Consistently branding your event helps address all of these factors. Your organization’s brand reinforces its mission and values while emphasizing the professional aspect of your association. Using your brand strategically will draw attendees into your event, allowing them to have a memorable experience that leaves a positive impression of your organization.

In this quick guide, we’ll look at three areas of association events where you can use branding to communicate your mission:

• Registration Forms
• Promotional Materials
• The Event Venue

Before you dive into branding your event, Loop recommends compiling your association’s brand guidelines into a single document. This brand guide will then serve as a reference for anyone who works on your event branding to ensure every aspect is cohesive.

Registration Forms

Registration marks the beginning of the event experience for attendees. Create a good first impression by making your association’s branding pop on your registration website and form!

In particular, ensure these aspects of your branding are front and center as members sign up:

• Logo. Your logo is the visual representation of what your association stands for, so it serves as a “seal of approval” that connects your event materials back to your organization. Place it in the top corner of your registration form so attendees see it right away.
• Fonts. Choose fonts that look professional and are easy to read on a screen—sans serif tends to work best. Use different typefaces for headers and body text to add visual variety, but avoid having more than two distinct fonts on the form so it doesn’t look cluttered.
• Colors. As you incorporate your brand colors into the form, make sure there’s enough contrast between the text and background colors so it’s easy to read. Let’s say your association’s colors are red, black, and light gray. You could use black text on a light gray background or vice versa and then include red as an accent color to make the form more visually interesting.
• Messaging. Branding extends beyond visual communication. It also applies to how your association presents itself in writing—like the informational content on your registration form. Keep your written tone, word choice, and mechanics consistent so your members can be confident they’re registering for your event.

To provide the best possible sign-up experience, your registration form’s branding should be consistent with the rest of your organization’s website. This cohesion allows for a seamless transition between the informational page about the event and the form, as well as other parts of your site where first-time attendees might look to learn more about your association.

Promotional Materials

In addition to your association’s website, feature the above branding elements in all of your other event promotional materials, including:

• Email marketing. Create a branded letterhead for email blasts about your event that includes your logo, fonts, and colors, and reference your messaging guidelines as you write the copy. Additionally, when association staff members respond to questions about the event, have them put your logo in their email signatures to instill trust that the responses are from real people at your organization.
• Social media. Ensure your association’s visuals and messaging shine on every social media platform. According to Getting Attention, Facebook is the top ROI-generating social media site as of 2023, with Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok all tied for second place. Advertise across all of these platforms for the widest possible reach—along with LinkedIn, since its users are probably looking for professional development opportunities like your event!
• Direct mail. Although many organizations focus on digital marketing, direct mail isn’t dead. Rather, it’s a great way to make your brand more tangible for event attendees! Use your brand fonts and messaging guidelines to communicate what benefits members will receive if they attend your event, and incorporate color into your invitation letters wherever possible to catch their attention.

If you promote your event through co-marketing opportunities, ensure your partners or sponsors include your association’s logo alongside theirs and add direct quotes from your organization that capture the essence of your mission-driven messaging. Not only will you make your association’s brand recognizable to your sponsors’ audience, but you’ll also communicate even more about your mission by showcasing your partnerships with organizations whose values align with yours.

The Event Venue

Branding a space looks different depending on whether your event takes place in person or virtually. We’ll cover each of these options in the following sections.

In-Person Events

Some of the best places to feature your brand colors, fonts, and logo at in-person events include:

• Signage and banners at the venue
• Your event app and other interactive tools
• Name badges for attendees, speakers, staff, and volunteers
• Event swag like notepads, pens, water bottles, and phone wallets

Incorporating your brand in these ways makes your venue look cohesive and professional, in addition to showcasing your association everywhere at the event.

Virtual Events

For virtual events, you’ll primarily brand the technology associated with your event, including your:

• Online event agendas
• Hosting platform’s waiting rooms
• Livestreams and pre-recorded videos
• Presentation slides

Additionally, your association may already send member and donor gifts through the mail, so why not mail out swag packs to virtual event attendees as well? That way, they’ll have a tangible reminder of your event (and your mission) in addition to seeing your branding throughout the virtual experience!

Communicating your association’s mission through branding doesn’t end when your event is over. Incorporate your brand into thank-you messages and other follow-ups to keep it top of mind even after attendees leave. Also, include a couple of questions in your post-event survey about brand recognition and your association’s mission to determine how much your efforts resonated with your audience.

The post Communicating Your Mission Through Branding at Events appeared first on EventMobi.

With nearly 3 in 5 employees reporting negative impacts of work-related stress, event planners such as yourself need to take ownership of their mental health and seek out stress relief strategies that work for them.

That’s what this guide is for! Here, we’ll cover the top stress relief strategies. With them in mind, you’ll be able to confidently manage your mental health and ensure that you can handle your day-to-day responsibilities.

Why Is Stress Relief Important for Event Staff?

Before we explore the strategies, let’s take a closer look at why stress relief is so important for event planners and other event staff. According to Swaim Strategies, planning an event requires many steps, such as determining your event’s purpose, setting event goals, establishing your budget, deciding on event details, promoting the event, and following up with attendees afterward.

As an event planner yourself, you know that these steps can each be broken down into dozens of smaller tasks, resulting in a great deal of work on your plate. Aside from the workload, there are many other stressors that you may encounter, such as communication issues, meeting client expectations, tight deadlines, long hours, and more. In fact, event planning is considered the sixth most stressful job.

As stress builds up, it leads to several negative effects, including reduced motivation and job satisfaction, physical and mental health problems, low productivity, increased absenteeism, and interpersonal conflicts. All these effects can create a vicious cycle that results in lowered productivity and even more stress, eventually leading to burnout.

3 Stress Relief Strategies for Event Planners & Staff

You know that event planning is hard work. Because of that, you need to take stress management into your own hands and implement practices that will work for your unique needs. Consider the following three stress relief strategies and how they might help you become a more fulfilled and less stressed event planner.

1. Prioritizing Time Management

When you have a mountain of tasks to complete, it’s natural that you might not finish all of them within a single workday. That’s totally okay—as long as you’re making the most of your time at work with effective time management skills.

Here are a few ways you can better manage your time at work:

• Choose a daily priority. Every day, identify your most important or most time-sensitive task. Commit to completing this task before your workday ends to ensure you stay on top of your responsibilities. This strategy will allow you to approach your work more mindfully.
• Break big tasks into small ones. When faced with a large, daunting task, some professionals will feel overwhelmed, increasing their stress levels. To combat that, break any large task into its smaller parts. For instance, if you need to book a caterer for your next event, you can break the task into researching and identifying five top choices and requesting a consultation or quote from each.
• Choose a time management system. You may benefit from having a dedicated time management system. For example, you might consider time-blocking, where you dedicate certain “blocks” of time to focus on certain tasks without allowing other tasks to distract you. This might look like setting aside two hours in the morning to research event registration software and dedicating the hour after lunch to answering and sending emails.
• Automate repetitive tasks. Streamlining routine tasks can significantly boost your productivity by leaving more time, and energy, for larger projects. Using AI-powered tools, for instance, to automate processes like content translation, generating speaker descriptions, or wording email responses can save you hours each week. This speeds up your workflow and ensures consistency and accuracy, allowing you to focus on creative tasks that drive a greater impact on your attendees’ experience.

The most important aspect of time management is to stay realistic about your capabilities. Give each task the time it deserves and try not to underestimate how long they take—otherwise, you might reach the end of the workday without completing all the tasks you intended to.

If you’re looking for ways to reduce the time your tasks take, you may request that your company purchase software to help you do so. This is a common practice for businesses and nonprofits. For instance, a massage business might purchase massage therapy software to streamline bookings and a nonprofit might purchase a constituent management system (CRM) to help keep track of all its supporters.

As an event planner, you’ll probably benefit most from event management software. The right solution will help you organize memorable events, streamline your promotional efforts to increase ticket sales, manage attendee data, measure your event’s return on investment (ROI), and more.

Recommended Resource: Are you looking for cost-effective, easier ways to build and manage your events? Watch 8 short videos to learn how to deliver events in any format that engage attendees and offer sponsors more value—no matter your team size or budget!

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2. Fostering Work-Life Balance

Aside from strategically managing your time at work, you must also foster a work-life balance that supports your priorities and needs. While it’s inevitable that you’ll have long days as an event planner, that doesn’t mean that you need to sacrifice your work-life balance every day.

Consider these ideas for finding a balance between your personal and professional life:

• Take breaks when necessary. During the workday, don’t hesitate to take breaks if you need them. They can actually improve your productivity by increasing creativity and decision-making ability, resulting in higher quality of work. If you’re feeling stressed, take a quick 10-minute walk to clear your head and help you refocus.
• Set boundaries with work. Allow yourself to fully disconnect from your work when you’re at home or taking personal time. To do so, set reasonable boundaries with work, such as not working through your lunch hour, not checking your emails or taking work calls when you’re out of the office, and limiting overtime hours to what is absolutely necessary for your role.
• Take your vacation time. The best way to recharge is taking time away from your stressful work environment, which means taking your vacation time. Even if you’re worried about your workload, studies show that for every additional 10 hours of vacation time employees take, their year-end performance improves by 8%. If nothing else, think of it as a way to perform better in the future!

When it comes to finding the right work-life balance, your first step should be staying mindful of your needs. Constantly assess your work performance and stress levels and adjust your approach if you find your standard of work slipping or your stress rising.

3. Setting Aside Time to Relax

On the surface, this strategy may seem very similar to the previous one. However, there’s a difference between balancing your personal and professional lives and setting aside dedicated time to relax.

Make space for yourself to connect with your peers and participate in any hobbies that help you reduce stress and feel more positive. This could mean getting dinner with friends, going salsa dancing, watching a movie at home, or any other activity that you find relaxing.

You can even seek external sources to help you relax by treating yourself to massage therapy or booking time with a mental health counselor. These activities may even be covered by your health insurance (according to MassageBook, some massage therapists will accept insurance to make their services more affordable!), making it even easier for you to participate in them.

Ultimately, the way you relax is entirely up to you. What you need to do is identify what helps you unwind and completely detach from the stress of work.

Your Mental Health Matters

From worrying about vendors to gamifying your event for attendees, you have many responsibilities to stress over as an event planner. However, to ensure you deliver events that meet your goals and drive the impact you desire, you must take care of yourself. With these stress relief strategies, you’ll be well on your way to developing increased focus and productivity in your event planning, all while still being able to relax!

The post Managing It All: 3 Stress-Relief Strategies for Event Staff appeared first on EventMobi.

Want to establish authority in your field? Generate quality leads for your sales team? Drive legitimate revenue? A conference can help you achieve these things—if you host it correctly.

To ensure your conference is a smashing success, invest in conference management. Doing so will lead to greater attendance, better experiences, and happier sponsors.

Keep reading this comprehensive guide to learn:

What Is a Conference?

A conference is a formal gathering that brings together like-minded people to discuss specific topics. Conferences usually take place over multiple days and require a fee to attend.

Oftentimes, conferences include keynote speakers and workshop sessions, each designed to educate attendees. Most of them give said attendees a chance to network with each other as well. Exhibitions and product demos are also regular occurrences.

While every organization’s goals are different, almost all of them host conferences for similar reasons: to connect with a target audience, generate leads, and drive revenue.

How Do Conferences Differ from Events and Conventions?

“Event” is a blanket term that includes everything from intimate weddings to mega industry get-togethers. (Like the annual Salesforce conference, Dreamforce, for example.) 

Both conferences and conventions fall under the “events” umbrella. But conferences and conventions have a few differences you should know about.

As described above, a conference is usually a formal, multi-day event that allows attendees to discuss specific topics and network with like-minded individuals.

Conventions, on the other hand, are often larger than conferences and focus on entire industries or fandoms, rather than specific topics within said industries.

That said, conventions also aim to educate attendees via speeches, panels, and workshops. So the difference between conferences and conventions is about scope and content. Conferences are smaller and more focused. Conventions are larger and, at times, less formal.

Recommended Resource: Want to deliver amazing attendee experiences at all of your upcoming events? Watch this free Events Masterclass session, Event Apps 101: Your Playbook for Creating Engaging Event Experiences, for tips from industry experts!

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Common Conference Types

There are many different conference types out there.

This is good because it gives conference organizers more ways to achieve their goals. Everything from academic conferences to virtual events is fair game.

But some conference types are more common than others. Here are the six kinds of conferences you’re most likely to see in the event industry:

Seminar

A seminar is a small, interactive conference. During the event, subject matter experts share information on a specific topic with attendees. This is often followed by a Q&A session or group discussion. As such, seminars are typically less formal than other conference types.

Symposium

A symposium is a medium-sized gathering. This kind of conference often features multiple speakers, who each present information on related topics. In fact, conference organizers usually plan symposiums around central themes to promote cohesion. Because symposiums are bigger get-togethers, they typically don’t involve a ton of audience participation.

Workshop

A workshop is a hands-on event that allows attendees to build skills through practical learning. Like seminars, workshops are usually small, informal gatherings led by subject matter experts. The main difference has to do with participation levels. While seminars encourage attendees to ask questions, workshops allow them to actively participate.

Roundtable

A roundtable is a unique kind of conference. There’s no lead speaker. Instead, a small group of people have conversations about specific topics. The goal of the roundtable is to create an open dialogue between folks with diverse viewpoints and solve problems.

We should say that, while the number of people participating in the roundtable is always small, the number of people watching can be as large as conference organizers want. 

Summit

A summit is a large event that attempts to address popular issues in a strategic way. Because of this, summits usually feature influential speakers. While summits often draw a lot of attention, guests typically need an invitation to attend. (In other words, not everyone can buy a ticket.) Limited guest lists help conference organizers keep their events focused on event goals. 

Virtual Conference

A virtual conference is any conference that’s hosted online. Audience members can attend from anywhere in the world, as long as they have a WiFi connection and a ticket. This makes most virtual events more inclusive. Since attendees don’t have to spend money on travel-related expenses, more people have the ability to attend.

Most virtual conferences feature keynote speakers, workshops (hosted via breakout rooms inside the host’s event platform of choice), and attendee networking sessions.

We’ve chosen to segment conference types by format. But they can also be segmented by content. For example, academic conferences focus on specific scientific disciplines and enable attendees to display their findings, network with other researchers, and learn about their fields.

Academic conferences are very different from, say, technology conferences. These aim to educate attendees on tech ideas and products while also encouraging networking.

Conference organizers can select the right conference type by choosing an event format, a specific content type, or a combination of the two. You could host a virtual conference, for instance, that tackles healthcare topics. It’s up to you.

Why Is Conference Management Important?

Event planning is never easy. Important? Yes. Rewarding? Absolutely!

But if you’ve been in the event management space for a while, you know that planning a successful conference takes work. That’s because conferences have a lot of moving parts. 

Fortunately, conference management can help you streamline many tasks, from proper budget allocation to communication with vendors to monitoring team members.

Here are three concrete benefits you’ll enjoy once you commit to conference management:

More Registrations, Ticket Sales & Attendance

Want to attract more conference attendees? Partner with interesting speakers, plan valuable content, and promote your events and sessions to the right audience.

Conference management can help with these things, while keeping your event focused and on budget. That’s because proper management looks at the big picture, ensuring your team does what it takes to reach its target audience and drum up excitement.

Greater Attendee Engagement

Conference management leads to happier attendees–and more memorable event experiences.

A well-managed conference tackles relevant topics and presents them in interesting ways. It also gives attendees a chance to network. In fact, 77.7% of people say they prefer in-person B2B conferences because of the networking possibilities.

These things lead to greater attendee participation, which is key to a successful event. If your attendees aren’t actively engaged at your event, they won’t learn as much. This will lower their satisfaction levels.

Higher Sponsor Satisfaction & ROI

As a conference organizer, your attendees should be your number one priority.

But your conference sponsors should be a close second. After all, these organizations can add legitimacy to your event, while improving its financial outlook.

Proper conference management will help sponsors feel valued. As we just discussed, it will also create more engaged attendees, which will help sponsors achieve a greater return on investment (ROI). Both of these things will increase sponsor satisfaction and lead to additional partnerships.

Conference Management Types

There are a bunch of ways to pursue conference management. Here are five common management types you can use to achieve organizational goals:

In-House Management

In-house management is when an organization uses internal resources to plan and execute a conference. This management type allows for maximum control over event details. But it can put a significant strain on an organization—especially if it doesn’t have in-house expertise.

Joint Partnerships

A joint partnership is a collaboration between the organization hosting a conference and an outside agency. Both entities assume various event management duties. This model allows organizations to outsource difficult event planning tasks but often leads to higher costs.

Third-Party Organizers

If you want to host a conference, but don’t want to plan or execute it, you can work with a third-party organizer. These companies have the experience and skills to create successful events. This model allows organizations to focus on content, while the third-party organizer handles logistics. The downside is the lack of control and additional costs.

Volunteer-Driven Management

Do you represent a nonprofit organization? Maybe you’re planning a community-based conference. Either way, the volunteer-driven management approach might be a good fit. Volunteers will give you the resources to plan, organize, and execute an event. (All without a giant budget.) Unfortunately, this model might not give you enough expertise to make your conference successful, as volunteers don’t always have the necessary skills.

Sponsorship-Driven Management

Many sponsors are happy with their name and logo on conference marketing materials. Other sponsors want to help plan and execute the events they support. The latter scenario is known as sponsorship-driven management. While this model can relieve your organization of some event management tasks, you’ll have to share control of decisions.

The Conference Management Process

So, how do you actually, you know, do conference management?

You take a step-by-step approach that will keep you organized, your audience informed, and your budget in line. In other words, you follow this proven process:

Determine Your Goals

What does a successful event look like to you?

Before you do anything else, decide what you want your conference to accomplish. You might want to increase brand awareness. Or generate leads. Or drive revenue. Or something else.

When you know what your goals are, you can make strategic decisions to achieve them. That’s why every event management process starts with goals.

Create a Budget

Now that you’ve determined your goals you can create an event budget.

How much money can you spend on your conference? Make sure it’s enough to cover conference management software, a venue (for in-person events), speaker fees, marketing campaigns, event workers, AV equipment, and whatever else you need.

Assemble Your Conference Planning Team

You’re not going to plan your conference all alone, are you? We hope not!

Event planning is often time-consuming and complicated. If you don’t have other people to share the workload with, you’ll be super stressed and your event will suffer.

The question is, who do you want on your conference planning team? Recruit individuals who are excited about the event and have complementary skills. Then make sure they have the time to help make your get-together a memorable experience.

Finalize Conference Logistics

Next, nail down a date, time, and place for your conference.

You need to be strategic here. For example, you probably shouldn’t plan your event on the same day as the Super Bowl. Or in the same building as a competing conference.

Also, take into account the weather, the accessibility and atmosphere of your venue, and any other details that could affect conference attendees in a negative way.

Secure Speakers and Sponsors

Great speakers make life easier for conference organizers.

Why? Great speakers attract an audience, deliver quality content, and increase attendee engagement. This last perk is especially important, as 82% of conference organizers use attendee engagement as a KPI for their events.

Identify potential speakers who align with your conference goals and fit your budget. Then send them (or, in some cases, their teams) a personalized invitation to present. Make sure you explain why they’d be a perfect match for your conference and the benefits you can offer.

If a speaker agrees to participate, send them a contract that stipulates their role in the conference, the amount they’ll earn, and other pertinent details.

You can use a similar process to secure sponsors. Identify brands that serve your audience or believe in your conference mission. Contact them to explain why they should sponsor your event. Then draft and sign a contract that defines the role of each sponsor.

Adopt the Right Conference Technology

You could host a conference without conference management software. But why would you put yourself through that particular brand of misery? There’s no reason for it.

Instead, adopt software that will help you market your event, facilitate registrations and check-ins, design event badges, track attendance, help attendees network with each other, and handle many other details. (Note: we’ll talk more about these tools in a bit.)

Doing so will make life easier for you and improve the attendee experience. Research shows that 62.9% of people expect in-person conferences to use modern tech.

Promote the Event

So, you’ve created amazing content, connected with top-level speakers, and secured sponsors for your conference. You’ve also invested in technology to ensure the event runs smoothly.

Now what? Now you need to market your conference, of course!

Email your subscribers about the event. Talk about the planning process on social media and explain why your followers should attend. If you have room in your budget, invest in a few paid ads or influencer marketing campaigns to reach more people in your target audience.

Get the word out about your conference so the right people know about it.

Facilitate Event Registration

If you market your conference effectively, people will want to register to attend. The way you handle this process will set the stage for the entire event. No pressure!

Fortunately, the right event technology will help you streamline registration and ticketing. You’ll want to create a registration website that allows your attendees to sign up, pay, and receive event-related information with ease.

Again, more on conference technology in the next section. Stay tuned.

Manage Onsite Operations

Finally, make sure your actual event runs like a well-oiled machine.

If you’ve completed the steps above, you should be ready to host a successful conference. That said, it never hurts to do a dry run or two.

Make sure your team knows what their jobs are and the equipment you rented works. Then take a look at your check-in process to ensure it’s convenient. Lastly, have people on standby to handle problems that pop up during the conference. (There’s always a few of them.)

How to Select the Right Conference Management Software

The right tools will streamline conference management for your team. That way you can focus on tasks that need human input, like allocating resources and negotiating with sponsors.

The question is, which conference management software is right for your organization? We can’t answer that question for you. But we can tell you which features to look for:

Try to invest in an event management platform that has audience engagement tools, too. This will make attendee participation more natural and convenient during your conference.

Last but not least, experience the tool you want before you buy it. Some tools offer free trials. Others offer in-depth demos. Make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.

Why EventMobi is the Best Conference Management Solution on the Market

You don’t have time to research every conference management software on the market. Luckily, you don’t have to. Just go with EventMobi!

EventMobi’s event management platform is both easy to use and innovative. It’s also versatile, allowing users to manage virtual, hybrid, and in-person events. 

With EventMobi you can…

• Create a branded event website for your conference that includes customizable registration forms, secure payment processing, and reporting capabilities. “Overall, we have gained a lot in terms of participant loyalty and opportunities for our partners thanks to EventMobi.” – Andrea Held, Managing Director of Alkmene Verlag GmbH
• Enjoy a revolutionary event management platform that will supercharge marketing campaigns, live stream video, facilitate networking, increase audience engagement, and much more. “The gamification really drove traffic to our exhibitor booths.” – Arlene Schilke, CMP, DES Executive Producer, GO WEST 23
• Use one of the best Mobile Event Apps on the market to engage conference attendees, increase value for sponsors, and display post-event content. “We had a lot of individuals on-site actually come and ask, ‘Where did you get this app? How can we use this at our next event?’ And I highly recommend this [event app] for any future event.” – Javon Findlator, Executive Lead, CAMS Visible Minority Committee
• Streamline onsite processes with simple QR check-ins, create your own attendee badges, and even receive professional day-of support. “The EventMobi Event App really enhances the experience of the attendees.” – Melissa Arnott, Show Manager, Canadian Meetings + Events Expo Director of Events, Newcom Media Inc.

Get Started with Effective Conference Management

It doesn’t matter if you’re hosting in-person, hybrid, or virtual events. Effective conference management is key to a successful gathering that engages attendees and achieves goals.

Of course, technology makes conference management easier. You just need to choose the right platform for your organization. Might we suggest EventMobi?

Sign up for a free demo of EventMobi today to see if the tool meets your unique needs.

Once you schedule your EventMobi demo, continue your education. The EventMobi blog is full of practical articles with advice from top-level professionals. Here are three you might enjoy:

• 14 Best Event Management Software Solutions for 2024
• The Easy Event Check In Guide: How to Impress from the First Hello
• Tips from the Trenches: 7 Audience Engagement Tips Guaranteed to Build Excitement

The post Conference Management: What Event Organizers Need to Know appeared first on EventMobi.

With so many different tasks on your plate and stakeholders to cater to, managing events is a tall order. To stay on top of everything, you need a clear strategy that incorporates event management best practices to guide you.

Curious to learn how you can use event management best practices to create more impactful events in the long term? Read on to explore event management best practices that allow you to both delight your attendees and achieve your organizational goals.

Recommended Resource: Using event technology is one of the top best practices for running successful events. To see how quickly you can put event technology to work for you, watch How to Get Started with an Event App of Your Own (In 6 Easy Steps!)

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1. They help you achieve your event goals and objectives.  Proper event management best practices enable you to effectively work toward your event goals like increasing registrations, generating revenue, and building brand awareness.
2. They enhance the attendee experience. Focusing on critical details and contingency planning best practices will create a smoother event experience for attendees—and ensure they remember an event for all the right reasons.
3. They drive future event success. Documenting processes and lessons learned allows you to continually improve your events. You can use established best practices to create a knowledge base that informs your future event strategy and execution.
4. They provide structure and organization. Detailed plans, timelines, and procedures inherent in best practices give you a reliable framework to operate within and help coordinate all the moving parts.
5. They allow for scalability. You can replicate solid best practices—with modifications—as your events program grows or changes over time. This scalability ensures more efficient growth.
6. They promote stakeholder confidence. Sponsors, vendors, staff, and leadership can have greater confidence that your event will meet its objectives when following industry best practices.

Top Event Management Best Practices

Whether you’re planning a large-scale conference or a smaller event like a seminar, incentive trip, or sales kickoff, it pays off to follow tried-and-tested processes. The event management best practices below will help set you up for success from the beginning of your event planning process right through to event day. 

1. Set Clear Event Goals and Objectives

Before planning an event, it’s important to set clear goals and objectives that align with your organization’s overall business goals. Well-defined goals provide direction for your event planning process and help you measure success after the event concludes.

For example, common event goals include generating leads, increasing brand awareness, educating customers about a new product or service, or building relationships with stakeholders.  

Start brainstorming your event’s goals by asking yourself key questions:

• Why are you holding this event? 
• What do you hope to achieve?
• Who is the target audience?
• How does this event align with your business objectives?

Once you’ve determined your general event goals, clarify them using the SMART goal framework, which stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Setting focused, quantitative goals with clear metrics to track will allow you to better evaluate the impact of your events.

2. Create a Detailed Event Budget

Having a budget in place early on in the event planning process helps your event team work efficiently within the prescribed resources, easily track expenses, and make adjustments as needed. 

When creating your event budget, be sure to account for all potential costs including:

To help you do more with your resources and optimize your budget, we recommend getting estimates from different providers to compare your options. Consider working with local vendors to help lower costs associated with shipping (and contact them well in advance!) so you can plan the perfect event while staying within your organization’s financial resources. 

3. Strategize About Your Event Date 

Choosing the right date for your event is crucial for success. You want to give yourself enough lead time to properly plan and promote the event while also avoiding dates that conflict with holidays, school breaks, or other major events that may prevent your audience from attending. 

When picking an event date, keep these tips in mind:

• Give yourself at least 4-6 months of planning time if possible. Major conferences and trade shows often require a year or more of advanced planning. Even smaller events need several months of preparation.

• Check for conflicting holidays, observances, or cultural events on your potential date that may prevent participation. Look up statutory holidays as well as religious or cultural celebrations that are important to your target audience.
  
• Avoid major school holiday periods when potential attendees may have travel plans. These include summer vacation, spring break, and winter holidays in December. If your event depends on students, plan around their academic calendar.

• Research other events happening locally, regionally, or nationally that may compete for the same audience. Check industry calendars for conferences, trade shows, or public events you’ll be competing with for attendance. 

• Confirm date availability with all key participants like speakers, VIPs, honorees, or organizational leaders before cementing the date to accommodate their schedules.
  
• Be flexible on potential event dates in the planning phase. This gives you some leeway in booking the venue you want or aligning with participants’ availability.

Choosing an event date may seem simple, but it requires thoughtfulness and planning. Avoid last-minute choices or picking a date for convenience. Take the time upfront to maximize attendance by selecting an event date that works for your goals, audience, and other stakeholders.

4. Assemble an Event Planning Team

A successful event requires an organized team to ensure you handle every detail properly. Assemble your event planning team by assigning clear roles and responsibilities to each member. Some key roles to fill include:

• Event Manager: This person oversees the entire event planning process from start to finish. They are the main point of contact and coordinate with all vendors, staff, and stakeholders. The event manager creates the master event plan and detailed schedules and timelines. 

• Event Marketer: The event marketer oversees all event promotion including email campaigns, social media, paid ads, public relations activities, and more. They are responsible for spreading awareness and driving event registrations.

• Volunteer Coordinator: This person recruits and organizes event volunteers. Key duties include determining volunteer needs, creating duty schedules, conducting training, and managing volunteers during the event.

• Program Manager: The program manager creates the overall event agenda, schedules speakers and presenters, plans entertainment and activities, and manages program content.

• Accountant: The accountant manages the event budget, tracks expenses, processes payments to vendors, and handles all financial matters. 

• Registration Manager: This person oversees the event registration process including website forms, payment collection, name badges and credentials, and attendance tracking.

Clearly define each team member’s responsibilities, and hold regular meetings to keep the team aligned on event progress as the big day approaches.

5. Book Your Event Venue Strategically

Your venue sets the stage for every other element of your event. Consider the following when selecting a venue:

• Size: Make sure the venue has enough space to comfortably accommodate your expected number of attendees. Evaluate the main event space as well as the potential for breakout rooms, lobby space, or specific networking sections.  

• Amenities: What features does the venue offer? Look at basics like tables, chairs, and A/V equipment. Also consider extras like catering capabilities, free parking, and WiFi.

• Insurance & Permits: Check if any special insurance or permits are required to host your event at the venue, and factor these costs into your budget. 

• Accessibility: Ensure the venue is accessible to all potential attendees. Look for wheelchair ramps, elevators, gender-neutral restrooms, and accommodations for service animals.

Selecting the right venue sets the foundation for a successful event. Take time to thoroughly evaluate all options before signing any contracts.

6. Create a Master Event Plan

A master event plan is essential for pulling together all aspects of your event and ensuring everything stays on track. Your master plan should cover the following details:

• Event Timeline: Map out your entire event planning timeline, including when contracts, permits, and insurance need to be submitted, when registration closes, and a detailed schedule for the day of. Build in buffer time for potential delays.

• Vendor Contacts: Compile a list of all your vendors for the event with their associated contact information, services provided, and contract details. Having all of this information in one place makes it easy to communicate with vendors leading up to the event.

• Marketing Plan: Outline your strategies for promoting the event through email, social media, event listings, advertisements, and other channels. Include key dates and details for each initiative.

• Event Agenda: Develop a detailed schedule for your event programming and activities. Include session topics and times, speaker names, and room assignments.

• Volunteer Needs: Determine how many volunteers you’ll need, what their responsibilities will be, and who will manage them. You should also include recruitment and training timelines.

Having a comprehensive master event plan is crucial for assigning accountability, coordinating across teams, and ultimately executing a smooth, successful event. Treat it as your North Star guiding you through each stage of planning.

7. Implement Event Management Software

Event management software automates tedious tasks and streamlines your workflows. The right event platform can facilitate everything from registration, ticketing, badge design, and check-in, to Mobile Event Apps for your attendees and post-event reporting, freeing up your time to focus on other critical areas. 

When evaluating event management platforms, look for these key features:

• Event website builder to create a custom website for your event with all key details.
• Registration management features, like easy-to-build custom registration forms, payment processing, and automated confirmation emails.
• Email marketing tools to create and send targeted email campaigns to promote your event
• Badge printing and check-in so you can pre-print your badges or offer onsite printing at guest arrivals and check your attendees into the event.
• Mobile Event Apps that allow attendees to access schedules, maps, exhibitor information, networking features, appointment booking, and session content on their own mobile devices.
• Ongoing communication. The Event App should allow you to send emails, push notifications, and alerts directly to attendees so you can engage your audience before, during, and after your event.
• Reporting and analytics tools to gain insights on engagement and performance at every stage of your event.

The best event management software centralizes all your tools and data into one unified platform. This eliminates having to juggle multiple systems and enables seamless collaboration across your team. Be sure to evaluate integration capabilities as well in case you need to connect with external tools like email providers, payment gateways, or your constituent relationship management platform (CRM).  

EventMob’s comprehensive event management platform offers all of the features listed above–and then some! Investing in a robust event management platform allows you to streamline your workflows and ensure your events run smoothly and efficiently. To see what’s possible with the right platform in place, check out EventMobi’s self-guided Product Tour.

Want to see event management software in action? Watch the EventMobi Product Tour to learn how to create, promote, monetize, and deliver incredible event experiences!

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8. Focus on the Attendee Experience

Creating an exceptional experience for your event attendees should be a top priority. There are several ways to delight your attendees and make your event engaging and memorable.

• Personalize the experience. Get to know your attendees before the event by having them fill out surveys during registration. Ask about their interests, organizational roles, and goals for attending. Use this data to customize parts of the event for each attendee. For example, you can provide personalized session recommendations based on someone’s role and interests. 

• Offer a Mobile Event App. A mobile app allows for a more seamless and personalized attendee experience. Attendees can access schedules, maps, speakers, and networking features from any mobile device. You can also send push notifications about changes and upcoming sessions. A well-set-up app will foster a stronger connection between attendees and your event.

• Encourage engagement. Incorporate interactive elements into your event to get attendees involved. Live polls, Q&As, games, challenges, and group activities are great ways to engage different types of attendees. Also, prompt experience sharing on social media with your event hashtag and in your Mobile Event App by encouraging attendees to post photos and thoughts in Group Discussions or Activity Feeds. 

• Facilitate networking. Don’t underestimate the importance of networking and social moments. Build in plenty of dedicated time for open networking sessions, group meals, mixers, and interactive activities. Attendees will appreciate the ability to connect, share ideas, and form new relationships.

Remember that the attendee experience goes beyond the event itself. You can continue to build relationships with your audience in between events by thanking them for coming, sending out post-event surveys to collect feedback, and continuing to offer educational resources and engagement opportunities.

9. Measure Your Event’s Return on Investment (ROI)

Determining the ROI for your event requires assessing the event’s outcomes against its original goals and objectives. This practice provides tangible metrics to measure success.

When calculating event ROI, remember to:

• Track event data and metrics. Look at numbers like event registrations and attendance, social media reach and engagement, surveys completed, leads generated, and revenue gained. Compare this data to the goals you originally set. 

• Gather feedback. Send post-event surveys to attendees, staff, speakers, sponsors, and other stakeholders. Ask questions to find out what resonated with them, what could be improved for next time, overall satisfaction levels, and their willingness to return or recommend your organization’s events to others.
  
• Review speaker and session ratings and comments. See which sessions had the highest attendance and received positive feedback. This data provides insight into what content and topics appealed most to your audience.

• Assess sponsorship ROI. Look at metrics provided on visibility and engagement with sponsor booths, materials, social media, signage, and sessions. Evaluate which sponsorships delivered the most value.
  
• Analyze marketing and promotion efforts. Determine which initiatives drove the most registrations and engagement such as social campaigns, email blasts, print ads, and referral programs.

By gathering data, feedback, and insights across all event elements, you’ll gain a holistic picture of what was successful, what missed the mark, and what you can adjust to improve future events. This assessment process is key to continually enhancing the attendee experience and exceeding stakeholder expectations.

Keep These Event Management Best Practices in Mind

Ready to unlock the full potential of your events program? Follow the best practices outlined above and you’ll be well on your way to running impactful events that deliver value to attendees, sponsors, and stakeholders alike!

Follow event management best practices with the top event management software. EventMobi has all the features you need to make your event a success!

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That’s why asking the right questions upfront is essential to finding a provider that aligns with the goals and objectives of your events program.

Looking for guidance in choosing your association’s event technology provider? This guide will equip you with 16 key questions to ask potential vendors, ensuring you find the perfect partner and the best event platform for your association.

The Importance of the Right Event Tech

Delivering an exceptional attendee experience is vital. Events play a key role in engaging your members, generating revenue, and achieving organizational goals. But attendees have become more intentional with how they spend their time, requiring associations to craft even more memorable experiences that motivate participation. 

The good news is that the right event technology can empower you to deliver better event experiences, increase member engagement, and achieve your overall objectives.

16 Key Questions to Ask Event Tech Vendors

In the planning phase, it is important to take a close look at your event’s objectives and understand what different stakeholders hope to gain from their involvement. 

Event technology has become indispensable to make a professional impression on your members and deliver value to your sponsors and exhibitors. By asking event tech vendors the right questions, you can confidently navigate the process and make an informed decision.

Want more tips on how to evaluate event tech providers? Download the Event Technology Buyer’s Guide for Associations now.

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1. Can your event platform help me achieve [specific goal]?

Start by identifying the specific goals you want to achieve, such as increasing member engagement, driving more revenue from events, or helping members earn CE credits. The types of events you run will determine which features and capabilities you need from an event tech vendor. Ask the provider how their solution can directly address your needs.

2. Is this product designed for association events like mine?

Not all event technology solutions are created equal. Some may be designed for specific industries or event formats. Ensure the provider’s product is flexible enough to support your meeting and event requirements.

3. Can you share case studies of similar organizations using this product?

Case studies provide valuable insights into how the solution has been implemented at similar events and the results that were achieved. They can also help you convince other stakeholders of the technology’s value and help get your budget approved. Ask the vendor to share relevant case studies or customer stories so you can better understand the product’s capabilities and potential impact.

4. Will the platform integrate with my existing tools?

Your association likely uses an association management software (AMS) or a CRM tool.
Choosing event management software that seamlessly integrates with your existing tech stack makes it easier to manage your event data and create a consistent experience for attendees. Ask about the provider’s off-the-shelf integrations and their ability to facilitate custom integrations and any associated costs.

5. How can the platform help me promote my events and register attendees?

The first step to running successful association events is getting your members (and potential members!) excited to register and attend. That means you need an eye-catching event website that encourages members to register, entices non-members to sign up, and makes it easy for them to do so via the right registration solution.

Customizable registration forms are crucial for capturing relevant attendee data and accommodating different participant types–especially for large events with a variety of attendees (e.g., members, non-members, sponsors, exhibitors, and speakers). Learn about the provider’s registration capabilities, including payment options and potential processing fees.

6. How do attendees access the platform?

Ensure the event platform is readily accessible for all of your members and attendees. Ask about supported devices, apps, and web browsers, as well as any limitations on the number of admins or users.

Be sure you understand how attendees can access the platform and which devices are supported (i.e., iPhone, Android, tablet, laptop).

7. What sponsorship opportunities does the platform facilitate?

Events offer a valuable opportunity to drive non-dues revenue for your association. Ask about the platform’s capabilities to promote your sponsors and partners. For instance, does it support banner ads? Can your sponsor companies create robust profiles?

Explore how the platform can facilitate sponsorships, such as through additional brand exposure opportunities or extended content availability, and how easily it can help you prove sponsor ROI.

Or, does this platform offer additional tools you can resell to your exhibitors and sponsors? Many associations offer Exhibitor Lead Capture to earn non-dues revenue and offset the cost of running their events.

8. What engagement and networking features do you offer?

Interactive features like live chat, anonymous Q&A, polls, and activity feeds can significantly enhance attendee engagement and increase networking opportunities. Evaluate the provider’s engagement features and ensure they can support event goals.

9. How user-friendly is the platform?

A user-friendly platform is essential for ensuring high adoption rates among your attendees. Ask about the platform’s intuitiveness and evaluate its UI yourself to decide how steep the learning curve will be for different groups of attendees.

10. Does your platform support ongoing member engagement?

One of your event goals is likely to increase member retention. You should ask potential event tech providers if their platform can be used to drive member engagement in the downtime between large events. Find out how you can use their platform year-round to continue to provide value to members, keep them engaged, and promote your annual conference so you don’t have to start your marketing back from zero each year. 

For example, can the platform help you drive member engagement by offering a persistent home for networking and learning? Can you use it to host videos, interactive livestream sessions, and smaller networking or training events?

11. Is your platform compliant with data security standards?

Data security and privacy should be a top priority when handling attendee information. Ask the provider about their security measures and compliance with industry standards such as SOC 2.

12. How can I protect my content?

If you plan to share valuable content or resources through the event platform, it’s essential to understand the provider’s content protection measures, such as access controls, passwords, or login requirements.

13. How does your pricing work?

Event technology pricing models vary from provider to provider, and may be based on the number of users, or the number of events., Some vendors may offer subscription pricing, or charge extra for additional features. Be sure to uncover any add-ons so you can be confident the vendor’s pricing aligns with your budget and requirements.

14. Do you offer any additional services?

Many providers offer additional services to their event platform, such as live attendee support, graphic design, data management, or event production. Ask about these services and their associated costs, as they can help alleviate the workload for your team.

15. What kind of support do you offer, and when is it available?

Reliable customer support is crucial, especially during your event. Ask about the provider’s support channels (chat, email, phone), availability hours, and any additional training or resources offered.

“I would say the biggest benefit of using EventMobi is the support. [Our EventMobi Event Specialist] was really knowledgeable and quick. A lot of things are time-sensitive if something goes wrong, and she was there every time. She was also a great resource for creative ideas on how to best use the app to achieve our event goals.”

— Rachel Lyon, Manager, Conference & Events, CSAE

16. What’s on your product development roadmap?

Technology evolves rapidly, and you’ll want to ensure the provider is committed to continuous improvement and innovation. Ask about their product development roadmap and any upcoming features or enhancements that could benefit your event.

Choosing an Event Technology Provider Shouldn’t Be Overwhelming

Your event technology can significantly impact the outcome of your event. Partnering with the right event technology vendor will allow you to create the right attendee experience, from the moment they register to how they participate in sessions or engage with content post-event. By asking the essential questions listed above, you’ll gain valuable insights into each provider’s capabilities, features, and overall fit for your event goals and objectives

If you’re in the market for an event technology provider that can support your organization’s goals for your events program, get in touch to learn more about whether EventMobi is the right event platform for you!

Interested in learning more about EventMobi? Book your personalized demo of EventMobi’s event management platform today!

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Administrative workers deserve recognition and appreciation for the important role they play in organizations all around the world. They often have stressful jobs, serving in critical roles that span a variety of responsibilities–including acting as impromptu event planners!

Not only are administrative professionals busy keeping organizations running efficiently and acting as the right hands of busy executives; but they’re also often tasked with organizing, planning, and executing events of all sizes and types. 

As anyone who’s ever worked in an admin role can tell you, it’s not as easy as it might appear to some outsiders. Being a great admin professional requires a lot of quick thinking, endless patience and flexibility, and superb organizational skills.

In honor of these mighty jack-and-jane-of-all-trades, we’re highlighting the important contributions of administrative professionals in the events industry and offering up suggestions for how to celebrate them on Administrative Professionals Day–and show your appreciation for them all year round!

When is Administrative Professionals Day?

Administrative Professionals Day is held on the last Wednesday of April, which means the exact date moves around each year. Here are the upcoming dates for Admin Professionals Day for the next few years so you can mark your calendar:

• In 2024, Administrative Professionals Day is April 24
• In 2025, Administrative Professionals Day will be April 23
• In 2026, Administrative Professionals Day will land on April 22
• In 2027, Administrative Professionals Day takes place on April 21

Why We Celebrate Administrative Professionals Day in the Events Industry

Plenty of admins fulfill event planning duties, even if it’s not their official job title. According to MPI, an estimated 80% of corporate meetings are planned by team members who don’t have “planner” in their title.

In many ways, administrative professionals are the backbone of the events industry. They play a vital role in ensuring the smooth execution of events by scheduling appointments, managing communications, coordinating logistics, and supporting event planners and organizers with ad-hoc tasks. 

Admins are often required to juggle multiple projects simultaneously, navigate last-minute changes, and act quickly to ensure events and meetings go off without a hitch. Suffice it to say that many of the amazing events we plan, support, and attend simply wouldn’t be possible without their meticulous attention to detail and organizational superpowers.

How to Celebrate Administrative Professionals Day

There are plenty of different ways event organizers, executives, and other team members can show appreciation for administrative professionals. Here are some of our favorite ideas for celebrating admins during Administrative Professionals Day and throughout the year.

Ideas for Administrative Professionals Day

Recognizing administrative professionals on their special day goes beyond mere acknowledgment—it’s about showing appreciation for their hard work and dedication.

Recognize their efforts publicly

Your admin staff work hard–you know it, they know it. But so much of their job takes place behind the scenes that it’s possible the rest of your organization, your partners, and your customers might not realize just how much your admin really does!

So, why not take the opportunity to brag about their achievements? Give a quick toast if you’re in a small office, send an emoji-filled Slack post or email if you’re remote, or even share the love in a social media update from your organization’s account.

Host a team lunch onsite (or take them out!)

Catering lunch or taking your admin staff out for a meal is a simple yet impactful way to connect with your team and show your appreciation. Plus, a free lunch provides a mid-week boost for everyone.

Of course, one meal isn’t going to make undervalued team members suddenly feel good about their job; but a team lunch can be an enjoyable perk in addition to recognizing their hard work in other ways. 

Order from their favorite local restaurant or give out vouchers for a meal delivery service so everyone can get exactly what they want. Alternatively, take them out to lunch so you can get to know them better and spend some quality time together.

Show your appreciation with a gift

Personalized gifts and gestures of appreciation can go a long way in showing admin professionals that you value their contributions. The gift doesn’t need to be elaborate or expensive, especially if it’s personalized or thoughtfully supports their interests.

Support a cause they care about

Another great way to honor your administrative professionals is by donating to a social cause that’s close to their heart. 

Find out which organizations they care about and look for ways to get involved. For example, you could make a donation in your admin’s name, organize a paid volunteer day, or host a fundraiser. If you can give your admin team a full or half day to spend volunteering, they’re sure to appreciate it. 

How to Appreciate Administrative Professionals All Year Round

Beyond Administrative Professionals Day, there are plenty of opportunities for ongoing recognition and appreciation of your favorite admins. Here are a few ideas for celebrating admin professionals all year round:

Equip them with the tools they need to excel

Make sure your administrative professionals have access to any tools or subscriptions they need to do their job well. This includes hardware, like a comfortable chair and an ergonomic desk set-up, as well as any software that streamlines their workflows. If you’re not sure what your admin team needs to excel, check in with them to see what could make their jobs easier.

Recommended Resource: Are you looking for cost-effective, easier ways to build and manage your events? Watch 8 short videos to learn how to deliver events in any format that engage attendees and offer sponsors more value—no matter your team size or budget!

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Support their career goals

One of the best ways to ensure your admins feel valued and fulfilled in their roles? Support their career and skills development. What this looks like in practice depends on the individual goals of your admin professionals and what skills they’re interested in improving. 

Ask about the types of professional development they’re interested in and consider offering to send them to relevant conferences or enroll them in online courses.

Promote healthy work-life balance

The stress of managing time-sensitive tasks and working long hours during crunch periods can take a toll on your admin team members. It’s important to encourage them to use their vacation or lieu days and take time to recharge after the whirlwind of planning an event or meeting. Make it clear that you do not expect administrative professionals to be available 24/7 or respond to emails on their off days. 

Administrative Professionals Spotlight: Mara Schmidt

Mara is a coordinator at the Santa Catarina’s Federation for Business Associations. She coordinated all the operations for the annual event, which brought together 146 business associations from all over Santa Catarina, Brazil to discuss digital marketing, innovation, and technical solutions.

Mara partnered with EventMobi to create an app for the event. She took on the role of developing the entire app on her own–in addition to keeping track of everything involved in the event planning!

Mara quickly learned how to upload and personalize content with the easy-to-use Event CMS, and worked with her colleagues to test and provide feedback on all features before launching to attendees. She was as thorough and methodical as any professional event planner would have been.

During the event, Mara constantly posted pictures and promoted the Event App’s Activity Feed to increase engagement. By driving app adoption and attendee engagement, she did an amazing job at not only developing the event app but also ensuring her hard work paid off. 

As a master of chaos management, Mara ensured the event ran smoothly and was a hit for everyone–from the Board of Directors to attendees and sponsors. 

The post-event feedback survey received a huge volume of positive comments about how great the event was. Attendees, in particular, loved how the Event App improved and modernized the event experience. From Mara’s perspective, the app made it easy to engage her audience at every stage of the event lifecycle.

Thank You to All of the Outstanding Administrative Professionals Who Keep Events Running

Administrative Professionals Day serves as an important reminder for all of us to acknowledge the invaluable contributions of administrative professionals in the events industry and beyond. 

To learn about the accomplishments of other incredible event professionals, planners, and admin professionals, check out more Event Success Stories here.

Interested in learning more about EventMobi? Book your personalized demo of EventMobi’s Event Management Software platform today!

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However, turning attendees into qualified leads for your organization requires more than just nabbing a prime spot on the show floor and hoping people flock to your booth.

It’s not about having the biggest space or the flashiest booth design (though that certainly doesn’t hurt!).

In order to attract more foot traffic, book more meetings, and capture more leads, you need to find creative ways to stand out from the crowd–before, during, and after an event. Not only do you need to leverage pre-event promotion to get on attendees’ radar and design a booth that grabs attention and creates a positive impression onsite, but you also need to give them a reason to connect with you and learn about your brand.

In other words, you need to make the most of your company’s presence at every event–which is something planner Alistair Fernandes has quite the knack for, honed over 16 years at events including IMEX America, BCTECHSummit, and DiscoveryX Conference and Trade Show. 

Below, we’re sharing 10 tried and true exhibitor booth ideas that Alistair has used at recent events to create buzz, drive qualified traffic, and help salespeople start conversations with new leads and customers. Plus, get a sneak peek at one completely fresh idea he’s excited to try next!

10 Exhibitor Booth Ideas That Will Help You Stand Out from the Crowd

The goal for any B2B event booth design and activation should be to create an experience that engages attendees onsite and motivates them to follow up with your team post-event. 

Today, we’ll look at the most effective and creative ways Alistair has elevated his booth experiences to achieve organizational event goals. 

Craft an Immersive Pop-Up Experience

Your booth is an opportunity to create your own branded world. Drawing inspiration from successful B2C pop-up shops such as SKIMS and Glossier, look for opportunities to turn your booth into a cohesive branded experience. 

For example, at CSAE Tête-à-Tête, EventMobi’s sponsorship of a lounge area offered a unique opportunity to create an engaging, branded experience for guests looking to rest, refuel, or network over refreshments in between sessions. Alistair leveraged a monochromatic color scheme using EventMobi’s signature orange for his tablecloths, backdrops, and swag. 

He designed packaging for drinks and snacks in the same shade for a unified look and feel and guests were free to help themselves to branded swag, like orange notebooks and pens. And when attendees left the lounge with an EventMobi-branded treat in hand, they helped drive additional brand awareness as they walked around the show.

When it comes to pulling off a pop-up-like experience at your booth, Alistair emphasizes that consistency is key. Not only is color-coordinating your booth and giveaways a great way to grab attendees’ attention, but it also contributes to the overall impression that attendees have stepped into a cleverly branded world—just like a memorable pop-up shop experience.

“From snack packets and tablecloths to swag and banners, branding every element of your booth with your color scheme and logo helps you stand out from other exhibitors on the trade show floor,” says Alistair.

Engaging attendees with your activation is just the first step: Once they’re at your booth and chatting with your team, you’ll want a Lead Capture App to simplify follow-up and make it easy for your sales team to continue the conversation after the event.

Think Local, Act Local

Is there anything that draws attendees to a booth quite like a giveaway (especially if the prize is on display at your booth)? You already know the pull of an eye-catching gift basket—people will swing for their chance to win. But how many of them will think twice about your brand once they’ve entered and moved on to the next booth?

One simple yet brilliant way to make your giveaway memorable is by partnering with local businesses to source prizes. And that’s exactly what Alistair did at IMEX America and NWES.

Partner with Local Suppliers

At IMEX, Alistair partnered with a local supplier in Ottawa for a gift basket giveaway packed full of treats from local vendors. The orange baskets were on-brand and were a huge hit with attendees thanks to the meaningful connection to the local community. 

Similarly, Alistair worked with Seattle-based BiteSociety to create an eye-catching gift basket filled with local products at NWES 2024. Once again, interest in the raffle was driven by his selection of unique, local products. This allowed Alistair to capture a high number of new contacts to nurture post-event when they shared their contact details to enter the prize draw. 

How you can do this: When participating in a region-specific trade show, look for relevant local partners to provide branded prizes and giveaways with locally-produced products. This thoughtful touch will resonate with your audience.

Plus, working with local suppliers and businesses has the added benefit of simplifying pre-event logistics. Since it was easy for Alistair to pick up the baskets from a location close to the venue, there were no shipping costs or logistical challenges that could come from ordering gift baskets with perishable goods.

Integrate Thoughtful, Personalized Services

Getting a professional headshot taken is a necessary evil for even the most camera-shy professionals. Not to mention, booking dedicated studio time with a photographer typically costs hundreds of dollars! 

As Alistair puts it: “Whatever helps people professionally will always be a good activation.” So, at IMEX Frankfurt, Alistair created a professional headshot studio at the EventMobi booth, making it quick and easy for attendees to update their LinkedIn profiles with a shiny new headshot. 

Attendees who booked meetings with the sales team had the opportunity to strike a pose before they moved on to their next appointment and the final, edited image was delivered to them in a post-event email. Not only did this activation offer a high-value service, but it also encouraged attendees to follow up with EventMobi once they were back at work!

“It’s easy to use booth space inefficiently,” says Alistair. “For instance, a big table full of swag isn’t always good for traffic flow. But this activation allowed us to make really good use of our 10×10 space.”

The key to this type of activation is providing services that offer true value to attendees beyond promotional swag. Help them in their professional roles, save time, or make their trade show experience more enjoyable and productive. With thoughtful services personalized to your event audience, you can effectively engage participants while collecting leads for follow-up.

Pro tip: If your event organizer is using a Mobile Event App, find out if you can send messages to attendees pre-event to promote onsite activations. This is an effective way to drive appointment bookings and get people interested in visiting your booth before the show even starts!

Encouraging attendees to book appointments ahead of time has the added benefit of helping you plan and staff your booth efficiently.

“For IMEX, we anticipated that we’d have fewer appointments than we did–and then we were overbooked! This is a good problem to have, but anything that helps gauge that ahead of time is beneficial.” – Alistair

Be the Hero Attendees Need (and Deserve!)

Spare your attendees from the burden of navigating the show floor laden with heavy swag, drained batteries, and weary feet. Provide thoughtful conveniences such as charging stations, branded swag bags for easy carrying, and comfortable seating areas for relaxation or dining.

When you’re coming up with swag or service ideas designed to improve the attendee experience, focus on convenience. “Most people appreciate anything they might need during a long day at an event,” says Alistair. “That’s why at Tete a Tete, we set up tables where people could eat and bean bag chairs for anyone looking for a spot to relax.”

Here are a few of Alistair’s top suggestions for booth ideas that are always a hit among event attendees:

Charging Stations

Charging stations placed in prominent areas of your booth can be a lifesaver for attendees trying to conserve phone battery while navigating the show. Offer a variety of charging cables to accommodate both Android and iPhone users. If possible, provide standing tables near the charging area so attendees can use their devices while charging.

Branded Swag Bags

Branded swag bags are a practical freebie that also provides great advertising as attendees continue using the bags long after the trade show ends. Choose bags made of durable, sustainable materials like eco-friendly cotton canvas or upcycled materials. 

Showcase your filled bags around your booth to drive interest in what you’re giving away. Consider including your booth number, social media handles, and a special show promo code inside each bag.

A Comfy Spot to Sit

Comfortable seating invites attendees to relax and spend more time engaging with your exhibitors. Chairs and sofas should be neatly arranged to allow open flow for booth traffic. High bar table seating also encourages visitors to linger. Having a seating area for meals and snacks is another great draw. Keep decor cohesive with other branding elements for optimal effect.  

By anticipating and providing solutions for common trade show pains like dead phones, armfuls of brochures, and tired feet, you show attendees that you care about their experience. This thoughtful approach makes your brand more memorable.

Embrace the Competitive Spirit

Don’t forget to harness the power of friendly competition! If the tradeshow organizer has created a gamification challenge within the event’s mobile app to help drive traffic around the show floor, ensure anyone who visits your booth is aware of the challenge–and have booth staff give out your code as an easy way to break the ice!

Usually, trade show organizers offer the opportunity to increase your company’s sponsorship to ensure your company appears at the top of the challenge list. This will be money well spent, as getting a top spot on the challenge list will increase visibility and drive attendees to visit your booth first to get the code.

Alistair also recommends prominently showcasing both your gamification challenge code and an enticing prize at your booth. You can also tease your code in pre-event communications to build anticipation and awareness.

Bonus: Commission Local Artists for One-of-a-Kind Swag

Take inspiration from limited-edition fashion drops that create lines that go for miles. Find a local artist and partner with them to design custom, branded swag and gear.

This is a concept Alistair and his team are particularly excited about—though he has yet to fully execute it! He’s already working with a local artist who does cool, funky, graffiti-style designs to create EventMobi t-shirts for booth staff—plus some extra stuff to give away!

Curious to see how this turns out? Swing by EventMobi’s booth at IMEX Frankfurt 2024 May 14-16 to see the results in person and for the chance to get your hands on this limited-edition design.

Turn Your Booth Into a Powerful Touchpoint for Your Brand

A successful event doesn’t just create brand awareness, it sparks new connections, conversations, and client relationships.

Trade shows present a valuable opportunity to grow your database and connect with potential clients. The more attendees on the show floor, the more opportunities you have to make a great impression and quickly turn cold leads into qualified contacts for your sales team to follow up with.

We hope these creative exhibitor booth ideas inspire you to try something new at your upcoming events! If you have any questions or fresh ideas of your own that you’re trying out, we’d love to hear about it.

Want to learn more about how event technology can help you keep the conversation going after an event? Book your personalized demo of EvenMobi today!

Book a Demo

The post Tips from the Trenches: 10 (Mostly) Tried and True Exhibitor Booth Ideas  appeared first on EventMobi.

In this article, we’ll review the following topics:

• What Are Event Sponsorship Packages?
• How to Create Event Sponsorship Packages
• What Should a Sponsorship Package Include?
• How to Set Up Sponsorship Packages Using the Tiered Model
• Ideas for À La Carte Sponsorship Packages
• Event Sponsorship Examples
• Level Up Your Sponsorship Packages With Event Tech
• How to Find the Right Event Sponsors
• How to Pitch Event Sponsorship Packages

Before you partner with businesses to make your event a success, your sponsors should know who you are, why your event matters to them, what’s in it for them, and how they can help—all from your event sponsorship packages.

What Are Event Sponsorship Packages?

Event sponsorship packages, or sponsor packs, are collections of marketing services and benefits offered by an event organizer to potential sponsors. They typically include various sponsorship tiers or levels, each with distinct benefits designed to attract sponsors of different sizes and budgets.

How to Create Event Sponsorship Packages

Sponsors have always been a crucial source of revenue for events. However, with so much competition for attendee attention, it’s crucial to show that you’re offering competitive and valuable in-person, virtual, and hybrid event sponsorship package options.

To start, think like a sponsor! That means considering what goals your event sponsors might be hoping to achieve by supporting your event, including:

• Spreading the word about a new product launch
• Reaching out to a new target audience
• Increasing brand awareness with an existing audience
• Building relationships and engaging with a relevant community
• Repositioning a brand that has become stagnant
• Aligning a brand with corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives

An event sponsorship package is essentially your “pitch” on why potential sponsors should choose your event over other events or channels in which they could invest their budget. It’s critical to understand the goals of any existing and potential new sponsors so you can align your packages with those objectives.

Now more than ever, sponsors are looking for customized event sponsorship packages with the best ROI possible. No matter their more specific event goals, most sponsors are looking to unlock two main benefits from your partnership:

• The ability to establish connections with attendees
• Opportunities for maximum brand exposure

Considering these benefits, you’ll want to offer as many opportunities as possible for direct interactions between sponsor representatives and attendees. You’ll also need to provide sponsors with high-visibility opportunities to incorporate their brand messaging into your event content wherever possible.

If you address all of these needs in your event sponsorship package offerings, you’ll be guaranteed to yield excellent event revenues and loyal sponsors who return year after year.

What Should a Sponsorship Package Include?

There are many options when it comes to building a sponsor pack! To help guide your decision-making, you could follow one of two models:

1. Tiered Sponsorship Model. This is the traditional approach where a variety of features are included in the event sponsorship package offerings, depending on the sponsorship level.
2. À La Carte Sponsorship Model. This approach is commonly used to serve sponsors with specific needs or goals—being able to customize their event sponsorship package is essential to win their support.

Regardless of your model, all event sponsorship packages should include:

Starting with those points, you can then decide whether to use a tiered model or à la carte. We’ll review these different approaches in greater depth in the following sections.

How to Set Up Sponsorship Packages Using the Tiered Model

A tiered sponsorship model has a clear structure to follow. When you’re creating your sponsor deck, you can easily present the tiers in ascending order, from least to most expensive.

Here is a step-by-step breakdown of how to build a tiered sponsorship model (that includes event technology features!):

Step 1: Create sponsorship levels.

Common sponsorship tier labels include Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Exhibitor, but you have lots of creative freedom to name the levels so that they fit your event theme or brand. Use your sponsorship levels to make your event seem fun and appealing to sponsors!

Remember that both your in-person event app and virtual event space provide plenty of opportunities for visual cues to signal sponsorship levels. When creating your tier levels, it’s a good idea to think about what sorts of badges or ribbons you can use to highlight each level of sponsorship. For instance, your event agenda may list the sponsors with a different colored star corresponding to each company’s tier level.

Tiered sponsorship packages allow sponsors to choose a level that best fits their budget and goals. Remember to include a range of options for both large and small sponsors! As you assign your sponsorship levels, be mindful to offer increasing value with each tier.

Step 2: Decide quantities per tier.

The next step is to determine how many event sponsorship packages of each tier level you need to sell to achieve your event revenue goals.

The more limited the quantity, the more you can charge for the sponsorship package. This exclusivity will also encourage sponsors to commit earlier so you’re able to better predict your revenue and plan your event.

The same principle applies to sponsor tier features—especially high-value offerings like prime scheduling slots for branded content.

When it comes to virtual events, your most popular sessions are equivalent to the trade show floor space that draws the highest foot traffic. If only your top sponsors are allowed to contribute to a keynote panel discussion, for example, exhibitors will rush to claim your premium event sponsorship packages!

Step 3: Distribute sponsorship benefits per tier.

The higher and more exclusive the tier, the greater the number of high-value benefits. Rank your benefits by value, and add increasingly more benefits as the tiers ascend. This step will allow sponsors to choose the tier that works best for them, increasing your overall opportunities for sponsorship.

To offer additional value, go beyond the standard tiers by offering custom sponsorship opportunities. Tailored packages may include sponsored networking events, VIP experiences, or opportunities for sponsors to provide educational content.

Ideas for À La Carte Sponsorship Packages

The à la carte sponsorship model is an alternative model for sponsors seeking to achieve specific goals or outcomes, such as attendee engagement or brand exposure. Consider structuring your à la carte sponsorship offerings based on the event’s lifecycle stages, like this:

Pre-event sponsorship options

Involve your sponsors in your marketing communications to build excitement before your event! Promote your sponsor using:

• Logos. Include the sponsor’s logo on your event registration page and any marketing communications promoting the event, such as registration invite emails.
• Social media. Post social media shout-outs to thank and promote sponsors ahead of your event. Make sure your attendees know which event features are made possible thanks to each sponsor!
• Speakers. Highlight your sponsors’ speakers! Building hype encourages session attendance on the day of your event.

• Giveaways. Everybody loves a prize! Your sponsored giveaways can help promote registration and build excitement for the event. For a virtual event, you can always mail physical prizes to online participants together with swag bags—or they can be rewarded through digital coupons, gift certificates, and discounts.

Highlight sponsors during the event

There are so many ways to promote your sponsors during your event! Try these methods to heighten your sponsors’ visibility:

• Banner ads. Use an event sponsor banner to highlight top-tier sponsors on the mobile event app and virtual event space home screen. It’ll be the first thing every attendee sees! You may also offer sponsors the option to hang a physical banner at your venue.
• Directions. Incorporate the sponsor’s logo into the show design by creating floor tiles for high-value sponsors with arrows pointing toward their stand. Then attendees will know exactly where to go!
• Sponsor profiles. Create dedicated sponsor profiles where you can feature the sponsor’s logo and information on your event app and virtual event platform.

• Signage. Place the sponsor’s logo on any printed and/or digital marketing materials or signage displayed in the event registration area or venue.
• Alerts. Send targeted alerts or push notifications with the sponsor’s logo included.
• Live polls. Running live polls during your event? Try highlighting the sponsor’s logo on the results window.
• Resources. Your event attendees are itching to learn more, and your sponsors have the info! Include links to downloadable resources provided by the sponsor, such as brochures or product collateral.

• Gamification. Structure your challenges so that attendees need to visit sponsors’ exhibitor booths (either physically or online) to collect codes. Award extra points and prizes for more in-depth interactions with sponsors.
• Appointment booking. Enable sponsors to connect with attendees via sponsored group discussions, private chats, and 1:1 meetings. Bookings are easy when they’re built into your event app! 
• Exclusive sessions. Help sponsors create a more personal connection with attendees by hosting breakout sessions for targeted groups, either on-site or in interactive breakout rooms online.

Post-event opportunities for sponsors

Although your event may be over, there are still ways to promote your sponsors. Experiment with these post-event sponsor opportunities:

• Follow-up communication. You’ll be emailing your attendees with post-event surveys and other information, so why not include the sponsor’s logo and mention them in your message?
• Volunteer thank you party. If you have volunteers, your sponsors could fund a post-event get-together where you show your appreciation for their time.
• Video library. Incorporate sponsor content into an ongoing library of on-demand video content. You could embed links to their virtual booth or website and then add contact information in the session description.

Event Sponsorship Examples

Now that you know what goes into the two main types of event sponsorship packages, how do you put one together so you can start promoting it? You can try out both models (and even see examples!) by downloading these free templates:

Level Up Your Sponsorship Packages with Event Tech

When curating irresistible event sponsorship packages, offering unexpected value can help attract and build relationships with your ideal event sponsors. 

One of the simplest ways to do this? Using the latest event tech to build impactful packages that sponsors can’t resist! Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Offer virtual and hybrid event sponsorships. With virtual and hybrid events and event spaces, sponsor visibility can go digital! Consider benefits like sponsored sessions, digital banners, or branded virtual lounges.
• Leverage tech to connect. Use event technology to provide unique opportunities for sponsor engagement and visibility. Send push notifications in a mobile event app, leverage sponsored polls during sessions, or gamification features that drive attendees to the sponsor’s virtual or physical booths.
• Measure and share analytics. Sponsors want to see the return on their investment. Event technology makes it easy to track and share detailed analytics, which allows you to provide sponsors with tangible insights into their impact and reach.

If you’re looking for an event platform that can support your sponsorship strategy at every step of your event journey, EventMobi offers all of the above and more! Using EventMobi’s hybrid events platform, you can implement your digital event sponsorship offers and provide in-person support to your sponsors, with the post-event analytics to match.

How to Find the Right Event Sponsors

Equipped with top-tier event sponsorship packages, it’s time to go out and find your sponsors! Keep the following tips in mind to find sponsors that are right for your event and organization.

• Look for sponsors that align with your event’s theme, audience, and values. For example, if you’re organizing a tech conference, tech companies might be interested in your event sponsorship packages.
• Research each potential sponsor thoroughly. Understand their objectives, their target audience, and what they usually sponsor. It may also be beneficial to review their past sponsorships, their presence on social media, and any recent news about them to get an idea of their interests and reputation.
• Personalize communication. When you approach potential sponsors, make your message about them and how the sponsorship packages for your event can benefit them. Show how your event aligns with their goals and can offer valuable exposure to their target demographic.

How to Pitch Event Sponsorship Packages

Pitching your event sponsorship package effectively is crucial for securing sponsorships. Here are the steps to ensure a successful pitch:

1. Prepare a compelling sponsorship deck. A sponsorship deck, or sponsorship packet, is a presentation that highlights the benefits sponsors will receive from partnering with your event. It should include information about the event, audience demographics, sponsorship tiers, benefits of each tier, pricing, and examples of sponsorship packages from previous events.
2. Tailor your pitch. Customize your pitch to reflect each potential sponsor’s goals so you can show them exactly how your event will help achieve their objectives.
3. Highlight benefits. Clearly outline what’s included in each sponsorship tier. This could range from logo placement on promotional materials to booth space at the event to speaking opportunities to social media mentions.
4. Provide a clear call to action. Make it easy for potential sponsors to take the next step. This could be a meeting to discuss the event sponsorship packages in detail, a link to a registration form, or contact information for further inquiries.

Remember to follow up after your pitch, thank the potential sponsor for their time, and be prepared to negotiate the details of the sponsorship package.

Also, consider offering digital event sponsorship packages for sponsors who wish to reach out to your online audience! This can be especially useful if you run a year-round event space, so sponsor engagement isn’t tied to specific events—just to how engaged your community is.

Next Steps: Designing Your Event Sponsorship Packages

By now, you should be well-equipped with the best strategies and tips to take your event sponsorship game to the next level. You know how to approach potential sponsors with the right pitch and create compelling, customizable event sponsorship packages that cater to their unique marketing objectives.

Remember that the secret to crafting an attractive sponsorship package lies in alignment—aligning the sponsor’s goals with the benefits you offer. Whether it’s through brand exposure, audience engagement, or valuable networking opportunities, ensuring your sponsors find the value they’re seeking is paramount.

With the rise of virtual and hybrid events, event tech has become a mainstay of the event industry—especially since in-person attendees at hybrid events rely on event apps to stay engaged and informed. As you may have noticed from the list of à la carte sponsor features above, many sponsor benefits apply equally to the in-person mobile event app as to the virtual event platform.

With the best event sponsorship packages at your disposal, you’re poised to form strong and enduring relationships with sponsors. These partnerships will not only provide critical support for your current event but pave the way for ongoing collaboration, bolstering your organization’s events now and in the future.

Want to learn more about increasing your event’s sponsorship opportunities? Check out these resources:

• 66 Creative Event Sponsorship Ideas to Help You Secure Your Ideal Sponsors. Not sure what to include in your event sponsorship packages? This article will equip you with a wide variety of ideas so you can secure your ideal sponsors.
• How to Create Sponsorship Levels & Lock in Sponsors [Examples!] For more in-depth information about how to create sponsorship tiers, check out this resource.
• 3 Ways to Attract Sponsors and Exhibitors for Your Next Event. Half the battle is finding and attracting sponsors that align with your event and your organization. Test out these three ways to attract sponsors and exhibitors.

The post How to Design Event Sponsorship Packages Too Good to Pass Up appeared first on EventMobi.

As the President of KEL Consulting, a client-driven event and project management company, Kelly Legris has planned everything from luncheons fit for a queen (Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, no less!) to conferences, trade shows, and meetings for private, public, and non-profit organizations.

Kelly joined the recent EventMobi webinar, ‘The New Rules of Engagement’, to share the tried-and-tested tips she’s adapted to drive excitement in the face of changing attendee behaviors.

These include:

• Using pre-event challenges to motivate registrants to learn about your event 
• Showcasing the event agenda, speakers, venue, and host city to stand out in a competitive event landscape
• Using video to drive meaningful pre-event engagement with event sponsors so attendees are motivated to meet with them onsite
• Using sizzle and highlight reels to increase interest in specific sessions and speakers
• Empowering registrants with all of the information they need in advance to make the most of their time onsite

Keep reading to learn how Kelly achieves all of this and more for her clients’ events! You can also watch her webinar segment below

7 Proven Ways to Engage Your Event Audience & Members

Kelly Legris is a huge proponent of investing in an Event App to improve the attendee experience and increase engagement before, during, and after a conference. Let’s take a look at some of the tactics she uses to drive attendee engagement at her clients’ events.

1. Reward Pre-Event Interactions

It can be a challenge to get your attendees to download your Mobile Event App before the conference starts, but Kelly has found a reliable way to get her audience to download the Event App ahead of time and use it for pre-event networking.

How? By creating pre-event gamification challenges and awarding points for specific activities.

“We give [attendees] points to […] set up a profile in the app and it’s not about just going in, signing up, and clicking. We want them to really explore and really have fun with the app.”

-Kelly Legris

One surefire way to motivate your attendees to do, well, anything is to turn it into a competition. So, to ensure attendees fully explore the Event App, Kelly uses gamification to encourage them to go beyond simply downloading it and creating their profiles. She creates in-app challenges and assigns points for pre-event interactions, like watching speaker sizzle reels or recordings, exploring virtual sponsor booths, and networking with other attendees before the event begins.

To generate even higher levels of engagement in the lead-up to events, Kelly suggests going so far as rewarding even the simplest of asks, such as having an attendee create their in-app profile. For example, you could offer 5 points for attendees who add a photo to their profile in the Event App and 10 points for updating their bio.

2. Turn Your App into a Snapshot of Your Event

Your audience is more protective of their schedule than ever–and many events are condensing their time frames to accommodate. To compete for registrations in such a competitive events landscape, it’s important to show registrants exactly why they should be excited about your event.

Much of Kelly’s success in generating excitement around the event agenda, speakers, venue, and host city stems from her creative use of Mobile Event Apps. She creates value for attendees by using an Event App to provide a sneak peek or “snapshot” of what they can look forward to at the upcoming event.

“We create things through the app so that people can get what I call a snapshot version of what the conference is going to be about.”

-Kelly Legris

The goal is to showcase the most exciting parts of what you’ve got planned to get attendees excited about the elements that make your event unique. To pull this off, she encourages speakers and sponsors to create their own short sizzle reels to help get registrants excited. 

Kelly’s event “snapshots” often include details about the schedule, the venue, vendors, sessions, and even the city where the event is being held, so attendees can better plan their visit and prioritize how they spend their time onsite.

An added bonus? Replacing printed programs with an Event App is a great way to run more sustainable events, and they also offer you the much-needed flexibility to update the schedule with last-minute speaker or schedule changes!

“I love the app. The app is so versatile [and] easy to use. And having moved away from paper, if there’s a change on site, it’s very easy to incorporate.“

-Kelly Legris

One of Kelly’s clients is the Alberta Fire Chiefs Association (AFCA). Managing events for AFCA comes with a special set of challenges, but having the flexibility to update the event schedule on the fly is helpful no matter what type of events you’re planning.

“We had speakers [cancel] last year because of the wildfires […] so we had to pull [them] out of the App and we were able to actually [make those changes] as opposed to when you’ve got it printed.”

-Kelly Legris

3. Increase Interest in Specific Sessions & Speakers

“We encourage all our speakers to do what we call a quick highlight reel. They might give a 15-second clip introducing themselves, the significance of their session, and the key takeaways. We post those in the app and it gives [attendees] some time to go in [and watch]–because they lead busy lives.“

-Kelly Legris

Kelly uses video highlights reels to show event registrants what they have to look forward to–including who will be speaking, their background, and key takeaways they’ll cover in their presentation. She encourages speakers and sponsors to record 15-second sizzle reels to highlight their expertise.

These videos are then hosted in the Event App–either in the Video Library, the speaker’s profile, or as part of the sponsor’s virtual booth. This presents a great opportunity for your speakers to give attendees a sneak peek into their session topic or introduce themselves to a new audience.

“As a professional speaker, I love apps that allow me to engage with attendees and exhibitors before, during, and after the event. It’s such a value add to me as a speaker.”

-Robin Shear, Director of Strategic Relationships, National Speakers Association – Michigan and ‘New Rules of Engagement’ attendee

Not to mention, your audience is busy! If they register early, they may not remember what a particular session is about by the time the event rolls around. With events planned months in advance, sizzle reels help jog attendees’ memories closer to the date.

Recommended Resource: Want to see what engagement strategies and tactics other planners shared in the webinar? Sign up to watch The New Rules of Engagement on-demand now!

Watch On-Demand

4. Spark Valuable Pre-Event Conversations So the Right Ones Can Continue Onsite

Driving meaningful engagement with sponsors has always been tricky, but Kelly has found ways to increase visibility and awareness pre-event that lead to more engagement onsite. And with tightening sponsor budgets, it’s more important than ever to be able to deliver a quantity and quality of conversations that will make sponsoring your event worthwhile.

“Money’s tight. The economy’s not the same as it was,” says Kelly. “So they want to make sure that their presence, whether it’s in that App or onsite, is really relevant and they’re being recognized.”

For her clients’ events, Kelly creates virtual booths to showcase sponsor content–including the sizzle reels mentioned above along with other videos, images, and downloadable content. These virtual booths provide much richer content than just a typical sponsor profile on the event website.

“They want to expand their brand, expose it, and really captivate that audience while they’re on site. Because the trade show is a day and a half. So that’s a very finite time that they have to do that networking and showcase their product or their services.”

-Kelly Legris

Highlighting sponsors in the app increases the number of interactions they have onsite because interested attendees already know they’ll be there and are looking forward to connecting. This provides the opportunity to start the conversation before the event even begins. Even better, attendees can watch a speaker’s video and then reach out directly through the App to book a meeting onsite.

“And maybe it’s competing with another session. They can listen and talk to that speaker to figure out [if] they can go network and have a coffee in the foyer at some time.”

-Kelly Legris

Plus, this type of content helps speakers establish themselves as experts. By encouraging sponsors and exhibitors to share content on the Event App, you’re allowing them to build credibility and familiarity with the audience. 

When attendees perceive sponsors and exhibitors as valuable resources (as opposed to people who are just going to try and sell them things), they’re more inclined to interact with them before and during an event.

5. Empower Attendees to Plan their Event Experience in Advance 

Whether it’s a vacation itinerary or a conference schedule, half the fun of making plans is anticipating what’s to come. When you offer attendees a Mobile Event App, you’re empowering them to take full control over their event schedule.

Remember: your attendees are busy. They might not remember details about sessions between when they register and when the event takes place. An Event App allows them to favorite the sessions and activities they want to partake in so they can create a personalized event agenda in advance.

“So [attendees] can save it as a favorite in their profile and then go back and watch it and then build their [agenda] on what sessions are significant to them.”

-Kelly Legris

Planning out their schedule in advance will help increase anticipation as they will have a clear view of how they can make the most of their time onsite. By allowing attendees to “favorite” the sessions they’re most excited about, you also get to see which sessions are resonating with your audience–and which ones aren’t. Apply these insights to adjust your programming or how you promote important sessions with plenty of time to spare.

“All the information is in the app, so we moved away from paper and really embraced the technology.”

-Kelly Legris

6. Turn Passive Observers into Active Participants

“We have speakers that will use the app to push out their questions because they want to get the temperature of the room to see where the discussion is going to go.”

-Kelly Legris

Kelly encourages speakers to take advantage of Live Polls and Q&A features during their live sessions to encourage audience participation. Giving the attendees a chance to voice their opinions and ask questions can add value to the conversation and help steer the presentation in the most relevant direction.

Sending out updates and information through the App is a valuable way to notify attendees of changes during an event. 

For example, you could send a notification to announce when the gamification challenge has been updated with new ways to earn points. Or you could let them know as soon as the new keynote speaker is announced, inviting them to visit the app to view the speaker’s highlight reel.

Keeping attendees informed and engaged with relevant content can help you maintain excitement and anticipation for the event.

7. Extend the Life of Your Event Content

After a whirlwind event, you want your attendees to have access to any educational information, session notes, or new connections they want to save. That’s why Kelly ensures her clients give event attendees a window of time to revisit the Event App after the conference is over.

“They can go back in after and look at things again because we leave them a window of time to go back into the app post-conference as well to get any information, whether it’s in the Video Library or the resource library or going back into a trade booth or a sponsor booth.”

-Kelly Legris

This allows attendees to have ongoing access important materials, review sessions they may have missed, or rewatch something they found particularly interesting. Additionally, if an attendee met a speaker or sponsor onsite and wanted to learn more about them, they could connect with them through the App. For instance, they could revisit a speaker’s profile and message them directly through the App if they have a question about their presentation.

“[Attendees can] look at that information because maybe there’s something there that they didn’t get a chance to talk to them about. But there’s some information in that app and now they have and they can download it.”

-Kelly Legris

With all the effort that goes into planning a successful event, it’d be a shame not to make your event content and session recordings available to attendees after the fact. By supporting your events with a Mobile Event App, you can create more opportunities to engage, educate, and inspire your audience after the live event wraps up.

Use Event Apps to Engage, Inspire & Connect with Your Audience

There are endless creative ways you can use an Event App to better engage your attendees before, during, and after your events. From showcasing speaker sizzle reels and virtual sponsor booths to creating pre-event challenges and networking activities, an app allows you to excite, guide, and educate your audience on what’s to come when they join you in person! 

Want to learn more about how an Event App can help you engage with your audience at every stage of your event? Book your personalized demo today!

Book a Demo

The post Tips from the Trenches: 7 Audience Engagement Tips Guaranteed to Build Excitement appeared first on EventMobi.

The answer is with the right technology. The best event management software will act as your partner throughout the event management process. Whether you need an all-in-one solution or a tool for specific event needs, you can use event software for any aspect of managing your next conference, trade show, association meeting, workshop, or fundraising event.

To help get you started with event management software, we’ll review the basics and our top recommendations. We’ll cover:

• What Is Event Management Software?
• How Can My Organization Choose the Best Event Management Software?
• Best Event Management Software Solutions

With the global event management software market projected to reach $18.4 billion in 2029, it’s time for your organization to hop on board and reap the benefits of this transformative event technology.

What Is Event Management Software?

Event management software is a platform or app that allows you to organize and run your events systematically. An event management solution saves your team time by streamlining and automating different event-related tasks and hosting your event data.

Event management tools can help you:

• Organize and host memorable events
• Promote your event, drive ticket sales, and collect payments
• Engage your attendees before, during, and after your events
• Manage attendee data
• Measure event return on investment (ROI)

To accomplish these objectives, most event management platforms offer the following features:

• Marketing tools
• Registration and check-in
• Badge design
• Attendance tracking
• Agendas and schedules
• Networking opportunities
• Data storage and analysis
• Notifications and attendee communications

Depending on your organization, event type, and existing tech stack, you may seek out an all-encompassing event management solution or a more specific tool that fits your needs. For example, nonprofits may prefer to use a specific fundraising event software while association leaders may look for an association event management software that complements their existing association technology.

How Can My Organization Choose the Best Event Management Software?

When adopting a new form of technology, it’s important to take a systematic approach and fully explore all the options available. To choose the right event technology for your organization, we recommend following these steps:

1. Determine your needs

As mentioned before, different software solutions will appeal to different organizations depending on a variety of factors. Sit down with your team to align on the following points and how they’ll impact your event management software search:

• Your event budget
• Your event goals
• The type of software you’re looking for
• Any must-have features

The software you choose may also depend on your event type, size, or format. For instance, an organization hosting an in-person event may just need event registration tools. An event organizer planning a virtual conference, on the other hand, may opt for a comprehensive event management solution equipped with live streaming and video conferencing capabilities.

2. Read reviews

Sometimes, the best way to learn more about a new platform and how well it works is from the organizations that are already using it. Look at software review sites like Capterra and G2 to research relevant event management tools and see what users are saying about them.

If possible, seek out reviews from organizers who run similar events to you. For instance, a conference organizer may filter for reviews that mention “conference” to determine how well certain tools work for that type of event.

3. Investigate ease of use

An event management system can have all the features you’re looking for, but if it’s difficult for your staff, attendees, and sponsors to navigate, it won’t help you engage stakeholders or increase your event’s ROI.

Besides reading reviews to learn about how user-friendly the software is, take advantage of any opportunities to try the software for yourself. Many providers offer a demo or product tour that allows you to see the platform in action and decide if it will fit your organization’s needs.

While the backend of the software must work well for your team, don’t forget to test out the attendee side of each platform. Consider inviting some of your members, speakers, or past attendees to check out your top platform choices and provide their feedback.

4. Look for security measures

Before, during, and after your event, you’ll likely collect a variety of data from your attendees. To protect this sensitive data—especially payment information—ensure the event management software you choose has ample security measures in place.

Look for platforms that offer PCI-compliant payment processing, as well as Soc 2 Type II compliance to keep all attendee information secure. Additionally, your software should protect attendee data by requiring passwords and implementing SSL encryption.

5. Speak with customer service

In a perfect world, you’d never need customer support for your event management software. But in reality, it’s important to have all your bases covered on event day. Reach out to the customer service representatives of platforms you’re considering to hear more about how they support their customers.

For example, some providers may offer in-person event assistance to ensure everything runs smoothly. Additionally, the hours of operation for each customer service team differ between providers, so it’s worth ensuring that your software provider’s customer support will be around to help during the hours of your event.

6. Secure team buy-in

Once you’ve narrowed down your choices, it’s time to meet up with your team to make the final decision. Make sure your board, president, and other stakeholders know the relevant details of each software solution so they can give well-informed feedback.

Consider creating a short presentation with an overview of each provider to make your meeting run smoothly. Include each provider’s name, cost, main features, and any additional pros or cons that will help you make your decision.

Best Event Management Software Solutions

Now that we’ve covered the basics of event management software and how to select the right platform for your organization, let’s explore some of your options. These event management tools span a variety of functions and purposes, allowing you to find the one that works best for your team.

Best Overall Event Management Software Solutions

If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution for your event management software, we’d recommend looking into platforms that can meet all your needs. Streamline registration and check-in, engage your attendees, and activate your brand with tools like:

EventMobi

EventMobi offers the most innovative and easy-to-use event management software on the market! Over the past 13+ years, the EventMobi team has served over 30,000 global events with virtual, hybrid, and in-person event solutions. From event planning to execution, EventMobi’s event management software puts all the event management tools you need in one place.

Top Features:

• Branded event website with secure payment processing, customizable registration forms, and extensive reporting.
• The Experience Manager (CMS) builds and designs virtual, hybrid, and in-person events all in one place.
• Award-winning Mobile Event App to level up attendee experience, raise the value of sponsor packages, and provide post-event content.
• Gamification tools like live polls and leaderboards to increase attendee engagement.
• Social dashboard and media wall to maximize reach, connect attendees, and run social media analytics.
• Onsite package with QR check-in, a highly customizable badge designer, live display, and options for professional support on the day of your event.
• And much more!

Connect with the team today to explore the possibilities EventMobi can offer your association!

Price: Available upon request. Please fill out the pricing form for more details.

Cvent

Cvent is an event management software designed to increase event attendance and engagement at every type of event. Its platform automates data analytics, event marketing, registration, and other management tasks.

Top Features:

• Venue management tools
• Tools to connect planners, suppliers, and venues
• Robust app marketplace
• Real-time attendee insights

Price: Available upon request.

Bizzabo

Bizzabo is a comprehensive event management solution for B2B conferences. Its software offers standard event management features, such as registration, marketing, and event analytics.

Top Features:

• Customizable registration options
• Mobile event app
• Engagement tools, such as session Q&A, polls, and brandable chat channels
• Smart badge technology

Price: Available upon request.

Whova

Whova is a conference event management software that fits a variety of event needs. The platform allows users to register for events, share documents, take notes, and more.

Top Features:

• Centralized speaker center
• Digital waiver tool
• Live polling and surveys
• Event analytics

Price: Available upon request.

Webex Events

Webex Events prides itself on being an event management software solution for any event or audience. The all-in-one platform supports virtual, hybrid, and in-person conferences, trade shows, and internal events across a variety of industries.

Top Features:

• Customizable mobile event app
• Sponsor and exhibitor profiles
• Live streaming
• Embeddable event and content widgets

Price: Free for a single event for up to 100 attendees. The pro plan starts at $83 per month.

Prismm

Prismm is an event management software that helps planners organize timelines, manage guest names and meal preferences, design floor plans, and preview their event layouts in 3D. Its software supports delegation, team collaboration, and live updates.

Top Features:

• Thorough guest management capabilities
• Detailed report generation for vendors and clients
• Timeline management tools for scheduling
• Real-time collaboration tools

Price: Free

Best Event Registration Platforms

A smooth event registration process starts your event off on the right foot. Explore these event registration software options to help encourage event sign-ups.

Doubleknot

For nonprofits and cultural organizations looking for event registration software, Doubleknot is a great solution. The platform allows organizations to manage ticketing, memberships, registrations, reservations, donations, and merchandise sales.

Top Features:

• Customizable registration forms
• Flexible payment options
• Capacity and waitlist management
• Mobile check-in app

Price: Available upon request.

RSVPify

RSVPify is an end-to-end event registration solution that allows event organizers to manage invitations containing RSVP links.

Top Features:

• Ability to create a full event or registration-specific website
• Automated confirmation and reminder emails
• Guest list management
• Multiple session and secondary event tracking

Price: Starts at $39 per month for professional events and $499 per month for enterprise events.

Eventbrite

While Eventbrite is an all-in-one event management platform, the software mainly focuses on ticketing and event discovery.

Top Features:

• Event creation and ticketing tools
• Customizable event pages
• Flexible event payouts
• Mobile app for organizers

Price: Begins at $9.99 per event for the Flex plan and $29 per month for the Pro plan.

Jotform

JotForm’s event registration software allows users to create forms and collect online payments without coding. With over 750 event registration form templates for event organizers to choose from, Jotform allows organizers to customize the registration process.

Top Features:

Over 750 event registration form templates
Integrations with over 150 business apps
Online payment processing
Smart PDF forms

Price: Paid plans start at $34 per month.

Best Association Event Management Software

Associations may benefit from using specialized event platforms that fit the needs of their organization type. Check out our association event management software recommendations.

WildApricot

WildApricot is a complete membership and event management system for associations, nonprofits, and other membership organizations. Its association software comes with a self-serve design and a user-friendly interface to help customize every aspect of your event and member management.

Top Features:

• Customizable member database and portal
• Integrated email and marketing tools
• Secure payment processing
• Responsive support team

Price: Free trial, then starts at $60 per month.

GlueUp

GlueUp is a cloud-based engagement management platform for associations and nonprofit organizations with tools for events, membership management, customer relationship management, and more.

Top Features:

• Event website builder
• Custom registration forms
• Automated invoicing and payment solutions
• Mobile app

Price: Begins at $2,500 per year

MemberSuite

MemberSuite is a top software provider of configurable association management solutions for nonprofits. They are purpose-built to streamline processes and financial operations, centralize data, and engage members through events.

Top Features:

• Customizable event agendas
• Exhibit, sponsorship, and product sales revenue tracking
• Organized room assignments
• Engagement tools, such as SMS messaging and polls

Price: Available upon request.

MemberLeap

MemberLeap’s association event management software offers intuitive features to help manage in-person and virtual events and trade shows.

Top Features:

• Customizable registration forms with member versus non-member options
• Integration with Zoom for virtual events
• Event attendee portal
• Mobile event app

Price: Starts at $80 per month, with additional website setup or web integration fees

Choosing the Best Event Management Software

With event management software, you can offer an immersive, engaging event experience for everyone involved. Whether you’re streamlining the planning process, making it easy for attendees to register, or helping your sponsors capture leads, the best event management software can transform the behind-the-scenes of your event so everything runs according to plan.

With a variety of useful event features, EventMobi is the best event management software on the market. No matter your event type or format, the EventMobi team is ready and eager to help you improve the experience and assist you with all your event management needs. To get started, contact the EventMobi team!

To learn more about effective event management, check out the following resources:

• The 23 Best Event Management Software for Nonprofits in 2024. Are you looking for a nonprofit-specific event management solution? Check out this guide to explore a variety of options.
• The 9 Best Mobile Event & Conference Apps for 2024. With a mobile event or conference app, you can engage attendees right from their phones. Learn more about this innovative event technology.
• 15 Best Event Registration Software Picks to Boost Sign-ups. If you’ve determined an event registration solution would best fit your organization’s needs, look no further! This article reviews 15 of the top event registration software providers.

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