So, you’ve been assigned the task of your corporate event planning for 2,000 staff and partners. You have the organizational skills and a small team of creative people to work with. Yet the conference last year had a few problems – lack of transport to get to the venue, technical issues, lack of engagement and the list goes on. So you might be a bit nervous about tackling it again.
To take your corporate event to the next level this year and deliver a truly unforgettable experience for attendees, consider adopting the latest technology. By incorporating right tools such as a corporate event app and event management platform, your team can enjoy a more efficient planning process while building an engaging and exciting event.
The latest event tech can improve engagement and attendee participation. When your event adopts new technologies, it will boost your reputation among employees, customers, partners, and other participants. If you want your corporate event to truly impress all your attendees, consider to provide these innovations:
#1. Personalization
Today’s event attendees don’t want to feel like they’re just being herded like sheep from conference room to conference room. Instead, they crave personalized details and tech that allows it to feel like their event.
Some of the latest tech includes facial recognition at check in, Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the form of chatbots that answer questions, and personalized recommendations for panels and people to connect with.
While these tools are exciting, they are not possible or even a good fit for many events. Instead, incorporating an event app with personalized tools can bridge the gap. During the corporate event planning process, look for apps that include a personal agenda and an easy-to-explore multi-track color tagging, so attendees can enjoy an individualized experience and never miss an important panel or mixer.
For a true personal event experience, enable your attendees to self-organize social activities like dinner gatherings and meet-ups. Having a multi-faceted public bulletin board or group chat function can empower attendees to explore abundant opportunities to design their own event experiences and get the most out of your event.
< An event app is not just for a mobile brochure. Utilize it to increase attendees’ participation and personalize their experiences. >
#2. Attendee Engagement
#1 Event trend is attendee engagement. Attendees prefer dynamic, interactive events over static listening sessions, but your event format might be difficult to change during the corporate event management process. By leveraging easy-to-adopt technology, you can boost excitement and productivity throughout the entire event.
The recent attendee engagement technology, the Event Community Board, allows organizers to speak directly with attendees to keep them engaged even prior to your event. You could use the place to collect questions for a Q&A, discover what their favorite aspects, and collect pre-event and post-event feedbacks.
Think outside the box with a social media integration that displays live activities on a big screen at the venue. Social Wall generates real-time excitement and encourages attendees to participate. Or, try using a live poll via an event app to ask questions of attendees. It could be to get instant feedback on a new product launch, or to ask a fun question to break the ice (check out 50 live poll questions here).
Don’t be overwhelmed though. Here you can access a step-by-step guideline for attendee engagement and easily follow this from beginning to end.
< 9 steps to increase attendee participation. Just take 10min for each with a right tool. >
#3. Networking Amplifier
Event planners have said that 82% of attendees prioritize networking while at a large corporate event. Advanced event apps can facilitate these connections and make it easier for attendees to find new leads or mentors. At expos and trade shows, advanced technology like in-app QR scanning and dynamic attendee engagement solutions for exhibitors can drive foot traffic and identify potential leads.
If you are looking for more advanced networking solutions, check out the SmartProfile technology. It enables attendees to identify a right person to connect by exploring fellow attendees’ detailed profiles, which include professional backgrounds and relevant news/blogs and websites.
Even if they work for the same company, corporate events are a great way to connect with those on different teams or offices. If your event has one-on-one mentor sessions, trainings, or structured networking time, look for an event app providing a meeting scheduler. It will help save you time coordinating meetings for attendees.
For business networking, you can impress your attendees with advanced app features such as e-business card scanning / exchanging and badge scanning. If it’s a team building event, you could let them use the Community Board to create group chats for easier communication. Increase their productivity and also help them have pleasant time at your event.
< SmartProfile and networking technology help attendees have productive event experiences. The Lead Generation solution is essential to increase exhibitors’ ROI at expos and trade shows. >
Are You Ready for In-House Event Planning?
Bringing this tech to your event might sound exciting, but more than your in-house team could handle. In that cae, outsourcing your corporate event planning could be a good solution.
To determine whether you should go in-house or outsource, ask yourself the following question. If you can answer each with a confident “yes,” then your team is ready to handle the responsibility of planning your corporate event. If not, then outsourcing might be a great solution for your company.
- Do you have a key staff member with the experience and skill set to handle the type and size of conference or event you are planning?
- Does your appointed staff member for corporate event planning have sufficient extra time to be able to properly manage the conference or event without distractions?
- Does the key staff member have the experience, technical knowledge and management skills to lead a team to support the event – Bookings, PR, Customer Service, Marketing, Administration, Liaison with Venues, Accommodation, Travel, Key Speakers, IT, etc.
- Does your organization have state-of-the-art technology and software to effectively handle event communications and online registration for a large amount of attendees?
- Does the key staff member have the experience and skills to negotiate with venues, hotels, transport companies, etc. for ‘deals’?
- Does the key staff member have sufficient experience to properly budget for the size and type of conference or event being planned and to keep appropriate financial records?
- Is your staff ready to start working on the next event immediately following this one or do they have to ‘catch up’ on the work they missed while organizing the event?
If you think your team is not fully ready yet, no worries. There are significant benefits to working with outside event organizers, and it could help you provide a truly exemplary event experience.
8 Benefits to Outsourcing Your Corporate Event Planning
- Lower Cost: Employees of an event planning typically have a lower hourly rate than a corporate staff member. If the task of planning the event needs 60 man hours, using outsourced employees will lower your overall cost.
- Better Rates: An events company will have already negotiated ‘deals’ with airlines, hotels, venues, etc. based on bulk purchasing. Once again, this will be more cost-effective than a one-only event.
- 100% Attention: An event planner focuses solely on your function, so no important event details get missed among other responsibilities.
- Skills and experience: A corporate event planning company has specialty skills in all aspects of running a successful event, including venues, accommodation, transport, catering, seating, lighting, music, and speaker engagement.
- Creative ideas: Event planners can proactively suggest ideas, make improvements to your ideas and fill in the gaps to make your event a stand-out success.
- Budgets won’t blow out: You can also set your budget and have the reassurance that expenses will be contained with no nasty surprises at the end.
- Technical expertise: When the event is over, you will receive valuable technical data from the events company to assist in working with attendees going forward and for future events.
- Consider the cost of running an amateur event that fails: This includes loss of sales, loss of clients, loss of goodwill and loss of future business. The costs are huge!
Working with a corporate event planning company is a great solution for many businesses. Often, they have experience with the latest event technology and new tools that will elevate your event to new heights.
Upgrade Your Next Event
Whova’s unique capabilities will make your next corporate event an unforgettable experience. Whether or not you take the corporate event planning on yourself, or work with an outside company, we can help make it the best one yet. Contact us to learn more about how you can take advantage of these advanced event tools.
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