You’re already planning your event agenda for 2023 and now you’re looking for a step-by-step guide to organize your events with a new technologic approach. In case you didn’t know, the first step in event planning besides figuring out you’re event goals and content is choosing the right platform. Here are the benefits of using an event management software.
This article will guide you in organizing a technology-based event and give you insights on how you can enhance the interactions between your event attendees.
Event Planning Steps
8 Steps to Launch a Technology-Supported Event
1. Choose Your Event Management Platform Wisely
The first step in planning an event should be choosing an event management platform. If we have the technology to make most processes easier, why take the hard way? Take advantage of the hottest features that event management software offers, so you can really worry about what matters – delivering a better event experience for both attendees and exhibitors.
There are a few options on the market, so we give you this checklist when choosing an event management platform.
2. Hire an Event Tech Partner with Onsite Hardware Support
Software for event management is a fundamental component for greater efficiency when it comes to managing information. However, it’s not the only thing you should worry about when hosting your most important events.
Your event will probably rely on hardware, whether it’s to perform a check-in, access control, or label printing. From equipment installation and configuration, as well as intervention in case one of them breaks down. This is why your event should have onsite hardware support.
3. Get Equipment Working in Perfect Sync With Your Event Software
The perfect scenario is when you can effectively merge software and hardware to get a perfect, real-time synchronization of your event data and interactions. The greatest benefit is the ability to control your event KPIs, access control, and session numbers, and act accordingly straightaway. Your exhibitors will love it too because they’ll be given an additional productivity tool for sales management and follow-up.
4. Build a Connected Event Environment to Merge Virtual and In-Person
In order to reach a wider audience, it’s necessary to offer the possibility of participating in the event both in person and virtually. Think about how you’re gonna design an event where remote attendees can interact with in-person attendees, and what tools and techniques you can use to maximize these interaction rates.
One thing is certain, you need to rely on an event management platform that has the ability to manage distributed audiences and the tools needed to host a hybrid event like live-streaming and live chat to give equal but also different experiences at your event.
5. Go For Contactless Event Consumables & Supplies
Regardless of your event type, one thing is certain: contactless technology will drive your event to succeed.
- You can opt for QR Codes which are the cheapest solutions for check-in and access control processes, essentially
- Smart badges are ideal for events where an identification of the participant is needed, as well as their role within a company. They can also have personal information registered on their NFC tags in order to interact and share contacts with the event’s exhibitors
- Wristbands are ideal for multi-day events, such as music festivals, because they are harder to lose. Still, within the bracelets option, you can have a more environmentally friendly option, in case you are concerned about your event having a lower carbon footprint
6. Use Digital Tools to Keep Track of Your Event Data
We know that in virtual events it’s easier to collect and track information because everything is digitized. The question that arises is: how do we do this in in-person events?
Contactless solutions have the ability to identify the participants of an event, whether they are visitors or exhibitors. Subsequently, there may be interactions between other devices – such as electronic identifiers of the exhibiting companies (which we call beamers) – that allow contact information to be collected and uploaded to your event management platform.
Click here to about learn more about beamian lead capture tools.
7. Leveraging 5G Capabilities to Boost Networking & Exhibitor ROI
As event organizers choose to organize more and more hybrid and virtual events, and as technology evolves, it’s expected that there will be greater demand for mobile networks, thus the need to opt for 5G technology.
5G Technology benefits:
- Lightning fast speed
- Lower Latency
- Increased bandwidth
- Increased network coverage
Live streaming, for example, is a very important component for virtual and hybrid events and a 5G network will contribute to a better, more immersive meeting experience.
5G technology will be a game-changer for events, meetings, and conferences because organizers will provide lightning-fast speed and the ability to carry a massive amount of data to their users, resulting in a better overall event experience.
In addition, 5G technology will also make new technologies possible to use at events. We have the emergence of augmented reality and virtual reality technology, which will certainly have even greater demands in mobile networks.
8. Get Rid of Multi-System Chaos with All-in-One Event Technology
There’s nothing better than having an integrated event management platform. Instead of bouncing from tool to tool to do different things, we can actually have all our needs met on a single event management platform. From attendee management, registration forms, ticket sales, and communication tools to data and lead capture. It’s one of those cases where less is more.
Event Planning Tips
7 Event Technology Tips to Drive Exhibitor Loyalty
1. Digitally Identify Attendees, Exhibitors, Sponsors, and Speakers
To get the most out of your in-person event, you need to identify each of your participants using contactless technology, whether they are visitors, exhibitors, sponsors, or speakers.
This is the only way to track their behavior during the event. From participation in certain sessions, interactions between exhibitors or between products, and evaluating which speakers attracted more audience. The possibilities are endless. This information can be an asset when it comes to conducting follow-ups to boost your event ROI.
2. Facilitate Contact Sharing Through Digitized Interactions
In the previous point, we talked about the importance of digital identification (ID technology) in event planning. Now, we’ll show you more deep inside how contact sharing can be made easier through digitized interactions.
Imagine you’re a company exhibiting at a job fair and you’re looking to attract top talent with a strong employer brand. The only thing the interested candidate has to do is to bring their smart badge (that usually materializes in a student card) closer to the company’s electronic device (beamer). During the event and afterward, each company will have access to an exportable datasheet with all the collected CVs.
3. Use Contactless Technology to Bring Your Event into GDPR Compliance
As an event organizer, you probably have the key role of ensuring that your trade shows or B2B networking events are turning a profit for your exhibitors. This means facilitating and setting data touch points for attendees to share their typical paper-based business cards but in a digital way. As they are the ones taking the action and not the other way around, exhibiting companies can seamlessly get GDPR-compliant data from their interactions.
Contactless technology is definitely the way to go for GDPR-compliant lead generation while ensuring prompt contact sharing, more efficiency in the process, and more quality over generated leads.
4. Boost In-Person Lead Collection With Smart Badging
If you’re not aware of it, smart badging involves using smart chips or tags in regular badges to manage physical access to an event and its sessions. Therefore, smart badges offer two major advantages. On one hand, they allow attendees to input their personal information, in a contactless and paperless way.
On the other hand, they make the whole process of lead generation and interaction tracking within face-to-face events much easier. In addition to attendees explicitly and consciously sharing their contacts, smart badges also increase the intention to share contacts when compared to QR code scanning.
5. Allow Access to Real-Time Event Interactions
With the right event management system, you can keep track of your events’ overall performance. At the same time, you can allow your exhibitors to access their own event interaction data in real time.
For example, exhibitors can track products that were added as favorites by visitors. They can also compare these product interactions by total product portfolio interactions to see the ones that stand out. Also, track the number of generated leads or session participation rates.
6. Transform Attendee Interactions Into Pipeline and Revenue
What if you knew which participants had interacted or shown interest in your product/service? What if after this, you had access to their contacts to make a sale? This is how you can monetize participant interactions.
Eliminate manual data processes and connect directly with your attendees. Use contactless technology to gather data to generate qualified leads and then activate them with a follow-up after every event.
Evaluate attendee interactions to make strategic decisions on what content you should use in your next event or which products/speakers stand out. Having insights on what worked and didn’t will make you increase revenue in the long term.
7. Enable Easy Data Export Right After Your Event
Instead of collecting and processing data, followed by sending it manually to each of your customers, you can make interaction data instantly available to your exhibitors and attendees through event automation.
Right after the event, exhibitors only have to click on an “Export” button, while attendees can also revisit their activity information by accessing a report automatically generated by the platform.
Event Planning Industry Trends
How to Reduce Event Planning Stress with Automation Technology
Are you tired of repetitive tasks regarding the organization of your event? With an event management platform, this is no longer a problem. From importing the lists of participants, creating automatic communications for different stages: pre-event, during the event, and post-event that will be triggered according to a condition that you set, or even defining ticket sales that will be available in different time frames.
Event Planning Checklist
A Technological Checklist for Tracking Your Event Engagement
To summarize the most important points that have been covered throughout this article, we have provided you with a checklist to ensure that you don’t forget how to keep event technology fresh and exciting when it comes to boosting your event engagement.
1. Make sure you rely on event management software that is available to support you in case anything goes wrong
2. Use contactless solutions to boost your engagement rate at your in-person events. As you’ve learned, there are different options to fit your event needs
3. Use a 5G mobile network to power advanced connectivity and create a seamless event experience
4. Perform the majority of your event processes in a single place by choosing an all-in-one event management platform
5. Use ID technology to digitally identify your event attendees and stakeholders
6. Allow your exhibitors to watch their real-time event interactions so they can keep track of their performance and make adjustments to their approach if needed
7. Make networking and sales follow-up easier for your exhibitors with just one click
8. Encourage your exhibitors to use this data to increase pipeline and revenue
