Organizing a conference can be a daunting and time-consuming exercise. Whether it’s a small one-day event for 20 delegates or a large three-day event at Earls Court, the general process and common issues are the same.
So what are the stages of planning a conference?
- reservation arrived
- Sending invitations to a specific list of potential delegates
- Organize and reserve all resources, such as catering, printing collateral, promotional items, A&V, etc.
- Dealing with Presenters and Guest Speakers
- taking records
- taking the payment
- Send reminder emails to delegates
- badge printing
- Organization of the staff on the day.
- Budget management throughout
This is an extremely basic and simplified list to indicate the general checklist that event managers should consider. This process can start as early as 6 months before an event or even as long as 12-18 months before for really big national events. Managing all of these steps can be extremely complicated, and it can be very easy for event managers to make major mistakes.
To avoid costly mistakes and ensure conferences are organized efficiently, many event professionals are looking to employ the use of an event management software solution. These solutions have the tools and capabilities to manage and track activities throughout the event and conference planning process, as well as activities conducted as part of event tracking (such as post-event surveys and creation of reports for analysis).
Taking the steps above in planning an event, here’s how an event software solution can help:
1. The reserve has arrived
Control of an event manager is key; Whether it’s a meeting/conference room in your own office or a larger off-site venue, event software can help ensure assignment has been made and payment has been collected. For more complex conferences that require multiple rooms over multiple days, event solutions include a comprehensive venue scheduling, resource and planning software tool. A highly configurable and fully customizable role sheet and multi-calendar feature that will allow you to manage your resources and venues from one central and flexible application. This helps simplify the normally complex process of booking and managing the venue.
2. Send invitations to a specific list of prospects
The event manager may know the exact number and names of the delegates they are targeting or, in some cases, they may have been told to invite a certain demographic (based on relationship, job title, location , etc.). Managing the selection of delegates to invite is made easy with event software as it can be integrated into your CRM package. Which means that all corporate records and data can be easily accessed and the records are automatically updated, so others looking at that record will know that the contact has been invited and whether or not they have registered and paid.
The event software also comes with sophisticated email marketing tools. Event managers can easily create and filter a selection of specific delegates from their CRM and drop them into a custom HTML email that can be sent. From the event management software platform, event managers will be able to track recipient opens, clicks, and other activity.
3. Resource management
The event software will come with a resource management module, which is where event managers can track and control all the resources needed to manage an event. Third-party providers can access this module so they can track themselves, rather than dealing directly with the event manager. For example, caterers can be given access so they can easily see up-to-date information on the number of delegates and any specific dietary requirements. Giving them direct access to this module in the event software means event managers can deal with one less person and one less phone call! Errors are also reduced since a communication layer has been removed.
The resource modules also contain multiple powerful calendars that allow conference administrators to manage numerous resources across these various calendars; all of this is accessible from a central location, ensuring that all updates/amendments/additions are recorded in real time. From the information collected through this resource module, event managers can generate custom reports that provide details such as number of pods available, number of handouts, etc. Event managers will no longer have to juggle multiple spreadsheets across multiple calendars, ensuring fewer errors.
4. Dealing with Presenters and Guest Speakers
Event software can also manage this process. Emails can be automatically scheduled to remind guest speakers about the event and to request certain information, such as a bio for marketing material and presentation slides for delegates. Speakers can also have direct access to the Resource Management Module, where they can manage and update their own profile and upload materials and other items. Again, this removes the event manager’s involvement, freeing them up to work on more strategic activities.
5. Record taking
A convenient way to take records is online. This suits both delegates and event managers. It is a fast and effective method and is becoming more and more the standard method of logging events. But there are good and bad ways to do registration online. Ideally, event managers should want to direct potential delegates to their own website, where a specially created page, branded with the company and the event, has been included. Registering on your own website plays a big role in increasing delegate registration rates – delegates will trust you more and are more likely to register if you are on the same site, while taking them to an external site can cause problems trustworthy It is also important to be able to modify the information requested at the time of registration. Some events will only require a name, phone number, and email address, while others may require more detailed information. Event software can easily handle these changes.
6. Receiving payment
Having an easy, simple and efficient registration and payment process is of vital importance if event managers want to ensure a high level of attendance from delegates. The event software gives event managers the ability to accept payments online, through a secure web portal, giving delegates an easy and reliable method of payment. Since the event management software can be integrated with the back-end financial application, payment can be easily accepted, registrations updated and receipts sent automatically, without any intervention from the event manager or account staff. to pay. If payment is not made online, the event software can automatically send invoices to the delegate. For an even smoother payment transaction, event solutions will include connectors that allow seamless integration with your internal financial system.
7. Sending reminders to delegates
The email marketing tool included in the event software can create emails that can be scheduled to be sent automatically to all delegates. These can be reminder emails or emails with event updates or modifications. They can be created ahead of time and then forgotten about, as the event software will take care of the rest.
8. Badge Printing
Producing delegate name badges is a small part of organizing a conference, but it can be time consuming for event managers and can cause real problems on conference day if mistakes are made. Event software packages will come with easy-to-use and effective badge production tools. Not only will it be easier to create custom badges, but the delegate names section will be done automatically as the event software will be integrated with the CRM, so you know exactly what names and details to print.
9. Organization of the staff during the day
The efficient Resource Management Module allows you to accurately manage all staff; It will be easy for event managers to delegate activities to people and record them in this Resource Module. Staff can access this module anytime, anywhere (via the Internet) so they are always aware of what their responsibilities are and where they need to be.
10. Manage the budget throughout
Event software is a great tool for managing finances and budgeting. All costs can be taken through integration with the financial system. These can then be easily tracked and monitored, with alerts to warn the event manager if there are any issues or if costs are rising rapidly. Reports can be created instantly, at the click of a button, which is useful for event update meetings and if event managers need to collect statistics for senior management.
So we can see how event software can revolutionize the planning stages of a conference. Without event management software, many of these tasks would be manually created, tracked, and organized through huge spreadsheets. There would be many chances for mistakes and errors and the whole process would be time consuming, stressful and inefficient for the conference manager and those associated with the event.