Selecting an Event Technology Partner: How to Look Like a Hero in 4 Simple Steps

Every great superhero needs a side kick. Being an event planner is no easy feat. Meeting client deadlines, liaising with vendors and balancing the budget, position event planners as the modern day hero. However, throughout time no great hero has ever accomplished their goals alone: Batman had Robin, Tom Sawyer needed Huck Finn , and event planners have event technology partners.

What is an Event Technology Partner?

Finding an event technology partner is a great way to alleviate some of the challenges that event management companies face. Various tools can help manage the pre, onsite and post-event experience, simplifying certain aspects of the planning process and allowing them to divert their focus to other aspects of the event.  But what exactly is an “Event Technology Partner?” Essentially it’s a partnership between a company whose clients have needs involving event technology, and a provider that can best fulfill those needs.

“I don’t have enough time to get this done!”  “How can I show my client their event was a success?” “ How do we expand our service offering to stay competitive?” “How do we stay innovative to win more bids?”  We bet you’re facing some or all of these challenges at wherever your work. What you may not realize, is that many of these challenges can be solved by a good, solid event technology partnership.

Here are four ways that partnering with an event technology company can help you:

1. Save time and resources

In a recent study, event management was ranked the fifth most stressful occupation; following firefighters, pilots and police officers.  Crazy, right? This stress could likely be attributed to the aspects of the career such as meeting deadlines and managing client needs…you probably have a long list of things that contribute to your stress. But it probably all boils down to not having quite enough time or resources to accomplish everything that you want to.

Consider the last event you planned. It’s likely that there were last minute program updates (groan). Did you know that with an integrated event technology solution, you have the flexibility to make changes in real-time and have them appear across the conference app and digital signage with just a few clicks?! You’ll never have to print (or re-print) programs or posters again!

Another common headache of the event planner is that they are using too many tools and vendors and it takes too much time to manually transfer attendee lists and event details between registration, your event app, your digital signage..the list goes on. But  choosing to work with an integrated event technology partner means that you only have platform to manage and one contact to call if you need assistance.

Working with an event technology provider can also save you money in a few ways you may not have considered. Here’s how:

• Cut your paper budget by getting rid of program reprints or the program agenda altogether!
• Reduce the amount of event waste by using digital signage instead of event specific banners and materials that are printed and tossed a few days later.
• Monetize your event app with a variety of sponsorship opportunities.

2. Provide an end-to-end solution for your clients

Your clients have come to you for a reason – they value your expertise and they know you can get the job done. More and more frequently, clients are consulting their event management company for information and assistance on their event technology needs.  Partnering with an event technology company allows you to be one step ahead of the game,  offer better feature recommendations, pricing, timelines and support.  Having event technology in your planning toolkit also allows you to proactively suggest offerings to your clients as well, which are in both their best interest and yours.

While it’s easy to see ourselves as only one segment of the overall event, being able to provide more services and support to your clients, helps keep them happy and strengthens your relationship.  Consider our partner Meeting Expectations, an award-winning event and association management company.  They fielded frequent client requests for an event app, or a polling solution, so they decided to partner with us and incorporate event technology into their overall client strategy. Instead of having to provide a referral or make a recommendation, now Meeting Expectations has a preferred, designated event technology offering included in their events strategy.

3. Demonstrate Event ROI to your clients

Event planners often struggle to communicate the true value, or actual return on investment (ROI) to their clients. Establishing clear objectives and measures should be a key priority when working with the client, and should be discussed post-event to truly measure success.

Discussing event goals with your clients is the easy part. But calculating and demonstrating ROI is where it gets tricky, especially without a technology provider with which you are familiar.

Your event technology partner should be able to walk you through how to quantify event engagement using analytics pulled from the app. And this will help you answer key questions your clients will be asking, like:

• How many attendees viewed a particular agenda session?
• How frequently was that important document or slide deck opened?
• Did attendees make new connections?
• What was the attendee’s feedback on the sessions?   

4. Differentiate your services and win more bids

How do you differentiate your company and planning expertise compared to others?  Is your focus going green? Being innovative? Offering consistency?

Revisiting your company’s mission and vision is a great start -but finding an event technology provider that aligns with your objectives  is even better. This is key to becoming a leader within the event industry is not only differentiation from your competitors, but also alignment with your providers. When this happens, your clients are sure to value your services, support and knowledge.

Finding event technology partner help absolutely help alleviate many of the challenges you’re facing as an event management company.  But, working with a dedicated event tech team who is aware of your needs, dedicated to your success and ready to help you shine, this can help forge a lasting relationship that goes beyond the technology.

What’s next?

• Looking to implement event technology in your organization? Read our post: 7 Surefire Strategies for Selling Through Event Technology to your Executives
• Curious to hear more about our Partner Program? Book an appointment to meet Rebecca in-person at IMEX America 2016!