Tag: event marketing

Infographic: Are Your Events Ready for GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is one of the most important changes facing our industry today as it is set to radically change the way events globally collect, process and protect the personal information of people in the EU.  But with just a few months to go until the May 2018 deadline, how ready are we really for Europe’s new data protection law?

Read: The Event Planner’s Guide to GDPR Compliance

Eventsforce conducted a research study with 120 event professionals earlier this month to assess the industry’s current state of ‘readiness’ for GDPR.  The study investigates where event planners stand in terms of their understanding of the new legislation, what steps they’re taking to get ready for the new requirements and the kind of challenges and opportunities they feel GDPR will bring to their organisations in the long-run.

Have a look at some of the key findings from the ‘Are Your Events Ready for GDPR’ study:

  • 2 in 3 event planners don’t understand all the requirements of GDPR despite 60% holding responsibility for compliance
  • Nearly 90% are already underway with their GDPR preparations but many concerned about meeting the May 2018 deadline
  • Creating awareness, running data audits and updating consent boxes on registration forms and websites are key steps event planners are currently undertaking
  • Data security will become a bigger priority for 81% of event planners, yet less than 30% have updated their data security practices or prepared for a data breach (Download eBook: The Event Planner’s Guide to Data Security in a Post-GDPR World‘)
  • Only 41% of event planners say their event technology systems meet the new GDPR requirements
  • 45% are concerned they will lose a large chunk of their marketing mailing lists as a result of GDPR
  • Perceived long-term benefits of GDPR include better data management, transparency with suppliers and improved reputation with attendees

For a more comprehensive look at the results of the ‘Are Your Event Ready for GDPR’ research study, please see the infographic below:


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Ask the Experts: What Impact will GDPR have on Meetings and Events?

We’ve been talking a lot about GDPR lately.  And for good reason too.  One of the biggest shake ups in data protection and privacy laws for the past 20 years, the new EU General Data Protection Regulation will come into effect in May 2018 and completely change the way events collect and handle the personal information of European attendees.  But how important are these changes actually going to be for event planners? Is GDPR going to make things like data-driven marketing and personalisation a lot more difficult? Or will the new regulation bring on some new opportunities?


Are your events ready for GDPR? Get your FREE eBook: ‘The Event Planner’s Guide to GDPR Compliance’, and learn what impact Europe’s new data protection regulation will have on event marketing, data management and event technology – as well as what steps event planners need to take to meet the new requirements.


EventTech Talk spoke to a number of well-known event experts to find out what they think about GDPR and what kind of impact it will have on the industry.  Here’s what they had to say:

Adam Parry, Editor, Event Industry News

GDPR will have a huge impact on event marketers next year, and this in my opinion is a good thing.  As an industry we have been very lazy, relying on email marketing with outdated and uncheck cleansed data, I see it myself getting invites to events from previous roles and or having never attended the event in the first place.

We will have to work smarter as event marketers but there are tools and solutions out there to help us and not make it a case of having to work harder.  Let’s take for example retargeting technology, it’s not new but hugely under-utilised by our industry as a way of remarking our event to web visitors that didn’t sign up to attend.

Follow Adam Parry on Twitter: @punchtownparry

Michael Owen, CEO, EventGenuity

I’m surprised by how little is known about GDPR by those in business events and associations sector in the United States. Of those who are familiar with the regulation, many forego learning more, as they think it applies only to organisations based in the EU. With headlines about breaches of personal data like Equifax as frequent as the sunrise, one would think at least that curiosity would drive everyone to fully understand the ramifications.

How great will the impact be in non-EU organisations? It’s hard to tell right away. At a recent session, one gent said, “I’m not going to worry about it, because it will be hard to enforce.” Hard? Yes. Impossible? No. Once non-EU enforcement is figured out, and the first massive fine occurs, I suspect interest will spike.

Misconceptions place barriers to learning: “We don’t have offices or hold meetings in the EU”, etc. For business events and associations who host attendees have members or subscribers from the EU for whom they hold data, there is liability.

It’s not all bad news, though. There is opportunity to improve internal business processes. The requirements force organisations to become more, well, organised. Isn’t it a good thing to be more aware of what personal data one possesses, where it resides, how it is processed and protected? Compliance could well reduce financial and reputational risk, and build trust with customers, members, attendees across the board. This outcome would provide more accurate data sets and more meaningful relationships amongst organisations and valued customers.

Follow Michael Owen on Twitter: @EventGenuity


Did you know that more than 75% of event planners think that data security is a much bigger priority for them because of GDPR? Find out what you should do to prevent your attendee data from getting lost, stolen or compromised by getting your copy of ‘The Event Planner’s Guide to Data Security in a Post-GDPR World‘.


Brandt Krueger, Speaker & Consultant, Event Technology Consulting

I have extremely mixed feelings when it comes to GDPR, or for that matter, a lot of attempts to regulate the Internet. While companies clearly need to be held accountable for the securing of our personal data (I’m looking at you, Equifax), and I’m in favour of data transparency – most of these attempts at legislation are reactionary and only deal with new problems as they arise.

Much of the GDPR regulations surround consent. While noble in cause, we already give our consent to all kinds of things without thinking twice about it. We click through license agreements and software permission screens without reading them, and every website in the EU has to let me know that it’s using cookies. How many times have you stopped and thought, “Oh my, I don’t know about this cookie thing. I guess I’ll just shut down my browser and walk away.” Nope, you click on it as quickly as possible to just make the pop-up go away.

I worry that we’re going to be generating more and more of these types of screens, where people will be forced to check off 37 boxes of consent, just to find out where their next hosted buyer appointment is. Customers do need to be made aware of what information they’re providing, and exactly what is being gathered about them, but I have severe concerns about the implementation. This will be the most immediate impact on the event industry – how technology companies deal with the informed consent GDPR seems to demand. I predict lots of splash screens and checkboxes that absolutely nobody will read, along with signage next to fishbowl drawings at expos that, you guessed it, nobody will read.

On the positive side, I do think it’s important to require companies to provide a high level of transparency when it comes to other people’s data, though again I’m hesitant about the implementation. Does a dump of data into a CSV count as an accurate representation of your data? And again, the different types of data that are being gathered can be difficult to provide in a way that makes sense to the person making the request. Because it’s not just about the tangible, easy to understand, data like names and addresses – it’s often about the relationships, the links, the connections between that data that’s important. Knowing your name, address, and what magazines you subscribe to are three separate data points, but their interconnectivity can be enormously revealing in ways people would be shocked to discover.

Follow Brandt Krueger on Twitter: @BrandtKrueger

Kevin Iwamoto, Senior Consultant, GoldSpring Consulting

GDPR will have a major impact on the way companies and their event suppliers manage their events in 2018 and beyond.  All meetings and events that handle registrant-attendee personal information and the ways they handle, manage, and purge that information will have to change.  The currently liberal ways that attendee personal information is shared will also have to change.  GDPR will at least temporarily hinder how attendee data and registration lists are currently used.  The proliferation of technology platforms, mobile apps, etc. that currently use personal data for marketing campaigns and for determining things like Return on Engagement (ROE) and Return on Objectives (ROO) will need to be reviewed and changed to avoid major EU fines for GDPR violations.

Read: 5 questions to ask event tech providers about GDPR

All companies and their event supplier partners should be doing a personal data audit now to discover the multiple areas that will need to be modified to become GDPR compliant and to avoid the potential for massive fines.  Unfortunately, so many companies remain in the dark and in denial about their GDPR complicity requirements.

Follow Kevin Iwamoto on Twitter: @KevinIwamoto

Paul Cook, Writer & Researcher/Creator of Specialised Content Consultancy, Planet Planit

GDPR will have an impact on the events industry as it will on every sector. How big that impact is will depend on how many changes organisations will need to make in the way they look after personal data currently. For those companies that have strict policies in place already it will have less of an effect.

Having said that, marketing under the new regulation is a key area that will impact all businesses. Right now, the business has the power. Next May, the businesses effectively lose that power as it will be the individual that is in control. Consent to receive marketing messages will be a key challenge for a lot of companies and now is the time to sort out the data bases and work on privacy notices.  No longer will companies be able to say we will send your information to interested third parties. They will need to state who those companies are. Consent needs to be recorded and updated on a regular basis.

Does it bring new opportunities? Yes absolutely. One big benefit is that companies will be able to get closer to their clients and prospects. They will need to re-think some of their existing strategies for marketing but for the companies that understand how to make the most of the regulation they will gain trust and a bigger market share. After all, who wants to deal with a company that doesn’t care about whether your identity can be stolen or not?

Follow Paul Cook on Twitter: @planetplanitbiz

George Sirius, CEO, Eventsforce

GDPR is going to change the mindset of event planners when it comes to deciding what data they should collect from attendees, how they use that data for things like marketing campaigns and what they need to do to keep that data safe.  Current practices around getting consent in using this information and sharing it with other parties like event sponsors, for example, will land organisers into big trouble after May 2018.  The regulation is also going to force planners to play a bigger role in securing all the data they collect from attendees, as well as making sure that third party suppliers like agencies and event tech suppliers are also compliant to GDPR.   Again, not doing so can result in big fines.  And that is one of the big things about GDPR.  Compared to current data protection regulations, non-compliance comes with serious financial consequences. People aren’t fully aware of their rights yet, but they will be.  And once they are, the enquiries will start to come.  As will the lawsuits – especially if an event suffers a data breach.

Read: Will GDPR change the rights of your attendees?

But it’s not all bad news. I think GDPR will bring about some big opportunities for our industry too.  Event planners will need to think and act very differently in the way they talk to attendees – and be a lot more honest in the way they manage their information too.  Those organisations that show they’re dealing with personal data in a transparent and secure way and have respect for the privacy of individuals will succeed in building a new level of trust.  And this will be key in deciding which organisations people choose to deal with in the future.

Follow George Sirius on Twitter: @georgesirius

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

GDPR is a sweeping set of privacy regulations that will affect any event with European attendees or members regardless of where the event takes place. Non-compliance penalties are stiff so it will be imperative that the planners work with their IT departments and technology providers to ensure that the new regulations are met.

Follow Corbin Ball on Twitter: @corbinball

Are your events ready for GDPR? Get your FREE eBook: ‘The Event Planner’s Guide to GDPR Compliance’, and learn what impact Europe’s new data protection regulation will have on event marketing, data management and event technology – as well as what steps event planners need to take now to get ready for the May 2018 deadline.

 

 

 

 

 

How to Get More Registrations with Event Invites

Invitations are still one of the most important things to get right when planning a successful event. They help set the tone of an event and are often one of the first opportunities to make a good impression with potential attendees. A new research study from Eventsforce, however, has found that one of the biggest struggles event planners face around invitations is getting enough people to open their invites, take action and sign up.

So, what are the elements of an invite that compel people to either visit your website or register to your event?  And what are the metrics you need to keep in mind when measuring the success of your invitation campaigns?

Research Study: Power of Event Invitations

The Eventsforce ‘Power of Event Invitations’ study was conducted with more than 100 senior event professionals across the US and the UK to investigate the latest trends around event invitations.  One of the research survey’s key findings revealed the top challenges of managing invites, including:

1) Not getting enough people to click on Call-to-Action (CTA) links

2) Difficulty in measuring success of invitation campaigns

3) Creating attractive, responsive, HTML invites

4) Deciding the best times for sending out invites

5) Difficulty in using personalisation

The study also investigated the elements of an invite that event planners felt were the most effective in getting results.  Top of the list were event highlights (agenda, keynote speakers etc), followed by overall design and layout, and the main copy of the invite.  Have a look at this infographic to get a full overview of the findings of the ‘Power of Event Invitations’ study.

5 Ways to Make Event Invitations More Effective

Thanks to advancements in technology, putting together great-looking event invites are no longer something you need to give to a specialist designer.  Most event management solutions offer design tools and templates that make the whole process a lot easier for the event planner.  But the look and feel of your invite is not the only thing that matters.  You have to remember that people make quick conclusions about an event through the invitation and it’s important to make a good impression from the very beginning.

Have a look at the five key considerations you need to make to get your event invites to work:

1) Save-the-Date Emails

Before we go into the different elements of the invite itself, it’s worth nothing the important role save-the-date emails play in the whole event invitation process.  The Eventsforce study found that 57% of event planners use them to create excitement and anticipation around their events.   They are a great way of letting people know about your upcoming event and mark it in their calendars prior to the invite.

2) Strong Subject Lines

If you’re using email invitations, then you’ll know the importance of the subject line.   With hundreds of other emails fighting for your potential attendee’s limited attention, it’s important to make then stand out to get them opened. Without a doubt, subject lines that are personally addressed, do the best. If you don’t have names handy, then the use of pronounces like ‘we’ and ‘you/your’ also appeal to readers. Subject lines that feature dates, or urgency seem to perform better than those that don’t. And while we don’t encourage the over-use of exclamation marks, a little extra energy in subject lines is known to impact the open rates of email invites.

3) Event Highlights & Value Proposition

Along with the value proposition of your event (the bit that explains why someone should sign up), details like the keynote speaker, the agenda and venue highlights are seen by 88% of event planners as the most important aspects of an invite that gets them results.  Showcase your event’s main selling point and think about that one thing that will grab readers’ attention. Get to the point quickly and always focus on the event’s key message.  Make sure that people who get your invite can scan it and quickly understand what the event is about and find out when and where it’s happening.  More importantly, they need to know how they can register through prominently displayed CTA buttons that links through to your event’s website or registration page.


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4) Simple Design & Layout

Though a beautiful-looking invite isn’t everything, design and layout is seen as one of the most important aspects of a successful invitation campaign by 69% of event planners.  Think about the user journey and stick to a design that’s clean and simple. Given that most people will only scan your emails, it’s always a good idea to break up your invite into several small sections that address different things about your event (speakers, venue and timings, speakers, agendas, how to register etc).  This helps them better digest all the different bits of information and get excited about what’s on offer. Also, a lot of people will look at your email invite through mobile devices, so you need to think about how it’s going to look and work on different screens.

5) Attractive Visuals & Video

It’s important to use strong visuals to get the most out of your event invites. Think about the visual draw of your event that isn’t necessarily the subject matter. Use pictures of your event’s location and venue or your guest speaker. Avoid stock shots or generic images of people speaking at podiums – use images from your past events instead.  Video is another option that’s becoming more and more popular – though our research study found that only 8% of event planners are currently using video in their event invites.  Just remember that videos can give your attendees a different opportunity to learn more about your event and they also do a good job of conveying the personality of your organisation.  They’re also a lot more engaging than text – Forrester Research claims that a minute of video can be equivalent to 1.8 million words!

6) Personalisation

We touched on this a little earlier when we looked at the importance of email subject lines.  Our study found that a majority 73% of event planners personalise the content of their event invitations.   The most popular method was the use of personal names in subject lines and the main body of the invite – followed by personalised content for each audience segment.  About 22% of respondents also use personalisation based on information they already hold on potential attendees.

Personalising invitations is simple and effective.  By tailoring them as much as possible to the invitee, you can really make an impact and increase the chances of them attending. So, if you know your invitation list is largely made up of corporates and academics, then create two separate versions of the same invite with each one outlining the sessions that would be of interest to them.  Remember – both audiences have a vested interest in attending your event but have very different goals and very different ideas on why your event matters.  And if you’re inviting people who have attended some of your past events, then use the information you have on them to create personalised links within your invite. By clicking on the link, your returning attendees will automatically log into a registration form that is already pre-populated with all their relevant information.

7) A/B Testing

As great as it would be to find the ‘silver bullet’ that gets people to open up your invites and click through to sign up, the sad truth is that there is no magical formula. Enter the importance of A/B testing – the method of comparing two versions of the event invitation against each other to determine which one performs better. The study found that 36% of event planners are already doing this by using different versions of an invite to test the effectiveness of different subject lines, body copy, CTA buttons, personalised content, timings and so on.   Doing this kind of testing on a regular basis can offer important performance insight that can make or break the success of your invitation campaigns.

8) Performance Measurement

Knowing how effective your invitations have been in driving registrations for your event is incredibly important.  Whether you do A/B testing or not, it is important to look at some key metrics that will help you assess what’s working and what’s not.  Look at open rates, click-through rates and actual conversion rates (the number of people that registered as a result of opening your email invite). Our survey, for example, found that Tuesdays and Wednesdays mornings were seen as the best times for sending out invites by a majority of event planners.   The survey also found that the average open rate for invites is between 11-30% and the average click-through-rate is around 10%.  Having this information on hand can identify the areas that you can focus on improving in subsequent reminder emails or invitations for your next event.

Conclusion

Email invitations are an incredibly important part of planning and marketing an event. They are a great way of creating interest in your event, driving registrations and getting attendees through the door.  It is important to note though, what works for one event may not for the other. Don’t forget about A/B testing and always measure the performance of your results. Thinking about all these points when planning your next invite will bring you one step closer to getting it right and making your event a success.


Eventsforce can help organisations create branded, mobile responsive invitations that use personalised links to maximise registrations around events.  To find out more, click here or get in touch for a demo or a chat on +44 (0) 207 785 6997.

 

 

5 Great Office Christmas Party Ideas – Part Two

The office Christmas party is a perfect way to boost morale and return the favour of your hardworking staff.  It’s also a great way to spend some time outside of the office environment and enjoy the festive time of year!

Although it may seem tough to find an event or activity that will keep everyone happy, it could be easier than you think. Have a look below for some versatile and unique office Christmas event ideas in London from corporate event experts, Team Tactics.

Read: 5 Great Office Christmas Party Ideas – Part One

Don’t Underestimate Importance of a Successful Christmas Event

While some may regard the annual Christmas event as more of a ‘jolly’ than a corporate event, if your Christmas party is a success, you’ll soon be reaping the rewards. Christmas parties offer the chance to engage staff in a unique way. Creating a relaxed and sociable atmosphere at an event is vital for employees to build a rapport with each other outside of work and potentially create long term benefits for your business.

Team Dynamic – Many Christmas parties now incorporate an element of team building to ensure the event unites the whole team.

Boost Morale – Events outside of the office allows colleagues to bond, which helps them to work more efficiently together.

Engaging – A successful office Christmas party needs to encourage engagement. Interactive activities can help with this by encouraging a more personable environment for colleagues to connect.

Appreciation – It is the perfect time of year to thank your team for all their hard work throughout the year. Staff are more likely to return the favour with increased team motivation, loyalty to the business and the drive to achieve results.

Think Outside the Office This Christmas!

1) The Great Christmas Gingerbread Challenge

Teams have the chance to take part in their very own Great British Bake Off inspired Christmas event. It is biscuit week this week in an ultimate Christmas edition of the popular TV show. Colleagues are put to the test as teams are tasked with baking and designing the perfect gingerbread house that is both professional in appearance and outstanding in taste. Who in your team could be the star baker? With professional chefs on hand to guide participants through the process along with Christmas hats, could it get any more festive than the Great Christmas Gingerbread Challenge?  

2) The Crystmas Maze

London at Christmas transforms itself into a magical winter wonderland. Teams will explore the capital as a team, completing a festive frenzy of challenges and tasks designed for optimum engagement and enjoyment. The Crystmas Maze has a nostalgic twist as teams are tested with a mixture of mental, physical and mystery challenges dotted around four themed zones, all based on the TV show Crystal Maze. Teams are armed with the latest iPad mini complete with an interactive map which helps participants explore the various hotspots within the Industrial, Medieval, Ocean & Futuristic zones.

This is a race against time to score as many points as possible to reach the top of the live leader board. With hilarious festive challenges including photo and video challenges, this is a light-hearted event with a difference.

3) London Sports Partython

For the party animal in us all, London Sports Partython is the liveliest party in town! Combine socialising with competition as a group up of to 60 travel around central London in a luxurious party bus. Groups will stop off at two different purpose-built venues to enjoy a fun activity, guests can choose between Crazy Golf, Darts or Table Tennis. The ‘Partython Master’ will ensure every group has the best possible time.

4) Christmas Disco Party

Ignite the Christmas spirit this December and dance the night away with this brilliant interactive game. Guests are treated to an evening of immersive entertainment, where teams are brought together in a glittering night of musical mayhem. Teams will get kitted out with chunky gold chains, handle-bar moustaches, novelty Christmas hats amongst a selection of festive disco ‘bling’. From festive quizzes to karaoke and dance-offs, teams take part in an unforgettable evening full of surprises.

5) Luxury Chocolate Making

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without an indulgence or two. An expert Chocolatier will teach you the art of chocolate making with intensely luxurious ingredients. This is the ultimate event for chocoholics as you experience what it takes to create mouth-watering Belgian chocolate truffles with vanilla, raspberry and praline ganache. Guests are treated to double dipped chocolate strawberries on arrival before learning the important tips and tricks from the expert Chocolatier. What better way to treat your taste buds this Christmas?


Any other office Christmas party ideas you’d like to add to this list?  We’d love to hear your views!  You can also subscribe to our weekly EventTech Talk newsletter for news and advice on all things event technology!

INFOGRAPHIC: The Power of Event Invitations

Regardless of whether you’re hosting a meeting, a networking event or a multi-day conference, we all know the importance of the event invite. It sets the tone of your event and is one of the first opportunities to make a good impression with potential attendees. It is also what convinces most people to take action and sign up.  But what are the latest trends around managing event invitations and how are event planners measuring success?

Research Study on Event Invitations

Last month, Eventsforce conducted a research study looking at what event planners are currently doing around event invites – and the results have been interesting.  The study – which was conducted with more than 100 senior event planners in the UK and the US – looks at key aspects around event invitations, including targeting, content and distribution. The findings also reveal what benchmarks and performance metrics organisations are using today when measuring the success of their event invites.

Key highlights include:

  • Only 23% of respondents are still using print invitations for their events – email is seen as the preferred format by 98% of organisations, followed by social media.
  • Almost 3 in 4 event planners are personalising invitations by using personal names in subject lines and creating specific content for different audiences.
  • Event highlights such as agenda and details on a keynote speaker, are more important than design and visuals when it comes to maximising registrations.
  • More than 90% of event planners send reminder emails after sending the first event invite, with 40% sending two reminders for each event.
  • Tuesdays and Wednesday mornings get the best results when sending out event invites. Almost a third of invitations get a 10% conversion rate.
  • Top 3 challenges of managing event invites include not getting enough people to click through call-to-action links, measuring performance of campaigns and difficulties in creating attractive, responsive HTML invites.

For a more comprehensive look at these results and some of the other findings from the Eventsforce ‘The Power of Event Invitations’ 2017 study, have a look at the infographic below:


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What Event Planners Need to Know About Europe’s New Data Protection Law

One of Europe’s biggest shake ups in data protection and privacy laws is coming into effect next year and event planners need to be prepared.  The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will apply to every organisation in the EU and ANY organisation holding data on EU citizens – regardless of their location.  It is a major global issue and one that is vital for marketers to learn about as ignoring it could lead to some very serious financial consequences.


Are your events ready for GDPR? Get your FREE eBook: ‘The Event Planner’s Guide to GDPR Compliance’, and learn what impact Europe’s new data protection regulation will have on event marketing, data management and event technology – as well as what steps event planners need to take now to get ready for the May 2018 deadline.


What Is GDPR?

The new EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was adopted last year, and will be directly applicable from 25th May 2018.  It’s seen as the most important change in data privacy regulations in 20 years and aims to give EU citizens more control over how their personal data is used.  Why is it happening? Well, the legislation that is currently in use was put in place before the Internet and cloud technology completely changed the way companies use data, and the GDPR aims to address that.   The EU also wanted to give businesses a simpler, clearer legal environment in which to operate in where they have to comply with one law, instead of 28 laws across different EU countries.

How Does GDPR Impact Events?

One of the key reasons as to why GDPR is coming into force is because of the exponential rate that data is now being collected. In the events industry, we use so many different data collection tools that help us gather and analyse information on attendees – from registration systems and mobile apps to surveys, social media and so on.  Events in particular also deal with highly sensitive personal data – from attendee names, contact details and employment information to gender, disabilities and dietary preferences. With data-driven marketing increasingly at the forefront of meetings and events, it is inevitable that marketers and event planners need to prepare before the new regulations come into place.

Any organisation that collects and processes data on European citizens falls under the new regulation.  So, if you are hosting events in Europe or your attendees are European citizens (regardless of where your events are taking place), then the new regulation applies to you.  Also, if you’re using some kind of event management or registration software that helps you capture and process data around your events, then GDPR will apply to your technology providers too (even if they’re based outside the EU).

What Are the GDPR Requirements?

You need to remember that the GDPR focuses on the rights of individuals over companies. But what exactly does it entail?  Have a look:

Consent: Event organisers will be required to obtain their attendees’ consent to store and use their data, as well as explain how it will be used. Consent must be active, affirmative action by the individual, rather than passive acceptance through pre-ticked boxes or opt-outs.  If this isn’t already part of your registration process, then it’s something you need to do.

Breach Notification: GDPR makes it compulsory to notify both users and data protection authorities within 72 hours of discovering a security breach. Failure to do so can result in heavy fines.  Learn more about what you should do if your attendee data does end up geting lost, stolen or compromised here.

Access: You must always be prepared to provide digital copies of private records to attendees that request what personal data your organisation is processing, where the data is stored and what it’s being used for.

Right to be Forgotten: EU citizens at any time will be able to ask you to not only delete their personal data but to also stop sharing it with third parties (ex. Suppliers, hotels, venues etc.) – who will also be obliged to stop processing it.

Data Portability: The new regulation states that individuals will have the right to transmit their data from one data controller to another. What this means for you is that upon request, you should always be ready to provide the data you have on your attendees in a commonly used digital format.

Privacy by Design: GDPR requires that organisations have to have data security built into products and process from the very start – this particularly applies to all the tech systems that help you gather and manage data on your event attendees.

Data Protection Officers (DPO): Some organisations that frequently monitor large amounts of data or deal with data relating to criminal convictions will also be obliged to have a DPO, who will be in charge of GDPR compliance. That means ensuring internal data protection policies are updated, staff training is conducted and that processing activities are always documented.

Read: Will GDPR Change the Rights of Your Attendees?

What Are the Penalties for Non-Compliance?

The consequences for non-compliance can depend on many things – how long the infringement lasts, the number of individuals who have been affected and the level of impact. Companies can be fined up to €20 million or 4% of their total annual turnover of the preceding financial year (whichever is higher) – that’s alongside any personal damage that may be claimed by individuals whose data has been compromised, and the personal liability of managers within your organisation.


Did you know that a data breach is essentially what can get your events into a lot of trouble under GDPR? Find out what you should do to prevent your attendee data from getting lost, stolen or compromised by getting your copy of ‘The Event Planner’s Guide to Data Security in a Post-GDPR World‘.


Some of you may remember how UK mobile operator TalkTalk was fined a record £400,000 for security failings which led to the theft of personal data of almost 157,000 customers in 2015.  IT Pro has stated that under the new rules, that fine would have amounted to £59 million – to put that in context, TalkTalk’s third quarter revenue last year came to £435 million. Similarly, Tesco’s banking business would have had to face a potential penalty of almost £1.9 billion for their recent data security breach if GDPR had been in full force.  Non-compliance really isn’t worth the risk.

What About Brexit?

According to Information Age, it has been confirmed that the UK will have to adhere to EU’s GDPR when it is officially implemented in 2018 – ten months before Britain completes its exit from Europe.  Surprisingly, however, research from Crown Records Management, has found that a massive 44% of businesses don’t think the regulation will apply to UK businesses after Brexit.

“For so many businesses to be cancelling preparations for GDPR is a big concern because this regulation is going to affect them all one way or another,” said John Culkin, director of information manager at Crown Records Management. “Although an independent Britain would no longer be a signatory, it will still apply to all business which handle the personal information of European Citizens.”

What Do Event Planners Need to Do about GDPR?

It’s easy to look at GDPR compliance as a technology initiative and not a business one.  But the reality is that even though it may be the responsibility of your IT and operations team to sort it all out, event planners need to know what they should and shouldn’t do and the rights of their attendees when it comes to collecting and processing their personal information. And although GDPR won’t be applied for another year, which may seem like a long time – in reality, it’s not.

You may be already planning around an event you’re hosting next year and if your attendees are coming from Europe, then you need to make sure that you have the proper processes in place.  Find out what data you store and process on European attendees so that you can figure out what kind of data needs to be protected under the new regulations, and what falls outside its remit. Find out where all this data is stored, how it is transferred from one system to another (or one server to another), what systems are used and how your technology providers are also processing, storing and securing the data within their own organisation and servers. If data is stored outside the EU (e.g. on cloud servers in the US), you may need to put additional contractual controls in place.

Finally, implementing changes will be a team effort with all the key people in your organisation aware of these new requirements and procedures.  So, make sure everyone is on board and understands the importance and consequences of making the new changes.


Need help tracking and managing consent on event websites and registration forms?  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

Resources:

Life Hacker: GDPR Essentials – What You Need to Know

IT Pro: What is GDPR – Everything You Need to Know

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

Why Post-Event Engagement Is a Big Deal – Part One

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A new research study from MeetingsNet has found that professional development is the main reason attendees attend events. Of course, the extent of this does really depend on the type of events you run – but generally, when you look at the factors that determine whether or not someone decides to sign up to an event, education, networking and destination always come up top.  And as event organisers, these are probably the three most common areas we consistently promote in the marketing activities we do around our events.

Industry Poll- (1)While many of us may be seasoned experts in creating engaging events that do well in fulfilling these attendee expectations, it can be hard to maintain this level of engagement once the event is done.  In fact, an industry poll from Eventsforce this month found that an overwhelming 91% of event planners find post-event engagement a challenge.

So, what can we do about this and why should it matter?  Interestingly, it goes back to education and networking.

Why Is Post-Event Engagement Important?

Suppose you’ve just had a great event and the feedback’s been good.  Your attendees are feeling inspired and ready to share the ideas they’ve learnt.  They also want to connect with the people they met at the event. So, education and networking.  These are the two main reasons attendees came to your event and they are the same two reasons people will continue to engage with you after the event.

Why?  Because learning and connecting with the right kind of people will open up new opportunities and help them become better at what they do.  From their perspective, the event is a means to an end, not an end in itself. So, let’s stop thinking about events as a stand-alone activity and instead look at how it fits into the bigger picture which is our wider audience engagement strategy.

There is an enormous opportunity to use an event as a platform to start new conversations. To continue education and to create a community of like-minded people who want the same things. This not only builds excitement and momentum around the events you’ll be hosting in the future, but it also creates a greater sense of loyalty around your brand and what it represents.

Listen, Listen, Listen

Untitled design (96)If your post-event engagement strategy is facilitating education and networking, then you need to focus on delivering value.  And value comes from determining how people engaged with your event in the first place – from the email marketing campaign you used to launch your event website, to registration, social media, mobile apps, surveys and so on. Find out how your attendees engaged with your event across all these different data points and you’ll be in a good position to figure out what will work and what won’t.

Here are some examples of the kind of questions you should be asking when determining how people engaged with your event:

  • How did they interact with the event website? Google Analytics is a very powerful tool that can help you figure out where your visitors and registrations are coming from, the journey people take through the site and the content and pages on your site that are the most/least popular. Read more about it here.
  • Breaking down attendees by type can really help you with your post-event engagement strategy and the key to this is your registration system.  What kind of information did they supply in their forms?  Are you able to use that data to segment attendees into different categories or industries?  Are they new or returning visitors?  Who were they interested in meeting with at your event?  For example, knowing that 70% of your attendees were female marketing managers from London who love networking can give you the intelligent data you need to help you personalise experiences before, during and after the event.

Sophisticated data capture tools – like the Eventsforce event management system – help event planners collect and analyse valuable information on their events and attendees. Have a look at how you can use registration systems to personalise content for attendees: ’7 Easy Ways of Using Your Registration Process to Personalise Events’.


  • How did they use the event app? Look at your app analytics to see what features attendees used and what wasn’t of interest to them. Look at the kind of content they were interested in downloading, how they used the networking tools, how they engaged with speakers during sessions, whether they were interested in meeting exhibitors or attending seminars and so on.
  • What sessions did they attend? What did they register for but were unable to attend? Which sessions were popular and which had a lot of no-shows?  This kind of information can easily be captured by your event management system and can help you determine topics, questions and speakers that resonated with people at the event.
  • How did they engage with others at the event? Proximity solutions like NFC and RFID are helping event planners and exhibitors better understand visitor footprints on the show floor to determine hot and cold spots.   It can give a good indication of what grabbed the interest of attendees, which booths were popular or whether or not they were able to visit all the booths they had originally shown interest in.
  • What feedback did they provide on surveys and polls? What did they like about your event and what didn’t meet their expectations?  Which speaker stood out for them?  Were they able to get everything they want or do they need more information? And of course, would they come again? All this information will provide you with useful insight when determining your post-event engagement activities.
  • How did they engage with your event on social media? Were there some platforms more effective than others?  What content were they sharing with their own networks? What engaged them emotionally and what was educational? Were there any negative posts and how were they dealt with?

Looking at all these different areas and learning how your attendees engaged with your event will form the basis of your post-event content strategy.

NEXT WEEK:  How to keep the conversation going – we’ll be looking at how to put together a post-event content strategy, along with 10 great ideas that will boost your long-term audience engagement.


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