Bridging the Event Technology Gap - App Evaluation Tips for Event Planners
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Today’s meeting tech landscape is changing faster than ever before with spending expected to exceed $30B for the first time in 2015. In this presentation we look at event technology from the planner’s point of view where the market is just now starting to evolve.
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Bridging the Event Technology Gap - App Evaluation Tips for Event Planners
- 2. Technology Landscape for Meeting and Event Planners Bridging the Meeting-Tech Gap
- 3. Trade Shows & Conferences Marketing Events Corporate Meetings Training/Development Programs Incentive Programs & Retreats Festivals, Social & Experiential Events 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 3
- 4. Why We Need To Innovate 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 4
- 5. A planner’s job Invite or Staff Schedule Set Budgets Assign Tasks Allocate Resources Manage Documents Communicate Analyze & Report 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 5
- 6. Challenges facing planners 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 6 Do More With Less In A Shorter Time Window Contribute Strategically
- 7. Projected increase in live event attendance 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 7
- 8. But with less budget no change or a decrease in budget 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 8
- 9. The new norm: Planning on the fly Longer Lead Times Shorter Lead Times No Change 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 9
- 10. Ideal vs. Actual time to plan variance between ideal and actual 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 10
- 11. Aligning meetings to business strategy CEOs: How important is it to consider ROI when planning an event? Not Important 17% Somewhat Important 19% Vitally Important Very 29% Important 35% 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 11
- 12. Where Technology Meets Meeting Planning (or doesn’t yet) 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 12
- 13. A planner’s job - revisited Assign Staff Create Schedules Set Budgets Assign Tasks Allocate Resources Manage Documents Communicate Analyze 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 13
- 14. The Event Tech Gap 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 14
- 15. Are you in the Event Tech Gap? 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 15
- 16. Meeting tech hasn’t focused on us... Production, Promotion, Logistics Engagement, Analysis, Conversion Event Planning and Management for the Planner 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 16
- 17. ...Until Now! $28.7 $29.6 $30.5 $31.9 $33.0 $32.0 $31.0 $30.0 $29.0 $28.0 $27.0 2013 2014 2015 2016 Billions (USD) Event Management Software Market Size 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 17
- 18. “Event apps are making planners better at their jobs.” 2014 - eventuosity, LLC.
- 19. Evaluating Meeting Technology and Securing Budget 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 19
- 20. Applications for meeting technology Automate to Improve Efficiency 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 20 Calculate and Track ROI Standardize and Centralize Meet Technology Expectations Improve Controls to Mitigate Risk Collaborate and Inform
- 21. How to determine if it’s a planner’s tool Reduce planning 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 21 time + Optimize resources + Let me work more strategically + Improve attendee or staff experience = Event ROI
- 22. Vendors should have their ROI story straight 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 22
- 23. Get a free trial with real data 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 23
- 24. Look for cloud-based and mobile tools In the office On the road At the venue 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 24
- 25. Get buy-in from other event stakeholders Meeting tech 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 25 Sales CRM Acctg Expenses
- 26. Embed it into your meetings policy 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 26
- 27. Find and share metrics (or a lack of) 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 27
- 28. Some suggested tools and apps Registration Attendee Management Attendee Engagement Informational and Marketing Post-Event Follow Up E2E Planning and Management
- 29. References Active Network’s Event Trends (2013) Active Network “The Connected Event” (2013) AMEX Global Meetings and Events Forecast (2014) AMEX Global Meetings and Events Forecast (2015) Frost & Sullivan Global Event Management SW Market Report (Nov. 2013) Guidebook’s State of Mobile Event Technology Annual Report (Oct. 2014) IML Event Industry Global Market Research (Dec. 2013) MPI Meetings Outlook (Winter 2014) MPI Meetings Outlook (Spring 2014) MPI NJ “OnSite” (Sept./Oct. 2014) 2014 - eventuosity, LLC. 29
- 30. www.eventuosity.com /company/eventuosity @eventuosity eventuosityapp Justin Panzer, Founder & CEO +1 (443) 538-6465 justin.panzer@eventuosity.com 3220 Market Street, Suite 369 Philadelphia, PA 19104 +EventuosityApp /user/eventuosity
Editor's Notes
- Today’s meeting tech landscape is changing faster than ever before with spending expected to exceed $30B for the first time in 2015. In this presentation we look at event technology from the planner’s point of view where the market is just now starting to evolve.
- We’ll talk about meetings and events somewhat interchangeably. Just know that we are thinking of all of the above (and more). That tends to make sense because many event planners find themselves either involved in multiple event types over the course of their careers or have components of each of these in their programs.
- If we talk about “event technology” we are talking about a very broad space that is not always well-defined. For planners, there are still not a lot of dedicated solutions available to them but there are technology solutions all around us and the expectation is that we are part of this landscape. It’s important for planners to be included in the event-tech discussion given the incredibly important role we play in making programs successful.
- No matter which of the previous event types we’re talking about, the planner’s job involves many different things. Budgeting, staffing, reporting and managing are all part of an event planner’s job. Generally, event planners are being asked to do it all.
- But in today’s world, they’re being asked to do it all in the face of some significant challenges. With continued economic uncertainty, the best news we have gotten is that event budgets are being cut less, not that they’re growing. Yet we’re still being asked to maintain a certain level of creativity and return with fewer dollars and less staff. And when budgets become a concern, the time that it takes to get approval for events is much longer. Combine that with fewer dedicated event staff that now have to work on one event bumping right into the next and the planning windows become dramatically shorter. Finally, today’s Big Data mentality in which everything can be measured and analyzed, planners must justify events by showing a link to strategic business objectives. It’s no longer acceptable to point to anecdotal data about last year’s trade show for justification to go this year. “Knowing we need to be there” is not enough.
- Let’s take a look at these market dynamics in a bit more detail. Earlier this year, MPI’s meetings outlook asked planners to provide some insight on the state of the market. 53% of those asked expected an increase in live event attendance. Likewise, a recent AMEX study indicated similar numbers. Actual attendance figures support this with meetings attendance having risen over the last year and estimated 4%.
- But we’re trying to accomodate the growth in meetings attendance with less budget – or at least budgets that are harder to secure. Even though most planners expect improvements in the economy, it is a cautious optimism. In the MPI report, 57% of planners are expecting their budgets to decrease or stay the same as their organizations wait out the economy. Whether budgets are increasing, decreasing or staying the same, almost 50% of planners say that budgeting is their single biggest planning challenge. But it’s more than just spending that this translates to. Are we doing fewer events by combining several together – meaning more pieces and people? Are we doing the same number of events but trying to shorten their length? What about trying to find new ways to coordinate and manage travel? Are you now a travel agent too?
- The difficulty in securing budgets is one influencer of planning lead time. A lot of companies these days are waiting for the previous quarter’s financial results before fully approving an event. Other things impacting the amount of lead time we have to plan include less meeting and event staff or more stringent review policies are delaying the start to most event planning.
- The result is that overall we are losing about 41% of the time we believe is ideal to plan an event. The variance between ideal planning time and actual planning time cited by meeting planners is 40.7%. In the case of annual events that we plan for all year, this can be close to 5 months of lost planning time.
- We still need to meet with clients, prospects and employees. As I mentioned earlier, even with advances in virtual and hybrid meeting technology, there is still some skepticism as to whether it can generate the return we need from our events. An interesting fact regarding virtual meetings as a potential for live meeting replacement. – Several recent studies have looked into this and while virtual meetings can reduce costs and travel, they are not yet shown to produce the business outcomes needed to replace live interaction – especialy sales. And that’s really the key here. In a big data world where we’re able to measure just about everything we’re expected to say more than “it’s important that we’re there.” We’re all constantly reminded of the need to demonstrate event ROI. The trick is, how do we capture the right data and calculate it?
- So how do planner’s address these complex issues with technology?
- Just to recall, we’re being asked to do all of these things. We are everything to everyone.
- But while the environment has changed tremendously, the tools we’ve been given to do our jobs have not. Spreadsheets, inbox management, to-do lists and cloud storage are great for some things. They’re not great for creating a collaborative, integrated and intelligent planning environment that fits an events lifecycle. What we end up with are manual, disconnected processes that we typically rely on because we don’t have anything better despite all of the great event-tech on either side of this. We can this the event/meeting tech gap.
- To know if you’re in the event tech gap, think about some of the things that have happened to you in your planning life that no amount of organization or attention to detail were able to prevent. How many times has someone forgotten the assignment they were given or missed a request for information that you sent by email? Some of them are small things, some are big, but they’re all potential time and money sinks that jeopardize the success of your event.
- The reason these things still happen to even the best of event planners is that despite over $29B spent on event technology in 2014, Frost and Sullivan confirmed what we all know: “Planners are still using manual processes”. Event tech has focused on either the front or back end of the event lifecycle but not in the middle where all of the planning and management work is happening. There are finally solutions coming to market to fill this white space but it may be hard to evaluate what is there for you as even the biggest of the event tech market leaders has no more than ~15% share of this incredibly fragmented market.
- Help really is coming for plannerrs. The event technology market is expected to reach $32B by 2016. A large percentage of that growth is likely to come from solutions for parts of the events process other than registration, ticketing, speaker management, and travel – areas of the market that are already saturated.
- And as the expectation grows among attendees that each event has an app for them to be informed and engaged, the planners’ market is recognizing the ability for technology to improve their experience as well. Experts across the meetings landscape are suggesting that we are right in the middle of a dramatic increase in the availability of tools to help with the planning process.
- So there are tools to help. But what are they? How do you know if they’re right for your specific planning requirements. How do you get the necessary approval for budget to acquire those tools? These are some interesting topics to look into in more detail. In Guidebook’s recent event-tech study, 91% of planners say adoption of mobile event apps has produced a positive ROI (and relatively quickly)... ...but they have trouble securing budget initially. 64% say it is Somewhat Difficult to secure budget for a new event tech tool. 20% say it is Very Difficult. So let’s look at some ways to evaluate event tech and move through the approval process.
- There are a lot of things that event technology can do for planners. Quite simply, “event apps are making planners better at their jobs (Guidebook). If you find tools that can do one or more of these things for you then you are on the right path. Event technology has been shown in many recent reports to: Assist in achieving lowering costs and increasing to returns to meet ROI objectives while also helping planners actually track (Active Networks) Event management sw supports the process through automation and helps improve efficiency, while driving event costs down (Frost an Sullivan) Important for planners to educate their internal clients on the importance of planning ahead to get better rates on things like hotels (MPI Spring 2014) Many meeting planners embed technology throughout meetings, instead of using one technology to address a single challenge (MPI Winter 2014) 9% say turnover of their event staff is an issue. Standardize! (Guidebook) Standardize, implement controls, central database (AMEX)
- ROI is, of course, our most important metric. But ROI can be a difficult term to accurately define. Truthfully, that’s because it means something different in different contexts. But you’re still going to need to show ROI for your situation if you want to justify the purchase of event technology. And you should evaluate offerings based on whether they really are providing you with the ROI you need. Look for these four things to determine if there is a potential return on your event tech investment.
- And once you get to the point of evaluating a specific technology tool, think about the following. Does the vendor really know what your business is all about and what challenges your facing? Is their event planning app fill a real need or is it a solution looking for problem?
- Are you able to get a free trial with real data from one of your events? That’s the only true way to evaluate a product because it let’s you use it in a real-world, practical way as part of your process.
- Events don’t happen in your office. So your event tech should not constrain you to a single device like a laptop. Make sure your event apps work anywhere you are going to need them.
- A major need in event planning is to better control what is traditionally one of the least managed spending areas. Talk to the accounting and financial people about what tools they use and what they’d like to see from you to get a better handle on event data. Help them understand how event tech will benefit them as well as you.
- There is dramatic rise in meetings-related policies and controls that are being implemented to ensure that meetings are executed in line with strategic objecties. This is not really a surprise given all of the market conditions that we’ve talked about. If you have a meetings policy, it’s important to demonstrate that your event-tech fits in and improves adherence to it. If you don’t have one, this is a great opportunity to help your organization create one. It shows foresight and initiative.
- Look at where you have metrics. More importantly, look at where you don’t. Sometimes showing what you aren’t able to get from your current events process is as powerful as showing everything that you know.
- There is a growing number of event apps that are available for planners. Those shown above are just some that may be of interest. Eventuosity, LLC does not have any relation to the third party apps above nor do we make any claims regarding their performance.