Technology trends for great event management

Recently, TRIO’s director of digital marketing, Mark Emerson, gave a coffee talk presentation about technology trends for successful event management for Charleston AMA. Starting off on the right foot, he asked participants to pull out their phones right away so that they could participate in live polling throughout the event. So tech-savvy! We thought we would walk you through some of his presentation as you consider technology options when planning for your next event.

Mark suggested tying in ROI to whatever investment you want to make in event technology. That way, you have solid data points to show your boss when you pitch the idea.

A mantra that came out of the presentation? “Reduce friction as much as possible.” That’s the whole goal of choosing event technology!

We love this cheat sheet!

From registration to attendee experience, Mark covered it all! He began with registration and check-in and emphasized that online event registration and ticketing is par for the course. It’s a fundamental and nearly essential part of most events today.

Mark shared a range of solutions that fit this need, like Evite, Eventbrite and Cvent. He shared that from ten years ago, event software is becoming increasingly niche. He also underscored the importance of security, online payments and cashless in-event transactions for your event. “Your website has to have an SSL certificate so people feel safe giving registration certification,” he said. If you don’t have a budget, Mark recommended considering “free” solutions that pass all the fees on to your event registrants.

Next, he dived into event marketing and social media. To open this segment, he compared the evolution of event promotion marketing in 1999 to marketing in 2019 with a hand-made flyer for a music show versus Facebook audience targeting. He also recommended having a separate domain if an event has its own brand and not underestimating the power of email.

After social media, we talked about event and project management software. “Get out of the spreadsheet world!” he urged.

Mark shared that the top three features that event organizers want in an event app are onsite registration, registration within an app and content capture. He reminded attendees to not skimp on WiFi. “Attendees expect it and expect it to work,” he said. He noted that apps should have several uses, as seen below.

Mark wrapped things up by talking briefly about Facebook Live (you should always do this), chatbots, VR and AI. We learned a lot from this awesome presentation!

Looking for help in planning your next event? Contact Team TRIO today and let us help you make your next event a success!