Category: Data Management

Future Trends in Hybrid

Posted on by Eventsforce

 

The staying power of hybrid is undeniable. While the events industry is now seeing a welcome resurgence of live, in-person gatherings, it’s clear that hybrid — thanks to its inherent agility as an event format — has become a trusted tool of planners in a relatively short space of time. That same agility means that hybrid is actively being shaped to yield to the on-going needs — and even to the future demands —  of industry professionals and the audiences they serve. The future of hybrid is already in the making and it’s time to explore the broad trends and themes that will continue to shape this format as we move forward.

Micro-events and Data:

When it comes to future developments in hybrid, the most obvious is its continued popularity within the wider event sector, a trend that shows no sign of slowing. And yet, there are some tangible observations to be made in how planners are actively adapting hybrid to meet their current needs while also incorporating it into their onward plans. First among these is the trending popularity of micro-events and specifically, how planners are actively utilising hybrid as a tool to create these smaller gatherings. In 2023 — with the budgets of so many frozen and costs rising across the board — the use of hybrid technology to create these bespoke events is an upward trend, a way for planners to fine-tune their reach to create the kinds of intimate experiences that their audiences really want.

Creating an appealing event is one thing, but gauging the outcome of that event is quite something else. For planners, only hard data offers clear, concise, and tangible insight into audience engagement and, therefore, into the overall success of their event. From the initial registration period to details collected during the course of or even after a gathering, hybrid events — where information flows in via emails, social posts, landing pages, apps, etc. — are a data goldmine for event planners. With its various digital moving parts, hybrid offers a way for planners to not only simply collect static information, but also to track and analyse metrics in order to build and refine their future events for their future audience.

The Endless Flow of Tech into the Hybrid Experience

The very nature of the format itself means that technology is an inseparable part of planning, building, and successfully executing a hybrid event. As UK Tech News highlights, the future of hybrid is very closely intertwined with the onward development of technology. Whether planners are seeking out increasingly sophisticated means of facilitating virtual audience engagement, wanting to expedite event registration via the power of facial recognition, or harnessing powerful software to allow them to analyse data at a granular level, there’s no corner of a hybrid event that is not influenced by the advancement of technology. What’s more — among both planners and attendees of hybrid events — the obvious interest in and engagement with new technologies is ever-increasing. This constant demand feeds into the development of new technology and this, of course, flows into and informs the future of the hybrid event experience.

As an agile force in the events industry, the power of hybrid is indisputable. While the precise trends and themes that will shape the format are yet to be known, it’s clear that the future of hybrid is already unfolding.

 

 

Want to learn more about hybrid events?

Is hybrid really the future of the events industry? It seems so! An Eventsforce research study with 200+ event planners shows that the concept of hybrid can be daunting for many.  They can be perceived as complex and costly.  And even with the right budgets and resources to fund a hybrid event strategy, many organisers feel unsure on where to start.

Download our eBook,  put together to give organisers a good overview on hybrid events and how they can go about addressing some of their key concerns.

Industry Survey: The View of the 2023 Planner

Posted on by Eventsforce

 

We can’t predict the future, but with your participation, we can get a better idea of the plans and considerations that event planners may have as we move towards 2023.

Here’s your chance to have your say. Our new survey is targeted at marketing, meeting, and event planners and is an opportunity for you to tell us your views and — most importantly — our chance to listen.

Your contribution will be part of a whitepaper which will be shared at the end of the year. And as a thank you for your time, for each response received, we’ll plant a tree via Ecologi, our carbon-offsetting project.

 

Eventsforce and EVENTIT partner to shape the future of the MICE Community

Posted on by Eventsforce

At a time when many industry professionals are planning their event portfolios for the year ahead, and navigating a challenging and unpredictable global event environment, Eventsforce is delighted to announce the continued partnership with EVENTIT — helping them connect, inspire, and educate event professionals across the UK and beyond.

EVENTIT is dedicated to providing event professionals with the opportunity to acquire information, ideas, education, and networking opportunities throughout the year. With a commitment to powering the future of events, Eventsforce is ideally placed to help them achieve this, offering a comprehensive suite of next-generation event management solutions for live, virtual, and hybrid experiences.

Choosing the Right Event-tech Partner

We are delighted that EVENTIT chose to extend and strengthen its partnership with Eventsforce. Having already embraced “Eventsforce Awards” to simplify the management of award evenings, making the submission and judging process simpler and quicker, EVENTIT will now rely on additional Eventsforce solutions to help them meet their organisational and event goals.

“Eventsforce Registration” will allow the streamlining of the registration experience for in-person events. EVENTIT will have access to tailored experiences with personalised agendas, pricing, packages, and branded websites, as well as automation of event communications, improved agenda management, and contactless check-in using “Eventsforce Kiosk.”

EVENTIT will also benefit from Eventsforce’s latest registration and ticketing platform, “Eventsforce Groups & Ticketing”, which will allow them to promote events, sell tickets, and manage all their attendees in one place.

Positive Partnerships Driving the Events Industry Forward

Ian Webb, head of business development for Eventsforce adds, “I am incredibly proud that the partnership with EVENTIT will be continuing in 2022. As the industry continues to recover, we’re delighted to provide EVENTIT with our full range of tools, allowing them to take a flexible approach to their in-person and virtual events as they stand firmly behind the events industry.”

Judith Wilson, Director of EVENTIT said ‘Having worked with Ian and the Eventsforce team over a number of years we are delighted that they have come on board to support our full programme of events over the next 12 months. Eventsforce are continually developing their technology, keeping abreast of the growing demands of their clients but never losing sight of the need to keep things simple and intuitive for the end user and maintaining their amazing customer training and service. They really are an extension of our team!’

Eventsforce Next-Generation Platform Set to Transform Group Bookings for Events

Posted on by Eventsforce

Eventsforce Groups & Ticketing

Denver, Colorado – 29th September 2021 – Eventsforce has launched today a new ticketing and registration platform that is set to revolutionize the whole process of managing groups around events.  Built on Eventsforce’s next generation of event management solutions, the ‘Groups & Ticketing’ system is designed to help organizers sell more tickets and increase revenue from group bookings.  It also offers a unique and innovative group invitation tool that allows group bookers to secure places at events a lot more quickly.

“Groups & Ticketing is an exciting new platform as it is one of the only booking tools that allows people to buy group tickets but invite individual group members to complete their own registration details,” said George Sirius, CEO of Eventsforce.  “This means both organizers and group bookers no longer have to chase people for information before securing bookings for an event.  It speeds up the sales cycle, it’s efficient and gives individuals in the group a lot more flexibility to personalize their own event experiences.”

Group bookers have the choice of providing registration details themselves or use the solution’s unique group invitation tool that allows group members to complete their own registration information. They can also assign group members to sessions (individually or in bulk), amend registrations, track incomplete forms and buy additional ticketed items too.

With group attendees, the platform gives them a lot more choice on how they want to experience an event. They can register their details and choose their own sessions and activities without sharing any personal information with the group.  They can manage their own opt-ins and preferences which helps with data protection compliance like the EU GDPR. The system also makes it easy for them to edit details, make changes to schedules and check-in to events without the constraints of the group.

“The platform has been developed to solve some of the biggest problems organizers typically deal with when managing groups for events like conferences, festivals, workshops and community gatherings. It cuts out a big chunk of admin work and helps them secure money from group bookings a lot more quickly. More importantly, it gives them the tools to manage group experiences just as easily as individual attendees,” continued Sirius.

The new platform also supports organizers that need a fast and modern registration solution for non-group events – whether virtual, in-person or hybrid.  A simple set-up process ensures organizers can launch their events quickly, while a WordPress widget allows them to set up ticketing on multiple websites. The platform also offers a lot of flexibility in creating packages and ticketed items for virtual and in-person attendees – you can change prices, offers and availability in minutes to increase conversions and meet demand.

Organizers can also benefit from improved data management. All registration data is automatically synched with Eventsforce mobile apps, check-in tools and the VCD virtual event platform, making it easier to manage all virtual and in-person attendee data under one roof.  All event data can also be easily connected to existing tech stacks via Zapier, along with hundreds of other popular apps on the platform.

Join our exclusive launch webinar next week and see ‘Eventsforce Groups & Ticketing’ in action – sign up today!

 

New Research Shows 1 in 2 Event Planners Struggling with Volume of Data Collected from Virtual Events

Posted on by Eventsforce

The changing role of event data

London, UK – 16th June 2021 – A new research study has found that running virtual events is making data management a lot more complicated for 50% of event planners – with the majority collecting more data today than ever before.  The results also show that an overwhelming 82% of organizers feel that good data practices are going to be critical in running successful hybrid events.

The research study, titled ‘The Changing Role of Event Data – New Challenges & Opportunities’ was conducted by Eventsforce in May 2021 and is based on the views of 200+ event professionals in the U.S. and the UK, representing corporates, associations, government, educational institutions and event management agencies.

The Impact of Virtual

One of the main objectives of the research study was to investigate what impact virtual events have had in the way organizers deal with their event data.  The issue of volume tops the list with 46% of event planners saying they collect more data from virtual events than in-person events. Other problems include difficulties in getting proper insight as data sits on different systems (40%) – as well as new concerns around securing attendee data (36%).  Another 34% feel they do not have the time or resources to do anything useful with all the data they collect from these events.

When asked how they use the data collected from virtual events – measuring success (74%) and making improvements to future events (73%) were the most popular answers. Nearly two-thirds of respondents (61%) are also using data to create the more detailed post-event reports that sponsors and exhibitors want from virtual events. And 40% are looking at their data to improve their understanding of online attendee behavior and apply those learnings to hybrid events.

The Impact of Hybrid

The research study also looks at current trends in the industry to see what role hybrid will play in the way organizers deal with their data.  The findings show that 75% of organizers are planning on running hybrid events in 2021-2022 – with the majority of those taking place in fall this year.  More interestingly, an overwhelming 82% feel that a good data management strategy is going to become even more important for them with hybrid events.

“Data management was always an issue for event planners.  But it seems with virtual, it is more complicated.  And it is not something that will become any easier with hybrid either,” said George Sirius, CEO of Eventsforce. “Hybrid events combine two different experiences which means organizers are going to end up dealing with a lot more engagement data than they would in a virtual or in-person only setting. And despite many saying they don’t have the resources to focus on data properly – hybrid models will force them to spend a lot more time collating, analyzing and reporting all the data they collect from events.”

New Opportunities and Next Steps

Despite the challenges, the research findings show that data management is high on the priority list for 94% of organizers as they recognize the benefits it can bring to their events. In terms of new opportunities, being able to run more engaging events tops the list at 67% – while another 59% feel it would result in happier attendees, sponsors and exhibitors.   Other benefits include running better hybrid events (50%), improved quality of attendee data (42%) and helping them become more competitive in the current climate (31%).

The findings also show that 73% of event planners are currently taking some important steps to improve their data strategy in 2021-2022.  A majority of 47% will be investing more time in analyzing their data, while another 36% will be cleaning up their data as they have more than they need.  Other concerns that event planners want to address are around data security, analytics and tech stack integrations.  More than 1 in 3 want to make improvements to the way they protect their attendee data – and a similar proportion want to invest in new technology platforms that can help them help them more with analytics.

“One of the biggest challenges organizers are currently dealing with is lack of insight as their data sits on so many different systems.  And hybrid will further complicate that. As well as recognizing the need to dedicate more resources in managing their data – organizers should start thinking a little differently about event technology too.  They can make things easier by using tools that integrate easily with their existing tech stack or look at event management platforms that allow them to manage all their virtual and in-person data in one place.”

“As well as saving time in putting everything together, these platforms can really help planners understand how people are engaging with their events and create the reports their stakeholders need too.  More importantly, they give that big picture overview they need on ALL their events – whether hybrid, virtual or in-person – which will be essential for success and growth,” concluded Sirius.

For a more comprehensive look at the results of ‘The Changing Role of Event Data – New Challenges & Opportunities’ research study, please download the full report.

 

Top Cyber Safety Measures for Your Virtual Events

Posted on by Eventsforce

Top Cyber Safety Measures for Your Virtual Events

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual events have become very popular. They are one of the most effective (and only) ways for conferences, concerts, meetings, and other events to occur safely while transmission remains a risk. Unfortunately, however, it seems cyber criminals have also picked up on the popularity of virtual events and have  begun exploiting them as a method to breach the security of event participants.

Many Zoom users, for example, have experienced “Zoom bombing” in recent months, where random, unwarranted meeting attendees hijack calls to mess with or disrupt its participants.

As an event planner, it is vital to pay close attention to these types of security issues and follow the kind of safety tips that keep your virtual events safe and secure for attendees.

Related eBook: The event planner’s guide to data security

Here are four tips to keep your virtual events cyber safe:

1) Control Who Can Access the Event

One of the first rules of thumb for virtual events is knowing exactly who is participating. Just like you would for an in-person event, it’s important to understand how many people will be attending, who those people are, and also prevent the attendance of unwanted or out-of-place attendees.

In order to do this effectively, there are a few proactive measures you can take that will coincide with planning the event and sharing the details to attendees. One of these is ensuring you manage registrations for the event. Whether you opt to use a dedicated registration system or one that’s integrated with your virtual platform, making pre-registration necessary will help to control who is able to attend the event and will limit risk of hijacked events.

With that said, be sure to only share the online event link once an attendee is registered. Do not create public events and share the web link across social media channels, advertisements, or other publicity channels, as this can often encourage unsolicited and malicious participation. Some platforms allow you to use a password or other authentication requirement for attendees to access the event. However, avoid using a Personal Meeting ID (PMI) for events open to those outside the organisation. A PMI is basically one continuous meeting, so once an attendee has access to your PMI, they can enter any of your future meetings. Be sure to instead use a random meeting ID.

Once your event has begun, lock the event at a specific and clearly-stated time to restrict unwarranted access—just be sure to communicate this time to your registered attendees well in advance!

On-Demand Webinar: How to choose a virtual event platform

2) Communicate Cyber Safety Best Practices to Attendees 

Studies have found that approximately 90% of data breaches occur due to human error, so it’s also important to communicate cyber safety best practices with your attendees too.

Many of these precautions are quite simple to act upon – but are often forgotten by those who aren’t made aware of them. You may find it helpful to send out a reminder email including these safety measures to your participants ahead of the event time.

One important precaution to include is to use a private Wi-Fi network, rather than a public one. Public Wi-Fi networks, which are often sources of free Wi-Fi at shopping malls, hotels or restaurants, often make it easy for hackers to position themselves between you and the access point. Though many people don’t realise the dangers of connecting to public Wi-Fi networks, it’s important to know that anything you do on a public network isn’t secure.

It’s also important to encourage participants to download and be up-to-date on antivirus software and/or firewalls. Antivirus software is a program or set of programs that are designed to prevent, search for, detect, and remove software viruses and other malicious software, whereas a firewall can help protect your network by filtering traffic and blocking outsiders from gaining unauthorised access to the private data on your computer. These tools can be incredibly useful in detecting and preventing cyber threats.

Finally, discourage participants from accepting any unsolicited chat requests from people with suspicious profiles during the event, especially if they ask for any sort of personal or company-related data or information. Should these types of instances occur, have participants immediately report the occurrence to the event leader or meeting host.

3) Strengthen Network Security Ahead of Time

Network security is another issue when running virtual events. As CSO Online defines it, “Network security is the practice of preventing and protecting against unauthorised intrusion into corporate networks… it complements endpoint security, which focuses on individual devices; network security instead focuses on how those devices interact, and on the connective tissue between them.”

To put it simply, network security focuses on the protection, detection, and reaction as it relates to company security. This includes protecting and securing external network access, which can help secure devices, regardless of location. This is especially important for virtual events, which likely have participants logging in from all over the country or even the globe.

Network security methods include access control (where the administrator can block unauthorised users and devices from accessing your network), mobile device and wireless security, as well as data loss prevention.

Make sure that the organisation hosting the event has secure network options in place, which will help to ensure event security on all fronts.

4) Deter and Manage Any Disruptive Activity

Although the tips we’ve mentioned so far should help to prevent key safety concerns throughout the course of your virtual event, it is important that cyber security is continuously monitored throughout the course of the event to ensure safety has not been compromised.

Your meeting host or a designated participant should monitor the active list of attendees to monitor for any unwarranted or unknown attendees that aren’t reflected on your event’s registration list.

Depending on your event, consider disabling features that allow attendees to present their desktops or interject without being called upon. This can greatly reduce the ability of an inadvertent or malicious disruption.

Finally – if at all possible – try to limit event participation. Large events can more easily attract malicious participants intent on sabotaging your event and can also be more difficult to monitor for suspicious activity.

Conclusion

Although such incidents are rare, these are some of the risks that event creators should consider before their events – especially as virtual events (or events with some virtual element) are going to be around for some time. Use the tips above to ensure your events’ safety and keep you, your participants, and the organisations involved safe from cyber threats.

Enjoyed reading this post?  We have plenty of COVID-19 related resources on our blog which event planners may find useful right now. You can also sign up to our weekly newsletter for tips, updates and research reports on all the latest event trends.

 

 

 

8 Reasons Conferences Invest in Abstract Management Software

Posted on by Eventsforce

Why conferences and events invest in abstract management software

Whether you are running a multi-day virtual conference or making plans for your association’s annual meeting next year, you know how critical it is for you to find great topics and speakers. It can have a huge impact on registrations and an even bigger impact on how well your event is perceived.  However, managing speaker and abstract submissions for your conference is complicated enough when everything goes according to plan, let alone when it’s rushed, or hasn’t been carefully thought through.

This is where abstract management systems can help.

If you are not yet using an automated platform, here are 10 reasons why it’s good to invest in the software and increase your event engagement and ROI.

1. Increase the Volume of Submissions

If you want to increase abstract and speaker submissions for your virtual or in-person conference, then you need a system that makes it easier for people to submit content. If the process is complicated, then it’s only going to put people off. If you rely on handwritten notes or spreadsheets that quickly go out of date, it’s going to take more of your valuable time and resources and is unlikely to give you the results that you want.

If you use a dedicated abstract management system a lot of the pain goes away and opportunities start to appear. You can source great speakers and content for your programme with mobile-responsive tools that make it quick and easy for people to submit their abstracts online wherever they are.

For example, some systems like Eventsforce Abstracts allow you to send personalised invitations to engage audiences and encourage papers. Easy-to-navigate forms with clear submission guidelines simply the process for people – while allowing them to submit multiple abstracts at the same. They also have tools that simplify the process of making complex, scientific abstract submissions (images, tables and formulae). These are just some of the things you can do to increase the volume of submissions.

2. Improve the Quality of Your Event Content

The abstract process is important because it offers the opportunity to showcase new research in the event’s relevant field. By sourcing cutting-edge and diverse research, you’re more likely to attract the right attendees and get them to come again the following year.

By using abstract management software, you greatly increase the chances of attracting more submissions and then you can decide which are the best. After all, by using the software it’s easy for you to set your own abstract topics and submission parameters. You can also customise and capture information in the format you want. This makes comparing abstracts less time consuming. Employing consistency through use of the system will help improve the quality of the content too.

3. Engage More Abstract Reviewers  

To attract the right speakers, conference organisers typically ask members of their community to submit proposals to find the most interesting and relevant content for their event.  Once this call for abstracts (or papers) is sent out, the submissions are then reviewed by a team of reviewers whose aim is to select those presentations that promise to deliver a high-quality programme to attendees.

Reviewers are absolutely critical to your success. You can make sure that they are engaged and doing the best possible job for you by making their life easier through using an abstract management system. For example, you can assign topics and tracks they’re responsible for. You can give them a wide range of scoring tools.  You can also make it easy for them to review submissions securely online – anytime and on any device. Plus you can give your reviewers the flexibility to save their work and return to it at a later date.

4. Monitor Progress in Real-Time

Monitoring progress in real time is something that the software can help you with. You can stay on top of how many abstracts are coming in, which submissions are incomplete and which stream areas are doing better than others.  Having such a system will identify potential problem areas and help you assess the best way of addressing them. For example, too many submissions in one topic area (over others) may indicate that the topic description is too broad. Based on this information, you may decide to sub-categorise and create new sub-topics instead.

5. Save Time Managing Conference Programmes

Using abstract management software can greatly ease your time burden and make you more productive, by reducing your workload and making the process a lot easier to manage.

For example, with Eventsforce Abstracts, you can use an intelligent programme management tool to link selected abstracts to sessions and build your event’s agenda without the need for complex spreadsheets. You can make quick changes to abstracts, presentation time slots, speakers and room allocations and publish them automatically on event websites, registration forms and virtual event platforms. This provides you with peace of mind that the information attendees see is always accurate and up-to-date.

The same applies with publishing abstract books and posters.  The system will allow you to easily export all your data to your abstract book or poster publishers through an open API. This ensures that your publishers will always see the most up-to-date information. It gives you the flexibility to make changes as needed and from wherever you happen to be.

By automating important time-consuming tasks, the technology will help you focus your efforts on the more critical aspects such as calling for abstracts and briefing reviewers.

6. Improve Your Results by Analysing Data   

When data is so important to help you: learn what’s working, what appeals to delegates and what’s on topic, it is essential that you have software that helps you with your decision making. Data helps you refine and improve your future events.

Abstract management solutions allow you to build a central database across all your events so that you can get the insight you need for event success. You can discover more about popular topics, reviewers, speakers and attendees with reports on abstracts per topic, registrations, session selections, attendance, revenue and more.

Data can be monitored across multiple events or used for making year-on year comparisons so that you can easily track the growth of your events over time. These reporting tools can save organisers a lot of time too.

7. Meet GDPR Requirements  

Another business reason for investing in an abstract management solution is to ensure that you meet data protection requirements such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).The EU legislation came into effect in May 2018 and has since had a profound effect in the way organisations collect, process and look after peoples’ personal information.

Consequently, event organisers have become a lot more aware of what personal data they collect, where they store this data, what they use it for and more importantly, how this data is kept safe. All of this applies to the process of abstract management. After all, you are dealing with the personal details of submitters and reviewers. Using the right kind of solution can make a big difference to the security of your event data and provides you with the assurance that you are compliant with the requirements.

eBook: The Event Planner’s Guide to GDPR Compliance

8. It’s Not Just About the Tech

If the software you decide on is going to save you time and money, you need to make sure that it delivers on that promise. If your board members are asking if the system is helping you meet the objectives your organisation has set, you need to have an answer. Otherwise, where’s the ROI?  Remember, you don’t want technology to create more work for you. You want it to make things easier. You want it to cut admin work and save you time. You want it to be flexible enough to meet your changing needs – today and tomorrow.

But it’s not just about technology. It’s about people too. Whatever system you decide to use, it is important to choose a tech vendor that you are happy to work with. A vendor that, provides the consultancy and support you and your team need around your events. Having a technology ‘partner’ who understands your goals, listens to your feedback and works closely alongside you around all your events will also ensure you always get the most out of your technology investment.

Are you looking to integrate abstracts into your virtual conference programme?  Our solutions can simplify the whole process of submitting, reviewing and publishing abstracts and posters. Get in touch with the team and see how we can help.