As the event management industry has evolved, more onsite event technology has emerged. Initially, this was due to necessity. The pandemic redefined what event planning looked like and reshaped how attendees envisioned participating in events, whether online or in person.
Increasingly, event planners are once again managing or anticipating a return to onsite events. That very fact is something to celebrate, certainly. Event technology can ease this transition, which is why 90% of event planners embrace these solutions for their potential to yield successful results and experiences.
The trick now is determining which onsite event technology options are worth your investment and what solutions actually exist within today’s event management industry.
Rather than struggle or second guess when determining which onsite technology options are right for you, our team has pulled together a complete guide to the innovative event management solutions available that will enhance your efforts and elevate your events.
Why even opt for onsite event technology?
Parting with any percentage of the event budget can leave event planners feeling apprehensive, especially if they’ve never tested the new tools available to them. In the case of onsite event technology, it’s fair to ask:
- Why should we invest in this solution?
- Will this tool actually make a difference in our efforts and our attendees’ experience?
- Can we justify the cost based on the return?
- What if this tool is more than we need or will ever use?
- How can we evaluate which onsite event technology to invest in without winding up with buyer’s remorse?
Ultimately, finding the right onsite event technology depends on accurately identifying what your team really needs to launch a successful event. There are plenty of choices in today’s market. You want to make sure your decision makes it possible for you and your team to do the following:
1. Get personal
Provide the ability for attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors to personalize their experience via your app, customizable dashboard, and an online portal.
2. Make it convenient
Eliminate long lines, allow users to scan their access to event sessions, and print their event materials.
3. Increase efficiency
Ensure your team’s efforts go farther without spending more by leveraging the streamlining capabilities of event technology.
4. Support sustainability
The digitization of event collateral supports sustainability by reducing waste like paper, ink, envelopes, plastic pens, etc.
5. Send your ROI to new heights
Event technology offers plenty of potentials to monetize every step of your event management, from advertising on badges and within the mobile app, to creating downloadable content that can be purchased before, during, and after the event — most of us really can’t afford to manage without onsite event solutions.
6. Take advantage of actionable insights
By accessing event tech tools like attendee tracking, your team can determine the best steps for future events by analyzing what content proved valuable to stakeholders against anything that didn’t. From sessions to speakers to content downloads, tracking attendee behavior helps shape your event strategy with greater precision moving forward.
Exhibitor Online sums up why onsite event technology is so critical to the industry today:
Event planners must continually think outside the box to keep attendance numbers high.
Attendants will no longer sit passively as a speaker presents in front of a projection screen and a room full of people. Instead, attendees want to be more interactive, participatory, and hands-on. By implementing some key technologies into your event, you can create a more engaging experience and ensure a more successful event that positively impacts the bottom line.
With all of these benefits hanging in the balance, the question then is how to evaluate the best onsite event technology solutions to invest in the one that will make the greatest impact on your event management.
An overview of today’s onsite event technology options
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the latest onsite event technology tools and features available, we advise that you focus exclusively on those options that provide end-to-end solutions.
Ideally, you want to invest in onsite event technology that supports your event management efforts from start to finish.
By choosing a platform that covers all your onsite event logistics, you’ll save your team time and money, all while creating a more valuable experience for your event stakeholders.
As with most technology, there are “nice-to-have” and “need-to-have” features. The following is a list of tools we think you should consider non-negotiable when it comes to investing in end-to-end event management solutions.
1. Online Event Registration
This is your opportunity to cut down on time spent dealing with issues and questions presented by attendees when they try to register for your event. Remember, making registration as easy as possible (think of the Geico line, “So easy, even a caveman can do it.”) positions you to realize increased ROI while decreasing registration abandonment. Technology like online event registration streamlines your job while facilitating a more valuable experience for your attendees.
With online event registration solutions, event planners gain access to:
- Multi-ticket types and price tiers
- Customizable email confirmations
- Event registration website design and branding
- Mobile responsiveness
- Analytics and reporting
- Integration for easy onsite self-registration or badges
- Real-time membership verification
- Quick and secure credit card processing
2. Contactless Event Check-In
Forget the pandemic and the social distancing restrictions for a moment and ask yourself, has anyone ever enjoyed standing in line, shoulder to shoulder with strangers, while attempting to access an event? No. No, they haven’t. Personal space has always been at a premium and, thanks to contactless event check-in, your attendees can reap the benefits.
By giving attendees the ability to check in to your event, you cut down on lines, minimize the staffing required to manage those lines, and decrease the time spent on the entire check-in process. With contactless and fast check-in and registration, along with easy badge printing, your attendees can start their event experience faster and with less fuss. Tools like Expo Logic’s ExpressPass speed up check-in while Badge[On]Demand makes printing event badges a breeze. Event check-in tools should include the following features:
- Real-time badge printing
- Advanced segmentation and reporting
- Registration design, set-up, and administration
- Integration with registration and AMS?CRM
- Email confirmation for attendees
- Mobile device check-in
- Several badge styles
- Badge advertisements and sponsorships
- 24/7 live registration
3. Attendee Tracking
Perhaps the most win-win feature in today’s onsite event technology suite, attendee tracking allows event managers to monitor attendee activity, gaining valuable insights about attendee behavior in the process. This information, such as the most popular sessions and most meaningful or valuable content, according to attendee engagement, allows event managers to plan future events with greater clarity and precision.
Additional features of attendee tracking should empower event planners to:
- Verify attendance
- Award CE credit
- Plan upcoming sessions even better, thanks to analytics
- Access custom attendee metrics
- Eliminate sign-in sheets
- Monitor event movement
- Track heavily attended topics
4. Innovative Lead Retrieval
It’s fair to say that your event is only as good as your event exhibitors. What more reason do you need to maximize exhibitor ROI with innovative lead retrieval solutions? Doing so will help you attract better exhibitors and sponsors while exceeding the expectations of those you’ve already booked for your event. By providing both sets of stakeholders with lead retrieval tools, you help them spend more time investing in meaningful conversations while sparing them with the worry of saving contact information from potential actionable leads.
To reap the most benefit from lead retrieval, ensure that your platform’s features offer benefits like:
Flexibility
Give users the option to choose a mobile app and hand-held device options
Responsiveness
Real-time registration data is crucial to lead retrieval
Customization
Create unique surveys
Personalization
Provide users with the ability to add notes to scanned leads for better follow-up, which is easy to do immediately via the online leads portal.
