s guide and be eligible to receive 10% off standard volume discounts for RegOnline.

HSMAI Educational Sessions – Our Top Picks

HSMAI MEET Mid-America is not to be missed! You’ll get to participate in two days of free education and networking opportunities to help move your meetings and events forward. Here are our top picks for the show:

April 23, 9:00AM – 10:00AM
Promote, Engage and Connect: How Social Media can Enhance Your Event
Kelly Cutler, CEO, Marcel Media
While collecting business cards in a fish bowl does still have value, leveraging the power of social media will enhance your connection with meeting and event attendees. Not only is social media a powerful tool to promote an event, it can and should be used as an engagement tool during the event, and a channel to maintain connections after the event. What can you do to take events to the next level? This session will address best practices, important tools and the key steps to developing an integrated social strategy.

April 23, 10:15AM – 11:15AM
360 Event Engagement Marketing: How PCMA is Doing It
Jason Paganessi, Vice President of Business Innovation at PCMA
Izania Downie, Director Strategic Partnerships, ACTIVE Network
This case-study focused discussion, will illuminate how event management technology is transforming the way the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA) runs their own events. This session will discuss the key requirements to integrate digital and mobile technology with your full engagement marketing strategy for increased event success.

April 24, 9:00AM – 10:00AM
Extending the Life of Your Meeting Content…Before, During & After your Meeting
Juli Jones, CAE, Vice President, HSMAI
As meeting and event professionals, we and our teams spend a lot of time and energy (and some of our best thinking) developing educational content — whether large or small, live or virtual. Learn from your colleagues to stretch the value you get from your investment in educational content development.

We hope to see you there! Unable to schedule a one-on-one meeting? Leave us a comment and we’re more than happy to answer any questions you have.

Written By: Rebecca Yetzer

Event Industry – What’s in a Name?

By Betsy Weber via Flickr

I recently attended the PCMA Corporate Programme at International Confex and was lucky enough to host the team from PCMA, along with some of the speakers, to dinner one evening. Now here were some serious industry leaders from both the US and Europe sitting around a table together. The conversation flowed between the joys of traveling to international destinations (mainly the inside of convention centers and hotel rooms) to US & European politics and the opportunity in Latin America, and then discussing which trade show were we going to meet at next. We continued to the hotel lobby bar for a nightcap, where the conversation took a sudden swerve thanks to my extremely right-brained colleague asking, ‘what is the officially accepted name of our industry?’This seemingly innocent and straight-forward question sparked a rather emotionally driven debate around the semantics of words to describe different ways of bringing people together.

One member of the group firmly believed that meetings and events covered it all. I, however, disagreed commenting on incentives, festivals, and public events. Another person piped up about an annual general meeting being called a convention, conference, and meeting – so what really was it? Someone even looked it up on Wikipedia! It struck me that if we as industry leaders can’t even agree, it’s no wonder that the rest of the world is confused.

It also made me recall a meeting I had back in my days as CEO of Eventia. A small contingency of industry leaders in the UK were invited to meet with the Minister of Culture, Media and Sport – the latest department that was made responsible for our fragmented industry. One of the most important things I took away from that meeting was the fact that the minister asked 1) how we define our industry and 2) who the official representation is for us. Of course we had our well-rehearsed answers ready for her; however, knowing the reality in my head, I came away feeling frustrated with the fragmentation of event management and wanting to do more to bring us together. I battled on in those years creating mergers, acquisitions, and strategic alliances between Eventia and various other industry bodies. However, one thing I did learn is there is still a need for niche representation across our industry. The issues that affect large complex conferences with thousands of delegates managing the exhibitor elements, speakers, housing, etc. compared to festival organizers or incentive trips are all quite different. Not to mention the considerations of a strategic meetings management program.

Do we really want to name the industry with something that would cover every possible type? Meeting, event, exhibition, festival, congress, convention, seminar, conference, incentive trip… and the list goes on. Would it really benefit us or would it become completely homogenized and lose relevance for all the individual sectors involved? I spent enough years trying to figure that out and I still don’t know the answer but it sure made for an interesting and long debate that evening.

However one thing is certain – no matter what the type of event – every organizer needs to have the right technology for meetings management to support their process and objectives. That’s why ACTIVE Network came up with the concept of SMART EVENTS^TM and I’m very pleased to say that we truly do have event management software to serve any type of event. So, perhaps in some way, I’m helping to fulfill my passion of bringing the industry together by promoting the intelligent use of technology to enable SMART EVENTS^TM.

I’m interested to hear how you, or your organization, categorizes the event industry. Feel free to share your thoughts on how you feel it is represented!

Written By: Izania Downie

10 Questions to Ask Before Buying Event Management Software: Question #1

We work with a variety of customers from small to mid-sized businesses to global organizations with thousands and hundreds of thousands of employees. But each customer – no matter how large or small – has very similar questions when it comes to buying event technology. As a group, we brainstormed the top 10 questions that we believe smart companies should ask before buying event management software. In this blog, I’ll spotlight the importance of each of the questions – and their answers – in a series of 10 posts.

Doing My Event Management Job More Efficiently

The first question we address is “How will event tech help me do my job more efficiently?” CareerCast.com recently named “Event Coordinator” to its list of the “10 Most Stressful Jobs of 2012. So, event management software can pay off big because it increases your efficiency in taking care of event administration. That gives you more time to focus on creating the best content for your event, engaging your audience and strategically managing costs.

When sourcing for event tech, ask if the technology will help you simplify:

• Attendee registration – by setting up a website that enables attendees to register with speed and ease
• Attendee engagement –  via mobile apps and social media, so you can easily distribute updated event material and build attendee communities
• Event coordination – Managing hotel room blocks, the call-for-papers process, exhibitors, speakers, demos, setting up 1:1 meetings
• Data analysis – by providing online reports on metrics as varied as event spend levels, exhibitors visited, sessions attended, new leads generated.

What are some of the ways that technology helps you simplify event registration and other event administration tasks? What would you do with the time you save?

 Stay tuned for the next post:  “How will event tech help me improve ROI?”

Check out all 10 Questions Smart Companies Need to Ask before buying event management technology!

Other Resources:

- The Connected Event – an analysis of technology use, best practices and benchmarks.

Written By: Don Munro

Event Management Software Helps Dairy Queen Register 80% of Attendees Online

We all wish we had more time. No matter what your profession is or where you land on the totem pole, it’s easy to relate to racing against the clock. But there can be a resolution – and sometimes it just takes asking what you could be doing differently to help save you time.

Dairy Queen’s event planners are a prime example of this and sought the advice of ACTIVE Regonline for help. They plan large events for franchise owners and vendors and needed event management software to help them save time and reduce manual tasks. By enlisting RegOnline, they have automated processes for data entry, accounting, and registration paperwork, and reduced the amount of mailed-in registration forms and checks. Now their event planners whip up great events and boost efficiency while registering nearly 80% of attendees online. With this online registration solution, Dairy Queen can take advantage of:

• Event registration sites, built and managed by the RegOnline Professional Services team, to ensure a smooth registration process for attendees.
• Online registration and payment processing to simplify the sign up process for attendees as well as event planners.
• Detailed attendee information is collected and can be used in reports and badge printing.
• Housing block management that tracks attendee count and availability.

Dairy Queen’s Director of Meetings, Events and Travel, Missy Schrupp, also adds that, “ACTIVE RegOnline provides substantial time-savings. Plus, our vendors and franchise owners absolutely love it because they can register for our events on their own time.” With their online registration growing each year, it’s clear that Dairy Queen will continue to please their attendees and get time back to create amazing event experiences.

Hopefully this provides some inspiration for you to take a look at your daily tasks and consider what areas can be improved. At ACTIVE Network, we strive to work with our customers to unveil their blocks and get them moving in the right direction. Once you find your resolution, then comes the fun part. Figuring out what to do with your free time!

Tell us your tips for saving time during meeting planning and, in turn, how your events have improved because of it.

Download the PDF to learn more!

Written By: Rebecca Yetzer

The Global Value of Face-to-Face Meetings

In a recent study conducted by IMEX and Meetology Group*, psychologists have once again proven the benefits of face-to-face meetings. Specifically, they generate more ideas, of which are a great variety and are considered to be more creative. Meeting planners and event planners can rejoice! Well done IMEX on running this research – it’s a shame we need to keep proving it but it’s always good to have another study to support what we already know to be true. Bringing people together in person is the single most effective way to communicate. And the benefits are not just limited to idea generation. I can’t even quote the number of studies I’ve seen over the past 10 years that have gone to prove this very fact. However, one does spring to mind….

A Yougov study** conducted in the UK found that 85% of people felt significantly more committed to company goals and objectives when they had face-to-face meetings with their line managers about those goals, rather than simply receiving an email or newsletter to read. The motivation levels were significantly raised and staff actually reported to feel inspired when they spent time with their line managers and other executives face-to-face.  Motivation and commitment are both major factors in a person’s ability to achieve success for their organization, no matter what their job role.

Companies that lose sight of the value of getting people together, lose sight of the value of their business. We are human beings. By the very nature of that fact we need to communicate with each other, not just verbally but using all our senses. There is so much to be gained by simply observing body language, making eye contact, and making a connection with another person that simply cannot be done until you are in front of that person.  And this is something universal, that can be understood on a global level. How often have you met with someone after months of speaking on the phone and upon meeting the connection just clicks? And what do we all say – “It’s so great to finally put a face to the name!” The fact is, we like meeting each other and it’s good for business.

The benefits to business and importance of having the right meeting management software are proven time over and not only with internal meetings but also with external, customer-facing opportunities. Whether it’s communicating messages, brainstorming ideas, sharing results or other customer-facing opportunities, putting someone in front of another person is the single most efficient way to get the message across by listening and learning from each other. From customers providing valuable feedback to colleagues giving a different perspective, we all learn when we share. We share best when barriers are broken down between us, when we face that person, in person.

Thankfully we still live in a world where we can meet to do business. And thankfully my company, ACTIVE Network, still believes in the value of a handshake.  How sad would it become when we can no longer meet our colleagues and customers in person, look them in the eye, and share experiences. I certainly wouldn’t want to be a part of that world, would you??

* The Meetology® Laboratory Behavioural Research Results, 2012

** The YouGov Employee Engagement Study, 2010

Written By: Izania Downie

Three Event Technology Ideas from PCMA Convening Leaders

I attended the PCMA Convening Leaders conference in early January (Disclosure: ACTIVE Network is a communications partner with PCMA). This will be my third time attending the conference, which has a reputation for driving technology innovation within the industry. This year’s conference was no different with lunch incorporate into part of the experiment – testing different cuisines or creating a learning lunch area.

As a marketer, I’m always looking at how technology can be leveraged for your event. Here are three considerations for your next event:

• Shout it with Tout: Think of Tout as a video version of Twitter. Why would you use it versus YouTube? The key here is using a video medium to capture questions, feedback and reactions in 15 seconds or less. As an organizer, it’s a great “teaser” to other content at your event. Currently being leveraged by media outlet and consumer organizations, such as 49ers and WWE, Tout is venturing into the events space. Hurry – while currently free, the company may soon move to a paid model.
• In-person versus Virtual perspectives: While I was unable to attend this session, I did hear some very positive feedback from attendees. Jeff Hurt of Velvet Chainsaw lead a session that challenged attendees to evaluate how room sets (the type of seating used as well as layout) can impact learning and participation for attendees. This was also streamed to the virtual audience. The key take away? For the virtual audience, they had a different reaction to the room sets than those sitting in the convention center. If you plan to stream a physical event to a virtual audience, be aware that how virtual audiences “see” the room and presentation is significantly different than a physical audience.
• Mobile is the New Black: Mid last year, we highlighted in several blog postings about the level of mobile usage within the meetings and events industry. At the time, we noticed that mobile was just gaining ground with mobile usage beginning to saturate beyond 100% (meaning owning more than one mobile device). At PCMA, it became clear that mobile devices, from smart phones to tablets, are an essential part of an event planner’s life. In fact, the learning lounge session on tablet tricks & tips and mobile apps were regularly overflowing. Beyond leveraging mobile devices to help with event logistics, attendees will begin expecting a mobile event app to help navigate the show floor itself.

What event technology ideas are you seeing at events?

Written By: Cece Salomon-Lee

PCMA Global Corporate Summit Shows True Value to Attendees

With the New Year, we plan to bring in new voices from our organization and industry. Izania Downie will help highlight the global perspective within the meetings and events industry. We look forward to reading more of Izania’s posts.

I recently attended the Global Corporate event summit held by PCMA in Scotland.  As flight sponsor I was lucky enough to get my seat at the table and I have to say that it was a fantastic program and a good starting point for the PCMA corporate membership to get together at a senior level.  Amongst the fabulous networking opportunities, the sessions provided a platform to discuss common issues and sharing of ideas and event management solutions.

So when I hit Convening Leaders in Orlando last week, aside from the dolphins at SeaWorld, top of my list was to check out the new Corporate HQ stream, designed and led by the corporate task force chaired by Kelley Butler of McDonalds.

Not surprisingly I discovered inspiring content, a great format, and something for everyone in the corporate event world.

The set up was an immersive learning environment where delegates sat in brightly colored ergonomically designed chairs grouped around central sharing desks with laptops hooked up to the main screen.  The interactive technology allowed for real-time feedback from group discussions to appear on the main screen.  Although this technology is not unusual for the meetings I’ve attended and run over the past few years, I was reminded how much easier it makes gathering the main themes being discussed in the room and the speed at which the presenters are able to get to the core of the issues for really effective conversation.  It makes the meeting far more valuable to be able to focus the discussion around areas that are of most interest to the group, and to easily capture the information for ease of sharing after the session.

Speakers presented from the center of the room in short 15 minute sets, in which the length of session was perfect to keep delegates attention with the changing between speakers fast-paced and punchy.  A twist on the more traditional cabaret-style set up, the environment encouraged discussion and a relaxed atmosphere for sharing amongst the participants.

A graffiti artist capturing the main themes ‘cloud style’ was then made available to the delegates who scanned in for the sessions.

Delegates learned how to earn and maintain a seat at the table with C-Level Executives.  There were workshop style activities where participants broke into teams and tackled real-life scenarios for the purpose of learning to think more strategically.  Kati Quigley of Microsoft co-led a session with a neuroscience researcher on using AV to enhance learning memory and the meeting experience.  Other topics covered in this stream included a session on outsourcing led by Lisa Schelle of Nike and of course the obligatory topic of measurement.  Everything culminated in the final session where the ideal meeting planner of the future was profiled from all the group work done over the previous few days.

This session stream was a great step forward for PCMA, a truly valuable offering for the corporate sector.  According to Sherrif Karamat, the highest growth sector for PCMA membership is corporate.  If this sector is to continue to grow, programs like this along with future global corporate summits will certainly be a valuable benefit drawing more members to the association. Well done PCMA – keep up the good work!

Written By: Izania Downie