How Technology Can Improve Your Events

We know how hectic things can get while planning an event. Even basic tasks like sending invitations, keeping track of attendees, and arranging the venue and food can feel like an arduous undertaking. And as God is in the details, you'll have to take care of a hundred other little things like table seating and dietary needs to ensure the event runs smoothly. When you ask event planners what consumes the most time in their typical workday, their immediate response would be 'paperwork and documentation'. That's because these two are crucial for proper event management.

But there is a way to drastically reduce the time spent on carrying out event management-related functions and reducing the paperwork. Technology can help remove the manual element involved in the event planning process, opening a world of possibilities for planners and attendees alike. Event software are simple to use and greatly help in simplifying laborious tasks. Event management technology can be used throughout the event planning process. From sending email invites and following up on RSVPs, to registration and attendee engagement, and finally collecting feedback, event management tools can help with all these and much more.

No Fear, Event Tech is Here

Most people are apprehensive to invest in event management technology, as they assume it to be overwhelming and complicated to use. Moreover, the concept of using a software to deliver something that has always been carried out manually is new to planners. Some of them even think it is an unnecessary investment. But the thing is - if you compare the man-hours invested in executing an event and then perform the same task with the help of technology, you'll see how you can get more done in less time. This means you can take up additional tasks within the same amount of time or shift your focus on making the event more appealing to delegates.

Getting the Basics Right

Sending emails asking people to come to your event can be quite a task when you have to send it individually to hundreds of contacts. And let's not talk about the man-hours spent on responding to the RSVPs, all the while keeping a record of who will attend the event and who will not. But now, developers have come up with event management software that helps you do exactly this in a matter of seconds. These tools come with pre-set email templates for both invitations and responses.

And it's not just the emails, these tools also help with creating websites for your event. In today's technology-driven world, creating an event website is mandatory for planners, as it helps drive attendee traffic and also acts as a one stop point for both registration as well as event-related information. Event management software helps make the website building-process effortless for planners by providing website templates that are pre-designed and easily customizable.

Go Social

Now this one's kind of obvious, because social media is currently king in the marketing world. If something is trending on social media, then it means it's visible to millions of people. So what better way to lure attendees than promoting it on any of the numerous social media platforms. Event management software will help planners take this one step further by aggregating all social media messaging related to the event and displaying it on the event website. This will help impress prospective attendees when they visit the website and influence them in registering for the event.

Keeping the Attendees App-y

Speaking of technology popular in the twenty-first century, smartphones are also very useful tools for marketing events. Mobile apps are so ubiquitous, there's an app being made for anything and everything these days. So why not leverage this technology to improve attendee experience? Everyone carries a mobile phone in their pocket, so with an event app, you can ensure that attendees have the latest event related information with them at all times. Any change in schedule, or any new development can be notified to delegates in real time. One can also build customized apps using event management platforms, and give the apps the same look and feel as the event website to create a seamless experience for delegates. Furthermore, event sponsors can use the customization feature to incorporate their branding and ads in the event apps, to further engage with attendees.

Surveying your Success

Is the planner's job done once the event is over? Nope! Now is the time to figure out how the event fared. Was it a success? Will attendees come back to the event again next year? Event management professionals can find out all this and more with the help of post-event surveys. Using event management tools, they can send out feedback surveys to hundreds of attendees at the click of a button. They can also add customized fields in these surveys to gather additional data that may come in handy in setting up better events next time.

If you are an event planner or if your job is in any way connected with event management, then I'm sure I've convinced you by now about the advantages of using event management tools. So what are you waiting for? Go ahead and invest in a comprehensive event management platform for your next event!

Amrutha is a content writer at an event technology company. She mainly writes about event industry trends and how technology can make life easier for event planners.


 By Amrutha Sarayu


Article Source: How Technology Can Improve Your Events