Asking the right post event survey questions can help you figure out what worked well during the event and what you need to tweak and improve for your next one. 

• But what do you ask?
• Whom do you ask?
• And how do you get people to actually answer your post event survey questions?

We’ll answer all that in this article. 

Who should you ask for feedback?

1. Attendees

This should come as no surprise—the most important people to survey are the attendees themselves. After all, this whole event was for them! If they had a positive experience at your event, they will be more likely to remain engaged within your event community, return for the next event, and act as an advocate to promote your event to their peers. If attendee needs weren’t satisfied, they will be looking for a way to voice their opinions. Getting their input in a formal way will allow them to provide genuine feedback that will not only allow them to vent, but also provide you with valuable insights into how to improve your next event experience. It also gives you the opportunity to provide a response to any negative experiences and inform them of how the event will be improved in the future.

2. Event Volunteers/Staff

The first go-to group to ask for feedback is your attendees, but there’s another important group that can give you guidance on designing a better event experience: the people who organized and ran your event! Event volunteers and staff are a great resource to learn about what worked and how things could be improved for the next time.

Whether it’s assisting with event registration, managing speakers and live footage, or providing help with directions throughout the venue, volunteers have access to behind-the-scenes machinations and in-the-moment feedback from attendees. Your volunteers and event staff have valuable insight into how to improve processes at your next event, and what aspects of the event were making waves among attendees. 

You may want to create a set of post event survey questions for volunteers like you would with attendees. Alternatively, you could send a more casual email expressing your thanks and asking if they have any feedback they’d like to share.

3. Event Sponsors

Event sponsors are vital to your event’s success, as they help generate funds to make the whole thing profitable. Their feedback can help you determine whether they felt the event was worth their investment, and give you guidance on how to attract the same or new sponsors for your next event. 

If you only have a few sponsors, getting feedback from them can be done with a simple email or phone call. However, if you have many sponsors, generating a few specific a post event survey questions would be more efficient in following-up. Additionally, this method provides the benefit of anonymity to your sponsors.

Looking for detailed advice on designing an event sponsorship package that will be competitive in today’s market? 

Download The EventMobi Sponsorship Strategy Guide.

Creating your post event survey goals

Before you send out a survey to your target audiences, it’s crucial that you first understand what your goals are. This way, you’ll be able to craft post event survey questions that will actually provide value and enable you to measure your success.

Feedback seeks to answer:

• What worked?
• What didn’t work?
• Why?

Questions should address:

• Event highlights -These are the “favorites.” What were the biggest successes of your event that got attendees excited?
• Ways to improve event management – These are the “least favorites.” This is where you’ll find the real nuggets of gold because you can learn and improve to get the most long-term success in your event management
• Measuring overall event satisfaction – Every event will have positive and negative elements. Each guest will have their own unique take since the event experience is so subjective
• Surprises and the unknown. As the event organizer, you can’t possibly know everything your attendees are thinking after the event has come to a close. Your post event survey questions should help respondents open up about anything on their minds, helping you identify wins and areas for improvements that weren’t on your radar.

How to craft compelling post event survey questions

When sending out a survey, you want to get as many responses as possible, so it’s important that the questions you choose are compelling and that the surveys are easy to complete. 

Include post event survey questions that give numerical results, so they can be measured objectively. For example, ask attendees to gauge their satisfaction on a scale of one to five, or ask them to rate how likely they are to recommend the event to a friend.

There are many cheap (or even free) survey software providers that enable you to write, distribute, and review your survey questions. However, if you are using an event app, you can provide easy and immediate access for attendees by including the survey directly within the same digital space they used throughout the event. This will get you the highest response rate, because the experience is still fresh in their minds.

There are three main types of questions used in post event surveys:

• Open-ended questions
• Rating questions
• Multiple-choice questions

Open-ended questions

Open-ended questions are a great way to get in-depth knowledge of an attendee’s experience, because respondents can answer in their own words. However, be careful to not ask too many open-ended questions, because they’re difficult to tabulate and quantify. Additionally, open-ended questions typically take a little more time to answer, which may drive some respondents away.

Examples of questions: 

• What did you like most about the event?
• What would you like to see improved for next year’s event?
• Were there any parts of the event that you found particularly useful?
• What was your least favorite part of this event?
• Will this event help further your career/your team’s goals/your company’s ROI? If so, how?
• Do you have any topic or speaker suggestions for future events?

Rating questions

Rating questions make use of scales as a way for your respondents to provide feedback. For example, you could ask, “On a scale from 1 to 5, how satisfied are you with this event?” The ranking is usually done on a numerical scale, such as from 1-to-5, or two anchoring points that are opposite views, such as “Strongly Agree” and “Strongly Disagree.” 

Examples of questions: 

On a scale from 1 to 5, with one being low and five being high:

• How would you rate the quality of each speaker?
• How likely are you to recommend this conference to a friend or coworker?
• How likely are you to attend this event again next year?
• How would you rate the value of this conference?
• How satisfied were you with the event’s agenda?
• How would you rate your overall experience?
• How would you rate the quality of the networking at this event?

You can also create a matrix, or a grid, to ask participants to rate multiple factors within the same question. For example, you might ask people the same questions about different sessions they attended, or dedicate a section of the survey to the technology you used at the event. 

Multiple-choice questions

These are questions where you give attendees a choice between specific responses. It could be multiple-choice, where they select the best-fitting answer, or “choose all that apply,” where they select all relevant boxes.

Examples of questions:

• How did you first hear about the conference?
• Have you attended this conference before?
• Which of these sessions did you attend?
• What factors determine your decision to attend conferences and other professional development?
• Which speakers did you enjoy?
• Did you participate in any of the after-conference activities? 
• Did you have enough time for Q&A at the end of each presentation?

Related Resources

Best Practices for Evaluating Event Success
Feedback Gathering at Events
How to Avoid Sending out the Worst Event Survey Ever

The post Post Event Survey Questions and Best Practices appeared first on EventMobi.

The Secret to Executing Your Event Game Ideas

To ensure your odds for success, make sure you have a solid understanding of what event goals you’re looking to achieve, and identify each goal’s success metrics.

If you don’t have a solid event strategy in place at the very beginning, it’ll be difficult to execute gamification efficiently and effectively. Integrating fun and games is great for designing an engaging event experience, but ultimately, tie them back to measuring success against your event goals.

Leveraging an Event App for Gamification

No doubt about it, you can create a game for your event without event technology. But if you’re looking for efficiency, effectiveness, and ease, then there are a lot of reasons why gamification and event apps are a great way to make your event game ideas come to life.

Gamification delivered through an event app provides an equal amount of benefits to you as the event planner, as well as to the attendee event experience. Here are just a few examples:

• It makes it easier to ensure game rules and challenges are available to all event participants
• It saves you time and effort because it doesn’t require manual tallying of participant game points
• It lets players view their progress in real-time on a leaderboard and maintain engagement throughout your entire event
• It provides a medium for players to connect with each other through messaging
• It makes it possible for remote participants to also get involved

Recommended Resource: Need new strategies to amp up the fun at your events ? Download the free Ultimate Guide to Event Gamification to learn how!

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The Top 5 Most Common Event Goals

Event planners have many goals, but typically one or two takes priority above the rest. Identifying and prioritizing your goals is very useful because it can help guide you on which event game ideas are the best fit for you and your attendees. Here are the most common event goals:

1. Boost attendee engagement with event content

Ensuring your attendees get maximum value out of your speakers’ presentation material and walk away feeling like they learned something useful is a key priority depending on the type of event.

In some cases, communicating important information, such as product updates at a user conference or the company’s financial performance at an AGM, may be the primary motive for holding the event in the first place.

Many events hosted by associations or not-for-profits also have an integral educational component that is vital to the event’s primary purpose of educating its industry members.

Event Game Ideas: Test Your Knowledge

People love to be seen as subject matter experts, so you’re sure to ignite some competitive spirit by positioning your game as a test of their knowledge. Set up questions within the event app that directly relate to the content and theme of your event.

How to Make it Work

Create Questions Based on Key Takeaways:

What do you want your event audience to remember? If you’re hosting a sales kick-off, your questions might focus on a new product line you’re providing training on. If you’re running an annual general meeting, you could create a trivia game that helps to highlight the accomplishments and milestones of your organization over the past year.

Get Your Speakers Involved:

Gather inspiration for your game by asking your speakers to identify one or two of the key takeaways they hope to convey in their sessions. Speakers can either explicitly call out the trivia question during their presentation and provide the answer directly, or they can simply advise the audience to pay close attention so they don’t miss anything.

Incorporate Your Conference Materials:

Do you have any reading material, brochures, or training content that you hope your attendees will review during the event? Let them know that the answers to certain trivia questions can only be found by reading over the educational material you’ve provided. Consider uploading those documents within your app as well to further improve accessibility

Measuring Success:

In your post-event survey, aim for an average of 4 out of 5 stars in response to the statement: “I feel like I’m walking away from this event with valuable information.”

Recommended Resource: Watch 8 short videos to learn how the EventMobi event platform can help you foster new connections and conversations.

Watch Now

2. Create valuable networking opportunities

Expanding their professional contacts is another popular reason people attend events, with 76% of respondents from IAEE’s recent study stating that networking motivated them to attend. But for many, networking can be really awkward or intimidating. So, how do you make breaking the ice fun and easy?

Event Game Idea: Have You Met ____?

Attendees receive a unique passcode, located on the back of their badges for easy access. An accompanying message can spark curiosity, such as: “This is your secret code. Share it with any new connections you might make here today, and download the event app to play along!”

There are plenty of fun ways to tweak this concept in order to encourage attendees to network with the types of people you hope they will spend time with during the event.

How to Make it Work

Offer More Points for Meeting “VIPs”:

Within the game framework, different challenges can be allocated different point amounts. People will eagerly go after the challenges associated with big points, giving you the chance to designate “VIPs” within the game.

For example, encourage attendees at your association’s conference to reach out to new members by assigning newbies with codes worth more points. A slight variation of this would be to make a unique badge for new members and provide passcodes only to those attending your conference for the first time.

On the flip side, you can celebrate people who have been with you for a long time. For instance, at a leadership summit, you might assign more points to employees who have been with you for 5 years, 10 years, etc.

Let Attendees Personalize their Codes:

If you have a bit more time to invest, you can turn these passcodes into real conversation starters. Ask your attendees a question during the registration process, then incorporate their answers into your game.

Aim for questions that will elicit short responses, such as their hometown, first job, favorite charity, or a question directly relevant to your event’s topic. This way, attendees will really learn something about each other

Measure Success

In your post-event survey, ask attendees whether they strongly agree, agree, disagree, or strongly disagree with the statement: “I made new connections at this event.”

Interested in learning more about how EventMobi’s all-in-one event platform makes it easy to deliver engaging events in any format ? Book your personalized demo today!

Book a Demo

The post Popular Event Game Ideas to Increase Attendee Engagement & Learning appeared first on EventMobi.

This article shares some of the data that was discovered related to the types of event management software planners are currently using. 

*Data is based on results from a survey conducted by EventMobi in 2019. There were 108 respondents from organizations with less than $100M USD annual revenue.

Before we begin, here are a couple of definitions to keep in mind:

Event Management Software Tools

Refers to tools that allow planners to digitize their event management and execution process.

Integrations

Integration capabilities enable planners to seamlessly connect their technologies to one another, thereby eliminating data silos and improving data visibility and reporting. 

Event Management Software & Integrations

Here’s a breakdown of survey results, starting with the percentage of event planners who use each of the following types of event management software tools:

On average, event planners use 2-5 different types of event management software tools:

For event planners who use multiple providers, here is the percentage of them who have event management software technologies that integrate/connect with one another to allow for easy transfer of data:

These are the top five event management software tool integrations that are the most important to event planners in 2019:

The following are common challenges that planners face when using event management software tools: 

The top tools most commonly used and integrated by Event Planners are already well established in the marketplace. However, with the advancement in event technologies over the past few years, many new innovative ways are now available that enhance the event planning experience.

In many cases, planners may be underutilizing features that are available to them in the tools and platforms they have already purchased. Reasons for the lack of utilization might include not knowing how to use the tools or understanding how they can be helpful, and/or not having the time to learn. 

With the majority of Event Planners using multiple event management tools (i.e. 83% use >1 provider), there is a greater need for integration. In fact, 70% of respondents said a lack of integration between their event software tools is the biggest challenge they encounter when trying to use them efficiently and effectively.

A lack of connectivity means that tools are incompatible with one another, training is required for each disparate tool, and more time is required to manage them all.

Here’s a breakdown of the number of people who are responsible for the ongoing management of their event management software tools:

Events teams tend to be highly reliant on themselves to implement event technology. However, they often require help from their  IT team (e.g. for integrations), which takes time and energy away from core responsibilities. Ideally, someone on the events team needs to be tech-savvy or able to learn new technologies quickly in order to alleviate the stress placed upon other organizational functions.

Protip:

If you’re a team of one or don’t feel like your team has the necessary technical skills to build your event app, ask your vendor if they off full data management services. With this service, they will design your app, upload your content, plan your launch timelines, and offer strategic advice.

EventMobi offers this type of service. If interested, you can visit our website to learn more.  

Related Resources:

[Blog] Event App Integrations—Basic Info, Examples and Answers To Commonly Asked Questions

[eBook] How to Get Approval for Your Event App

The post The Top Event Management Tools Used by Event Planners in 2019 appeared first on EventMobi.

Data is an integral component of your event. As a planner, you collect information about everything, from venue specifics and budgets to registrant details and vendor contracts. You preside over all kinds of private, personal and sensitive data from attendees, including email addresses, phone numbers, credit card numbers, etc. Your organization relies on you to be vigilant and take the appropriate measures to provide a safe and secure environment for all stakeholders and you have an ethical and legal obligation to protect them from threats and losses.

According to a report from Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and audio-visual company PSAV, 7% of event planners say they are lucky to have any process in place when it comes to system and data security, 25% mention that processes are implemented on a project-by-project basis and 32% state that organization-wide processes are in place. Obviously, there is room for improvement when it comes to data security.

Being familiar with the terms, issues and industry standards associated with data privacy and security will help you navigate the landscape, select the appropriate vendors, assist your IT and security teams and potentially save your organization a lot of time and money. Similarly, understanding the nature and risks of sensitive data will enable you to better assess your own requirements based on where data is being stored. In this unit, we will take a closer look at common threats, discuss how to safeguard data and examine best practices for event-specific data security. 

Identify Event App Security Breaches and Other Threats

Anyone with the skills can compromise your data integrity, including:

• Malicious hackers
• Disgruntled former employees
• Resourceful competitors
• Underhanded vendors
• Exhibitors looking for lead lists

Safeguarding your computer network is increasingly difficult. The methods for exposing and exploiting vulnerabilities are always changing. The introduction and adoption of new technology tends to increase the number of avenues for compromise, and developing security protocols is always a game of catchup. Let’s take a look at some of the most common ways that information is lost or stolen and steps you can take to mitigate the losses.

Malware

Software that can undermine your organization’s security often comes attached to emails and SMS messages. Computer code (i.e. viruses, worms, Trojan horses, adware, spyware and ransomware) that infects your computer as soon as you click on a suspicious link or open an unfamiliar attachment is referred to collectively as malware, which is short for “malicious software.”

Threats on Mobile Devices

Malware for mobile is on the rise. Android’s less-prohibitive operating system makes it more vulnerable, but iPhones and tablets are not immune either. Bring your own device (BYOD) policies at workplaces make personal devices a target for hackers. They are often easier to compromise than computers, which are usually left in the office and are more heavily protected. Plus, if you access your work email from a mobile device, odds are that your device has cached sensitive emails in its memory. Cyberthieves know that your personal phone is often a gateway to your professional data.

Threats Through Apps

Apps available through official app stores must go through an approval process in which both Apple and Google test basic functionality through API calls to ensure that app developers are not doing anything malicious or violating the company’s terms of use/service. Still, maliciously motivated apps can sometimes appear in stores disguised as functional apps. They gain access to your settings, contacts, and other confidential information for nefarious reasons. When an app you have downloaded tries to access these, your phone should prompt you to give the apps permission. Be cognizant of which apps you are allowing to access your personal data and mobile settings. Not everything you download needs access to such information. We are so accustomed to signing away our privacy in exchange for convenience that we often do so out of habit when asked. If you are managing sensitive data on your phone, be especially cautious.

Phishing, Impersonation and Social Engineering

Phishing and social engineering schemes operate under the guise of providing a service or updating a service already in use to ask customers maliciously for sensitive information (e.g. usernames, passwords, credit card details, etc.).

Phishing

Phishing is the practice of impersonating a business or other trustworthy entity (your bank, for example) in an electronic communication in order to obtain sensitive information or to get the user to click on a link or install an app. Attackers may target you for phishing schemes, but they can also target your contacts. By stealing your contact list, hackers can send out a phishing email to all of the parties listed on it and make it look like the message came from you. Email lists, especially those containing contact names, company names and relationships, are highly desirable for phishing scammers.

Social Engineering

Social engineering is the practice of exploiting social rules, channels and behaviors to obtain and misuse information, such as when someone calls an elderly woman pretending to be her grandson and asks for her banking details. Social engineers also take advantage of any opportunity to peek at open computers, tablets and unlocked devices so they can collect the information needed to exploit or trick you later. Locking your laptops and other devices whenever you step away from them and requiring a password upon resuming use will help you guard against this sort of information theft. 

Interceptions and Data Stealing

Your event is a bounty of data transactions that all kinds of people would love to access, like registration lists (names, email addresses), credit card information passed through online transactions, and data stored on computers and laptops carried around the event. Hackers can intercept this data as it moves back and forth, extract the data from browser software or follow the web activity generated by the transactions.

Password protection is not as secure as it once was and hackers have developed methods of discerning simple passwords in seconds using programs that try every possible combination, starting with common permutations. If they cannot ascertain passwords using these methods, they will sometimes use “hotspot honeypots,” like the infamous Pineapple router, which can impersonate WiFi connections and record all the traffic that passes through them. Some conference venues provide WiFi that is either totally open to the public or protected by a password that is widely disseminated and easy to discover, so these malicious workarounds are not even necessary. A good rule of thumb is to assume that a third party is intercepting any data transmitted over an insecure network.

Data Loss

One of the most common reasons for data loss is misplaced or stolen hardware, such as leaving your laptop at the coffee shop or losing your phone in a taxi. It is essential that these devices be properly secured if they have sensitive data on them. Apple devices allow you to locate them using GPS services and wipe them remotely in the event that they are lost or stolen. Regardless, you should always protect them with passwords and require it anytime the device goes to sleep, shuts down or displays the screensaver.

Employ Common Practices for Safeguarding your Systems and Data

Now that you are familiar with some of the threats to your data security, you can employ some strategies to combat them. The tools and software you invest in (antivirus software, encrypted cloud storage, etc.) will depend on the type of data you are working with, and the extent to which it is publicly available. Regardless what level of data security measures you take, there are some common best practices that serve as a baseline. The best safeguard against malware, phishing and social engineering is awareness. Knowing the threats that exist and the ways in which your data is susceptible to theft will empower you to design security protocols that protect you and your data. 

Level of Security

The first thing to do is define the level of security your particular data sets and data systems need. Your vendor list probably does not need to be that secure if such information is publicly available, but if it contains key contact information, it should be safeguarded. Phone numbers, emails, addresses and any other personally identifiable information should be highly guarded and your technology, like your event app and registration page, should never make this information publicly available. Social engineers can use this information to launch attacks.

You should limit requests to only the information that is absolutely necessary to provide participants with event-related services. It should be clear to them why they are giving you personal information at the point of disclosure and you should establish official channels for collecting it that are clearly communicated. Doing so will help guard against others impersonating you and asking for more details (or the same details again).

Password Policies

To create a strong password, length is as important as variance (including upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters). The standard is a minimum of 8 characters, but the longer the password is the better. Hackers often begin with common permutations, which are words and character combinations that people commonly use for passwords, so a combination of letters and numbers, etc. is preferable. One way to generate a strong password is to think of a phrase or song lyric and use that, using numbers and special characters between words instead of punctuation, e.g. “signed6sealed6delivered6I9myours.” You can use online password generators if you are having a hard time coming up with a secure password for each device and account or you can use a rule to make your passwords easier to remember. For example, you could pick a poem and pick a different line for every account.

Protect Your Devices

The first step, and luckily a default for most people, is to password-protect all the devices you use to access sensitive data and networks. For example, if you get all your speaker images and bios by email and you access that email from your personal phone, you have to take measures to secure the information on your phone even if your email account is secure. Your device likely caches your emails in your offline storage, so you do not even need to be connected to access them. If one of your devices is lost or stolen, a culprit with enough technical savvy can access the information from the cache and use it against you. 

Many mobile devices provide password options with varying degrees of security. Biometric measures like the fingerprint scan on iPhones and facial recognition on Androids are meant to be more secure, though some people find it unnerving that their authenticating features (re: fingerprints) are being stored in the cloud. Plus, both types of devices allow for bypassing the biometric measure with a personal identification number (PIN), so consider using a secure passcode rather than a simple 4-digit PIN.

Android’s operating-system settings offer a hierarchy of options that run from least secure to most secure:

1. No lock screen (no security)
2. Slide (no security, but at least there is a lock screen)
3. Face-unlock (theoretically maximum security, but finding an image of your face is easy)
4. Pattern (a medium-security PIN in a shape, such as a square, zigzag, etc. that you swipe over)
5. PIN (a medium-security 4-6 digit PIN that you enter to unlock your device)
6. Password (a password of your choosing)

You should also make sure that encryption has been enabled on your device. For Macs, this is a built-in feature called file vault. Encryption can be enabled on iOS and Android devices through the settings menu. Do not root or jailbreak the device as that removes software restrictions and native security provided by the manufacturer. For added protection, disable WiFi and Bluetooth when you are not using these features or apps that require them.

Proactively update your device’s operating system. Many users disable automatic updates, prohibiting the fixes from coming through, just because they do not want to be pestered with the update prompts. Your carrier or phone manufacturer release updates periodically, but those usually only coincide with major releases and fixes to issues that are known to affect many users. Minor bug and security fixes are released more frequently. Updating your operating system proactively will capture those as well. In recent years, we also saw an increase in anti-virus software for mobile devices. 

Many devices also come with a function that allows you to locate your device if it is lost or stolen. For iPhones, this is called “Find Phone.” For Google/Android devices, this is called “Find my Device.” Both can be enabled within the privacy settings for your device. 

Protect Your Accounts

It is a best practice to have a different password for every account. Each account could be an attack vector, and if you use the same password for everything, hacking into the rest is that much easier. Creating different passwords for your systems, email accounts and event software adds a layer of security that helps prevent people from accessing them. Passwords alone aren’t always effective for sensitive information. Sometimes, you need additional security. Many people who find the best practice of using complex, frequently changed passwords challenging save them in their phone or on their computer. This defeats the purpose. It is better to set up a security question based on personal information, that is not easily researched or socially engineered, to answer after entering the password.

Do not forget your social networking sites. Employ all the password best practices for your Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other accounts also.  

EVENT PLANNER PRO TIP: Protect Data with Two-Step Authentication

 

Two-step (a.k.a. “two factor”) authentication is another powerful option, which employs a password of your choosing as the primary layer and then sends your mobile device or authentication app a one-use verification code as an extra layer of security. Once you get the code, you enter it within a limited timeframe (say 30 seconds) or the code becomes invalid.

 

Some of the software available may not offer two-step logins, so another option is to use a “password safe,” like Onelogin, Lastpass, and 1Password. These services attach complicated passwords to all of your accounts, but provide you with single sign on access through their platforms.

Protect Your WiFi

Because people can deliver malware through the network your guests are connected to, it is critical that you secure your WiFi networks so that only individuals with permission can access them.

There are a number of things you can do to protect your networks and connections. Lock down your WiFi. There are two standards for doing this: Wired equivalent privacy (WEP) and WiFi protected access (WPA) or WiFi protected access II (WPA2). WEP is an older standard but exists on almost all modern routers and establishes a password for the router that encrypts the data as it passes from the router to a device with the WEP key for unlocking it. The trouble with this is that it uses the same password for every device and hackers have proven able to decipher them. WPA and WPA2 emerged as a better standard for securing connections and encrypting the data on them.

When using public WiFi, use a virtual private network (VPN) to establish a secure connection to your organization’s network. VPNs use a combination of dedicated connections and encryption protocols to generate virtual point-to-point connections and can enable secure access over public WiFi networks.

Back Things Up

While malware is often designed to record, steal or manipulate information for a particular purpose, some just exists to destroy your data. This malware is delivered in the same way as the others, but guarding against it is, in some ways, slightly easier. While you should observe preventative measures, you should also back up your data so that, in the event of an incident, you have a record of everything you have lost. Backing up your data is an essential part of mitigating data loss. Whether the cause is malicious or not, data loss can have a detrimental impact on your business. You have a number of options for backing up your data that range from external hard drives to cloud storage.

A trusted vendor will also have back-up strategies designed to minimize the risk of data loss and they will be forthcoming about them in marketing and technical collateral. Options may include “high availability” or “failover” strategies. The former is when multiple servers share the load of hosting and delivering data so that, if some go down, others pick up the slack without a service interruption. The latter basically replicates a system exactly like the one currently servicing the data, standing ready to activate in case there is a failure in your current system.

Many people think that, having backed up their data, they can just delete it from their primary devices. The point of a backup is precisely to have it in two places in case one fails. External hard drives sometimes fail. If you are backing up your data using a cloud service, the same can be true. Cloud servers are, after all, still physical computers that simply exist elsewhere. They too are susceptible to failure, natural disasters, etc., although most cloud storage services have implemented their own failsafes to guard against such failures.

Be sure that your data is being encrypted wherever you are backing it up, and that you have cleaned out the offending malware from any devices connected to your backup. You should also test your backup periodically to make sure it works.

Protect Event-Specific Data 

As mentioned, events deal with large numbers of people and it is your responsibility to provide them with a secure place to conduct business. The basics begin with securing your WiFi and other networks, limiting access to event software like your event app and game, and so on. As an additional layer of security, you can employ white/blacklisting policies for websites and mobile apps that cannot be verified as secure.

With the growing number of information and security offenders, whitelisting policies are becoming more popular. While blacklisting includes a “default-allow” approach letting everyone in, except those specified, whitelisting is much more restrictive and implies a “default-deny” approach. This, however, limits one’s liberty, preventing their access from pretty much anything except for those resources that are approved. Blacklisting on the other hand, is more appropriate when you know where the potential threats are coming from; such policies are widely applied in casinos and retail malls against banned individuals. Either of these policies can come in pretty handy depending on your security requirements.

One thing to keep in mind though, is that you cannot guarantee the best possible security with blacklisting policies; while giving more freedom to user, you open up opportunities for hackers. That said, blacklisting is usually applied to limit people using your WiFi for unrelated activities, which will reduce your bandwidth requirement and encourage people to engage in the event activities. Moving past the basics, you need to be diligent about protecting the data used in all your event-specific software. You may wish to hire a security company to protect against advanced threats such as attacks on the cellular network, jamming of signals for audio-visual equipment, etc.

Data Encryption

Data encryption should be a fundamental offering of your service providers, particularly those that deal with sensitive or personal information like your registration system and your event app. Encryption basically requires the use of passwords to protect your data. It often stores them in a password-protected bundle. You should also think about what data needs to be encrypted. Publicly available information does not have to be encrypted. If your app contains personally identifiable attendee data, their emails, details in hidden fields, etc., the information should be encrypted.

Another consideration is whether your data is being encrypted “in transit,” when it is being submitted and passed from system to system, or only “at rest” wherever it is being stored. Many services will give you the option of encrypting data or not, and there should be both support and documentation for determining whether their security meets your needs. One standard for data encryption is the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certification. Websites that meet this level of encryption begin with “https” rather than “http” and have a little green lock next to the website address when opened in Chrome.

Registration and PCI Level 1 Compliance

Whether online or onsite, registration systems collect all the data required for guests to attend the event, stay updated and pay for tickets and accommodations, etc. It is imperative that your registration systems be secure. Onsite, self-registration kiosks and computers used for registration must be protected.

Payment card industry (PCI) Level 1 compliance denotes the highest level of security for credit card and other transactions. Any registration site or widget that processes payments must be compliant. The PCI Security Standards Council is the governing body that determines the standard of security for all transactions. It is earned by ensuring a required level of data encryption and by meeting the Data Security Standard, which can be found on the council’s website. Your registration system may not need to be PCI Level 1 compliant if the service it uses to process payment transactions is compliant.

Cloud Storage Precautions

The introduction of cloud storage opens new possibilities for breaches in data security and requires some vigilance in managing your data, particularly since data-privacy legislation tends to fall way behind the development and application of technology. It is unrealistic, given the direction technology is going, to avoid putting anything on the cloud. Rather, keep sensitive data off the cloud and employ security standards and measures to protect what you do store there. Ask vendors and service providers a few questions about how their cloud storage service works: Who is the vendor’s data-hosting (cloud) service? Is it reputable? You can review cloud security standards from here.

In Conclusion

As an event planner, it is critical for you to take measures to provide a safe and secure environment in which your attendees can exchange personal, financial and other sensitive information. It is also important to ensure that your organization’s confidential data is protected by implementing systems, processes and training that are up to date and compliant with security standards and best practices. When selecting software and service providers, look for those that comply with the established security standards in the industry as well as those in your organization. All vendors and service providers should be transparent about the security measures they have in place, and you should be diligent in checking them.

Related Resources:

 

[Blog] Event App Security: Access & Data Privacy Best Practices

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The great part about evaluating event success is that by the time your event is over, you’ve already done most of the hard work. The goals you set at the beginning of your planning cycle should be what you are measuring your success against. Goal setting is not a quick exercise, but the payoff is yours when you have a concrete set of measurements post-event.

The goals for every event are different and how you measure success against those goals will be individual to the event you produce. However, there are two key areas that should be on everyone’s goal setting list: financial success and attendee satisfaction. Without these, your event will be short lived.

Analysis of your event data after your event can be used to determine your event’s Return on Investment (ROI). ROI is an indicator as to how much your meeting, event, or conference created value in relation to the cost and dictates financial success.

Financial Success

Financial success will look different for every event. Your definition of success will be based on whether your event is set up for profit, break-even or as a loss-leader.  Regardless of your budget type, you are simply measuring the final numbers against what you projected. As much as this is part of your post-event reporting, financial success should not come as a surprise.

Careful monitoring of both revenue and expenses throughout the event life cycle is necessary. Set a meeting with your accounting team to review their expectations for reporting. Accounting’s goals are simple – for you to come in on or better than budget. However, understanding the how and why of those numbers is what will benefit the event most.

• Evaluate ticket revenue and timing. Were there reasons behind those buying patterns? If you want to change the pattern of purchase, it’s essential to understand the pattern, not simply the final financial outcome
• Examine your attendance make up. Who invested the most in the event? Why? If it’s not apparent to you, create a special survey to find out. You can then document ideas to leverage this knowledge for acquisition of new attendees at future events. Was there an increase or decrease in spend by exhibitors and sponsors?
• Were there factors that impacted your event’s budget this year that were beyond your control? Weather impacts, competitive landscape, economic conditions, staff turnover and more should all be fully reviewed and documented, not only when determining the success of your event from a financial standpoint but for future event development

Go back to your notes, flush out your ideas on how to grow revenue, increase profit, or reduce costs. They can’t impact the financial outcome of this year’s event, but reviewing them in tandem with your finances gives you a firm start on budgeting for next year.

Good to Know: Measuring Return On Investment (ROI)

 

Benefit-Cost Ratio

The benefit-cost ratio compares the monetary benefits of the meeting to the costs, using a simple ratio.

 

Example:

An annual agents’ conference for an insurance company was conducted. In a follow-up evaluation, the first year payoff for the meeting was $2,091,880. The total, fully loaded meeting costs were $1,369,745. Therefore, the ratio was:

 

 BCR = Meeting Benefits:                                 BCR = $2,091,880 = 1.53

                Meeting Costs:                                 $1,396,745

 

This means that for every dollar invested in this meeting, 1.53 dollars in benefits were received.

 

ROI Formula

This is the traditional financial ROI and is directly related to the BCR. The ratio is expressed as a percentage when the fractional values are multiplied by one hundred.

 

Example:

ROI (%) = Net Meeting Benefits x 100 Meeting Costs

ROI (%) = $2,091,880 – $1.369,745 x 100 = 53%

 

An ROI on a meeting of 53% means that the costs are recovered and an additional 53% of the costs are reported as “earnings”.  

Attendee Satisfaction

Attendee satisfaction is critical to evaluating event success. Simply put – a satisfied attendee believes they received value from your event. If it’s a paid event, value for money invested.  But, beyond the money, value for time spent. As stated, attendees begin to develop a relationship with you the moment you begin communicating with them. How they rate you at the end of the event is the culmination of all the touchpoints created from beginning to end.

• Was the registration process quick?
• Could they download the app easily?
• Was their customer service call returned promptly and resolved to their satisfaction?
• Are they sharing your event with their network?

You will have a sense of your attendees’ sentiment towards your event before you arrive onsite. It’s again a blend of quantitative numbers – social shares and likes, attendance (for events where people have a choice to attend your event over others), session selection, pre-event networking and more. Plus the qualitative data – your customer service team can share caller details, social media sentiment (are they excited about attending?) and then onsite comments and post-event feedback all build an understanding of your attendee’s satisfaction. If at any point, you sense dissatisfaction, step one is to act upon it. Step two – communicate.

Example

The session rooms are too cold and you receive complaints through the app’s help desk feature and at registration. Once you’ve adjusted the temperature with the venue, send a push notification through the app to let attendees know you’ve addressed it and they should expect to feel more comfortable soon.

 

Action goes a long way when quelling frustration and increases attendee satisfaction.

Once your event is over, the feedback received in post-event surveys rounds out your understanding. When developing your post-event survey, don’t forget to add open-ended questions and opportunities for general comments. Attendees want to be heard – give them space to do so. But don’t limit these fields to a few characters; if you do, it could be more frustrating than helpful. Also, consider adding the Net Promoter Score (NPS) question “How likely is it that you would recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague?” The scoring for this answer is based on a 0 to 10 scale. It is one simple question that, according to the Net Promoter Net, divides your attendees into three distinct categories based on satisfaction:

• Promoters (score 9-10) are loyal enthusiasts who will keep buying and refer others, fueling growth
• Passives (score 7-8) are satisfied but unenthusiastic customers who are vulnerable to competitive offerings
• Detractors (score 0-6) are unhappy customers who can damage your brand and impede growth through negative word-of-mouth

Leverage the knowledge gained from your NPS for marketing, engagement and more. Plus, you can track your event against business event industry averages. Wrapping up your survey with a question like “Is there anything else we need to know?” can go a long way to demonstrate you are listening and care about their satisfaction.   

EVENT PLANNER PRO TIP

 

Exhibitor, Partner and Sponsor’s Satisfaction

It’s not just your attendee’s satisfaction that matters. Your exhibitors, strategic partners and sponsors all play a role in your event’s success. Their monetary investment in your event is significant. Create surveys for your exhibitors to gauge their satisfaction of the price paid for their exhibit booth, to quality of attendees/leads, to the number of business transactions they expect to make from exhibiting.

 

Open-ended questions for this group will give you a vast number of ideas on how to improve their experience. Consult directly with sponsors and partners. Not only will they feel you value their relationship, they are a key source of insight into your event.

Post-Event Reporting

Ideally, your post-event analysis and report should be completed within two weeks of your event. If you are releasing a public report on the event, you should release that information within the first 48 hours to 4 business days. The longer you wait, the less people will care enough to read it. Using infographics to reveal your public report leverages the trend of displaying information graphically and makes the report easy to read and share. Tools like Canva offer free infographic templates that will give your report a professional look with very little effort.

Invest the time to build an internal report template that you can use year over year. By analyzing and displaying your event report data in the same format each year, it affords you the opportunity to do year-over-year benchmarking. You will begin to see trends within your events. And, if for any reason you need to review historical data, it’s easy to find and understand.

Your post-event report should include several sections based on the type of event you are planning. A basic event report should at minimum contain an event overview, attendee breakdown, exhibitor/sponsor breakdown, financial summary, attendee satisfaction/post-event survey results, marketing/media overview, and recommendations for future events. 

EVENT PLANNER PRO TIP

 

Sending Your Survey

Post-event surveys should be sent to all attendees, sponsors and exhibitors within 2 days of the event, or better yet, make it available in the event app. Collecting feedback immediately after the event generates a greater number of responses and the feedback received is more valuable. You want to capture their thoughts and feedback while it’s fresh in their minds.

In Conclusion

Evaluating event success is a process that should begin as you begin planning your event and involves your entire team. Putting the measures in place from the start will allow you to see how your event is faring, essentially in real time. And, although it’s not necessary to measure all elements for every type of event having a firm understanding of your financial success and attendee satisfaction leads to improvement in all areas of event development and execution. When it comes to engagement, continuous evaluation can give insight into the success of all elements of your event.

Ensure your attendees feel they have a voice throughout the event as it leads to greater satisfaction, survey scores and future attendance. Remember when it comes to tracking and evaluation, choose what you want to evaluate, set up the plan and stick to it. The post-event report that follows will become a strong basis for your future events.

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Evaluating event success is the first step to take towards planning your next event. The planning process of this years’ event is where the evaluation process begins. Beyond the expectation of evaluation from your boss and stakeholders, understanding what worked, what didn’t, and where you can improve, builds the foundation for success and knowing what to measure against.

Where you are in your event cycle will play a factor on what metrics you want to measure. The table below shows the different event stages and highlights metrics for each.

Measurement for Different Event Stages

The planning and pre-event phase allow you to capture a number of quantitative data such as ticket sales or registration numbers whereas engagement metrics play an important role in every stage of the event lifecycle. Let’s take a closer look.

Evaluate Engagement

Engagement begins the moment you start to communicate with your audience, culminates onsite at the event and should continue post-event. The more opportunities you create for attendee engagement, the better your odds of engagement success. Remember, attendees want a personal experience, and what is considered engaging for one attendee may not excite another. The value they see in your event is directly derived from their level of engagement – with each other, your content and your brand.

Greater engagement benefits everyone and evaluating engagement should be a blend of the quantitative and qualitative data collected throughout the event life cycle. Engaged attendees are happy attendees. They typically rate an event higher on satisfaction surveys and are far more likely to attend each year. Engaged attendees are naturally more participatory. Their increased participation benefits not only the event organizer but other attendees, exhibitors and sponsors. Below are three pillars on how you can evaluate engagement.

One-to-One Conversations

Attendees typically place a high value on networking and it tends to be a primary driver for attending events. You can create pre-event networking opportunities through your event app’s chat feature. Monitor the number of conversations; is in-app networking taking place before, during and after the event? Take it a step further and watch the crowd at networking receptions, meet and greets, coffee breaks and open networking areas. Is there a buzz, a hum of conversation? If not, you must look at ways to create it. If they are networking in-app but not live, look at ways such as gamification to bridge the gap and get people talking live too.

Brand Activation and Social Shares

Brand activation is everywhere. When it comes to engagement at your event, identify if attendees share your brand or your exhibitor’s and sponsor’s brand. It’s important to evaluate your overall event engagement using social media data to understand engagement through likes, shares and downloads. It will be easy to see on the surface what attendees gravitate towards. Understanding whose brand(s) they are sharing can give insight into which exhibitors and sponsors are seeing success, but also who you should tap for sponsorship in the future. And, if they are not sharing your brand, you need to adjust your social media plan to create content worth sharing.

Participation

It goes without saying, an engaged attendee sees your event on a deeper level and, therefore participates more. These are your most valuable attendees; those who attend all the sessions (not just the mandatory ones), try out the demo areas, actively network at all functions, use gamification to enhance their experience, become ambassadors, visit more exhibitors and at the end of the day likely have conducted more business transactions than other attendees. Combine your social data with your other data points such as registration, gamification, in-app chat, lead retrieval and more to reveal who the most engaged attendees are.

EVENT PLANNER PRO TIP

 

Measure Engagement

 

Assign points for each action/engagement an attendee could have pre-event, during the event, and post event. You could rank your attendees and identify your top tier champions and target/incent mid-tiers for more engagement.

 

This exercise would also help you identify what you feel are the most important engagements you want your attendees to take – so you can focus your efforts on those areas. For example, if you want retweets on Twitter vs. likes, you can measure them differently and work to actively convert those actions.

Recommended Resource: If you’re deciding whether to buy an event app or build one from scratch, this handy comparison guide will help you weigh your options based on the necessary decision-making criteria, such as:

Download Guide

The post Evaluating Event Success: What to Measure And When appeared first on EventMobi.

A well-designed and intuitive event app is what every planner needs. It’s not enough for an app to just look attractive. What good is a nice-looking event app if your attendees don’t know how to use it? Event app adoption is largely dependent on how easy the app is to use and whether the features make sense for the event. That’s why event app design is so crucial to a successful event.

The Best Way to Design an Event App

Before you dive into building an event app, you need to develop a plan of attack. Careful consideration before you jump in front of the computer will save you lots of time in the later stages of design, as well as provide you with a greater opportunity for event success.

Event App Features Overview

The first step in building your event app is determining which features you need. This will largely depend on the type of event you’re using the app for, as well as your event objectives and goals. For instance, if you’re looking to increase attendee engagement, you would want to include engagement features like audience response and event games.

Below is a chart outlining the six most common types of events and the event app features that fit them best.

What Features Are Right for My Event?

Building Your Event App

Building your event app can range anywhere from a day to a few weeks depending on the complexity of your app and the number of features you’ve chosen. But overall, creating your event app is easy and can be done all at once or in sections at your own pace.

Start by adding your basic event information, such as the event name, location, and language. Next, customize your event app by selecting your app name, icon, menu images, app colors, and if necessary, renaming your modules. You’ll also want to determine if you want attendees to log into the Attendee Dashboard with their email or also require a password (which they will create upon the first login).

1. Home Screen

The Home Screen is the first thing your attendees see when they access your event app, so it’s important that the app reflect your organization’s colors and branding. The Home Screen will showcase widgets that act as shortcuts to a section of your app or a website. Popular widgets include Speakers, Agenda, Location, and Attendees.

Choose from standard widgets with an image and text overlay, a Location widget that creates an additional Google map, an Agenda widget that shows up to 6 upcoming sessions the attendee has saved to their schedule, a Timer widget that creates a countdown until the event begins and a Game widget which creates a mini-leaderboard on the Home Screen.

You can also create your own graphics for the image widgets that include the text as part of the image (as pictured at left). To add a widget in the EventMobi Content Manager, simply select Add Widget, choose the widget you’d like to create. Select the widget size, upload the widget image, create the text and link the widget to either a URL link or module. To edit existing widgets, click the gear icon.

2. Speakers

The Speakers module is where your speakers’ profiles are housed in the event app. This allows attendees to scroll through a list of who will be speaking at your event, see what sessions they’re presenting, read their bio, and connect with them via social media. For small events or those with a small number of speakers, you can add speakers manually in the Content Manager.

For events with a large number of speakers, you can import speaker details en masse. To do so, you need to upload your speaker photos first. The best way to do this is by creating a zip file of your speaker photos. Next, select the import tab in the Content Manager, and select the zip file. Once the images are uploaded, download the Excel Templates.

In the Speakers Details Template, include the speaker’s name, title, company, email address, and exact image name that you previously uploaded. Create an alphanumeric user ID for each speaker profile you are creating. Once imported, you can send a self-edit link to the speakers with a customizable message asking them to fill out their profile in the app.

Recommended Resource: We’ve put together a selection of amazing event app designs to inspire you. Check it out!

3. Agenda

The Agenda is where attendees will find education sessions, networking breaks, receptions, and other important scheduled events. Before the advent of event technology, a paper event guide would be printed and attendees would flip, page-by-page, to find what sessions to attend. Categories or tracks can be used to organize sessions by topic rather than date and time. To add tracks, sessions, and assign speakers, find the Excel Templates you previously downloaded when you added your speakers. It’s important to note that tracks must be imported before sessions in order to assign them.

In the Agenda Tracks Excel Template add your alphanumeric Track ID and Description, which is the track name. Once imported, open the Agenda Details Template, enter the Track ID into the Tracks column and add Speaker IDs into the Speaker column to attach them to sessions. To create personal schedules (populate sessions to Attendee Dashboards on their behalf) simply enter the attendee email addresses separated by commas into the Attendee column. Attendee profiles and emails must be uploaded to the Content Manager in order to assign attendees to sessions.

Select the Tracks button to update the track colors or to edit the text that appears after “Sort by” in the app (Sort by Topic, instead of the default Sort by Track). Finally, you can access the Agenda Settings tab to determine the default view of your agenda (List View or Table View).

4. Documents

Including Documents in your app is one more way you can reduce paper at your event. You can either attach handouts, presentations or workbooks to an individual session, speaker, or sponsor profile or create a document module, where all event documents can be found in the app. The Document Library located under the General Settings can be used to manage documents for the app. Here, you can edit the document name, view which areas of the app it is currently linked to, view the document itself and see how many users have added it to their favorites.

To attach a document to a session, the document must first be uploaded to the Document Library and then attached to the session. Unlimited documents can be uploaded to the app, but each document must be less than 10 MB in size.

5. Attendees

Attendee profiles allow users of the app to see who is coming in advance of the event, and provide details such as their photo, company name, title, website, and social media links. These profiles allow attendees to identify others who they may want to connect with onsite or on social media. Attendees can scan from an alphabetical list of all event attendees in the app, like the one pictured at left.

One of the best strategies for loading attendee profiles into the app is to upload your attendee names and email addresses first using the Excel Template. Then send each attendee an email with a self-edit link which allows them to update their own profile information. In addition, attendees can create and edit their profiles within the Attendee Dashboard located in the top right corner of the app. Note, this option can be enabled/disabled within the Attendee Settings tab.

The event organizer can also organize their attendees by grouping. Doing so will allow you to send out Alerts to specific attendees (for example, hosted buyers, VIP, midwest chapter members). It’s best to upload attendees into the app 1-2 weeks before your event begins to allow them time to build their personal schedule and populate the additional fields in their attendee profile.

6. Alerts

At times you may want to send a mass communication to attendees to notify or remind them of important details or updates such as shuttle buses or room changes. Alerts allow you to send and schedule communications so each attendee can be notified on-the-go, on their smartphone. You can send alerts to all attendees, groups or sessions and pre-schedule Alerts to be sent out at a specific date and time. Alerts can include hyperlinks and image URLs by way of the Rich Text Editor in the Content Manager.

On web-based apps, alerts appear when the user opens the app. Any missed Alerts will appear in the Event Feed, and can also be sent to the email address attached to the attendee’s profile. For native apps, you can enable push notifications. This means that the Alert will pop up on the device screen even when the app is closed. Push notifications are only available for iOS and Android devices and can only be sent to all attendees (not groups).

7. Maps

Help attendees visualize the event location by including a map in your event app. You can either upload an image map or a Google Map. To add a Google Map, you’ll have to enter the Embed Link. First, search the address of your event venue, access the menu, select share and embed, click on the embed tab, copy the URL and paste into the Maps module in the Content Manager.

For trade shows or complex venues, consider adding an interactive mapping element. Interactive Maps produce a pin drop on the correct location when an attendee clicks on an agenda location or sponsor booth number. Interactive Mapping can be set up by Support, but requires about 1-2 weeks to create.

8. Social Media

Including social media in your event app can be a matter of preference or company policy, and is entirely optional. The Social Media module provides direct links to the event or organization’s social media sites (ie. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn). While social media feeds are not currently available within the app, attendees can tweet about individual sessions by selecting the “Tweet about session” button that will appear on session pages in the Agenda module, if enabled.

Adding the event hashtag to the Social Media module will ensure the hashtag is pre-populated in these tweets. To add social media links or a Twitter hashtag to your app, select the Social Media module in the Content Manager. Select add, choose your social media source from the icons provided, and add the social media account or Twitter hashtag.

9. Infobooth

Rather than fielding repeated questions from attendees, event organizers can set up a virtual event information booth within the app. There, they can include general event information as well as frequently asked questions. Onsite staff can direct attendees to the Infobooth within the app to find answers which will save time and increase event app adoption and engagement. Event organizers can also easily add popular questions and answers onsite. You can also add direct links to offsite venues, hotels or destination information.

Another way to provide information to attendees in the Infobooth module is to set up a Help Desk. This feature allows attendees to email the Help Desk with a specific question and receive an answer via email in return. Help Desk will be hidden from view by default. To set it up, enter an event support email on the Event Info tab. Next, access the Customize tab within the Info Booth module to make it visible and accessible to users.

10. Companies

The Companies module is where attendees can access information on your event sponsors or exhibitors. Company profiles can include details such as company name, logo, booth number (if applicable), description, contact info, social media links, sponsor ribbons (pictured at right), sponsor tiers/categories and additional resource links.

Depending on the number of sponsors or exhibitors at your event, you can choose to build the company profiles manually or upload a list of sponsor names and email addresses using the excel template and sending each an email with a self-edit link. You can create tiers for your sponsors and select each in the category details. As well, you can add sponsorship ribbons to denote a high-value sponsor. Companies will appear in alphabetical order by default, but you can sort manually to highlight top sponsors.

11. Security

If your event app houses sensitive company information or contact details for attendees and exhibitors, you may want to consider App Security. Securing your app prevents those outside the registration list from accessing information housed on the app. There are a couple of options for App Security. The first restricts users from accessing the app without a passcode distributed to attendees by the organizer. The second requires users to login with the email they used to register for the event.

Beyond EventMobi’s default security measures, you can force HTTPS which encrypts all data that passes through the app guarding against the onsite interception of information. You can enable as many or as few of these options as you like. To enable App Security, select the App Security tab under General Settings in the Content Manager and toggle Event App Protection and enter a passcode and/or toggle on Registered Users Only to require users to enter their email address to access the app.

Setting Up Polls, Surveys and Session Feedback

Event apps can be so much more than just a digital agenda for attendees. By using the interactive features of your event app, you give attendees a voice at your event and create a program truly tailored to their needs.

Engagement Tools

1. Live Polls

Live Polls allow the speaker to ask the audience a question and receive and share the results immediately with the session audience. Polls can help generate session content, gauge audience interest, and provide live feedback. One of the best uses for Live Polls is to generate excitement and reveal responses within seconds during education sessions or in a larger general session.

Short, clear and concise questions with a singular focus are best for polls because they can be answered quickly and the results can be displayed neatly on screen. While it’s possible to ask an open-ended question in a Live Poll, it’s not recommended because you’re likely to get a different answer from every attendee who completes the poll. This works well for information gathering purposes, like event surveys. But for Live Polls, you want to be able to display the most popular answer on screen in a graph or percentage value and react quickly to the response (i.e. pivot content direction) or make statements based on the data.

The next thing to consider when creating your polls is what type and how many responses to include. The same rules apply for writing good responses as they do for writing good questions, with one exception. Limit the number of possible responses to prevent overwhelming the audience with choices. The goal of live polls is to obtain information from the audience quickly. The possible responses should not be so long or difficult to answer that they interrupt the flow of the session.

How to Set Up Your Live Poll

To create a Live Poll, go to the Content Manager. In the Polls & Feedback module, select “Create a Live Poll,” attach it to a session, add your question and select the question type. Here you will determine if the responses will be open-ended, multiple answers, a star rating, or a numeric rating from 1 to 5.

Recommended Read: Learn how to get your event speakes using live polling and Q&A event app features to increase audience engagement.

2. Session Feedback

Asking for session feedback immediately following your education sessions is a great way to gain an understanding of what worked, what didn’t, and how you can improve for next year. It’s also valuable information and insight to share with your speakers and stakeholders. But printing session evaluation forms for every person attending every session is not only wasteful (since not every person will complete them), but expensive. What’s more, the answers then have to be hand tabulated. That’s why including session feedback forms in the app is so valuable.

To encourage participants to complete the session evaluations, keep them short — 3 to 5 questions max. The fewer fields or questions your session evaluation has, the more likely someone is to complete it. Also, set aside time at the beginning and end of the session to encourage participants to give their feedback. Keeping surveys anonymous is another best practice for ensuring a good response to your evaluations.

How to Set Up Your Session Feedback Surveys

To create a Session Feedback survey in the Polls & Feedback module, select the “Session Feedback” tab. Name the survey, assign it to every session or specific sessions, and add your questions. The process is the same as in polls; you can select the type of response from ratings, one answer, multiple answers or typing in their own response. Results can be downloaded in either an Excel or PDF file by clicking the ‘Generate Reports’ button.

3. Event Surveys

Participants expect to receive a post-event survey following the event. It’s their opportunity to share their feedback on the overall event — from the food, venue, destination, networking opportunities, expectations — and it’s one of an event planner’s most valued tools in planning future events. But, your surveys are only good if your attendees complete them. Including them in the app and incentivizing your event surveys will ensure people take the time to complete them.

One recommendation is to send an Alert to attendees post-event with a link to the survey. If you have a native app, this could appear as a push notification on the attendee’s device. If there’s an incentive, you can include an image of the prize or the value of it in the Alert to encourage people to follow the link.

As with the Session Feedback survey, the same rules apply. Keep the Event Survey as brief as possible and don’t wait more than a few days (at most) to send it. You can pre-schedule the Alert to send the next day to ensure the event is still fresh in your attendees’ minds.

How to Set Up Your Event Survey

You can create an Event Survey in the same way you create a Session Feedback survey, simply ensure you’ve selected the Event Surveys tab in the Polls & Feedback module. Click “Create an Event Survey”, name it, add your questions, and save.

Recommended Read: Learn healthcare tech company GetWellNetwork’s winning 3-step approach to incorporating gamification into your event strategy.

4. Create an Event Game

Gamification can be a great way to engage your attendees at your event. Before we walk through how to set up your event game, here are some best practices to keep in mind.

1. Display the leaderboard publicly onsite
2. Stagger prizes and challenge difficulty consistently to create a flow to your game
3. While material objects are the most common type of reward, beware! The moment the stuff has been awarded is the moment the player stops being engaged unless you’ve clearly indicated there are more prizes to be won
4. Having a new game every day is also a great way to refresh interest with new challenges, rules and rewards to compete for

How to Create an Event Game

When setting up your event game in the Content Manager, start by selecting the Gamification module. Add a challenge by naming the challenge, providing a description, assigning a number of points and a passcode. Once you’ve added challenges, you can enable or disable each challenge, hide all challenges from being shown, and sort the challenges manually.

Under the game settings tab, you can name your game, provide a game description, and access the URL to view the leaderboard. You can copy the game leaderboard URL into any internet browser and display it on a large screen at the event. If you have the gamification widget on the home screen, your leaderboard will also appear in the app.

In Conclusion

Understanding what features you need, whether you want a web-based or native app and how both of these align with your event objectives will help you in your event app design. From there, it’s a matter of building out individual sections in the EventMobi Content Manager and customizing the app’s colors and home screen widgets to reflect your organization and event’s branding and color scheme. Engagement features such as live polls, session feedback, surveys, and gamification are easily set up in the Content Manager. The do-it-yourself approach to building an event app ensures it can be done at your own pace and on your schedule.

Recommended Read: 6 Amazing Event App Designs to Inspire you

The post Best Practices for Event App Design appeared first on EventMobi.

For us at EventMobi, team bonding and work-life balance are the reasons why we love the culture here. Being able to rely on our colleagues,  contribute ideas and have each of our voices heard, and be proud of the great value that we’re providing to clients all coincide to build a fun and productive work environment.

Ever since the beginning of EventMobi back in 2010, we’ve packed our bags every year and headed for a Team Retreat. We have offices in Toronto and Berlin, and amongst the two, so far we’ve explored the Bahamas, Milan, Barcelona, and Iceland, just to name a few. This summer, the Berlin team went to Lisbon for five days. Two days were spent in a co-working space. After all that work, it was time for play! We picked up the cooking spoons and attended a Portuguese cooking class before heading off to the Atlantic ocean to surf.

EventMobi’s technology is all about providing the best possible event experience to both planners and attendees through event management software tools like event apps, so what better way to demonstrate how useful an event app than by using it for our own team retreat? The following blog post is going to look at how we used our event app technology to improve attendee engagement and learning, and create an overall smooth event execution.

Agenda & Categories: Always Know What’s Going On

The heart of our team retreat was the agenda. From flight details to transfers, working hours and team dinners – the diverse and numerous activities scheduled throughout the five days could be clearly sorted, thanks to the color-coded categories. The agenda could be displayed in both list and calendar formats and also worked in offline mode, which was a huge benefit because we didn’t always have access to WIFI and roaming charges in Portugal would have been a big hit to the budget!

Attendee Profiles: Mobiers Get to Know Each Other Better

One of the retreat goals was to get to know each other even better. Some Mobiers have been around since the beginning of the company while others joined just a few weeks ago. In order to provide great icebreakers and get to know each other on a more personal level, creating profiles in the event app was a real benefit. Here’s an example of the types of questions we got Mobiers to fill out:

Spotify Playlist: Music to Our Ears

For the first two days of the retreat, the team worked within a co-working space in Lisbon. The internet connection was lightning fast and the rooms were bright and well equipped. But to really make it fun and productive, we needed to tap into the music system!

Taking into account that everyone has their own taste in music, we asked for everyone to put their favorite song in their attendee profile. We then compiled all the songs into a Spotify playlist, which we integrated into the event app. Having been inspired by music festivals, we thought that by creating a playlist, we could build anticipation and keep the great memories alive for years to come.

Access to Information In One Place (Including Offline)

For a retreat experience, there are always a few more details that need to be kept on top of in order to run a smooth event. Logistics like flight information and co-ordinating meet up points can be tricky since it’s so common for things to change last minute. That’s why having all your up-to-date information within a single place that can be referenced in real-time by all organizers and attendees, like an event app, is so useful. Below is an image of what our event app home screen looked like. It included all the commonly accessed areas, especially the agenda and hotel information.

The map area in the event app showed the location of the apartments where we stayed, the co-working space, as well as the restaurants where we spent the evening dining together. We even included the nearest supermarkets and bars within walking distance. WiFi information, access codes for the apartments, and contact details of the apartment owners were also provided in the event app.

The handy Document Library also contained each person’s flight tickets. We wanted to make it as easy and convenient for Mobiers as possible. They didn’t need to sort through their emails to find their tickets or print them out because everything could be accessed through the event app, even while offline.

Recommended Resource: We’ve put together a selection of amazing event app designs to inspire you. Check out the best event app designs we’ve created for our clients!

Activity Feed: Share Photos to Keep the Memories Alive

Capturing and sharing moments is an important part of how attendees experience an event, especially when traveling. However, not every photo is suitable for sharing to the public on social media channels like Facebook and Instagram.

A great feature of EventMobi’s event app is the Activity Feed, which is an internal social network where attendees can share photos that are visible only to whoever accesses the event app.

Below is an example from our Activity Feed, which helped us create a shared photo album where employees could publish pictures and like their favorites.

Push Notifications: Keep Your Attendees Updated

Push notifications through the event app allowed us to communicate pre-scheduled and spontaneous messages to our employees. For example, we sent reminder communications 24 hours prior to departure, informed them about the airline’s carry-on regulations, and provided a link to the boarding pass. Even last-minute changes to the agenda could be easily communicated.

Playful Gamification Experiences: EventMobi Jeopardy!

The highlight of the program was our own version of “EventMobi Jeopardy!” For those of you who may not be familiar with the TV quiz show, answers from different categories are read out and the players have to formulate the appropriate question. In our version, interesting, funny, or surprising facts were given about employees. Players had to write down on a blackboard the name of the Mobier who they thought was associated with the clue.

In order to collect enough material for the quiz, a survey within the event app was created and distributed through the event app four weeks before the team retreat. Examples of questions included “What is your secret talent?” and “If you wrote a book, what would be the title?”

Document & Note Sharing: Create Memorable Workshops

Events can easily become a hectic experience for attendees, especially when there are numerous or intensive sessions and workshops throughout the day. This can make it difficult to really let all the new learnings sink in and be digested.

For our company retreat, it was important to provide as much value as possible to employees. We wanted them to effectively learn new skills and increase their knowledge in ways that would help them be more successful in their careers.

The key to enabling participants to apply the knowledge they gained was to ensure everyone had access to documents and notes taken during the workshops. This was made possible through a feature in EventMobi’s event app called Session Feedback. Notes were logged in this section that addressed who participated in the session, what were the main outcomes, and next steps that needed to be taken. The person leading the workshop would then disseminate to all participants so they had a copy of the notes.

In Conclusion

Event apps help event planners design smooth corporate retreats and incentive trips. From hotel information, agenda details, and plane tickets – attendees always have the latest information at hand, even offline. And if any last-minute changes are required to the program, an event app makes distributing communication very easy. Used to the best advantage, an event app also helps to foster a sense of community and engagement, which has the potential to create life-long bonds and motivate employees throughout the year. An event app also provides a treasure chest worth of data about your employees, of which helpful insights can be drawn and used to influence the design of your next event.

Our retreat to Lisbon would definitely not have been as smooth or interactive without the event app. The key with this type of technology is to not make it the focus of the event. Instead, it acts in a supporting role that enables planners and attendees to experience the event as seamlessly and engagingly as possible.

Interested in learning how an event app can make your next retreat or incentive trip a smooth and engaging experience? Our event tech experts are easily accessible and can answer all your questions.

Book a Demo

The post Case Study: How EventMobi Boosted Employee Learning and Engagement During Our Annual Company Retreat appeared first on EventMobi.

To create a transformative event experience, the key to success is using a solid experience design framework as your basis. We’ve created a 6-Step Event Experience Framework that every event planner can use to elevate their event to an experience.

Step 1: Identify the Key Stakeholders of Your Event Experience

Determine the people who benefit from the success of your event. Create a thorough list of all the groups who have a stake in whether or not your event achieves its goals. This includes:

• Participants
• Sponsors
• Speakers
• Exhibitors
• Influencers
• Press
• Staff
• Board or executive teams
• Donors
• Funders
• Suppliers

Then identify the most critical stakeholders and prioritize them in terms of needs. This will determine whose experience expectations you address first.

Develop personas for your primary stakeholders so that you can design your event experience and message in a way that will resonate with them.

Step 2: Determine the Primary Event Objectives for Different Stakeholders

Experience design requires a clear understanding of objectives, but the event objectives are going to be different for each stakeholder. Here are some tips on how to determine which objectives you should be designing your event experience around:

• Identify your stakeholders and the business challenge(s) they each want to overcome. Rank the top three to five results that would satisfy each of these challenges and make the event a success from the perspective of each stakeholder group.
• Quantify what success looks like for each stakeholder. For instance, exhibitors might be targeting 20 new leads but the board might be looking to make a $50K profit from the event.
• Create realistic milestones to track progress towards your event goals that ultimately address your stakeholder’s objectives. For example, if you’re planning on using gamification to encourage attendees to network with sponsors, create a milestone of purchasing or building an event app that can help you execute this strategy.

Step 3: Evaluate Your Event Budget and Allocate Spend Where it Matters

There’s never enough budget when running an event. That’s just the reality we all need to accept and work within. So that’s why it’s so critical to prioritize your stakeholder event objectives and be realistic in what you can commit to achieving. To stay on track and make sure you allocate your financial resources in the best way, here are some tips:

• Create an event budget with estimated figures to help you calculate the required budget, income targets, and break-even point of your event.
• Update your estimates with the actual figures as soon as budget items have been confirmed and committed to so that you can rework your budget allocation if needed.
• Have a contingency figure as a percentage of the overall budget that you’ll be able to dip into to deal with any shortfalls for essential or wishlist items.

Step 4: Map the Experience Mix

An experience is created through a mix of different factors and elements known as the Experience Mix. How these all flow and interconnect with one another, and ultimately impact event attendees, can be complex so careful analysis and planning is critical. Here are some tips on how to design your Experience Mix:

• List the major touchpoints throughout your event lifecycle where each of your key stakeholder groups will be impacted. The journey for an attendee will be different from a speaker or sponsor. Therefore, the flow needs to be considered from each of their viewpoints. This includes before, during, and after your event.
• Under each major touchpoint, list the opportunities and ideas for creating a memorable experience. This can be in the form of little touches all the way through to big elements that surprise and delight. Be sure to take into account the venue space and event floor plan. There might be interesting ways to use the space.
• Keep in mind how your event brand and messaging are being used at each touchpoint. It could be in the form of a logo presence, or there could be more tangible ways to communicate the brand and bring to life your organization’s culture and ethos.
• Consider how to use technology to enhance the attendee journey at the different touchpoints. Event tech can be leveraged at any point within the event lifecycle to create a more impactful experience for the stakeholder.

Step 5: Use Visuals to Communicate What Your Event Concept Will Look Like

So at this point, you’ve identified your major stakeholders, established your event objectives, and created an Experience Mix that best suits the major touchpoints that you will use throughout your event lifecycle.

The next step is to communicate to your stakeholders what the event experience is going to look like. Visual tools can be used to show the physical design, layout, and production. This will help the stakeholder visualize what needs to be done in order to achieve the desired results.

To visualize your event experience concept, considering using 3D imaging and physical mock-ups of your event spaces. These can include your floor plans, decor, furniture, and AV production. This is particularly useful for staff, vendors, and management to understand the vision and plan their own priorities leading up to the event.

Step 6: Determine How You’re Going to Measure ROI and the Success of the Event

The final step in the experience design framework is to figure out what type of reporting you need in order to measure the event ROI and other success metrics that address your event objectives from Step 2. Event design is often focused on long-term behavioral change and continuous improvement, so it must be data-driven in order to make the appropriate adjustments.

Being able to measure event ROI is critical. You need to prove the value of participating in your event to each group of stakeholders. Here are some ideas on how to prove the success of your event:

• Take each stakeholder objective you identified in Step 2 and define how it will be measured and tracked. Think about the data that can be accessed through different tools and how to combine this information to prove that the objective has been achieved. For example, you could offer lead retrieval software to exhibitors so that they can track the leads they collect at the event. At the same time, you could have a universal view of all activity recorded by exhibitors.

• Use a mix of quantitative and qualitative data to give a well-rounded picture of the event results. Statistics and figures are important but survey data and feedback from stakeholders are also valuable.

To learn more about how to elevate your event into an unforgettable experience, read the ebook Experience Design: A Complete Guide to Creating Memorable Events, with an introduction by Julius Solaris, editor of Event Manager Blog and ranked as one of the 25 most influential people in the Meetings industry

The post 6 Easy Steps to Create a Memorable Event Experience appeared first on EventMobi.

Site selection for your meeting or event is not just about finding the right venue in the right city, and booking that space before anyone else can get to it first. Unfortunately, it’s a tedious process that includes a lot of time management, design skills, knowledge about AV and WiFi requirements as well as contract negotiations. But fear not – we’ve got tips that you can add to your event planning toolbox so you don’t get overwhelmed when selecting a site for your event or meeting.

Site Selection Process

When organizing a meeting or event, site selection is a critical step in your planning process. However, you can only make a decision on your site if you know your event’s objectives, target audience and available budget. Once you’ve found a location, venue and meeting space, it’s essential to create a timeline so you don’t miss any crucial milestones (and don’t forget to plan for a site visit!).

Location Considerations

First step is to pick a location. Although it might sound very straightforward, there are items you want to remember before picking a destination. We’ve created a checklist with examples to get you started.

Location Checklist

Start Your Research

A good starting point when researching your site selection is Convention & Visitor Bureaus (CVBs), also known as DMOs (Destination Marketing Organizations). These can be found at national, state or city level and often offer free advice for certain services since they’re usually funded by governments or local businesses. It’s their mission to attract business to their area or city so they should be able to support you with materials and information on venues and facilities. DMOs can even help coordinate a site inspection for you.

Helpful Tip: If you have visited a particular city before, chances are the DMO still has all historic information from your last visit, so don’t forget to ask about this.

Destination Management Companies (DMCs) are also an excellent reference point for you. DMCs are usually well-known for their expertise with local vendors and often have event management experience themselves. Note that there’s usually a fee involved. And don’t forget about leveraging your trusted meeting planner peers and professional associations to help you source the best venue for your meeting or event!  

Venue or Site Selection Considerations

Once a location has been decided on, the next step is to find a venue. Aside from the actual property, keep in mind certain elements that you’ll want to include when conducting your search for site selection:

1. Services & Amenities

• Catering. You want to make sure the venue has a kitchen and catering available. This is often a more cost-effective solution than having a third-party caterer. If there’s no kitchen, find out if the venue has an exclusive partnership with a catering company or if you can bring your own.

• Equipment. Inquire if tables, chairs and linens are available for you to use. If they fit to your overall theme and decor, it usually saves you money. And don’t forget to ask about AV equipment and WiFi availability.

• Clean-Up Crew. Not all venues offer a clean-up crew. Find out early on so you can adjust your budget for additional expenses.

• Setup Time. Find out at what time you can start setting up and when you can start taking things down. Inquire about costs for these time slots.
• Storage Area and Backstage Rooms. Is there a storage area for your team as well as vendors? When and how can this area be accessed? Also ask about possible backstage rooms that can be leveraged for back-of-house operations.

2. Room Capacities and Food & Beverage Minimums

When selecting a venue, you already know how many people to expect for your meeting or event. So you’ll want to ask about room capacities. Room rental is typically based on capacity and has minimum food & beverage spend requirements if the venue has in-house catering.  Inquire about this number and make sure to get this information in writing.

3. Parking

Depending on your target audience, and if they’ll be flying or driving in, you might want to investigate  parking availability. It’ll be a major pain point for attendees if parking isn’t close by or available at all.

4. Accessibility

Is the venue accessible to everyone? Consider guests of all ages and those with special needs. Everyone needs to be able to access event rooms and amenities. Be sure to check the local, provincial/state and national laws where your meeting or event is being held to ensure your event is compliant. Remember that it’s your responsibility to make certain your event is adhering to the most current version of the law as your event attendees are under your care.

5. Insurance & Permits

Many venues won’t allow you to rent the space if you don’t have liability insurance in place. Be prepared to share this information with the venue early on. Also ask about special permits that are required from your end.

Site Selection Timeline

Timelines vary depending on the kind of event you‘re planning. Rule of thumb is that the smaller the event, the shorter the planning and site selection process will be. In general, the number of expected attendees, overnight guests and event space requirements will dictate how far in advance you need to start your site selection. It isn’t uncommon that for large trade shows, you need to decide for a city, conference centre and hotels anywhere between two to five years in advance. The actual selection of services you need would not begin until 12-18 months before your event though. It’s best to create a work back schedule from your meeting or event date and prioritize tasks accordingly.

Site Inspection

A personal site inspection is a must. Without personally having been in the city and at the venue, it will be challenging to decide if the site serves your purpose. It needs to allow you to create an outstanding attendee experience. This might require an overnight stay at your destination. However, some hotels, if you are serious about booking large room blocks, might offer you a complimentary night.

Recommended Read: Be prepared for your next site visit with this site inspection checklist.

In Conclusion

Once you determined your event’s objectives, target audience and budget you are ready to select a location (the city you want your meeting to be in), a venue (the actual building your event takes place) and the meeting space (the rooms in which you’ll be creating an unforgettable attendee experience!).

Advanced planning is of the essence to make sure you can host your event at your preferred site, and a site visit is a must. Remember to be patient. Site selection is a time-consuming process, but once it’s completed, you’ve accomplished a significant milestone in your event planning process.

Site selection can make up a significant portion of your event budget. Learn best practices on how to prepare an event budget so you don’t have any unplanned surprises at the end of your event.

Event Budget Basics: Everything You Need to Know

 

Read Now

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