The Top Event Apps
Eight Top Event Apps
Event apps are one component of the Event management software each planner needs to pull off a great event. You have either heard the buzz about “event apps” or have seen them utilized at other events. Perhaps your members have even asked when you will incorporate one for your event. However, before digging into unending investigation, it is imperative to understand the must have features you should be looking for in a meeting or event app and what value they can bring to your event. This blog will review the top event apps needed for event software use by an organizer or planner.
Organizing an Event
Right from the start, a top event app will scale your staffing operations! One of the most significant costs in organizing an event is staffing. When you connect your staff via a mobile event app with features like chat, notifications and schedule management will expedite changes in real time and connect your team to manage every new problem that comes up during an event.
Eliminate Print Materials
A huge savings will be the elimination of all the printed materials. This includes the agendas, promotional materials, maps, and so on. These can all be digitized, which also means fewer hours and headaches when there are last-minute revisions. Each attendee will now always have access to the latest information, including speaker and exhibitor handouts. Attendees will access these via the event app where they can download them or review them later. The top event apps will allow you to push updates to this content while your event is ongoing.
Connect Attendees
For some events, the time and cost savings in this area alone are enough to justify the price. For an event to be truly successful, a top event app will connect attendees with each other, the exhibitors and speakers. This can be hard to accomplish, even with smaller groups or focused sessions. Your event needs a catalyst to create those connections. This is why the best conference apps include social networking features built specifically for events, which encourages engagement throughout. This includes posting during the event to an activity feed, using gamification with the exhibitors and sharing thoughts and questions with speakers. Higher engagement levels also equate to higher perceived value for your attendees. At a bare minimum, your event app choice should include features for making connections through existing social media. In addition, think of incorporating Audience Response features like Live Polling, Digital Q&A, Surveys, Group Chat and Activity Feeds.
Exhibitor ROI
While looking at the features in a Top Event App, you will also want to consider how your exhibitors will benefit with increased Exhibitor ROI from your choice. How can they leverage it? Your ideal event app choice should have lead tracking capabilities and a custom portal to manage and distribute leads. The best mobile app will allow for custom lead generation questions and qualifiers. The typical options will include QR code or NFC scanning, which allows your exhibitors to access the attendee’s contact information and save it for follow-up. This will eliminate the act of exchanging traditional business cards. Some apps go a few steps further and allow the exhibitor to save lead notes, lead ranking or use other notations like custom questions and categorization when scanning the prospect’s information. Another exhibitor feature that is a must is in-app advertising and announcement notifications. These will truly drive business to the exhibitors. The last must have feature is gamification which allows attendees to visit exhibitor boots and earn points with the reward of winning a prize. This is a great way to get traffic via the event app to the exhibit hall. Be sure to mention the fact that you are using a conference app with these features when you are selling exhibitor space for your event.
Automating CE
If your attendees are earning any Continuing Education credits (CE CEU or CPE), you already know that capturing this information and generating reports can place a great burden on your administrative staff. The best conference apps give you the perfect opportunity to automate CE and digitize the process. Look for features that will assist in documenting each attendee’s presence in their sessions; this can include anything from Bluetooth beacons for location tracking to “code word” entry at the beginning and end of the session. Of course, you will also want to be able to access this data after the fact to compile credits for each attendee. Each app has a different solution.
Reviewing Top Event Apps
As event managers, having a successful meeting or conference is your responsibility, so take the time to understand what your app can and cannot do to support your group’s experience. A great conference app may be the one thing your meeting is missing. Your event software will be complete with one of the top event apps. All the features reviewed in this blog and more are in the Eventur app and listed here too.
- Eventur
- Cvent
- Aventri
- Whova
- Swoogo
- Webex
- Eventify
- Expopass
