Tag: event management software

Does Your Appearance Matter When Hosting a Webinar?

  • Event Management
  • April 2, 2024
Does Your Appearance Matter When Hosting a Webinar?

In recent years, professional communication has undergone a significant transformation. According to industry reports, virtual events have increased almost 1000% since the beginning of 2020, and webinars have become a powerful platform for knowledge sharing and networking. Previously, we’ve discussed tips on how to host your first webinar, covering steps such as developing content and spreading the word about your event. Today, we’ll be taking a look at whether your appearance matters as a host, sharing tips on dressing to establish credibility and shaping brand perception. After all, webinars are a highly visual medium, and how hosts present themselves can make all the difference in capturing and retaining audience attention.

Why your appearance matters when hosting a webinar

A Forbes article written by sociologist Tracy Brower highlights a study from the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, which found that when you dress in a more professional way, you tend to perceive yourself as having more power. It also helps you identify more with the people around you and enhances your ability to think more effectively. Meanwhile, other studies have shown that formally dressed individuals are rated as more competent because professional attire communicates maturity, capability, and success.

For virtual events that rely almost entirely on appearance rather than small talk and warm handshakes, presenting a polished look establishes your professionalism and credibility right from the outset. Every aspect of your image – from your clothing and grooming to your posture and facial expressions – sends subtle messages to your audience, shaping their perception of you and your message. So, here are some tips for dressing professionally for hosting a webinar. 

Dress for your industry

Your choice of clothing sets the tone for the webinar and communicates professionalism to your audience. Consider the nature of the webinar and your role as the host. If it’s a formal business event, opt for similarly formal attire such as a tailored suit for men or a polished pantsuit for women. Casual or semi-formal webinars call for business casual attire. For this, select a collared shirt like the Men’s Performance Button Polo by Kenneth Cole or the Gloria Vanderbilt Women’s Amanda Button-Front Shirt paired with dress pants or a skirt. No matter what, avoid loud, distracting prints and overly casual clothing such as t-shirts or jeans, as they may give the impression of unprofessionalism.

Wear minimal accessories

Making a fashion statement with accessories can be great in any non-professional scenarioIn any non-professional scenario, making a fashion statement with accessories can be great. However, when presenting a webinar, some accessories like chunky jewelry can serve as a distraction, especially if they’re shiny or make it’s shiny or makes a lot of noise with movement. Be smart and keep it simple when accessorizing. If you’re a glasses-wearer, pick glasses frames that look professional and stick to neutral colors like black, brown, or tortoiseshell. Consider frames that are classic and timeless instead of pairs that are trendy or flashy, such as the Caracas from Michael Kors or Frogface frames by Arnette. If you’re prone to glare or reflections from screens, invest in anti-glare lenses to improve visibility and reduce distractions during the webinar. 

Consider your webinar background

Think of your webinar’s background as an extension of your professional appearance. A survey of professionals supports this notion as video background evaluations parallel dress attire, with background sometimes judged to be more important than clothing choice. As such, choose a neutral and uncluttered background for your presentation that complements your attire. Avoid backgrounds that are too busy or messy, which can distract viewers. For this, it’s best to set up a dedicated space for hosting webinars with a professional backdrop.

As the host, your appearance plays a pivotal role in setting the tone for your webinar and influencing how your audience perceives you and your message. By presenting yourself professionally, you establish credibility, create a positive brand image, and facilitate effective communication with your audience, ultimately contributing to the success of your webinar.

Simplify the complexity of managing your webinars and virtual events with a powerful suite of tools

Make your virtual attendees gather with ease. From small to large and complex events – plan and manage all of your events in one flexible platform – Attendease.

Learn More!

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5 Best Practices for Hosting a Virtual Fundraising Event

  • Event Management
  • March 28, 2024
Three young professionals sitting at a table and looking at a laptop.

If your organization is looking for a savvy way to engage more supporters and grow your audience, look no further than virtual events, which have become a staple in the nonprofit sector. In fact, event organizers rank virtual events as having increased registrations, greater ROI, and greater attendee engagement when compared to in-person events.

We recommend hosting a few virtual events annually to leverage these benefits for your organization. And what better purpose do those events serve than helping your organization raise more funds?

Whether you need help with your virtual fundraising event’s marketing strategy or selecting the right technology, this guide is here to help. In it, we’ll help you carefully plan your virtual event by going over five best practices. Through proper preparation, you’ll be able to push forward your event with confidence and meet your goals.

1. Select the type of virtual event

Just as there are many different types of in-person fundraising events, there are various virtual event ideas that you can use to maximize participation and secure donations for your mission. A few of them include:

  • Gala
  • A-thon style events, like a virtual walk-a-thon
  • Charity auction
  • Panels and webinars
  • Online workshops
  • Fundraising challenges

When choosing which virtual fundraising event to host, consider what your audience of supporters and potential donors would be interested in. For example, if you are on the team of an animal shelter nonprofit, your supporters might be excited about a virtual walk-a-thon, as it’ll allow them to exercise with their pets. On the other hand, if you run a medical association, your audience might be more interested in a formal affair, such as a virtual gala.

If you’re unfamiliar with virtual events and don’t feel confident about removing the in-person element entirely, don’t worry—consider hosting a hybrid fundraising event instead! When done correctly, these events give you the best of both event formats.

2. Choose your event technology wisely

After you’ve decided on what type of virtual fundraising event you’re hosting, you’ll need to purchase technology that facilitates a smooth planning and hosting process.

At the very least, you’ll need a live-streaming tool, as most virtual events require some form of software that allows attendees to watch event proceedings. Additionally, depending on your organization’s needs, you may also need an application that allows attendees to stream themselves as well, such as for an online workshop event.

Other popular types of software you may find helpful for a virtual event include:

Be sure to properly vet any new technology before you invest in it. Do this by checking reviews, reading testimonials, viewing case studies, and scheduling demos with the provider. Prepare a list of questions about the software ahead of time, and be sure to get them answered during your meeting.

3. Strategically market your virtual event

One of the core advantages of virtual events is that attendees are not limited by their geographic location. Another benefit is that your attendee limit is not limited by your venue. That means that you can host a much larger number of attendees than if you were hosting an in-person event. As a result, you must make the most of your marketing efforts to get as many people to attend as possible.

As you determine how you’ll promote your virtual fundraising event to potential attendees, be sure to use marketing channels that allow for maximized visibility, such as:

  • Your website. Your nonprofit’s website is the first stop for any individual who wants to learn more about your organization and what you do. Take the opportunity to add links and call-to-action (CTA) buttons to your event information and registration pages to encourage supporters to attend.
  • Email. If you send email newsletters to subscribers, be sure to include details about your upcoming virtual fundraising event. Your email subscribers have already demonstrated their interest in your organization’s success and are therefore more likely to attend a fundraising event.
  • Social media. Promote your event through social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to maximize your outreach. Add the links to your event registration page within your post or directly on your social media profile so visitors can easily register to attend.

Don’t be afraid to reach out to your established supporters through their preferred methods of communication as well! Direct mail and text messaging are also popular and valuable marketing channels that you can leverage to increase registrations for your virtual fundraising event.

4. Keep supporters engaged throughout the event

Although virtual fundraising events have great potential for keeping attendees engaged, you’ll need to work a little harder than with in-person events. There’s a level of separation between you and your attendees, and you’ll have to creatively overcome this barrier to keep your attendees’ attention.

During the event, use the following strategies to keep attendee engagement high:

  • Gamification, such as leadership scoreboards or fundraising thermometers
  • Audience participation, such as creating breakout rooms
  • Interactive content, like polls and surveys
  • Live attendee chat systems

If you’re struggling to keep attendees engaged, do your research to find additional tried-and-true methods employed by experts. Elevate recommends you do this by reading fundraising books, which impart a wealth of knowledge and can inspire your nonprofit with fundraising and engagement ideas.

5. Follow up with attendees after the event

To maximize the value of your event, don’t forget to follow up with attendees afterward. Thank your long-time supporters for their continued support, and steward any first-time supporters. Plus, show your gratitude to those who made a gift during the event.

This is also a great time to solicit feedback on your fundraiser. MemberClicks recommends including the following questions in your post-event survey:

  • Overall, how would you rate the event?
  • What did you like most about the event?
  • What did you like the least about the event?
  • How could this event have been improved?
  • How likely are you to recommend our event to your peers?

The answers to these questions are especially valuable if this is your first time hosting a virtual fundraising event. They’ll provide a springboard for you to make valuable changes that improve future events.

Although virtual fundraising events may seem intimidating, they are similar to in-person events on a basic level. You need to plan thoroughly, attract attendees, delight them during the event, and strengthen your relationships after your event. Be sure to evaluate your virtual fundraising success through key performance indicators and your feedback survey so you can continue to grow and fulfill your mission.

Simplify the complexity of managing your meetings and events with a powerful suite of tools

Make your virtual attendees gather with ease. From small to large and complex events – plan and manage all of your events in one flexible platform – Attendease.

Learn More!

Handbook #3: Master The Art Of Choosing The Right Event Management Platform

  • Event Management
  • March 26, 2024
https://info.eventupplanner.com/master-the-art-of-choosing-the-right-event-management-platform

A guide to shopping, evaluating, and onboarding the right software for your events and meetings business.

There are four key factors to consider when looking for and implementing a new event management and meeting management tool to your software stack. This handbook will guide you through the four steps on how to find the right solution for your event needs, properly onboarding once you select the right tool, and finally, how to take full advantage of the platform so you get your money’s worth.

Attendease Handbook: Master The Art Of Choosing The Right Event Management Platform

Download the handbook: Master The Art Of Choosing The Right Event Management Platform

Get the handbook

Deep dive into four key factors when picking an event management software:

  1. 9 Critical Customer Success Factors to Consider When Shopping for an Event Management Tool
  2. Vetting Event Management Technology for Ease of Use Before You Buy
  3. How to Evaluate the Onboarding Process of Event Management Software Companies
  4. Get The Most From Your New Event Management Software Platform

How to Manage Multiple Events at Once

  • Event Management
  • March 19, 2024
How to Manage Multiple Events at Once

Handling multiple events at the same time is a unique challenge for corporate event planners. 

When done well, running multiple events at once can help your organization scale its reach, increase engagement, and optimize resources. However, without proper planning and coordination, juggling multiple events can quickly become chaotic and overwhelming.

This post covers key strategies to help you manage multiple events at once—without pulling your hair out. With the right frameworks in place, it’s possible to deliver seamless, high-quality experiences for everyone involved, event after event. 

We’ll also dive into how event management tools make your life easier through automation, cloning, and cross-team collaboration. 

Read on to learn how to scale your corporate events program successfully!

Multi-Event Planning and Organization

Thorough planning and organization are crucial when running multiple events at once. Otherwise, it’s easy for things to slip through the cracks. Here are some proven strategies to set you in the right direction. 

Establish clear objectives for each event

Every event you run should support a specific purpose tied to organizational goals. It’s crucial to outline the desired objectives for each event you’re managing at the outset to ensure strategic alignment. 

For example, the goal of an annual conference might be to educate employees on new company initiatives for the upcoming fiscal year. A networking happy hour, on the other hand, may seek to strengthen relationships between sales team members. 

Defining objectives will inform the decisions you make around content, activities, and resources for each event.

Create a master event calendar

When running multiple events, a centralized calendar listing all dates and deadlines will be your new best friend. 

Follow these steps to create your master calendar:

  • List all events with their dates and locations.
  • Add key milestones like vendor booking deadlines and payment deadlines.
  • Include standing meetings and appointments with key stakeholders.
  • Identify conflicts or scheduling issues.
  • Assign team members to be accountable for milestones.
  • Build in buffer time for unexpected delays.
  • Regularly update the calendar with any date changes, new events, or task completions.
NEED HELP? Download our Event Marketing Calendar Template to manage all the moving pieces of your event from one unified place!

Prioritize Events

Not all events demand equal levels of your time and attention. 

To make your life easier, identify priority events such as the annual all-hands-on-deck conference, executive summits, or important training seminars. Dedicate more planning resources to these high-priority events to ensure they go off without a hitch.

By prioritizing your events, lower-stakes events won’t monopolize the bandwidth or resources needed for your company’s more strategic initiatives.

Efficient Resource Allocation

Running multiple events simultaneously requires that you carefully allocate resources—financial, human, and technological. Setting budgets, delegating tasks, and utilizing event management tools optimize how you distribute resources across your entire portfolio of events. 

Budgeting and financial planning

Creating a master budget and then separating finances for each individual event prevents the co-mingling of funds—not to mention overspending on individual events! 

Here are some best practices for managing budgets for multiple events: 

  • Assign a specific budget to each event based on its scope, audience size, and organizational priority. Larger budgets go to high-priority events.
  • Consider opening individual bank accounts for each event, which can help you manage costs in real time. 
  • Build approval protocols for expenses over a set threshold, especially for discretionary spending categories. 
  • Regularly reconcile your projected versus actual costs and adjust budgets as needed.
  • Look for opportunities to save on bulk orders or multi-event vendor contracts.

Keeping event finances separate and organized from the beginning will save you time and headaches down the line. 

Human resources management

Your team’s bandwidth is a precious resource when juggling multiple events. 

Avoid burnout by delegating responsibilities among capable team members. Identify opportunities to cross-train employees for different event roles, such as registration support or speaker management. This flexibility prevents bottlenecks when someone is out. 

It’s essential to treat your team members well to maintain morale and productivity across your demanding portfolio schedule.

Technology and tools

You know you don’t have to do everything manually, right? 

Event management tools centralize planning and provide automation for repetitive tasks. This streamlines cross-event workflows such as:

  • Registration and ticketing
  • Email campaigns and reminders
  • Vendor and speaker management
  • Task assignment and tracking

Tools like EventUp Planner by Tripleseat optimize data sharing across large teams and multiple events. With all information and workflows in one secure, cloud-based platform, you can maintain focus on strategic priorities rather than time-consuming manual tasks!

But with so many options, how do you choose? Download our step-by-step guide: Finding The Right Event Management Platform!

Communication and Coordination

Frequent, open communication keeps all parts moving across multiple events. Establish centralized channels to facilitate the quick, transparent exchange of information within and across your planning team.

Establish clear communication channels

Clear communication sets your team up for success by avoiding bottlenecks and information silos. 

Consider implementing the following: 

  • Set up shared mailboxes, Slack channels, or other platforms to house conversations, documents, and knowledge for each event planning team.
  • Determine meeting cadences and use agendas to stay on track.
  • Record decisions and action items in shared drives. 
  • Share calendars widely to distribute real-time awareness of deadlines and dependencies.

With these structured channels, your team can exchange information quickly and transparently so that no details get lost.

Regular team meetings

Schedule standing team meetings to get status updates on all events. Use these meetings to foster open dialogue and quickly resolve any conflicts that arise. 

Recurring touchpoints could include:

  • Daily standups to cover new action items, blockers, and quick wins.
  • Weekly check-ins to assess progress toward goals and address any roadblocks.
  • Monthly reviews of master calendars and budgets.

No matter the size of your team, regular check-ins will help you identify hurdles early and move forward as a unit.

Client and stakeholder communication

Keep clients and organizational stakeholders (like event sponsors) happy by looping them in on progress through regular touchpoints. This could include weekly or monthly email updates on timelines, budgets, and key metrics. 

Gather their feedback early and often through surveys or calls. Immediately communicate any issues or risks that arise along with proposed solutions. 

Post-event, share relevant highlights and testimonials to showcase value, getting them onboard for the next event. 

Streamlining Event Processes

Look for ways to streamline planning across your portfolio of events. Consistent workflows increase efficiency and reduce the risk of missteps.

Standardize your processes

Don’t waste time and resources reinventing the wheel. Regularly review your event management workflows to identify opportunities for standardization. 

Consider reviewing your processes for the following: 

  • Vendor sourcing and contracting
  • Venue relationships and booking
  • Catering Policies
  • A/V equipment requests
  • Security procedures
  • Sponsorship and exhibitor requirements
  • Staffing and volunteer coordination

Checklists, timelines, and templates solidify best practices so that you can reliably execute your events each and every time.

FREE CHECKLIST: Is Your Event Management Software Empowering Your Team? Because empowered team members equals happy, engaged team members who take pride in putting on epic events!

Templates, templates, templates

If it isn’t broken, why fix it? Reuse successful agendas, floor plans, show schedules, and other program elements from past events. 

For example, compile a master design folder with pre-approved branding assets and graphics to pull from. Or create a shared library of training materials if you host a recurring session across multiple events.

Templates accelerate the planning process so you can scale your events without wasting precious time and energy. 

Contingency Planning

Despite the best-laid plans, you can expect surprises when managing multiple events. Identify potential risks ahead of time and develop contingency protocols to minimize disruption.

Identify potential risks

No one wants to plan for something to go wrong. But failing to do so can be disastrous for your event—not to mention your company’s reputation. 

For each event, conduct a risk assessment to spot potential vulnerabilities across factors like venue (power outages, WiFi issues), vendors (delivery issues, staffing shortages), and attendance (lower than expected registration).

Depending on where you’re located, climate and local weather conditions can be a factor. Make sure you have a well-defined Plan B (or Plan C) in case things take a turn for the worse.

Crisis management

Similar to contingency planning, having emergency protocols in place is crucial for taking quick action in the case of a major issue. 

Consider your protocols for evacuation procedures, crisis communications to attendees, clients, and leadership, and triggers for event cancellation or postponement. 

  • Tip: These procedures are great candidates for standardization and templates, but they need to be reviewed regularly.

Having protocols in place ensures all team members understand how to respond in an emergency, especially if you’re not able to be present at every single event. 

Event Technology and Automation

Technology and automation help you smoothly execute multiple events at scale. The right systems provide the data and workflow optimization needed across multiple events to deliver outstanding experiences every single time. 

Event management solutions

Event management platforms like EventUp Planner by Tripleseat centralize planning by providing:

  • Role-based permissions to control team access
  • Cloning capabilities to easily replicate events
  • Customizable forms to capture event data
  • Vendor and speaker management tools
  • Robust reporting and analytics

Software automation ultimately frees you from tedious manual data entry to focus on strategic priorities.

Registration and ticketing systems

Registration and ticketing are major pain points when running multiple events, but event management tools can alleviate common headaches with the following:

  • Branded registration pages and confirmation emails to provide a consistent experience
  • Flexible pricing and promotions that are tailored to your target audience(s)
  • Secure payment processing that reduces checkout frustration
  • Automated confirmation and reminder emails that improve communication with minimal effort
  • At-a-glance tracking and registration analytics that enable data-driven decision-making

When registration and ticketing are optimized, you stand out by providing smooth experiences that make attendees eager to RSVP. This enhances turnout across all your events!

Post-Event Evaluation and Feedback

Just because your events wrap up doesn’t mean the work is done! Gathering insights through post-event analysis and attendee feedback is crucial for continuously improving future events.

Post-event evaluation

After each event, ask your team reflective questions to identify areas of success and improvement, such as: Did we accomplish the intended goals and objectives? How can we enhance the agenda or program based on feedback? What did attendee surveys reveal about the experience? Were there any vendor or partner issues? Did we stay within budget?

Make sure to document your findings and takeaways in a shared drive so that they’re easy to reference when planning the next event. 

Gather attendee feedback

Collecting feedback from attendees provides valuable insights into their experience of your events. This allows you to continuously enhance your events over time. 

Here are a few ways to gather attendee feedback:

  • Exit surveys immediately after events
  • Follow-up email surveys a few days later
  • Focus groups, usually with an incentive
  • Social listening 
  • Directly asking for testimonials

With feedback from multiple events, you can identify patterns and systematically improve recurring issues over your events portfolio.

Deliver Exceptional Events While Staying Sane Along The Way

Handling multiple events at once requires strategic planning, efficient execution, and continuous improvement. By following the best practices set out in this guide, you’ll be able to build the infrastructure to maintain a growing events portfolio successfully!

Standardizing and automating repetitive processes is key to executing multiple events well at scale. EventUp Planner (formerly Attendease) is an all-in-one platform that provides robust tools to scale your events efficiently through automation, cloning capabilities, and cross-team collaboration. 
Now is the time to level up your corporate events program—schedule a demo of EventUp Planner’s event management solution today!

Schedule a Demo

Engaging Through Gratitude: How to Thank Event Volunteers

  • Event Management
  • March 14, 2024
Event volunteers at a desk helping registrants check in at a professional event.

Volunteers are crucial to event success. With so many moving parts, you can’t be everywhere at once.

Volunteers make events a positive, engaging experience for attendees from the moment they approach the check-in desk to when they find their seats. Not to mention, your tech volunteers work behind the scenes of hybrid and virtual events to troubleshoot and keep the event running smoothly. In other words, your generous volunteers help pull your event off.

So, what can your organization do to show how much your volunteers’ efforts mean to you and keep them coming back? In this guide, we’ll cover the following strategies for showing gratitude:

  • Reach volunteers where they are.
  • Personalize your messages.
  • Share the impact of your event.

Before you craft a genuine, personalized thank-you message to your volunteers, you need to make sure that you’ll be able to reach them. Let’s get started!

Reach Volunteers Where They Are

Think about your current volunteer recruitment strategy. You could leverage your website, post a call to action on social media, and send a message to your email subscribers. No matter which method you choose, the goal is to ensure your message gets in front of prospective volunteers’ eyes. 

Thanking your volunteers is no different. To find out which channels they engage with most, reference data from past marketing campaigns and your recruitment efforts. Most simply, you can also use any contact information volunteers provided on application forms. If you haven’t already, consider adding a question to your sign-up form asking volunteers to identify their preferred communication method.

Once you’ve identified the communication channels your volunteers are most familiar with, you’ll need to choose a messaging strategy for each channel. Here are a few ideas:

  • Email: Emails are a personal, one-on-one communication method. Write a detailed, personalized thank-you letter and send it to those who prefer this channel. Or, choose a more engaging option like a branded digital eCard. As eCardWidget’s volunteer retention guide explains, these eCards are a bit more flexible, allowing for endless design and messaging options while being easy to use.
  • Phone: Call any volunteers who served in leadership roles or went above and beyond in their roles. Have a friendly conversation about the event, express your gratitude, and ask them how they thought it went. You might also ask them about any personal details you’re aware of (e.g., maybe they recently got married or had a birthday) to deepen the relationship.
  • Direct mail: For some volunteers, direct mail feels more genuine than digital communications. After all, this channel shows that your organization took the time to handwrite and send a letter to them. To ensure recipients know the mail is coming from you (and avoid your letters getting tossed out as junk mail), consider using branded envelopes and stationery. 

If you aren’t sure how best to contact your volunteers, you can reach out through your volunteer management software or mobile app. Since your volunteers have already used these tools to access schedules or log hours, you know they have access to them and are familiar with the interface.

Personalize Your Messages

Fundraising Letters’ guide to thanking volunteers explains your messages should make volunteers feel a personal connection to your organization and strengthen your relationships. Acknowledge the specific ways that they helped shows that you appreciate their individual contributions.

When writing thank-you letters or notes, add a personal touch by:

  • Greeting volunteers by name. Avoid boilerplate greetings and opt for a more personal approach. This is the first thing volunteers will read when they open your message, and it will set the tone for the rest of the card or letter. 
  • Mentioning what the volunteer did. Be specific when thanking volunteers. Rather than saying, “Thank you for your hard work at our event,” try saying,“We appreciate the 8 hours you dedicated to checking in registrants, distributing lanyards, and helping attendees find their way.”
  • Sharing upcoming opportunities. Show that you couldn’t organize events without your volunteers and encourage them to help out again in the future. Invite them to future events they might be interested in, ask them for assistance promoting upcoming events, or request that they help you recruit more volunteers.
  • Adding a tailored closing. Finish the letter with genuine well-wishes and something personal. For example, you could wish them happy holidays, acknowledge an upcoming birthday or other milestone, or say you hope to see them at your next event. Make sure the letter is signed by someone the volunteer interacted with, such as their team leader or the volunteer coordinator.

If your organization is classified as a 501(c)(3) organization, you might also urge volunteers to take advantage of CSR initiatives through their employers. For example, they may be able to secure a volunteer grant for your organization, depending on how many hours they’ve spent volunteering. Consider leveraging employer data about volunteers to identify those with CSR programs or simply ask them to inquire about these initiatives at their workplace. 

Share the Impact of Your Event

Along with mentioning the specific ways volunteers helped you, it can be helpful to share the impact that they made. This shows volunteers that their hard work had tangible results, inspiring them to continue driving results at future events.

Make sure to note which team or responsibility the volunteer served on and include metrics relevant to their position. For example, volunteers who worked at your check-in desk might be interested in knowing how many attendees they helped. 

Some of the impact metrics you could share with volunteers include:

  • The number of attendees 
  • Growth in attendance compared to previous events
  • New connections made, either between attendees or with prospective new members
  • Total volunteer hours contributed to the event
  • Positive feedback from attendees
  • Social media reach (e.g., the number of posts using your event hashtag)

You can also use these impact metrics to identify top performers. These are your hardest-working volunteers who are likely to be loyal and dedicated in the future. For instance, you might identify the IT volunteer who solved the most tech issues during the event. Encourage them to keep up the good work and consider rewarding them with public recognition or awards, such as making them your volunteer of the month, quarter, or year.

These strategies will motivate more volunteers to return to future events, helping your organization build a strong base of reliable volunteers. Remember that you can apply these strategies to other areas of your operations, such as welcoming members or engaging current ones, to boost metrics like member retention and satisfaction. Focus on communicating your gratitude personally and genuinely, and you’ll earn the ongoing support of volunteers, members, and attendees alike.

Learn More!

Best Practices for Hosting a Webinar Event

  • Event Management
  • March 12, 2024
Best Practices for Hosting a Webinar Event

Webinars have become an increasingly popular event format for organizations of all sizes. 

Compared to in-person events, webinars provide a flexible, convenient, and cost-effective way to reach a broader audience. However, hosting a successful webinar that engages your target audience takes thoughtful planning and preparation.

Whether you’re hosting your first ever webinar or looking to improve your existing webinar strategy, following these best practices is key to running an event that delivers results! 

In this comprehensive post, we’ll walk through everything you need to know—from initial planning to event execution and follow-up. We’ll also share tips to avoid common webinar mistakes that sabotage your efforts.

Why Follow Webinar Best Practices?

Taking the time to host your webinar thoughtfully isn’t just about checking boxes; it directly impacts your ability to meet your goals. Consider what’s at stake if you don’t follow webinar best practices:

  • Low attendance and engagement
  • Minimal lead generation
  • Negative brand reputation
  • Wasted time and resources

By optimizing your webinar strategy, you can avoid these pitfalls and create an event that:

  • Captivates your target audience
  • Drives product interest and conversions
  • Strengthens your brand authority
  • Provides lasting value for attendees

Following best practices gives you the framework to accomplish these goals consistently, webinar after webinar. Plus, choosing the right webinar software makes it easy to scale up and customize your webinars in one place—whether you host a few webinars per year or a few hundred.

What is a webinar?

Before we dive into planning, let’s define what a webinar actually is.

A webinar is a presentation, lecture, workshop, or seminar that takes place virtually over the Internet instead of in-person. Webinars enable real-time interaction between a host and an audience. They incorporate features like video, audio, slides, polls, and Q&A to encourage engagement.

Organizations use webinars for a variety of purposes, including:

  • Product launches and demonstrations
  • Lead generation
  • Marketing presentations
  • Employee training and development
  • Thought leadership and brand building
  • Customer education

Now that you know what a webinar is, let’s look at how to plan and host one effectively!

Planning Your Webinar

Thorough planning is key to running a successful webinar. You need to make important decisions upfront to create an event tailored to your goals and audience.

Define your objectives

Before anything else, you need to clearly define what you want to achieve. Ask yourself:

  • What is the purpose and focus of this webinar?
  • What do I want attendees to learn or take away?
  • What actions or next steps do I want them to take after attending?
  • How will I define and measure success?

Setting S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals will give your webinar clear direction.

For example, if the purpose of your webinar is to generate new leads for your company, you may set a goal to acquire 250 new qualified leads from the event. Defining a specific volume of new leads makes this goal measurable while setting a lead count you can reasonably achieve with your available resources, and audience size keeps it achievable. 

  • Furthermore, focusing specifically on generating leads directly ties to the webinar’s purpose, making your goal highly relevant. Finally, setting a timeframe, like generating 250 leads over the next 60 days, keeps the goal time-bound.

By outlining crystal clear objectives, you have defined criteria to design your webinar content around and evaluate its success afterward.

Know Your Target Audience

Understanding your target audience is key to creating content that resonates with them. 

First, define audience demographics like location, age range, industry, seniority level, etc.

Then, ask yourself the following questions:

  • What are their pain points and challenges?
  • What topics and issues do they care about?
  • What level of knowledge do they have?
  • What content format or style will appeal to them?

Gaining insight into your audience’s goals, motivations, and preferences will allow you to build and promote your webinar strategically. 

For example, if your webinar targets entry-level engineering students, you can focus the content on teaching basic concepts and skills for new engineers using straightforward language. 

  • Include topics that provide value to students preparing to enter the workforce. Additionally, you can leverage campus clubs and professors to promote the webinar through channels this demographic actively engages with.

On the other hand, if your webinar is geared toward C-suite manufacturing executives, the content should focus on high-level insights around industry trends, emerging technologies, and strategic initiatives. You could promote your webinar using channels like industry publications, social media influencers/thought leaders, and paid search ads targeted by job title and industry.

Customizing your webinar topic, content style, promotions, and visual design to align with your target audience is key to attracting engaged registrants.

Choose the Right Webinar Platform

The hosting platform you use to host your webinar can help streamline planning, promotion, engagement, and follow-up. 

Look for key functionality like:

  • Automated email workflows to simplify promotion and keep attendees informed
  • Custom registration forms to capture relevant information about registrants
  • Interactive presentation options like polls, surveys, and Q&A to encourage participation
  • Robust reporting and analytics to evaluate engagement and conversion metrics
  • Integrations with marketing automation, CRM, and other tools already in your stack

Vetting webinar software options is essential to find a platform that aligns with your business needs, audience size, budget, and existing tech ecosystem. Prioritizing an intuitive, flexible platform will maximize productivity for you and provide a seamless experience for your attendees.

9 Key Factors for Choosing Event Management Software Checklist

Designing Compelling Webinar Content

With your goals and audience defined, it’s time to craft persuasive content to captivate attendees from start to finish.

Crafting a captivating title and description

Your webinar title and event description provide the first impression that will either attract or deter registrants. 

Here are some tips to make yours stand out:

  1. Focus your title and description on the pains, challenges, and interests of your target audience. This draws in people who relate to what you’re addressing and want to learn more.
  2. Use descriptive adjectives and powerful action-oriented verbs that create intrigue and urgency, like “introducing,” “revolutionizing,” or “accelerating.”
  3. Limit the title length to ideally 60 characters or less so it is concise and scannable.

Incorporate questions or emotions into the messaging to make it relatable, e.g., “Tired of Wasting Time on Manual Data Entry?”

Here’s another example: If your target audience is investors and financial advisors, a title like “Introducing Cutting-Edge Ways to Reduce Risk and Maximize Returns” speaks directly to their pain points and goals. In contrast, a title like “Introduction to Financial Management Strategies” is vague and fails to connect with your audience’s specific motivations.

Structuring engaging webinar content

Outlining your webinar content in advance is essential to developing a logical flow that makes your message easy to digest. 

First, clearly state your central theme or message upfront so attendees understand the core purpose of the webinar. Then, provide a roadmap that breaks down the content into digestible sections and subsections so attendees can follow along with the flow.

During the presentation itself, use transitions like “Moving onto our next topic…” or “Now that we’ve covered X, let’s discuss Y” to guide your audience between topics and speakers.

Make sure to incorporate highly engaging segments every 8-12 minutes, such as polls, Q&A, or activities. This resets attention spans and prevents monotony.

Finally, leave ample time at the end for interactive live Q&A—this is often where attendees get the most value!

Remember: thoroughly planning and practicing your content outline will go a long way in delivering an accessible presentation that keeps participants engaged from start to finish.

The Importance of Visual Aids and Multimedia During a Webinar

While your speaking content needs to be compelling, complementary visual aids are invaluable for reinforcing points and enhancing your message. 

Follow these best practices when preparing visuals:

  • Limit the amount of text on each slide and maximize empty space and visual appeal. Paragraphs of dense text make it hard to convey—and read—key points quickly.
  • Use only high-quality, relevant photos and graphics. Custom images related to your brand and topic are ideal whenever possible.
  • Incorporate charts, graphs, and infographics to illustrate trends, data comparisons, and key takeaways in a digestible visual format.
  • Insert short video clips when helpful to demonstrate a concept, tell a story, or show a process in action.
  • Maintain cohesive and on-brand slide designs, colors, fonts, and logos for a polished, professional look.

Compelling visuals make your webinar more dynamic, memorable, and impactful.

Promoting Your Webinar

Strategic promotion is essential for driving registrations and attendance for your webinar. You need to get the word out early and consistently to maximize reach.

Early promotion

Start promoting your webinar 4-6 weeks in advance of the event date. This extended runway gives you time to execute a multi-channel promotional strategy for maximum impact.

Some key tactics include:

  • Post on social media platforms like X (formerly known as Twitter), Facebook, and LinkedIn. Create short teaser videos or graphics about your event topic and link to the registration page. Consider sponsoring posts to expand their reach.
  • Send a series of 3-4 dedicated email campaigns through your event management platform. Send a “Save the Date” email first before following up with reminder emails. Offer exclusives like early bird pricing or free workbooks to incentivize sign-ups.
  • Publish 2-3 blog posts and guest posts that provide value around your webinar topic. Include a strong call-to-action with a link to register at the end.
  • Purchase digital ads through platforms like Google or Meta. Target your ads tightly to your ideal buyer persona and industry.
  • Leverage 2-3 influencers or industry partners to help promote your webinar through their own networks. Offer special perks for their audience.

The key is layering multiple promotional channels over an extended window to maximize reach and get your event on the top of your audience’s minds.

Reminder emails and notifications

In addition to early promotion, use reminders to keep your webinar top of mind leading up to the event. 

We recommend sending reminder emails 1 week before, 2 days before, 1 day before, and 1 hour before the start of the webinar. You can also set up automated browser notifications through your webinar platform that notify registrants the webinar is starting soon.

Sending a “Webinar Starting Now!” email 15 minutes before the start is an effective way to nudge last-minute registrants. Text message reminders can also be very effective in getting late registrants to show up live.

Getting in front of registrants multiple times through various channels ensures your event stays top of mind, resulting in higher live attendance.

Engaging Your Audience During the Webinar

Simply presenting information often results in lower engagement. Use these techniques to captivate your audience during the live event!

Interactive elements

Get your audience involved by incorporating interactive elements throughout your webinar. 

For example, live polls and surveys let you collect feedback, opinions, and data from attendees in real time. Poll your audience at the start to grasp their knowledge levels.

Then, schedule dedicated Q&A sessions during your webinar to satisfy attendees’ desire to have their questions answered live by a presenter.

You can also use chat features to enable discussions between attendees and hosts during the webinar’s presentation portions.

Introducing features like quizzes and gaming elements encourages a fun, competitive environment that energizes people and boosts engagement.

Engaging speakers

Your presenters and speakers set the tone for the entire webinar experience. 

To maximize engagement, make sure to select passionate, personable speakers who connect with audiences. Look for great storytellers.

You also need to set expectations ahead of time that the webinar will be highly interactive and conversational versus a one-way presentation.

When it comes to the webinar itself, share presenter backgrounds upfront through short introductions to establish credibility and trust right away.

Find the right balance between natural, organic dialogue and high-level talking points or presentation scripts. Then, have a host or moderator ready to facilitate smooth Q&A portions and transitions between speakers or segments.

Well-prepared and engaging speakers are key to captivating your webinar audience and keeping them tuned into the discussion. Leverage speaker prep and training if needed.

Technical Considerations

A webinar’s success hinges on seamless technical execution. Glitches or issues during the live event can ruin the experience for attendees. Be sure to take the following steps to minimize technical difficulties.

Pre-event tech checks

Conducting thorough technical checks before your webinar is crucial. Treat it as seriously as a dress rehearsal for a stage performance. Walk through and test all equipment, links, slides, and presentations. 

Confirm that:

  • Presenter webcams, microphones, and screen sharing work properly with no echo or distortion.
  • Slide deck and multimedia display correctly through your webinar software.
  • Registration links, logins, polls, and other interactive elements function as expected.
  • Internet speeds and bandwidth can support your expected live attendees without lag or freezing.
  • Transitions between presenters happen smoothly if given control access.
  • Speakers are comfortable with the platform interface and know how to share slides, polls, etc.

Running through the event start-to-finish will identify any technical issues to resolve before going live. Don’t skip this step!

Reliable internet connection

Choppy audio or video ruins the viewer experience. 

To prevent lag and freezing, request that attendees keep their video off and close other bandwidth-heavy apps. Presenters should use wired ethernet connections over WiFi when possible for maximum stability. Limit the number of devices connected to WiFi during the webinar to minimize strain.

Tip: Have a dial-in number or hotspot ready as a backup audio solution in case of internet drops.

Post-webinar Follow-up

The work isn’t done just because the webinar is over! Strategic follow-up keeps your brand top of mind for the next event. 

Thank you emails

Send a thank you email within 24 hours recapping webinar highlights and key takeaways. Include links to access the full webinar recording, slides, worksheets, or other assets. 

Most importantly, include a feedback survey or poll link to gather insights while everything is fresh. Offer an incentive like a gift card to encourage participation.

Repurpose content

Get more mileage from your webinar content through repurposing! Here are 4 suggestions to get started: 

  • Upload the full-length webinar recording to your website or YouTube for on-demand viewing later.
  • Turn key talking points into standalone blog posts, social media updates, or newsletter content.
  • Create a 10-minute “Webinar Highlights” video recapping the biggest wins. Use it in your marketing and promotions. 
  • Record excerpts for sales teams to easily reference and share with prospects.

With a great webinar in the can, finding creative ways to reuse it beyond the live event will help you get closer to your long-term goals. 

Post-Webinar Analytics and Evaluation

Analyzing performance data and feedback is crucial for optimizing your next webinar. Let’s break down how to leverage analytics for a successful webinar program. 

Analyzing metrics

Carefully analyze key performance metrics to evaluate how your webinar did and identify areas to optimize for future events. Important metrics to review include:

  • Registration rates. This shows how much interest your topic and promotions generated. Compare to past webinars about a similar topic to see if your marketing reached more or less of your audience.
  • Live attendance. The percentage of registrants that showed up live indicates your ability to drive commitment. A low turnout may signal poor promotions or value messaging.
  • Engagement levels. Engagement metrics like poll responses, Q&A participation, and chat comments measure how interactive the webinar was. High engagement keeps attendees tuned in versus passively listening.
  • Satisfaction scores. Feedback via post-event surveys indicates whether the webinar resonated with attendees and met their expectations. This ties to content relevance.
  • Sales inquiries. For webinars intended to generate leads, track web form completions, downloads, and follow-ups to gauge interest.
  • Viewership of recording. If you have post-webinar recording access, view counts can track ongoing content consumption.

Again, carefully reviewing metrics against your benchmarks identifies successes to repeat and opportunities to improve for future webinars.

Gathering feedback

Gathering feedback is crucial to understanding how your webinar went from the attendees’ perspective. 

Actively collect feedback through:

  • Post-event surveys immediately after the webinar to capture top-of-mind reactions.
  • Follow-up feedback emails 1-2 days later to gain more detailed, thoughtful suggestions.

Again, consider offering incentives for completing surveys to boost response rates. Plus, you can categorize feedback by theme to clearly see areas for improvement.

Participant perspectives point the way forward for enhancing your future webinars.

Top 5 Webinar Mistakes to Avoid

As an event planner, avoiding common webinar mistakes is crucial for delivering a smooth and effective webinar aligned with your goals. Failure to sidestep these pitfalls can sabotage your efforts and reflect poorly on your abilities as a planner. 

We recommend steering clear of these common webinar pitfalls:

  1. Not defining clear goals and objectives

Without having a clear sense of your desired outcomes, your decision-making lacks focus. Not to mention that you won’t have measurable criteria for evaluating the success of your webinar. Always start by defining the purpose and targets for your event.

  1. Failing to tailor content for your audience

Generic content often fails to resonate. Take time to understand your audience, including their interests, pain points, and level of knowledge. This allows you to craft messaging and content that speaks directly to what they care about and need to hear. Otherwise, you risk losing their attention.

  1. Not testing technology beforehand

Nothing derails a webinar faster than audio cut-outs, confusing interfaces, or platform glitches. Invest time upfront to methodically test all equipment, run through presentations, confirm platform features, and validate stable internet. This dress rehearsal sets you up for smooth technical delivery!

  1. Not engaging with the audience

Webinars shouldn’t just be online lectures. Build in Q&A sessions, live polls, chat features, and other tools to make it a two-way dialogue. Interactivity is key to attendee engagement and an overall positive experience with your brand. 

  1. Not choosing the right webinar software

Cobbling together standalone tools for webcasting, engagement, registration, etc., makes executing webinars labor-intensive. Streamline efforts with a unified webinar platform integrating everything needed to seamlessly manage, promote, and host your webinars.

Make Your Next Webinar Less Stressful

Hosting compelling webinars takes strategic planning and execution. By following these tips and best practices, you’ll be on your way to successfully engaging your audience, delivering value, and driving consistent results in no time!

Plus, choosing a flexible all-in-one webinar platform like Attendease by Tripleseat makes it easy to manage and customize every aspect of your webinars in one place.

  • Host up to three concurrent webinars at the same time
  • Share your pre-recorded webinars as a lead-gen tool in the future
  • Stream your webinars to YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook and more
  • Keep your audience captive using interactive engagement tools to mimic in-person events

Ready to uncomplicate your webinar and events program? Book a demo today!

Book a demo

BlueJeans Video Conferencing Alternative: Attendease

  • Event Management
  • Event Management News
  • February 21, 2024
BlueJeans Video Conferencing Alternative: Attendease

BlueJeans, a Verizon-owned software company, is sunsetting this year. Now, customers who have been using the video conferencing platform to host online events, conferences, meetings, or live streams, have to find a new way of connecting with virtual audiences.

Are you a BlueJeans customer looking for an alternative solution? Losing access to the software you love is no walk in the park, but fortunately, choosing and implementing a new platform is easier than ever with Attendease. 

What Is BlueJeans?

Founded in 2009 and launched for commercial use in 2011, BlueJeans was started by Krish Ramakirshnan and Alagu Periyannan as a video conferencing solution that hoped to be “as comfortable and as casual as your pair of jeans.” Later, in May 2020, BlueJeans was acquired by Verizon for about $400 million.

The business-focused, cloud-based video conferencing platform offered users the ability to connect across multiple devices from anywhere in the world. Users could host interactive events and live streams as well as share screens, collaborate across video and audio, and integrate with other conferencing solutions.

BlueJeans Video Conferencing & Virtual Events Platform

With a wide variety of interactive options and high-quality, production-grade experiences, BlueJeans was a popular virtual events platform. Large companies, schools, and other organizations used BlueJeans to host and manage engaging events for people across the globe.

What Happened to BlueJeans Video Conferencing Software?

On August 8, 2023, Verizon announced that it would sunset BlueJeans in the first half of 2024.

Instead of an immediate shutdown, Verizon started the sunset process by terminating the BlueJeans Basic tier and free trial offers on August 31, 2023. According to their shutdown announcement, the rest of the video conferencing platform will be discontinued at some point in 2024.

Why Is Verizon Shutting Down BlueJeans?

The move by Verizon to sunset BlueJeans was shocking to many users of the platform. In a mass email to BlueJeans users, Verizon claimed the decision was made “due to the changing market landscape.”

Did Verizon fail to capitalize on BlueJeans’s massive subscriber list, vast reach, and premier products? Did the company change the direction of its core focus or simply struggle to sell end-user services like a virtual collaboration tool? We can only speculate why Verizon decided to shut down BlueJeans and leave users in the lurch.

Your Alternative to BlueJeans: Attendease

If you use BlueJeans and now have to search for a new video conferencing platform or virtual event solution for your team, try Attendease.

Attendease is a comprehensive event planning and management software platform that businesses can use to connect with audiences, automate processes, and save resources. We provide a seamless, branded experience for our users and make it easy to integrate with other video conferencing providers as needed.

Why is Attendease the best alternative to BlueJeans? Here’s what our all-in-one platform has to offer.

Use One Tool Across the Entire Event Lifecycle

Attendease is designed to help you plan and manage your event over its entire lifecycle. Rather than using a variety of tools to complete different tasks, you can use one tool for event promotion, pre-event planning, event management, and post-event analysis. You can also consolidate any of your existing enterprise tools—such as Marketo, Salesforce, HubSpot, Google Analytics, Slack, etc.—with Attendease as well as integrate your preferred video conferencing provider, such as Zoom, GoToMeeting, or Webex.

Our flexible platform is designed to manage even the most complex of conferences, meetings, webinars, or other events for your team, customers, or industry partners.

Manage In-Person, Online, Hybrid, & Live Events

No matter what event format your business relies on; you can plan and host events with Attendease. Our software supports in-person, online, hybrid, and live events from one platform and has the versatility to change formats as needed to throw a successful event. From virtual events to in-person meetings and everything in between, the Attendease platform simplifies and automates workflows to save resources and grow your audience.

Streamline the Event Planning & Management Process

With our easy-to-use and fully integrated platform, you can streamline the event planning and management process for every online meeting, hybrid conference, or live-streamed webinar. Our comprehensive event tools offer everything you could need to throw a business event, from a painless registration process and features that help increase your reach to a user-friendly interface and customized speaker workflows.

You can customize the Attendease platform to fit your needs—no web developer required, and if you have questions or need assistance, reach out to our excellent customer support for help and answers. With a quick turnaround, you’ll be on your way to event success.

See Attendease in Action: Schedule a Free Demo

Looking for an alternative to BlueJeans video conferencing software? Look no further. We’ve got you covered.

Attendease is a leading all-in-one professional event planning and managing software that provides an intuitive, seamless, and convenient digital experience. Whether you are hosting a virtual conference, scheduling an annual all-hands meeting, or presenting a live webinar, you can streamline the entire event planning and management process with Attendease.

Contact us or book a free demo today to see all the features Attendease has to offer and learn more about how we can help you throw your next conference, meeting, webinar, or event.

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Building a Winning Corporate Events Program: 7 Critical Success Factors

  • Event Management
  • February 20, 2024

Corporate events serve an important purpose — they boost brand visibility, drive revenue, and strengthen relationships with customers and employees. However, executing successful events takes more than ordering catering and sending invites.

With so much on the line, there’s immense pressure on corporate event planners to get everything right. You have to wear multiple hats and juggle competing priorities: attendee preferences, corporate goals, vendors and suppliers, internal deadlines…the list goes on.

When building out a corporate events program, several critical factors must be considered to ensure the organization’s long-term success and sustainability. Here’s an in-depth checklist that covers the most critical areas to focus on so that you can run your next corporate event with ease!

1. Define clear goals and objectives

To successfully execute an event, you first need to know what you’re aiming at. That’s why the first step to running a winning event is clearly defining its purpose and objectives.

This is best done by scheduling a planning meeting with company leadership and other key stakeholders for the event. Consider asking questions like:

  • What is the primary purpose of this event? Is it for lead generation, brand awareness, employee engagement, or something else?
  • How does this event align with our overall corporate strategy and goals for the year?
  • What are the 2-3 key messages we want to communicate through this event?
  • What type of experience do we want to create for attendees? Educational? Entertaining? Inspiring?
  • How will we measure the success of this event both quantitatively and qualitatively?

Make sure to balance the overarching goals of the event with the company’s overall corporate strategy while also considering attendee preferences and perspectives (more on that shortly). 

Next, establish measurable key performance indicators (KPIs) like leads generated, conversion rate, revenue created, employee engagement, and event satisfaction rating to track performance. KPIs provide concrete proof of what’s working and can be used to measure success event-over-event and year-over-year.

Moreover, having crystal clear goals and objectives means you have a definitive blueprint to revisit if disagreements or hurdles pop up during planning. It also enables you to say no to ideas that don’t align with the established vision.

2. Prioritize strategic planning and execution

Once you’ve defined clear objectives, the next step is developing an in-depth event strategy and plan that aligns with organizational goals. This includes considering your internal resources (budget, stakeholders, event management software) and external resources (sponsors, vendors, partners).

Effective project management is crucial for seamless execution—AKA your sanity. Here are some tips for managing corporate event planning across multiple teams and stakeholders:

  • Create a master project plan with milestones, deliverables, and deadlines. Build in buffer time for inevitable delays.
  • Schedule regular status update meetings to discuss timelines, blockers, and wins.
  • Maintain a shared calendar all stakeholders can access with key dates and deadlines.
  • Use collaboration tools like shared drives, intranets, and project management software to keep all teams aligned.

Designate a point person from each department to streamline communication.

Communicate early and often with all stakeholders to resolve issues quickly.

It’s also important to plan for all possible scenarios. Identify potential challenges like vendors bailing or low registration and have contingency plans ready to go, just in case.

LEARN MORE: Shopping for new event management software? Here’s how to get internal buy-in. 

3. Effectively manage the event budget

Based on your strategic plan, develop a realistic, line-item budget covering all aspects of the event — venue, vendors, security, food and beverage, staffing, swag, and the dozens of other expenses that pop up.

It’s crucial to monitor expenses closely and adhere to the budget to ensure financial stability. Be extra diligent when tracking these common big-ticket items:

  • Venue rental fees
  • Catering for meals, snacks, and receptions
  • A/V equipment rentals and labor
  • Speaker fees and travel expenses
  • Event marketing and promotional costs
  • Printed collateral like signage, programs, and banners

Here are some top tips for keeping costs in check:

  • Negotiate discounts with venues and vendors as a repeat customer
  • Take advantage of off-season event dates for lower pricing
  • Order food and drink based on confirmed registration numbers
  • Minimize printed materials by shifting content online
  • Repurpose decor from past events when possible

In general, seek cost-effective solutions without compromising on quality or the attendee experience.

LEARN MORE: Run a memorable corporate event — even if your budget is smaller than last year’s. 

4. Engage stakeholders

Identify and actively engage key stakeholders from day one, including sponsors, partners, vendors, and internal teams.

For external stakeholders:

  • Know exactly who your primary point of contact is and how to reach them.
  • Make sure you have signed contracts in place at least three months out.
  • Clearly outline expectations, deliverables, and deadlines in writing.

For internal stakeholders:

  • Create a core event committee with reps from legal, marketing, facilities, IT, etc.
  • Schedule planning meetings at least monthly leading up to the event.
  • Designate team leads for registration, catering, production, etc., based on expertise.
  • Outline each team’s responsibilities and ideal timelines.

Communicate early and consistently with all stakeholders to align expectations. Have clear escalation processes in place in case of disagreements or delays. Foster strong relationships to enhance support and collaboration.

5. Craft an exceptional attendee experience

One of the most important pieces of running a successful corporate event is thoroughly understanding your target audiences so you can tailor the program to meet their goals and preferences.

Conduct audience research through surveys and interviews early in the planning process to gain insights. Ask about their pain points, how they prefer to engage with content, what takeaways they expect, and what type of experience they want to have.

Then, keep that target attendee at the forefront as you make programming decisions. Whether you’re running a large-scale conference, an intimate retreat, or a virtual town hall, implement creative, engaging, and interactive elements to enhance the experience.

The same goes for virtual and hybrid events. It’s important to find ways for remote attendees to feel included and represented and that they’ve gained value from the event just like those there in person.

Finally, gather feedback during and after the event through quick polls or post-event surveys. Analyze results to continually evolve your programming and improve future events.

LEARN MORE: How software for hybrid events creates an engaging experience for your virtual attendees!

6. Market and promote the event

Next, develop a strategic, multifaceted marketing plan to effectively promote your event across channels. Tactics may include:

  • Digital campaigns (retargeting ads, social media, sponsored content)
  • Email nurture campaigns with value-driven content
  • Eye-catching print ads in industry publications
  • Radio spots for events open to the public
  • Social media contests leading up to the event
  • Promotion directly through sales reps or account managers

It’s also important to create a branded, mobile-friendly event website so prospective attendees have an information hub to visit. Include logistical details, session descriptions, speaker bios, FAQs, and personalized calls-to-action to drive conversions.

(Pssst, event marketing software can help with this.) 

Effective event marketing & management means creating compelling content that highlights the tangible value of attending, like thought leadership keynotes, can’t-miss training sessions, pitch competitions, and top-notch networking opportunities.

LEARN MORE: Need fresh content ideas? Check out our top 10 strategies for promoting your event on social media. 

7. Leverage corporate event management technology

Finally, make sure you lean on corporate event planning software

to enhance event logistics and attendee engagement.

Event management software like Attendease makes it easy to support in-person, online, and hybrid events seamlessly from one centralized hub.

Say goodbye to repetitive, time-consuming tasks—the right corporate event management technology helps you template and automate workflows for streamlined multi-event management.

It also makes it easier than ever to simplify planning and task management across all event team members, in addition to delivering incredibly branded, consistent experiences across multiple channels.  

Registration can be a massive pain point for planners and attendees alike. Look for an event management solution with robust registration capabilities for a smooth process, like:  

  • Easily managing complex pricing, promo codes, and group passes
  • Advanced form features and conditional logic to capture unique data
  • The ability to save forms to reuse for future events

It’s also important to have access to data and reporting to track performance, such as:

  • Real-time registration and attendance data
  • Easy-to-visualize key event metrics through dynamic dashboards
  • Exportable data to share across teams and inform future events
  • Member engagement across multiple corporate events

Bottom line: leveraging event technology is no longer optional if you want to plan corporate events like a pro — it’s an absolute must for optimizing logistics, enhancing engagement, and driving event success across the board.

Un-complicate even your most complicated events with Attendease

In summary, these seven factors are critical for building a winning corporate events program from the ground up. And leveraging innovative technologies like Attendease makes it easier to work smarter, not harder.

Attendease by Tripleseat is an end-to-end event management platform designed to make every meeting and event an awesome experience—for everyone. 
Ready to elevate your corporate events? Book a demo today!

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Why A Sustained Events Program Outweighs One Big Event

  • Event Management
  • February 15, 2024

Moving away from “one event to rule them all”

Hosting “one big event” is often seen as the pinnacle of corporate event planning. Splashy annual events generate immense excitement and engagement, often bringing a short-term economic and publicity boost to the city they’re hosting in.

However, there are downsides to putting all of your event eggs into one basket. Infrastructure and operations are costly, not to mention that attendee engagement tends to fall drastically once the event is over. That’s why more event planners are shifting their strategy to sustained events programs.

A sustained events program refers to hosting multiple smaller events throughout the 

year rather than putting all your resources into one major event.

This blog will explore the advantages of taking a sustained approach to corporate events, including greater audience retention, improved brand visibility, and more effective resource management. If this sounds like a lot of work, fret not—modern event organizing software has your back. 

Read on to learn why consistent smaller events deliver better long-term results compared to infrequent blockbusters!

Why The Shift Towards Sustained Events In Modern Event Planning Strategies?

The excitement and prestige of hosting “one big event” is often considered a major draw for cities and organizations. Events like the Olympics or the Super Bowl are still seen as pinnacles of success that bring global attention—and rightfully so. 

The positive publicity and tourism revenue that these events attract makes them hard to resist. Cities and countries still compete fiercely to host these infrequent yet high-profile events.

However, external factors are challenging the idea that hosting one large event per year is the ideal strategy…As the costs of infrastructure, operations, and security continue to rise, managing the huge risks and debts associated with major one-time events is becoming less feasible.

Further, the rise of social media and digital platforms has made large audiences more fragmented. This necessitates more targeted outreach. Relying solely on a mass event model has become less effective for reaching specific audiences. 

That’s why offering more consistent, smaller events targeted to niche audiences has become increasingly popular in the events world. The costs and risks are lower, while more regular touchpoints with audiences throughout the year make relationship-building that much easier. 

Plus, sustained event programs allow for brand visibility to grow incrementally over time rather than to dramatically spike and fall. 

Modern events programs recognize that delivering value regularly to engaged subgroups drives better long-term results compared to chasing infrequent large events. This shift in strategy has been accelerated by modern event coordination software, which makes it easier to manage ongoing events at scale.

Advantages Of A Sustained Events Program

Maintaining an ongoing events program provides several advantages compared to relying on large, infrequent events. Let’s explore the benefits!

Easier to maintain momentum post-event

With a sustained events model, you stay connected with your audience through regular touchpoints over the course of a year. This makes it easier to nurture relationships and continue engagement beyond any individual event.

In contrast, with infrequent major events, you must rebuild momentum almost from scratch every single time. Attracting people to commit their time and money to the next big event happening in a year or two is challenging. There are fewer opportunities to keep people engaged in between.

A sustained program allows flexibility in event formats and content. Interspersing large conferences with intimate seminars, workshops, and happy hours accommodates diverse interests and learning styles. Not to mention that it’s easier to satisfy the growing desire for a mix of virtual and in-person (AKA hybrid) events. This variety keeps people energized and likely to keep returning!

Improved brand visibility over time

Companies like South by Southwest and Adobe have successfully utilized sustained events programs for years. Adobe runs hundreds of targeted events annually, allowing them to engage diverse stakeholders—from employees to brand partners, customers, and beyond. The boost in visibility and goodwill generated by delivering value consistently over time is immense.

With consistent events, it’s easier to analyze performance and fine-tune your strategy. Detecting patterns and trends across multiple happenings provides insights that isolated events simply cannot. This enables continuous improvement, further empowering you and your events team over the long haul.

Best Practices For Running Sustained Events

Let’s explore proven tactics to help make an ongoing events program successful. Taking advantage of modern event management solutions with personalization capabilities and helpful metrics can help overcome potential hurdles.

Embrace modern event management solutions

Modern organizing software makes it easy to seamlessly run sustained events at scale. All-in-one platforms like Attendease by Tripleseat provide powerful tools for registration, marketing, logistics, reporting, and more.

Integrated solutions reduce manual processes, provide deeper insights through in-depth reporting, and enable faster execution and replication. Automation features like website templates and email marketing also save you and your team valuable time and effort.

Event organizing software also enhances audience engagement before, during, and after events through custom event apps, instant replay features, and interactive virtual components. Features like webinars and live stream capabilities further nurture relationships between in-person happenings.

Look for personalization and data-driven insights

Personalization capabilities combat attendee fatigue over time by delivering tailored experiences. For example, Attendease helped geographic information systems company Esri develop a custom event app to serve up a personalized agenda and content recommendations to thousands of its attendees. This keeps each event feeling fresh and relevant.

Robust data and insights gathered across all events further support personalization efforts. Identifying popular speakers, topics, and networking activities allows your events team to modify future programming based directly on audience analytics.

Surveys also provide crucial attendee feedback to incorporate into your next event. This diversity in content and format sustains engagement by consistently adapting to audience needs.

Learn to manage resources effectively

A deliberate strategy focused on key performance indicators (KPIs) allows sustained event programs to maximize their ROI. Tracking registration and attendance, attendee satisfaction and engagement, lead generation, and marketing reach provide quantifiable metrics for optimization.

Powerful reporting functionality also enables insightful comparison across your entire catalog of events. This helps identify successful venues, sponsors, and program formats to replicate. In turn, you’re better able to manage resources wisely, which saves money and enables continuous improvement over time!

Scale Up Your Events With Winning Event Coordination Software

Running a sustained events program means easier relationship building, greater brand visibility over time, and better resource management compared to one-off large-scale events. As the landscape of event marketing continues to evolve, integrating hybrid elements and diverse event formats can provide additional value to attendees. 

Don’t worry; modern event management solutions have your back. Tools that offer robust reporting and seamless personalization make it easier to successfully run regular events at scale.

Simplify the complexity of managing your multiple events throughout the year with a powerful platform like Attendease by Tripleseat. Our suite of registration, marketing, reporting, and personalization tools empowers you to run a sustained events program without a hitch. Book a demo today!

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The Role of Technology in Event Management for Associations

  • Event Management
  • February 8, 2024
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Using event technology to its full potential allows associations to provide enriching, personalized experiences to members. The right tools can track and consolidate event data, adapt to members’ needs and preferences, and use automation to eliminate administrative tasks.

CRMs, association management software, and event planning platforms go beyond managing member data and event planning. These tools empower your association to fulfill the commitments and value promised in its membership offerings without increasing staff workloads. 

In this guide, we’ll explore how your association can leverage technology when planning and promoting events. 

What technology do associations need for events?

Associations rely on software for effective membership management, data collection and tracking, financial record-keeping, and much more. These tools also assist in the event planning process to optimize promotion and facilitate smooth interactions with attendees.

The following systems and tools work together to support successful events:

  • Customer relationship management (CRM) system: This tool stores information about your members, identifies prospects, records interactions, and nurtures relationships with current and potential members. Track event metrics such as total attendance and attendee feedback using your CRM. Integrate your event management and marketing tools with your CRM to ensure this data is visible across every system your association uses.
  • Association management software (AMS): Your AMS platform may be used to facilitate attendee registrations, process payments for tickets, manage event promotions and other communications, and leverage data from your CRM to personalize the event to each member. 
  • Event planning and management tools: Event planning software is designed with specialized tools to simplify event management. Streamline event schedules, set up various ticketing options, and quickly access reports to track your association’s progress. 

Because each system has different capabilities, integrating your technology framework allows you to maximize the impact of each tool. You may need to contact your technology consultant to set up integrations and explore ways to optimize event management processes.

How does technology improve event data management?

To host successful events, associations must understand their members. Carefully tracking event data enables associations to adapt future events to fit members’ preferences and interests, making each event better than the last.

Over time, analyzing the following metrics will enable your association to organize events that draw qualified prospects to its events:

These are four kinds of event metrics associations can track using technology, listed in the text below.
  • Attendance rate: This is the percentage of registrants who attend the event. Measuring attendance rate can reveal gaps in event communications and pinpoint disengaged members. Using attendance rates from multiple events, your association can track how many attendees who attended your previous event also attended the next one (i.e., retention rate).
  • Engagement data: Understand the number of attendees per session or workshop, the average time attendees spend at the event, interactions during Q&A sessions, and more. These specific data points provide more granular insights into members’ interests. Leverage these insights in future campaigns to create personalized marketing messages.
  • Content metrics: See how many times certain pieces of content, like videos or presentations, were downloaded or viewed. Those downloaded many times or viewed after the event are likely the most valuable to members—keep this in mind when planning future events or creating training courses and workshops.
  • Revenue: Track total income from a variety of sources, including ticket and merchandise sales, sponsorships, and exhibitors. Easily reference data about each payment, including time of sale, payment method, and more, to learn and adapt to members’ preferences. For example, if many attendees waited until the last minute to purchase tickets, offer an early bird discount for your next event.

Measure and analyze metrics that align with your goals for the event. If your association holds a webinar to introduce more members to an exclusive course, track how many attendees sign up for the course to measure event success.

What are the benefits of integrating event systems?

When your association can easily access and analyze event data, it can recognize opportunities to effectively engage members, personalize sessions and benefits to their preferences, and identify new event ideas.

Some key advantages of integrating the tools and systems your association uses include:

  • Eliminating data silos. Data silos occur when information is isolated in two or more separate systems, reducing your data’s timeliness and accuracy. Fíonta’s website integration guide echoes this point, explaining that a key benefit of integrating your website with your CRM is that it makes data analysis more manageable by removing the need to duplicate data manually between systems.
  • Identifying trends sooner. Data that is up-to-date reflects current trends in member behaviors, enabling associations to take advantage of opportunities quickly. Recognizing and adapting to trends early gives associations a competitive advantage and opens the door to innovative events and other offerings that attract new members.
  • Expediting decision-making. With real-time access to data, associations can make research-driven decisions about their events on a faster timeline. Over time, this can optimize resource allocation, improve member engagement and retention, and foster continuous improvement.
  • Improving scalability. Integrated systems can accommodate association growth and adapt to evolving needs. In event management, this flexibility makes it possible to process larger volumes of ticket sales, offer events in different formats, and customize forms and workflows accordingly.

These integrations significantly reduce your staff members’ workloads by automating administrative tasks like enrollment and post-event follow-up. This maximizes staff members’ impact by giving them more time to innovate and interact with members.

Before planning your association’s next event, evaluate technology’s role and whether there are any gaps. Are you unable to quickly assess event analytics due to data silos? Or do you need a specialized tool to manage specific needs? Integrate your tools and prioritize scalable solutions so your association can seamlessly track event metrics, cultivate personalized experiences, and optimize future events.

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