Are You Leaving Out Your Sponsors And Vendors?

Do you know your event app adoption rate? In a recent conference where we provided on-site app management services, our overall app adoption rate was 83%. While high, we dug a little further into the stats (which you should be doing after your event to determine your actual event technology ROI), we noticed that the app adoption rate among attendees was actually 93%! The adoption rate among sponsors and vendors was 50%, which pulled the overall rate down. If not reported accurately, this has a negative impact on the ROI of the event technology being used.

Unfortunately, this is a common scenario as sponsors and vendors are being left out. There are many reasons for this, but the biggest reason is lack of communication combined with the perception that the app is only needed for attendees to see the conference sessions and schedules. If your sponsors and vendors only appear for the trade show and break times, they generally assume they don’t need the app. What they don't know is that they are missing out on all of the added social interaction throughout the conference that your event technology now provides. 

Looking at the big picture, this can also lead to larger impacts on the overall event experience, as sponsors and vendors may feel disconnected and not actively involved in your event. Flip this situation by leveraging your event technology!

Sponsors and vendors are often left to fend for themselves during an event, focusing on their own marketing and goals. If they do not understand how to interact with your audience, the vendor-attendee experience may default to the typical forced sales pitch, which can negatively affect the overall feel of your conference. While you can’t change the business practices of your vendors and sponsors, you can help them interact with attendees more fluidly by involving them more, and actually treating them as attendees themselves.

While the main focus of the planner is generally the attendees, it is important to not forget the sponsors and vendors! Remember - without them, the meeting or conference may not even happen! As important as they are, once the event begins and sponsors and vendors are on-site and set up, they are usually put on the back burner, as attendees and conference details take precedent. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, your vendors and sponsors need some love, too! If you want them to keep coming back, it is your responsibility to include them in the conference, and make them feel welcome and part of the group.  You can put steps in place for the conference to be successful for them, not just the attendees.

Event technology today brings so much more to an event than just an online schedule. It brings numerous ways for attendees and sponsors to communicate, connect, and form relationships with each other that go far beyond a sales pitch behind a table with giveaways! Here are a few ways you can use your event technology to help ensure the sponsors and vendors feel included and truly part of the conference:

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Identify.

Ensure that each sponsor attendee also has an attendee profile in your event app. This will allow the vendor to participate in the Activity Feed and interact with other attendees on a personal level by posting and/or commenting during the conference.

NOTE: Make sure you have clear Terms of Service regarding app usage. These should include banning any selling or non-approved advertising or promotion of a product in the Activity Feed, and keep sponsors posting on a personal level only. You should have a designated moderator to ensure the rules and Terms of Service are followed, with the ability to remove any unwanted posts that may appear.

Market.

Create a marketing plan that allows sponsors and vendors to purchase a specific amount of ad space throughout your conference app and emails. These can be sold à la carte or integrated into modern, up-to date sponsorship packages that include benefits in your event technology. Depending on the technology you use, there are also ways to provide statistics on ads that were run through the event app, giving sponsors with more ROI evidence to defend their purchase (and future purchases!).

NOTE: You should have a designated person managing, maintaining, and monitoring these ads, especially if they appear during the conference for a set amount of time.

Include.

Consider ways that your group can integrate the sponsors and vendors into your gamification plan. Whether it’s scanning codes, lead retrieval, or providing prizes for interaction, they should be involved. Providing customized discussion rooms, online activities, or even specific session tracks for sponsors and vendors will help them become more involved and connected to your event. Customized messages, sent directly to sponsors and vendors, can also be managed through your event app during the event, inviting them to specific events, providing information, or to simply check in on them.

Educate.

Just as you should provide instructions to your attendees about the event app, you also need to provide instructions to your sponsors and vendors. Don't assume they know how to use the app to benefit themselves to the fullest. Providing sponsors and vendors tips on how they can leverage the app will help them become more involved and ingrained with your event. Stats show that sponsors and vendors are not taking advantage of everything you have to offer to them. Help them with ideas of how to properly use your technology to engage and interact with your group.

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While attendees are usually the main focus, it is important to attract and retain sponsors and vendors each year. By maximizing your event technology already in place, you can help them have the best experience possible, feel welcome and included, and help ensure they will be back again next year!

What Is Your Time Worth?

Time...

Does your list seem to grow faster than you can cross things off? Whether it is to work more, finish a project, relax, or spend time with family, we all wish we had more time in the day. Your time is valuable, and some tasks often need delegating or contracting out to someone else. Letting go of tasks is sometimes difficult, but if you don't have enough time in the day, it has to be done to ensure you are successful. In the long run, delegating or contracting out some tasks helps to ensure the final product (and your sanity) will be better off!

When deciding if you should delegate or contract out a task or service, consider these factors:

• How much is your time actually worth?
• Can someone else do it better and quicker for a marginal price difference?
• Do you have the time and energy to complete it in the absolute best way possible?
• Can someone else do it better?
• How important is the task in question?
• What else is on your plate that needs your time that you may be more skilled at?
• Do you have the time and budget to invest in learning something new - and implement it without mistakes?
• How much time will that specific task actually take in reality?

While you probably already contract out some event services, let's take a look at your event technology. Just a few years ago, event technology was something that was simply a fun add-on to your event if you had the time. Since then, it has become a complete specialized industry of it's own, and a necessary facet of every event today. Event technology can no longer be put on the back burner. Attendees will base their event experience on the logistical smoothness and effectiveness they encounter during your event, and the event technology you put into place plays an integral part in this.

Expectation v. Reality

Using mobile apps as a specific example, many companies use the quick setup and intuitive design of their product as selling points. While these features may be true to set up a basic app, you can't forget everything else that goes into fully and seamlessly integrating that technology into your event, especially if you add in more advanced features. Just launching an app quickly does not guarantee it's success, nor does it get your attendees to adopt it on their own. To integrate your technology smoothly and seamlessly, and have it feel like a connected part of your event, there is much more behind-the-scenes work that needs to be considered such as a technology implementation, pre-event and on-site marketing plan. initial build out, content updates, testing, more content updates, pre-event and on-site attendee engagement, content moderating. attendee interaction and engagement, on-site attendee assistance and support, as well as more updates.

Attendees today expect magic when they use technology. They may not understand how it works, but they expect it to work flawlessly, and for it to be smooth and helpful, not clunky, buggy, and difficult to use. When implementing technology into your event, regardless of what it is, make sure that you have adequate time to do it fully and successfully. If you do not have the time or staff available to truly dedicate to your event technology, both pre-event and on-site, it may be time to delegate or contract that task to someone who does. Your attendees will expect it and be thankful!

Event Technology - Do You Know Where To Start?

Technology.  (cue menacing music…)  Joking aside, event technology does not have to be scary. You just need to know where to start and what technology is the best fit for your event. 

The growing buzzword throughout the industry over the past few years has been “technology.” This push for more and more technology in our events stems directly from the fast pace technology is expanding on our everyday lives. Like it or not, technology is here to stay, and it is no longer a luxury to have for your event. It is required and attendees expect it.

To be, or not to be...overwhelming!

Adding technology into your events should not be scary or intimidating. There are a tremendous amount of ways to integrate technology into an event successfully, regardless of you or your attendee’s level of experience with it. To begin with, focus on the basics. For now, forget about the cutting edge immersive technology demonstrated at SXSW each year or when the UFC completely takes over all of Las Vegas. While fun and amazing, the technology demonstrated at these events can be overwhelming, and may not even fit into your budget! Adding event technology into your event should not be intimidating. It should be a fun, painless, and successful new venture. To begin with, forget about everything you see the technology companies advertising. Forget about the bells and whistles for now. One of your first goals should be to determine what technology works best for your audience that can create a memorable experience, while still fitting into your current budget. Look at your individual event and determine what your goals are for that event. Can technology play a role anywhere? (HINT: This answer is yes!)

Start small.

There are many options available to you, as technology can play a role in many different ways in the meeting and event industry. From easy and intuitive online registration systems, database management, reporting tools, and email communication software to on-site solutions such as mobile apps, streamlined check ins, attendee engagement tools, and immediate customer support options, there is technology available to help you in any aspect of your event. From basic to expansive and cutting-edge, there is something out there for you can help make your event smoother and more memorable.

A key aspect to remember when integrating technology is finding what is right for you and your audience, and being able to manage it properly. Whatever you choose, be sure to give your attendees a chance to learn and embrace whatever technology you implement. Here are a few questions to consider when looking to implement technology:

1. What type of experience do you want your attendees to have?
2. Do attendees have concerns with any particular part of the event process?
3. Are there any tasks that are time consuming and tedious? Can some type of technology assist with this to simplify or speed up a process?
4. Do your current technologies work well with each other?
5. Are your attendees ready for new technology? Do you have a technology implementation plan in place?
6. Where can technology help? Is there anywhere it should be avoided?
7. Do you have the staff and/or time to add any additional technology and implement it effectively?
8. Do you know enough to answer these questions or should you seek advice?

If you are just starting out with technology, don’t get distracted by all of the shiny add-ons. Look at the basic product and begin by implementing it smoothly and seamlessly. Don’t forget about the additional time and learning curve that always comes when adding something new. When done correctly, the right technology can be a wonderful addition to any event, and will have your attendees talking and ready to come back with friends!

Tune in next time - same Tech time, same Tech channel….

2017 - The Year of Specialized Event Planners - The Example

As we wrote in our bit last week, event planners are needing more and more specialties, and some have even begun to break the mold and create specialized event planning services. We realized we may need an example of what we were talking about - just to hit home a little more. Let's do a technology example, since that is where we have the most experience.

Picture this:
The event technology market is exploding and expanding at a furious pace. While some event planners love technology, they just don't have enough time in the day to dedicate to learning everything new that comes out and utilize that technology to it's fullest potential. Other planners are very uncertain about technology and don't know where to begin. Herein lies the problem. Some event technology companies sell the shiny new gadget to the tech-savvy planner that doesn't have the time to use it, or completely overwhelms the planner that doesn't understand it. Feel familiar?

In the end, the technology becomes a headache for both types of planners! It winds up not being implemented smoothly or fully, and attendees ultimately have problems and complaints. Yuck! This leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth regarding the technology.

Meeting Professionals International (MPI) is beginning to see this specific trend as well. Below are some survey results they recently captured regarding technology use and event planners:

• Only 8% of event planners feel they are making the most out of their event technology
• Only 21% of event planners are confident about buying event technology solutions
• 60% of event planners say that it is not always easy to understand the capabilities and benefits for event tech from vendor communications

In most cases, the technology is actually not the problem. The problem lies in the understanding and implementation of it - and having the time in the day to do it all. This is how the times are changing. Fields like event technology have become so much more specialized and advanced from just five years ago. It takes more time and expertise to keep your event technology running smoothly and effectively. Using event technology is already a balancing act. Many attendees want to use it and enjoy it, as it has become a part of their everyday lives, but they have had so many negative event technology experiences in the past, they don't want to "try again". It is important for event planners to change that attendee experience into a more positive one.

As event planners that specialize in technology, Power Event Group assists you at any level necessary, whether it be consultation or by serving as your white labeled event technology department where we act as employees of your company. We are prepared and ready to handle the initial sourcing/contract conversations, the overall event technology design and build-out, communication with vendors and attendees, on-site implementation/monitoring, and even on-site staffing of an attendee Technology Command Center/Help Desk for any attendee needs. While we are there supporting and handling all of your technology needs, we are able to give back to you the most precious gift - time! How much is your time worth? How much more could you do with that extra time?

Regardless of your feelings towards it, event technology is not going away. It is up to the passionate event planners (and event technologists like ourselves) to help build a new atmosphere of event technology that attendees enjoy and embrace. The way things are now regarding event technology is not working. It is holding the industry back. You are not in this alone, though. We are here to help. We are here to help change the current status quo regarding event technology and turn it into an experience where attendees leave your event saying, "Yes! That is the way technology is supposed to work!"