February 16, 2024
Whova wants to celebrate 2024 with you – by reflecting on a new tech world, imagining what’s possible and goal setting like we never could before. Just in 2023, the event industry experienced new and improved developments, in areas of social media marketing, personalized emails and digitized resources. This means we’re coming into 2024 with more time-saving tools than ever. The only question is: how can you lean into your technological resources to maximize your event planning?
In our latest Event Insider, Whova spoke with event organizers Kristen Shoop of ACES: The Society For Editing and Ron Machamer of Talent Board. We discussed how technology streamlines routine details so you can zero in on your goals.
Below, we’ve extracted eight key points from our Event Insider conversation for sharp, efficient event planning. From AI-inspired brainstorms to ready-made post event analytics, we’ll show how the latest tech trends can automate your work and save you time. If you want the space to make your event truly your own this year, experiment with new tech and explore its creative possibilities.
1. Go paperless for sustainability and accessibility
In 2024, you want to be mindful of how you use your resources, and you want to mind their distribution, too. There are many solutions to go-green and satisfy both goals at once.
With Whova’s ability to digitize event content, you can skip the paper waste and provide your attendees with ready, in-app access to event materials. Whether it’s our digital agenda, floor map or ready-to-access session slides, you can give your attendees accessibility at their fingertips.
Machamer and Shoop recommend using QR codes throughout your venue especially as a quick, ecofriendly way to share resources. When it comes to accountability, it’s not just an event trend; it’s consideration!
“One QR code can replace a thousand copies.”
– Candidate Experience Program Director Ron Machamer
2. Online access to content before and after your event
Shoop observed that recent events offered extended access to their content. With these accommodations, attendees could get ready ahead of the event as well as review important documents afterwards.
At Whova, we make sure your event’s value can go beyond its designated date. Our platform lets you publish your event up to three months before its start date. This allows sponsors and exhibitors to showcase their offerings even before the event, generating extra leads and visibility ahead of time. Attendees will also have the opportunity to network with each other and browse your event’s schedule as early as they’d like. This boosts your event’s efficiency and connectivity while also building excitement.
After your event, we keep your content live for three months with extended options. This means that you and guests can hold onto live materials from the session Q&A or community board discussions and use their takeaways at your convenience. Moreover, if you’re an organizer hosting future events, we’ll store your digital resources for you to reuse. You’ll effectively be able to increase your event’s impact and reduce future work.
3. Offer convenience across time zones with virtual/hybrid events
As many events return to in-person, many organizers are still considering the tradeoffs between hosting a fully in-person or virtual/hybrid event. If you do choose to go virtual or hybrid, you might need to account for time zone differences. As one solution, Machamer suggested preserving your event materials online. When you pre-record a session, attendees from any timezone can consume your event asynchronously. Machamer even noticed that attendees will sign up for webinars just to watch the recording afterwards.
Machamer validated how, since events’ first transitions in 2020, virtual event engagement is becoming more difficult. This means that organizers have to look for creative solutions to create fulfilling event experiences once again – which Whova has responded to. With our Simulive feature, you can broadcast pre-recorded sessions as if they were live. This maintains an immersive, “live” experience while allowing more flexibility with attendees’ time, so attendees can engage with their fellow session-goers when it’s most convenient.
4. Brainstorm event logistics with AI
The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), in particular, has been on the rise for many aspects of event planning – including generating content and ideas in a time-saving fashion.
Machamer calls AI his “sidekick,” a “fresh assistant” who’s impossible to annoy, no matter how many questions you ask. AI tools, like Chat GPT, can answer your questions just like another person – allowing you to transform hours of research into ready-made answers. This makes them great for bouncing off new ideas, and this capability is a key reason why organizers turn to AI.
If you’re brainstorming event logistics, AI can help you find a venue, plan meetings and curate an event menu. In Shoop’s experience, she’s used AI in the initial stages of event planning, checking its ideas for course curriculums and potential themes. Whatever your event needs, AI is highly informed and also flexible, so you can narrow down to specific questions and get the information you need.
5. Use AI in event promotion narratives
Shoop and Machamer both use AI for enhancing the language used in their event promotion efforts. AI can take your industry keywords and quickly generate relevant content based on your stated goals. This means it empowers you with automatic, attention grabbing subject lines, event descriptions, social media posts and more! If you have the ideas but can’t get past your writer’s block, you can use Chat GPT to test out particular content angles or as a safety net for touching up your final tone.
If you’re using Whova, you can use our AI Writing Companion to enhance your email campaigns and event description. All you have to do is enter a few details about your event, including its goals – and you’ll receive ready-to-use content in seconds. We even have flexible options for you to make it more exciting, concise, detailed, or professional! After we suggest our content to you, you can always edit it for controlled, efficient results.
“It’s been really helpful for generating language for marketing… it helps me be creative but still lets be me the author.”
– Events and Professional Development Manager Kristen Shoop
6. Personalize the attendee experience
When you personalize your messaging, you can make more audiences feel included in your event. Machamer reminds us that even the simple actions can be effective – you can welcome people just by plugging their name in a subject line.
Shoop extends this idea to include accommodating attendees with disabilities. In 2024, it’s easier and more important than ever to increase event accessibility. The event industry has the technology, like Zoom’s automated closed captions and the flexibility of virtual sessions, to ensure every guest can participate in your event. With a growing awareness of disabilities and the latest tech solutions, prioritizing accessibility is not only easy; Shoop believes it is also becoming an expectation.
7. Gamify participation and increase engagement
For Shoop, technology helps her build community in creative ways, particularly through gamification. Having engaging gamification in an event app can allow for easy participation and a fun new experience.
Whova embraces gamification as a fun way to boost networking and overall enjoyment. We continually add more contests to our platform, including: our photo/caption contest, our icebreaker contest and our exhibitor-passport contest. These create a light hearted atmosphere and empower attendees for more personal interactions.
On top of those contests, we award overall attendee participation in our leaderboard competition. To win leaderboard points, attendees can participate in activities like: filling surveys, attending roundtables and posting to the community board. This system motivates attendees to explore your event and give you the attendance/feedback you need for success.
In Machamer’s events, he didn’t even need to show a prize incentive – just setting up the leaderboard sparked attendees’ competition. They enjoyed themselves while learning about the event, and, if they won anything, Whova offered them multiple, easy ways to post about it on social media.
– Events and Professional Development Manager Kristen Shoop
8. Learn from your success
A key part of successful event planning involves having and interpreting the data to maximize future events. You can use the capabilities of technology to break down post event data and analyze surveys. This can help you digest complicated information and get straight to the meaning. And with this easy understanding, you’ll feel better prepared for future steps.
Whova also offers this insights with features like our post event report. This summarizes your event highlights in an easy to read, downloadable pdf. If you want to use past successes to maximize future events or even just celebrate your latest accomplishment, using new technology can help you understand your past event outcomes.
Make 2024 your year with new tech solutions!
2024 offers exciting opportunities to try new technologies, especially in event planning. By delving into new event trends, as well as brainstorming and writing with AI, you can optimize workflows and elevate your event’s value. And by capitalizing on digital resources, you can make your event eco-friendly, time-zone friendly and accessible. This is your permission: by indulging in the newest tech trends, you can reduce your workload and create an unforgettable event experience. Satisfy everyone (including yourself) with a well-executed, classically 2024 event.
Interested in how Whova can help you plan great events in 2024 and beyond? Learn more about our event technology solutions by clicking below for a demo!