Tag: data integration

How Data Integration Can Help Your Events with GDPR Compliance

Posted on by Eventsforce

Integration between your event registration system and other business solutions like your CRM can bring real value to your events. It can help you save time and boost your team’s productivity.  It can improve the way you share critical event information with key people across your organisation. It can also help with GDPR compliance by reducing the risks of a data breach and giving you the control you need to manage things like attendee consent, data deletion and Subject Access Requests (SARs).

Webinar: The Importance of Data Integration in a Post-GDPR World

What is Event Data Integration?

Event planners deal with so many different systems to capture and manage information around their events – from their event management and registration systems to marketing, sales, finance, membership and so on. Having an ecosystem where all these different solutions automatically talk to each other through the use of APIs (Application Programme Interface) is where data integration comes in.

If you haven’t dealt with APIs, then think of it as a piece of software that functions as a door or window.  It’s that mechanism that allows your event management system to share data with your event app.  Or your registration system to share new attendee details with your CRM. Or your event payment transactions with your finance system and so on.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen event planners doing some great things by integrating their data with check-in systems, social media tools and event apps.  However, what we’re seeing more of now is that same concept of data sharing being applied with big back-end business systems. At Eventsforce, we’ve seen a 40% increase in the number of customers working on integration projects over the past year – and we expect this trend to grow significantly as event planners try to improve the way they manage their data in a post-GDPR world.

Why Is Data Integration Important for Event Planners?

The ability to automatically share information between an event management or registration solution like Eventsforce and other business systems like your CRM, marketing, membership and finance can bring you a host of benefits:

Time Savings: Reduce the endless hours you and your team spend manually replicating event data from one system to another

Increased Productivity: Improve productivity by spending less time on admin tasks and focusing your team’s efforts on other aspects of the event.

Data Accuracy: Automatic updates between systems means you’re always relying on the most up-to-date and accurate data – less errors and inconsistencies.

Better Insight: Key people across your organisation have insight to important event data at all times – which helps in making more informed decisions around your events.

Want to learn more about the benefits of data integration? Find out how you can save time, improve data sharing and reduce the risk of a data breach by downloading your copy of ‘The Event Planner’s Guide to Data Integration’ – includes case studies from Schroders, Haymarket, Royal Statistical Society and the Lib Dems.

How Can Data Integration Help with GDPR Compliance?

The EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is coming into effect on May 25th 2018 and is set to radically change the way events collect, process and protect the personal information of people coming to their events.  What this essentially means is that event planners need to be a lot more aware on what personal data they collect from attendees, where this data is stored, who has access to it, what the data is used for and more importantly – how this data is kept safe.  They need to have a lot more control in the way this information is shared and managed across their own organisation – and this is exactly where data integration can bring real value:

Better data management: Integration between your event management system and CRM, for example, ensures any personal information you collect from registration forms and make changes to is automatically updated in your CRM too (and vice versa).  It will give everyone who has access to both systems insight into what personal information you hold from people coming to events, what consent you have and how their data is being managed and by whom – all of which are critical to GDPR compliance.

Read: How GDPR Will Change the Rights of Your Attendees

Improved data security: It’s important to remember that one of the key things that could get organisations into a lot of trouble under GDPR is a data breach.  Integration between your event management solution and other business systems will greatly improve the security of your event data by eliminating security risks associated with email communications, sending unsecure spreadsheets, manual transfers and having printed documents lying around.

Read: The Event Planner’s Guide to Data Security in a Post-GDPR World

To illustrate this in more detail, let’s take a look at a couple of examples:

Example 1: Integration Between Event Management System and CRM

Most organisations have some type of CRM system like Salesforce that manages all their data on their customers and contacts. Integrating your event management system with your CRM ensures the quick, accurate and seamless flow of data between the two systems where updates in one system are automatically reflected in the other.

  • When an attendee makes a change to their profile in your registration system or decides to withdraws marketing consent, the change is automatically updated in your CRM. This ensures your marketing department doesn’t continue sending them emails just because you forgot to inform them of the change.
  • New registrations can automatically be created as leads in your CRM if an attendee has given the right kind of consent – your marketing and sales team are always up to date on how this data can be used.
  • If an attendee asks you to delete all the personal information you hold on them, then any changes in the event system will also be reflected in the CRM (or vice-versa).
  • Data integration between the two system also reduces the risk of a data breach by eliminating the need for exporting registration data to an excel sheet and manually uploading attendee information into your CRM.

Example 2: Integration Between Event Management System and Membership

Most membership organisations, such as associations, use some form of membership system which helps them capture and manage all the data around their members. Integration between your event registration and membership systems means that any changes to records in one system is automatically updated in the other.

  • When a member makes a change to their profile in your registration system or withdraws consent in how you can use their information, the change is also automatically updated in your membership system (and vice versa).
  • Similarly, any renewals or new membership sign-ups are automatically recognised and updated in your registration system. If a non-member attendee becomes a member – then this could potentially change the legal basis for processing their personal information and the events marketing team need to be aware.
  • Membership teams can have real-time insight into the event attendance history of each member – also helps in managing Continual Professional Development (CPD) processes a lot more effectively.
  • If a member asks the membership team to delete their personal information or wants to know what information you hold on them, then all the relevant event-related information is already in your membership system. You also don’t need to export registration data to an excel sheet and manually upload attendee information into your membership data – less chance of data getting into the wrong hands!

Top Considerations for Successful Event Data Integration

If you feel that dealing with APIs and integration models may be somewhat technically challenging – don’t be discouraged.  Yes, your IT guys may be the ones who have to implement the technical aspects of an integration project. However, data integration is a business issue, not a technical one – with business objectives and consequences (like GDPR compliance) that can directly impact your events.

Whatever data integration project you decide to go with, you need to make sure it works for you and your events.  We would recommend you follow these guidelines that identify some of the most common challenges of data integration and outlines the key steps event planners specifically need to take to make sure their integration projects are a success. It includes things like getting all your stakeholders involved, thinking carefully about how you’d like to share event data between different systems, setting time and budgets, testing and so on.  Thinking about all these points will ensure that the whole process will be smoother and a lot more flexible for any changes you want to make in the future.

Conclusion

If you’re not sure where to start, then talk to your event tech provider. Ask them how they can support you on an integration project and how it can help in meeting GDPR requirements.  While many of them provide APIs for their software, many like Eventsforce also have established partnerships and API integration capabilities with tried and tested software solutions. This is helpful as you’ll be able to get things up and running without investing the time and money into any coding work that allows data to be shared between two systems. And if these API relationships don’t exist, it’s not a big deal. Just make sure they understand what it is you want to achieve and that they’re able to support you with the necessary recommendations and workflows that will make your integration projects a success.

Eventsforce offers a comprehensive set of event management solutions, services and expertise that can help support the event planner’s journey to GDPR compliance – from audit trails and consent management to anonymisation of personal information and data security.

For more info, please click here or get in touch: gdpr@eventsforce.com

For more information about Eventsforce and its data integration services, please click here.

 

 

 

4 Ways Corporates Are Using Event Data

Posted on by Eventsforce

Do you want to know what is event technology’s biggest benefit?  Event data.  Actually, it’s actionable event data.  Data you can use to bring real value to your organisation. In fact, according to a new report from the Trade Show News Network, of all the different things that technology has done for event planners over the years, perhaps the most important is generating data they can act on. The report also goes on to say that what is needed now is understanding what that data means and how event organisers can use it to improve their events and attendee experiences.

The Growing Importance of Event Data with Corporates

The focus on data in the corporate events sector is bigger than it’s ever been.  And like the report suggests, this trend is largely due to all the different technology systems we are now using around events – from registration systems and mobile apps to engagement tools, social media and so on. For those of you interested to know which of these tools are having the biggest impact on our industry, have a look at this infographic here:  Ten Most Popular Data Collection Tools for Event Planners.

These tools are helping organisations collect and analyse data in ways that was once unimaginable.  Yet the amount of data we now have in our hands can be overwhelming, to say the least.  One of the most common complaints you’ll hear is that there simply is too much of it. In fact, a recent Eventsforce study found that 33% of corporate event planners felt the vast amount of data they have in their systems meant they didn’t have the time nor resources to do anything useful with it.  The study also found that more than half of event planners found it difficult to consolidate their data as it was spread across so many different systems.  Consequently, 72% of corporate event planners are now planning to make improvements to their data strategies.  Which isn’t surprising.  As the significance of events continues to grow for corporate organisations, so will the importance of managing all the data around these events.

Four Ways Corporates Are Using Data from Events

Event data is incredibly valuable.  The more you make of it and the more you share it across your organisation, the more valuable it becomes.  Have a look at the top four ways event data is being used by corporate organisations today, according to the findings from the ‘How Important is Your Event Data’ study:

1. Measuring Event ROI – A vast majority of 76% of corporate event planners agreed that measuring success was the number one reason they collect data from events. The source of this data varied from registrations and attendance numbers to engagement levels and revenue.  Unsurprisingly, feedback from attendees, sponsors and exhibitors topped the list of metrics corporates are using for measuring event ROI.  Analysing and reporting this kind of data across all the different stakeholders within their organisation helps corporate event planners figure out whether or not the event met expectations and if it was in line with the company’s overall goals and objectives.

2. Planning for Future Events – After determining whether or not an event went well, our study found that 62% of corporates are using the data to identify key lessons and takeaways to determine goals, activities and content for future events.  For example: Organisers are increasingly analysing how their attendees are engaging with sessions by tracking check-in and check-out times and whether or not they used the live polling feature on the event’s mobile app.  This helps them assess popular topics and speakers for their next event. In the same way, knowing that networking was the main reason people came to their last event may push them to introduce a networking tool or have meeting rooms available to facilitate conversations with like-minded attendees.

3. Building Attendee Profiles – Personalisation is also driving a more data-driven approach to the way organisations plan and run events as attendees increasingly expect both the communication and the live experience of the event to be tailored to them in some way. So, it’s no surprise that our study found that 40% of corporates are starting to use data they have on their attendees to create more powerful and targeted events.   Using registration forms to capture attendees’ views and opinions can be a quick and cost-effective way of personalisation. For example, you can ask attendees what topics are of particular interest to them at your upcoming conference. You can then share this information with your partners and ensure the right kind of offer is included in the right delegate pack upon checking-in at the event. This is a lot more personalised than including offers from all your partners as you will almost certainly include things that are of no interest to them.

Looking for an easy and cost-effective way of personalising your attendee’s event experience?  Have a look at this article for some quick ideas: 7 Easy Ways of Using Your Registration Process to Personalise Event Experiences.

4. Generating Leads/Sales – Almost 20% of corporate event planners said they use the data collected from events to generate leads and sales for their organisations.  They know who showed up, what sessions they attended and who they engaged with – all of this data helps their sales teams stay up to date with important lead information. Some corporate organisations are taking a step further by integrating their event management systems with their internal CRM solutions so that the data is automatically updated in real-time across both systems.  The integration allows sales teams to have accurate and immediate insight into who is attending their events and how often they’re engaging with the organisation. It also helps them assess what value event activities are actually brining to the business.

Conclusion

The study results highlight the growing importance of event data in the corporate sector as it brings them new opportunities to engage more closely with customers, prospects and partners – as well as generate new leads for their organisation. With more of a focus on data collection and analysis, it becomes even more important for these organisations to have a clear strategy around data management when it comes to events – one that outlines exactly what data needs to be collected and how it will be used.  Not doing this effectively will almost certainly be a lost opportunity.

Are there any examples you’d like to share of corporate organisations using the data they collect from events?  Let us know – we’d love to hear your views!

Want to stay up to date on all the latest news and trends around event technology?  Sign up to the weekly EventTech Talk Newsletter here!

Industry Insight: The Growing Importance of Data in Events

Posted on by Eventsforce

We all know how important it is to collect and analyse data from our events.  For one, it helps us measure success by analysing things like attendance, engagement and feedback. It helps us figure where we need to make improvements and map out goals, content and activities for our next event. It helps us profile attendees and run more effective and personalised marketing campaigns. It also helps us generate leads or memberships for the organisations we work for.

Yet managing event data is probably one of the most challenging issues that the events sector is facing today. In fact, our study last month revealed that 84% of event planners are finding the whole concept of data management an on-going challenge – with another 70% planning to make improvements to their data strategies over the next year:

  • 30% want to invest more time and resources in data analysis
  • 18% want to merge data by integrating their event tech systems
  • 14% want to invest in new data collection tools
  • 14% want to involve other organisational stakeholders for better data planning

With this in mind, EventTech Talk spoke to some of the industry’s well known event experts to find out what data management trends they’re currently seeing in the market and whether or not data is taking a more prominent role in the way organisations plan, market and manage their events.

Have a look at what they had to say:

Adam Parry, Editor, Event Industry News/Event Tech Live

I do agree that organisations want to start taking a more data-driven approach around their events.  But are they currently? Not entirely.  Our findings are that there is more data available to organisations than ever before – the problem is that there is a challenge to turn this data into action. Some of this is caused by the sheer volume of data.  The data is also being siloed in different locations without the ability to combine it for a top down overview.

There is certainly a trend towards more research and learning being done by organisations to better understand how they can take a more data-driven approach around their events.  We’re also seeing many event tech providers investing in APIs that allow their data to flow into an organisation’s chosen platform in order to get better insight.

Follow Adam Parry on Twitter: @punchtownparry

Tahira Endean, CMP/DES/CED – Event Producer, BC Innovation Council

Are organisations taking a more data-driven approach around their events? Slowly but surely, yes. We have to. Our stakeholders are looking for more quantifiable results. For marketing in particular, we now have so many tools which are both visible to the potential attendee and which work in the background to drive results in terms of registration and ticket sales. It just makes sense to use what is out there. Planning and running is very dependent on the organisation’s overall structure and technology evolution – if you are part of a larger organisation, it’s likely you have systems to tie into as well as use, and your appetite for technology spend will be higher than a boutique agency. Simple economics.

Will this change over the coming few years? Yes – as the ability to integrate more systems becomes less cumbersome and the world becomes ever more data-driven, so will our industry. As organisers demand things like real-time reporting, video fly-throughs of their events before they happen and analytics that prove the value of investment, it will require technology to tell this story in a meaningful way. They will be the ones who will continue to push these trends -and those who are not keeping up will be passed over for someone (or some organisation) who can do more than make a room look good.

Any event which has an app is already using data to create a more personal experience as participants explore their agendas, exhibitors and activities to determine how they will craft their experience. Incentive events which offer a range of reward options allow the ever- important choices and can use this data year over year to create more unique options. Understanding the trends around health, wellness and health apps and tying this into events is making it more personal and these can be woven into the overall experience. Following social media and allowing your event “stars” to be heard and seen is using shared data to make it more personally rewarding through social influence. Many are doing this based on earned knowledge and these are the events that will continue to be strong.

Follow Tahira Endean on Twitter: @TahiraCreates

Corbin Ball, Meetings Technology Speaker/Consultant/Writer, Corbin Ball Associates

Yes – finally, event technology companies are getting up to speed when it comes to the importance of data. The newer, more nimble cloud-based event tech tools are built with robust APIs and can work together more easily. Therefore, data collected from multiple sources can be combined and then sucked back into the attendee (client) profile history to better serve them in the future and improve events in general. Consequently, many companies are building out their analytic tools to more easily manage the data collected.

I think technology companies are especially good at using data effectively to run better and more personalised events. Some examples include Cisco’s Live events, Salesforce’s Dreamforce Conference and the MC2 Conference.

Follow Corbin Ball on Twitter: @corbinball

Would you like to take a more data-driven approach to the way you plan and manage your events?  Learn how organisations like Schroders, Haymarket, The Royal Statistical Society and The Liberal Democrats are making better use of their event data with this free eBook: The Event Planner’s Guide to Data Integration.

George Sirius, CEO, Eventsforce

Aside from performance measurement, the trend for personalisation is also driving a more data-driven approach to the way organisations plan and run their events. Attendees are increasingly expecting both the communication about an event and the live experience to be tailored to them in some way. And this is now possible through the endless choice of data capture tools that help organisations collect and analyse valuable information on their attendees – from registration systems and mobile apps to chatbots, social media and other more sophisticated event management tools.

It is important to note though that the more data you collect from events, the more essential it becomes to have a clear and defined strategy around data management – one that outlines exactly what data needs to be collected and how it will be used. Otherwise it’s a bit of a lost opportunity as you’ll end up with too much data and no time or resources to do anything useful with it.

Another important consideration is data integration.  We’re seeing a number of organisations integrating their tech systems together to consolidate their event data in one place. In fact, we’ve seen a steady increase in the number of customers working on integration projects over the past year and we expect this trend to continue as event planners try to automate their processes and make better use of their event data.

Follow George Sirius on Twitter: @georgesirius

Want to stay up to date on all the latest news and trends around event technology?  Sign up to the weekly EventTech Talk Newsletter here!

 

 

 

How to Collect Valuable Data from Events

Posted on by Eventsforce

At a time when budgets are squeezed and downsizing has become commonplace, having a quantifiable return on events has never been more important.  And technology plays a key role here. Event tech systems help organisations collect important data around their events (registration forms, surveys, apps) and create all sorts of reports that help in measuring event success.  In fact, according to the results of a new Eventsforce study, calculating ROI and measuring success is the number one reason why organisations are collecting data from events.

NEW – The Changing Role of Event Data: New Challenges & Opportunities

The problem, however, is that the amount of data generated around an event can be overwhelming: from website traffic and social media engagement to registration and attendance.  From the quality of your attendees to their feedback and evaluation. From the revenue generated to conversion rates and sales leads. Figuring out what tools you need to measure the data that matters is not as simple as one would hope.

11 Effective Data Collection Tools for Events

There are a number of data collection tools that helps organisations gather and analyse valuable information around their events. But which ones should you use?

Have a look below for a list of some of the most effective event data collection tools based on feedback from more than 120 senior event planners:

1. Registration Systems

Most organisations today use some form of automated system to manage registrations around their events. And for good reason too.  Our study found that registration systems were seen as the most effective data collection tool for measuring event success. As well as default information like names, addresses and contact details of your attendees, registration systems like Eventsforce allow you to collect more personalised data by segmenting your audiences into different categories (attendees, sponsors, exhibitors, speakers, VIPs etc.).  For example, you can find out what proportion of attendees cite education as the primary reason for coming to your event or see which specific sessions your VIPs are most interested in attending. This kind of information can give really valuable insight in the way you plan, manage and evaluate the success of all your events.

2. Online Surveys

Post-event surveys often provide the most meaningful feedback for organisers.  They can help you gather important information on many aspects of your event – including feedback on your speakers, sessions, catering, prices, exhibitors, sponsors, accommodation, travel and more.  Not only does this information help you make any necessary improvements, but more importantly, it can help you figure out whether attendees found value in your event and whether or not they would come again the next time round.

3. Event Management Software

These systems have evolved so much over the last few years that they now sit at the heart of most matters concerning event data.  They act as centralised systems that help you capture, track and report on important real-time information on multiple events, including registrations, attendance, session selections, payments, revenue and profits etc.  Some systems like Eventsforce also do a good job of integrating (or sharing) their data with other business systems like CRM, finance, marketing and membership solutions.  This means event planners can use their event management system to access any relevant data stored in some of these other solutions.  For example, event teams will be able to access all the outstanding attendee payments recorded in their organisation’s finance system, which helps them stay on top of their revenue and cashflow forecasts.

Find out how companies like Schroders, Haymarket, The Liberal Dems and the Royal Statistical Society are using data integration to save time and money around their events. Get your FREE copy of ‘The Event Planner’s Guide to Data Integration’ eBook here.

4. Mobile Apps

Event apps have made the whole process of collecting data at events a whole lot easier – from facilitating live polls and Q&As to networking tools that can give insight on who your attendees are meeting with at your event. The analytic tools on these apps can help identify how attendees are engaging with your event and what they find of interest based on their in-app actions. For example, you’ll be able to see exactly how many people showed interest in certain speakers and sessions, or which exhibitors generated the most buzz.  This will help determine interest areas across different types of attendees – it will also help in things like assessing speakers and deciding whether or not to bring them back the following year.

5. Social Media Tools

Event planners can really maximize their social media outreach by using analytic tools that measure engagement numbers on their social networks, like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.  Using tools like Hootsuite, Oktopost or Mention, you can do things like see which platforms are the most effective, find out what content your followers are sharing with their own networks, what is engaging with them emotionally and what is more educational and so on.  You can also assess conversions such as registrations, sign ups to newsletters, eBook downloads or anything else you want your followers to do.

6. On-Site Systems

Knowing exactly who turned up at your event and what sessions they attended is something every organisation wants to know. The information helps figure out popular topics and sessions. It also helps profile attendees.  On-site systems like the Eventsforce on-site app allow event planners to have instant access to this kind of information at the event itself, which can be very useful. For example, the app can tell you that 30 people have already checked-in to a session and that another 10 are expected to show up. It also shows that the room capacity for that particular session is 50 people.  You can use the information to encourage more people to attend by promotions through digital signage, social media or direct notifications on the event app.

7. Audience Engagement Tools

Solutions like Glisser promote engagement and audience participation at events through the use of smartphones. Using the event app, attendees can put questions across to speakers during sessions, rate other questions and see any presentation slides in real-time. The tool allows you to collect and store all the data for post-event analysis, which can help in identifying topics your attendees are interested in – as well as determine the success or shortcomings of your speakers and presentations.

8. Web Analytics

Understanding how people are interacting with your event website is important. Without this understanding, you won’t know the potential problems your event’s online presence is facing. You also won’t be able to make any meaningful changes. Tools like Google Analytics can help you gather important data that tell you whether or not your marketing efforts are actually turning into results. This can include things like detailed demographics on who is visiting your website, where your visitors and registrations are coming from, which content and pages on your website are the most/least popular, conversation rates and the point at which people are abandoning their registrations.

Read: Why is Google Analytics So Important for Event Marketing

9. Networking Tools

Networking is seen as one of the main reasons why people attend events so it makes sense to facilitate this as much as possible for your attendees. Tools like Meeting Manager are usually incorporated within the registration process or event app and they allow attendees to personalise their agendas, see who is attending that may be of interest to them and set up meetings with people they want to meet.  The data helps planners get insight on how much ‘networking’ is being done at their event and the kind of people, exhibitors or topics your attendees are most interested in.

10. RFID/NFC Tools

Solutions using these technology platforms are doing particularly well at trade shows as they don’t depend on Wi-Fi technology but can track real-time data around visitor footprint on the show floor. One example of this is Poken, which allows attendees to use smart badges to virtually swap business cards and instantly collect any event collateral. It helps exhibitors track exactly who is visiting their booth, which is great in measuring the ROI of participation. It also gives planners insight on how attendees are moving and interacting around the venue – so you can quickly identify hot and cold spots and adjust your marketing and promotional activities accordingly.

11. Chatbots

Chatbots like Concierge EventBot are relatively new in the industry. They let attendees have conversations with event planners (via their artificial intelligence surrogates) using platforms like the event website, Facebook Messenger or the text-messaging feature of their smartphones. Last month, South by Southwest used its own chatbot to provide attendees with automated concierge-style assistance on demand.  More than 16,000 app users submitted 56,000 questions to the bot, asking things like ‘What time is Joe Biden speaking?’ or ‘What hip-hop artists are playing on Wednesday?’ and ‘Where can I find Tacos?’.  As well as personalising the attendee’s event experience, all interactions and notifications on the chatbot are logged and available for analysis and reporting. Standard reports include usage by messaging channel, unique users, messages grouped by topics, notifications, external link clicks, human assisted requests and conversation updates.

Conclusion

All the tools mentioned in this article can be useful for different reasons.  The most important consideration you need to make is figuring out from the very start what data you want to collect from your events and how that data can bring value to your organisation.  Whether that’s the number of people who registered for your event compared to the actual number who attended.  Whether they used your app for engagement or networking.  Once you know the what you want to measure, create a plan that outlines your data strategy and identifies the tools you can use to track, manage and report the data that actually matters.

Are there any other effective data collection tools you’d like to add to this list?  Please share and let us know – we’d love to hear your comments!

Want to be a tech savvy event planner? Sign up to our weekly EventTech Talk Newsletter here and get updates on all the latest technology trends, discussions and debates shaping the events industry today.

 

 

How to Collect Valuable Data from Events

Posted on by Eventsforce

 

how to collect valuable data from events

At a time when budgets are squeezed and downsizing has become commonplace, having a quantifiable return on events has never been more important.  And technology plays a key role here. Event tech systems help organisations collect important data around their events (registration forms, surveys, apps) and create all sorts of reports that help in measuring event success.  In fact, according to the results of a new Eventsforce study, calculating ROI and measuring success is the number one reason why organisations are collecting data from events.

Get more value from your event data with new industry eBook – The Event Planner’s Guide to Good Data Management

The problem, however, is that the amount of data generated around an event can be overwhelming: from website traffic and social media engagement to registration and attendance.  From the quality of your attendees to their feedback and evaluation. From the revenue generated to conversion rates and sales leads. Figuring out what tools you need to measure the data that matters is not as simple as one would hope.

Read: How to Get Value from the Data You Collect from Events

11 Effective Data Collection Tools for Events

There are a number of data collection tools that helps organisations gather and analyse valuable information around their events. But which ones should you use?

Have a look below for a list of some of the most effective event data collection tools based on feedback from more than 120 senior event planners:

1. Registration Systems

Most organisations today use some form of automated system to manage registrations around their events. And for good reason too.  Our study found that registration systems were seen as the most effective data collection tool for measuring event success. As well as default information like names, addresses and contact details of your attendees, registration systems like Eventsforce allow you to collect more personalised data by segmenting your audiences into different categories (attendees, sponsors, exhibitors, speakers, VIPs etc.).  For example, you can find out what proportion of attendees cite education as the primary reason for coming to your event or see which specific sessions your VIPs are most interested in attending. This kind of information can give really valuable insight in the way you plan, manage and evaluate the success of all your events.

2. Event Survey Systems

Post-event surveys often provide the most meaningful feedback for organisers.  They can help you gather important information on many aspects of your event – including feedback on your speakers, sessions, catering, prices, exhibitors, sponsors, accommodation, travel and more.  Not only does this information help you make any necessary improvements, but more importantly, it can help you figure out whether attendees found value in your event and whether or not they would come again the next time round.

3. Event Management Software

These systems have evolved so much over the last few years that they now sit at the heart of most matters concerning event data.  They act as centralised systems that help you capture, track and report on important real-time information on multiple events, including registrations, attendance, session selections, payments, revenue and profits etc.  Some systems like Eventsforce also do a good job of integrating (or sharing) their data with other business systems like CRM, finance, marketing and membership solutions.  This means event planners can use their event management system to access any relevant data stored in some of these other solutions.  For example, event teams will be able to access all the outstanding attendee payments recorded in their organisation’s finance system, which helps them stay on top of their revenue and cashflow forecasts.

Read: 10 Reasons Businesses Invest in Event Management Software

4. Mobile Apps

Event apps have made the whole process of collecting data at events a whole lot easier – from facilitating live polls and Q&As to networking tools that can give insight on who your attendees are meeting with at your event. The analytic tools on these apps can help identify how attendees are engaging with your event and what they find of interest based on their in-app actions. For example, you’ll be able to see exactly how many people showed interest in certain speakers and sessions, or which exhibitors generated the most buzz.  This will help determine interest areas across different types of attendees – it will also help in things like assessing speakers and deciding whether or not to bring them back the following year.

5. Social Media Tools

Event planners can really maximize their social media outreach by using analytic tools that measure engagement numbers on their social networks, like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.  Using tools like Hootsuite, Oktopost or Mention, you can do things like see which platforms are the most effective, find out what content your followers are sharing with their own networks, what is engaging with them emotionally and what is more educational and so on.  You can also assess conversions such as registrations, sign ups to newsletters, eBook downloads or anything else you want your followers to do.

6. On-Site Systems

Knowing exactly who turned up at your event and what sessions they attended is something every organisation wants to know. The information helps figure out popular topics and sessions. It also helps profile attendees.  On-site systems like the Eventsforce on-site app allow event planners to have instant access to this kind of information at the event itself, which can be very useful. For example, the app can tell you that 30 people have already checked-in to a session and that another 10 are expected to show up. It also shows that the room capacity for that particular session is 50 people.  You can use the information to encourage more people to attend by promotions through digital signage, social media or direct notifications on the event app.

7. Audience Engagement Tools

Solutions like Glisser promote engagement and audience participation at events through the use of smartphones. Using the event app, attendees can put questions across to speakers during sessions, rate other questions and see any presentation slides in real-time. The tool allows you to collect and store all the data for post-event analysis, which can help in identifying topics your attendees are interested in – as well as determine the success or shortcomings of your speakers and presentations.

New eBook: Engage your attendees by creating the event experiences they way!  Find out how by getting a copy of The Event Planner’s Guide to Personalisation.

8. Web Analytics

Understanding how people are interacting with your event website is important. Without this understanding, you won’t know the potential problems your event’s online presence is facing. You also won’t be able to make any meaningful changes. Tools like Google Analytics can help you gather important data that tell you whether or not your marketing efforts are actually turning into results. This can include things like detailed demographics on who is visiting your website, where your visitors and registrations are coming from, which content and pages on your website are the most/least popular, conversation rates and the point at which people are abandoning their registrations.

Read: Why is Google Analytics So Important for Event Marketing

9. Networking Tools

Networking is seen as one of the main reasons why people attend events so it makes sense to facilitate this as much as possible for your attendees. Tools like Meeting Manager are usually incorporated within the registration process or event app and they allow attendees to personalise their agendas, see who is attending that may be of interest to them and set up meetings with people they want to meet.  The data helps planners get insight on how much ‘networking’ is being done at their event and the kind of people, exhibitors or topics your attendees are most interested in.

10. RFID/NFC Tools

Solutions using these technology platforms are doing particularly well at trade shows as they don’t depend on Wi-Fi technology but can track real-time data around visitor footprint on the show floor. One example of this is Poken, which allows attendees to use smart badges to virtually swap business cards and instantly collect any event collateral. It helps exhibitors track exactly who is visiting their booth, which is great in measuring the ROI of participation. It also gives planners insight on how attendees are moving and interacting around the venue – so you can quickly identify hot and cold spots and adjust your marketing and promotional activities accordingly.

11. Chatbots

Chatbots like Concierge EventBot are relatively new in the industry. They let attendees have conversations with event planners (via their artificial intelligence surrogates) using platforms like the event website, Facebook Messenger or the text-messaging feature of their smartphones. Last month, South by Southwest used its own chatbot to provide attendees with automated concierge-style assistance on demand.  More than 16,000 app users submitted 56,000 questions to the bot, asking things like ‘What time is Joe Biden speaking?’ or ‘What hip-hop artists are playing on Wednesday?’ and ‘Where can I find Tacos?’.  As well as personalising the attendee’s event experience, all interactions and notifications on the chatbot are logged and available for analysis and reporting. Standard reports include usage by messaging channel, unique users, messages grouped by topics, notifications, external link clicks, human assisted requests and conversation updates.

Conclusion

All the tools mentioned in this article can be useful for different reasons.  The most important consideration you need to make is figuring out from the very start what data you want to collect from your events and how that data can bring value to your organisation.  Whether that’s the number of people who registered for your event compared to the actual number who attended.  Whether they used your app for engagement or networking.  Once you know the what you want to measure, create a plan that outlines your data strategy and identifies the tools you can use to track, manage and report the data that actually matters.

Are there any other effective data collection tools you’d like to add to this list?  Please share and let us know – we’d love to hear your comments!

Want to be a tech savvy event planner? Sign up to our weekly EventTech Talk Newsletter here and get updates on all the latest technology trends, discussions and debates shaping the events industry today.

 

 

How Companies Are Saving Time and Money Around Their Events

Posted on by Eventsforce

untitled-design-72Technology is always pushing the boundaries on how we plan and run our events. From simple registration systems to sophisticated event management tools. From social media, live polling and event apps to the use of new technologies like GPS fencing and augmented reality.

All these different technologies help us collect and manage valuable data around our events. And we all know how valuable this data can be. The more you make of it and the more you share it across your organisation, the more valuable it will become.

But the value of event data isn’t just limited to what we collect and analyse from all these different systems we use around our events. As event planners, we deal with many other business systems that help us manage information and processes around our events.  It may be the customer data we have in our CRM solutions that helps us personalize attendee experiences. Or it may be the details of all the outstanding payments recorded in our finance system that can help us forecast revenue and cashflow. Or a list of all the transfer and hotel requirements we’ve recorded in our travel and accommodation booking systems.

The event data in these systems is just as important as the data we have in our registration systems or event apps.  Yet all this data has traditionally sat in silos as it has been difficult to share information between them and all the other systems we use around our events. However, recent advancements in communication tools like APIs has made the process of data sharing a whole lot easier. And event planners are starting to see that having an event data ecosystem where all the different systems automatically talk to each other can bring them all sorts of benefits.

What Our Research Found

A recent joint study by Event Industry News and Eventsforce found that 60% of event planners are already integrating their event data with their organisations’ business systems, with CRMs, corporate websites solutions and finance coming up top.

The industry seems to recognize the importance of having an integrated system with 75% of respondents claiming it can have a significant impact on the hours spent doing admin work like data entry, reporting and chasing departments for relevant information. Other highlighted benefits include better data sharing, increased revenue and improved data security.

The study also found that factors such as cost, time and issues in managing multiple IT suppliers were seen as the top barriers to this type of data integration. Yet despite these challenges, only 25% of respondents felt integration was not a priority for them moving forwards.

Key Considerations

So, how do you decide which type of integration is right for your organisation?

The key thing here is that there isn’t one type of integration that’s right for everyone.  Each organisation is different and each system is different.

What you need to ask instead is – what is my business need for integration?  Can it help solve a particular problem around my events?  Do you want to spend less time chasing updates with your finance team? Or do you want to cut out all the work you do copying data from one system to another?  Or maybe you want more synergy between your marketing and event campaigns?

All of these issues (and many more) can be addressed by integrating your event data with some of your organisation’s other business systems.

Have a look below at why companies like Schroders, Haymarket and RSS decided to integrate their event data, how they went about it and the impact it had in the way they manage their events:

schroders1. Schroders: Events and CRM Integration

Schroders is a global asset management company running hundreds of meetings and conferences each year.

The Challenge:

As most of Schroder’s events target their customers and investor contacts around the world, invitation lists were usually compiled by account managers who owned these client relationships. The lists would be put together using the company’s Salesforce CRM solution and would then have to be manually uploaded to the Eventsforce event management system, which would track and manage registrations around each event.

The problem was that as account managers had no access to the data in Eventsforce, the events team would spend a lot of time providing them with regular attendance updates and reports.  All the registration data recorded in Eventsforce needed to be manually uploaded into the CRM system – which was time-consuming, inefficient and prone to error. It also meant that the sales team didn’t have real-time visibility on which of their contacts were attending their events or which events and sessions they had engaged with in the past.

The Solution:

Schroders decided to integrate Eventsforce with the company’s Salesforce CRM system in an effort to improve data sharing between the two departments. The integration allows the events team to automatically pull invitation lists from Salesforce directly into Eventsforce, without the need for manual uploads.  More importantly, any updates around invitations or registrations that are recorded in Eventsforce are instantly updated within the CRM system in real-time.

The integration saves the events team a lot of time transferring data between the two systems, chasing responses and collating reports – helping them focus their efforts on other aspects of the events.

On the other hand, account managers have access to the most up-to-date information on how many of their contacts are attending an upcoming event. It also helps them decide whether or not they need to encourage people to register (instead of the less personal follow-up call from the events team) or if they want to arrange meet ups before or at the event.

“The integration between our event management and CRM systems has helped us see what value our event activities are providing to our organisation.  With better data sharing between the two departments, we have also saved a considerable amount of time collating reports and transferring data between the two systems,” said Viki Stapleton, Events Manager, Schroders.

haymarket-logo2. Haymarket:  Events and Finance Integration

As one of the largest media and publishing companies in the UK, Haymarket has a portfolio 120 events that gather over 20,000 attendees each year – from award ceremonies and gala dinners to conferences and breakfast briefings.

The Challenge:

The company deals with an incredibly high volume of payment transactions around its events – so having the ability to track funds was a top priority for the events team. Yet the system they had in place was inefficient and didn’t give them the financial insight they required.

Each night, a list of payment transactions recorded in the events system would be sent to the company’s accounting system via file transfer. As the data flow only flowed one way between the two systems, the events team didn’t have a real-time view of when the finance department issued invoices and when payments were actually coming in.

As a result, a lot of time was wasted chasing the finance team for the latest updates. The daily file transfer also meant there was always a gap between the time attendees completed their registrations and the time it took the accounts team to issue their invoices.

The Solution:

The events team wanted to take control of the entire invoicing process and decided to address the issue by integrating its events and finance systems together. Now, each time an attendee completes an online registration form or submits an award entry, their financial information is automatically sent to the finance system, however invoices are generated directly through the events system.

This allows the events team to easily chase payments before the start date of each event by pulling up automatic reports on outstanding invoices and contacting attendees through one quick email.  The integration has not only simplified processes but has also meant that most of its events can kick off with very few outstanding payments.

Not sure if data integration is right for you?  Get a FREE copy of the ‘Save Time & Do More with Your Event Data’ eBook – a comprehensive easy-to-read guide from Event Industry News and Eventsforce that gives you everything you need to know about integrating your event data with other business systems (CRM, marketing, finance, membership).

“The integration between the two systems has been critical to our cashflow. It has really given us the visibility we need regarding the financial situation of each event and has also helped us reduce a lot of administrative work around managing attendee payments,” said Carla Jones, head of event operations and client services, Haymarket Events.

 

rss-logo3. The Royal Statistical Society (RSS):  Events and Membership Integration

As one of the leading organisations promoting the importance of data and statistics around the word, RSS has an active events portfolio running around 100 meetings and events for members and non-members each year.

The Challenge:

The organisation has integrated its events and membership systems together so that it can provide automatic membership check as part of its online event registration process. The integration makes sure that RSS event attendees are going through the right registration channels and non-members are not paying discounted member fees.

The Solution:

Each time an attendee selects the ‘member’ box on the registration form, their email address is automatically checked against the RSS membership system. If the membership is valid, attendees can continue with their registrations – otherwise the system will ask them to try again.

Click to get in touchRSS Conferences and Events Manager, Paul Gentry, commented: “Without integration between the two systems, non-members could have registered as members as we wouldn’t have had the time or resources to manually check the status of the hundreds of members that attend our events each year.  But with this system in place, we are confident that the membership status of each attendee is accurate and more importantly, everyone is paying the correct registration fee.”

The integration secures a key revenue stream for RSS and it also saves the events team considerable time chasing payments from those people who may have otherwise registered under the wrong category.

It also helps RSS address queries around memberships a lot more quickly.  So, if a particular membership has lapsed, a notice can show up on the registration form advising users to contact the membership services team.

Infographic: Save Time and Do MORE with Your Event Data

Posted on by Eventsforce

infographic-do-more-with-your-event-dataTechnology is always pushing the boundaries on how we plan and run our events. From the use of simple registration systems to complex event management tools. From check-in solutions and event apps to new technologies like iBeacons and augmented reality. As the significance of technology continues to grow for the events industry, so does the importance of managing all the data we get from our events.

Event data is incredibly valuable – the more you make of that data and the more you share it across your organisation, the more valuable it becomes. Over the last few years, event planners have done some great things by integrating (or connecting) their event data with applications like payment gateways, scanning tools and more recently, of course, event apps. Today, more and more organisations are starting to apply this same concept of data sharing with big back-end business systems – from CRM and finance to marketing, travel booking and membership solutions.

How does data integration help event planners?

Event planners deal with so many different systems to capture and manage information around their events – from their event management and ticketing systems to marketing, sales, finance, membership and so on. Putting all this data together where all the different systems automatically talk to each other is where integration comes in. In fact, having this kind of data ecosystem saves event planners an enormous amount of time around data entry and other admin tasks. It also makes sure that people have real-time access to critical and accurate event information at all times

Last month, Eventsforce and Event Industry News conducted a research study with over 200 senior event planners to take a look at the current uptake of data integration in the industry and the results were very interesting. The study found that 60% of organisations have already integrated their event data with back end systems with CRMs, corporate websites and finance solutions coming up top.

What did our study results say were the key benefits of data integration?

Time savings, data accuracy and improved productivity were seen as the top three benefits of data integration with 75% of event planners saying integration had a significant impact on the hours spent doing admin work like data entry, reporting and chasing departments for relevant information.  However, factors such as cost, time and the challenges of managing multiple IT suppliers were seen as the top barriers to integration.

The study also found that that despite the overwhelming 75% of event planners who want to integrate their event data, a third felt uncertain of where to start.  With this in mind, Event Industry News and Eventsforce decided to create a new ebook that provides event planners with a comprehensive easy-to-read guide on data integration.  Download it for free here and let us know what you think.

For a more comprehensive look at the findings from the Event Industry News and Eventsforce ‘Do More with Your Event Data’ study, please download the infographic below:

infographic_can-you-do-more-with-your-event-data_final

Interested in integrating your event data with back end systems?  Have a look at our API and integration offerings here or get in touch by filing in our enquiry form here.