3 ways to improve your event through technology!
Are attendees still faxing or mailing in their registration forms for your events? Your attendees want fast, easy and reliable event management software and want your event to leverage technology to improve the quality of education and the overall event experience. Below are 3 tips on how to use technology to increase engagement and attendance at your event!
- Use the right registration software
It is important to look at the needs of your event to figure out what software will run your event. Are you hosting networking events or perhaps a conference that includes exhibitors for 1000 people? Whichever software you use, ensure that it is user friendly and captures all the data that you need to make informed decisions about next year’s conference. When in doubt, run through the software as if you were a customer to see what the experience is like – it is important!
- Gamification & Application
If you aren’t using an event app – start! Not only does an app allow you to make real time changes to your program, it allows you to interact with your participants in real time and saves you money on printing physical programs. Two areas where gamification can help with your event, are to help attendees’ network with each other – providing them with games to encouraging networking, as well as helping drive attendees to your exhibitors or sponsors through contesting.
- Use of Audio Visual
Let’s say you are hosting a conference and your capacity for your general session is 1000 people. Perhaps demand is very high, and you sell out your conference in only a few months (that would be nice!). In this case, think about offering a live stream or webcast of your session(s) to your wider audience. You just want to be careful not to incent people to choose streaming over actually attending.
Talk to you’re A/V provider! It is a good idea to turn potential A/V providers into partners through some in-kind sponsorship for their services. With this, you could for example, offer electronic reader boards and way finding signs throughout your conference. In working with your A/V provider and making them a strategic partner, the opportunities are endless to enhance your event and create further engagement.
It is important to recognize that the “old way of doing things” is no longer relevant, and that we must embrace technology to not only remain relevant, but to enhance our meetings and events. There are countless examples of companies who didn’t reinvent themselves and became obsolete, so don’t let that be you!