Posts Categorized: Meetings Technology

18 ways you can make a GREAT Online Registration Form for your Conference

Posted July 6th, 2018 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, GDPR and Privacy, Meetings Technology, Online Registration - Keys to Success, Surveys, What's New.

Have you ever had an online registration form that was both inflexible and unattractive? An inflexible registration form is one that does not allow you to control what fees and questions a registrant receives based on how they answered other questions on the form. An unattractive form is, well, ugly – such as a cheap looking invitation. If your online registration form has either of these qualities, you are diminishing the brand of your event and your organization. While building an event brand takes a long time of hard work, that impression can be brought down quickly by giving a... Read more »

Are Event Planners Ready for GDPR?

Posted April 18th, 2018 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Rebels Blog, GDPR and Privacy, Meetings Technology, What's New.

Are you ready for May 25, 2018? That is the date that the new European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect. While GDPR consolidates and builds upon prior EU regulations on privacy and data security, it is noteworthy both in its scope within the EU and its impact abroad. Does GDPR apply to my organization? The goal of GDPR is to protect the personal data of EU citizens. For organizations that process this data, the regulation seeks to ensure that personal information is handled in a secure, private and transparent fashion. At the heart of GDPR... Read more »

Saving Time by Getting Your Event and Organization Software to Talk to Each Other

Posted February 13th, 2018 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Online Registration - Keys to Success, What's New.

Are you a meeting planner that spends too much time moving data from one software system to another? When you make an update to your conference schedule software do you also have to copy the changes to your website and then again to your mobile app? Do also you need to duplicate your attendee information in the organization’s CRM? How about being concerned with moving financial data from your online registration system to accounting? If you have one stop shop conference software, you may be able to avoid some of this tedious, error prone work. However, in most cases, there... Read more »

What do your Attendees Think?

Posted January 31st, 2018 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Mobile Event Apps, Onsite, Resources Trade Show, Speakers, Surveys, Trade Show, What's New.

Have you ever been frustrated by the difficulty of getting accurate feedback from your conference attendees? Surveys, of course, are still the most popular and robust way to see how your attendees think about your show, but they can suffer from poor response rates. Fortunately, the rise of social media and mobile technologies give you more options than ever to capture the pulse of your attendees. Here are some options you may want to consider:Better Surveys. Despite its problems, surveys are still the best way to get feedback. There are many ways for you to improve surveys. The first big... Read more »

Is Your White Labeled Event App Dead?

Posted October 30th, 2017 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Apps, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Mobile Event Apps, What's New.

The demand for mobile event apps for attendees is red hot. Event branding is very important to show producers, so it is important to package the event app in a way that reflects the brand as much as possible. Currently the most effective way of doing this is to “private label” or “white label” the event app. This type of labeling maximizes the brand by listing the app under the event or organization’s name in the app store, customizing the start up or “splash” page, and setting the look and feel of the app to reflect the event’s branding. White... Read more »

How Event Professionals Can Think About “Reality” Technologies: Part Three – Augmented Reality

Posted September 21st, 2017 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, What's New.

There has been a lot of press lately about how technologies like Virtual Reality and Augmented Technology (aka “Mixed Reality” or MR) are going to change events. In the first article, we looked at one of the best and easiest to deploy of these technologies, 360 video. This week we look at Augmented Reality (AR). AR is, perhaps, the most exciting of these technologies both in terms of its potential and ease of deployment. So what is AR? Augmented Reality stands out because it combines both the computer digital world with (analog) reality. In its most basic form, AR overlays... Read more »

How to get started with Conference Management Software: Part Eight – Powerful Registration Reporting

Posted August 29th, 2017 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Online Registration - Keys to Success, What's New.

In this series we have been reviewing how event technology can be employed at various points in the lifecycle of an association’s annual conference. One of the key advantages of using first rate online registration software is that you can collect critical data about your attendees. However, if you cannot manipulate the information in the manner you need, your online registration system may be creating a bunch of hidden costs by not giving you functionality that high end platforms provide. Here are some reporting features your online registration software should have. Most importantly, you need to be able to export... Read more »

Bringing Your Event and Marketing Data Together

Posted August 2nd, 2017 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Data Analysis, Event Apps, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, QR Codes, What's New.

Until recent years, there has been a one-way relationship between marketers and event planners. Namely, the marketing department would do their work to promote an event, but little help traveled back from the event planners back to the marketing team. Much event data, especially the onsite experience, was considered a black hole of information with little to glean for future marketing efforts. Fortunately, the rise of great event technology and mobile event apps are now providing a rich set of data that can be used to better promote events as well as providing valuable information to the marketing department on... Read more »

How to get started with Conference Management Software: Part Seven – Managing Exhibitors

Posted July 26th, 2017 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Resources Trade Show, Trade Show, What's New.

As we have seen earlier in this series, we have been reviewing how event technology can be employed at various points in the lifecycle of an association’s annual conference. A key step in this process is opening your trade show sales. However, this is just the beginning of how great trade show and exhibitor management software can automate much of the work needed to handle your exhibitors and sponsors. Your event technology is probably lacking if you are unable to perform basic exhibitor management activities. Here are some of the essentials you should expect. View the status of your booth... Read more »

How Event Professionals Can Think About “Reality” Technologies: Part Two – 3D Video

Posted June 16th, 2017 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, What's New.

There has been a lot of press lately about how technologies like Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Technology (AR) are going to change events. To best know how to utilize these technologies in a cost-effective manner it is best to understand that these tools are in a continuum ranging from the relatively simple and inexpensive to the complex and costly. To simplify this continuum, it might be helpful to look at these emerging “reality” and “3D” technologies in four different ways. This week we look at 3D video. You probably have experienced 3D in the movie theaters. In fact, 3D... Read more »

How to get started with Conference Management Software: Part Six – Successful Event Email Marketing

Posted June 5th, 2017 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Email - How to Use Effectively, Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, What's New.

This series has been reviewing how event technology can be employed at various points in the lifecycle of an association’s annual conference. After you have opened online registration and your online trade show sales, you can now start using event technology to drive revenue. In particular, targeted Email communications still remains one of the best ways to get companies and individuals to sign up for your conference. Event technology can help you communicate with potential attendees in a number of different ways: Scheduled Email Campaigns. Great event management software will let you plan out your marketing campaigns in advance through... Read more »

How to Use Registration Data to Boost Conference Attendance

Posted April 18th, 2017 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Data Analysis, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings, Meetings Technology, Online Registration - Keys to Success, What's New.

Did you know that your registration database of past meetings can be a goldmine of information that can increase your marketing efficiency and boost attendance at your next conference? If you have been using great online registration software to record your attendee data, you may have the keys to catapulting your registration numbers to the next level. Here are some ways you can use your registration data to reach your goals.Week over Week reports. It is common practice to see how your show is trending compared to previous years. Week over Week reports comparing factors like total registrations and revenue... Read more »

How to get started with Conference Management Software: Part Five – Developing Your Conference Program Schedule

Posted April 3rd, 2017 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Speakers, What's New.

Event technology can provide a bewildering range of choices for the meeting planner. A good place to start making sense of the range of options is to look at how software can be utilized at the various stages of the event lifecycle. This series has been looking at the the lifecycle from the point of view of an association’s annual conference. We are now at the point of looking at tools that can help you in your day-to-day work in the months leading up to the conference. About the time of your previous annual conference, you may have already opened... Read more »

How Event Professionals Can Think About “Reality” Technologies: Part One – 360-Degree Video

Posted March 20th, 2017 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, What's New.

There has been a lot of press lately about how technologies like Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Technology (AR) are going to change events. To best know how to utilize these technologies in a cost-effective manner it is best to understand that these tools are in a continuum ranging from the relatively simple and inexpensive to the complex and costly. To simplify this continuum, it might be helpful to look at these emerging “reality” and “3D” technologies in four different ways. This week we look at the low-hanging fruit of reality technology – 360-degree video. What is 360-degree video? 360-degree... Read more »

How Verifying Your Conference Attendees Can Help Your Bottom Line

Posted March 14th, 2017 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Online Registration - Keys to Success, QR Codes, Trade Show, What's New.

In the mad rush to get ready for a conference, it is easy to ignore one of the most important metrics of show – namely, who actually attended. Planners often overlook this metric because the registration revenue is already in the bank so, in their overworked mind, it is not particularly important knowing who actually showed up. This is a major mistake because knowing your attendees from your no-shows is very important for your planning, marketing and bottom line. There are two things you should take into account when getting ready to verify your attendees. Know the difference between Attendance... Read more »

How to get started with Conference Management Software: Part Four – Opening Online Registration

Posted February 22nd, 2017 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Online Registration - Keys to Success, What's New.

Event technology can provide a bewildering range of choices for the meeting planner. A good place to start making sense of the range of options is to look at how software can be utilized at the various stages of the event lifecycle. In this series, we will look at the lifecycle from the point of view of an association’s annual conference. In past weeks, we have looked at software that often goes live immediately after the prior year’s conference. In this part of the series, we look at tools that can help you in your day-to-day work in the months... Read more »

How to get started with Conference Management Software: Part Three – Setup Online Credit Card Processing

Posted February 1st, 2017 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Credit Cards, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Online Registration - Keys to Success, Trade Show, What's New.

As was seen in the first issues of this series, navigating through the myriad of event technology choices can be one of the toughest assignments a meeting professional can face. Just breaking down the possibilities into categories can be a daunting assignment itself. A helpful way to approach this problem is to see how software can be utilized at the various stages of the event lifecycle. Many activities for next year’s show begin right after the current one ends. To keep things simple, we will look at the lifecycle from the point of view of an association’s annual conference. This... Read more »

How to get started with Conference Management Software: Part Two – Open Trade Show Sales

Posted January 24th, 2017 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Resources Trade Show, Trade Show, What's New.

As was seen in the first issue of this series, navigating through the myriad of event technology choices can be one of the toughest assignments a meeting professional can face. Just breaking down the possibilities into categories can be a daunting assignment itself. A helpful way to approach this problem is to see how software can be utilized at the various stages of the event lifecycle. Many activities for next year’s show begin right after the current one ends. To keep things simple, we will look at the lifecycle from the point of view of an association’s annual conference. This... Read more »

How to get started with Conference Management Software: Part One – Choosing Your Speakers

Posted January 18th, 2017 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Speakers, What's New.

Navigating through the myriad of event technology choices can be one of the toughest assignments a meeting professional can face. Just breaking down the possibilities into categories can be a daunting assignment itself. A helpful way to approach this problem is to see how software can be utilized at the various stages of the event lifecycle. Many activities for next year’s show begin right after the current one ends. To keep things simple, we will look at the lifecycle from the point of view of an association’s annual conference. This week we will look at choosing your speakers. Opening Up... Read more »

Using Destination International’s empowerMINT Tool to search Meeting Destinations

Posted November 16th, 2016 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Meetings, Meetings Technology, Product Reviews, What's New.

Looking for a good destination for your meeting but need some basic facts like convention center capacity, nearby hotels and airport, and so forth? Fortunately, there is a great and free tool available called empowerMINT that helps you quickly get answers to your questions. Note that the empowerMINT website is for destinations and not venues. Destinations International (DI) represents the various destinations across the United States and is the organization behind empowerMINT. The Destination Marketing terminology evolved from the old concept of a CVB (aka “Convention and Visitors Bureau”.) DI used to be the International Association of Convention Bureaus (IACB),... Read more »

Great Resources for Event Professionals

Posted October 26th, 2016 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Meetings, Meetings Technology, What's New.

One of the toughest tasks of an event professional is keeping up with the multitude of changes and trends that impact your job. Fortunately, there are a number of great resources that can keep you posted on the latest news and trends in the world of events, conferences and trade shows. The sites mentioned cover news ranging from new hotels to hot event technology. Most of these feature easy to access postings that you can read on your phone in the few moments when you have a break or are waiting for a plane. Event Manager Blog. This blog is... Read more »

Ten Ways to Use Facebook Live & Periscope Streaming Apps for Your Conference

Posted September 13th, 2016 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Marketing, Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Social Media, What's New.

Live streaming apps have quickly been recognized as a terrific way to extend your meeting’s brand beyond in-person attendees. Twitter’s Periscope was the first to show the possibilities of live streaming events. However, the arrival of Facebook Live offers a chance to expand your show’s reach to Facebook’s giant ecosystem of over a billion users. The good news is you do not need to pick just one of these apps – you can use both! Since these free apps are a particularly good way to reduce expensive A/V costs, they will be particularly attractive to smaller meetings. Here are some... Read more »

Is Your Online Registration Form ADA Compliant?

Posted August 31st, 2016 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Mobile Event Apps, Online Registration - Keys to Success, What's New.

Is your website ADA compliant? Section 508 is the key portion of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) that deals with websites. The provision was enacted in 1998 to make available new opportunities for people with disabilities and to encourage development of technologies that will help achieve these goals. For years, developers have often created websites that are Section 508 compliant only if the site is part of a government contract or have an audience that requires these standards. However, in recent years, there has been an increasing amount of cases where websites that are not compliant have opened themselves... Read more »

How to Find Great Abstract Peer Review Software for Your Conference

Posted August 22nd, 2016 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Speakers, What's New.

There are few aspects of speaker management that can be more painful than the process of conducting a peer review from an open Call for Papers. If the review is conducted in the classical way, the planners will find themselves buried in a bewildering collection of PDFs, Word docs and spreadsheets. Hours upon hours can be spent communicating with the review team, collating information and somehow trying to make sense of it all. In between all of this manual work is the need to give proper consideration to all the submissions and being fair in the final judgments of which... Read more »

Stream At Your Own Peril, Part Two

Posted July 6th, 2016 by K.C. Hopson & filed under Event Rebels Blog, Meetings Technology, Mobile Event Apps, Social Media, What's New.

This is part two of an article that originally appeared as the lead story for The Meeting Professional June 2016 issue. Click here to go to Part One Everything is About Communication The key to avoiding and surviving such lawsuits is to make the intentions of the conference clear. “My best advice is to alert all parties concerned that a live streaming app like Periscope is being used, where and when,” says Tyra Hilliard. “Disclose it in speaker and entertainment contracts and get permissions as needed. Disclose it in registration materials and ask registrants for permission to use their images.... Read more »

Posts Categorized: Meetings Technology

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