5 Best Life Hacks that Change Your Event Tech – Part 1

Whether you’re tasked with planning the next annual meeting for your non-profit, or pulling together vendors and speakers for a major corporate event, if you’re not using event management software you’re likely leaving money on the table. Although the world is moving to embrace technology in every sector, you may still feel attached to your spreadsheets, overflowing three-ring binders, and endless sticky notes. A recent survey showed that 20% of event planners don’t have any idea what the direct ROI is from their events as a direct result of not incorporating technology; the ability to explicitly track return on investment is absolutely essential if you want to remain competitive.

Your creativity, innovation, and long-range thinking is priceless; now let’s take a look at ways to make your event planning tasks infinitely easier. We’ve put together 10 life hacks to help you fall in love with event tech and we’re confident that soon you’ll dump the dog-eared binders and step boldly into the tech age (even if you’re absolutely not a geek).

1. Your time is valuable. How much time are you currently spending trying to integrate information from hundreds of spreadsheets and torn tabs in those heavy three-ring binders? Define where you’re spending the most time, then get ready for an almost magical way you can free up your time to do what you do best simply by embracing event planning technology. 
2. There’s an app for that! If you’re tired of endless emails and phone messages, juggling a day planner, wall calendar, and sticky notes strategically stuck to the sides of your computer monitor so you ‘don’t forget’, and fighting an anxiety attack trying to keep track of last-minute schedule changes, then repeat after me: There’s an app for that! Today’s mobile event apps are designed to take care of things like scheduling, communication, multiple vendors and even integrating with your CRM campaigns. Check out Evernote to help you organize vender research and keep everyone on the same page. Doodle is a simple scheduling app that’s easier to use than sticky notes. And the brand new Eventbrite Sync app seamlessly integrates your event planning with your automated followup campaigns.
3. Let go of your apprehension about technology. There’s no clearer way to address this one. Whether you’re still using paper planning because its what’s familiar, or you’re just plain overwhelmed at the prospect of learning a new digital ‘language’, it’s time to step up if you want to remain competitive. We’re betting that even your great-Aunt Alice learned how to post pictures on Facebook, so we’re confident you can learn how to go digital with event management software.
4. No geeks needed. Embracing event management software is not the same thing as learning computer programming, being able to rattle off techy acronyms or never again jotting down a note on paper. The whole idea is to make your job easier, simpler, and more cost-effective. Event tech is designed for event planners with guided feedback by event planners – expect your job to get easier, not harder.
5. Dump the paper check-in and use an event registration app. If you’re still printing off long lists of names and expecting event check-in to happen efficiently, you seriously need an upgrade. Everyone’s got a smart phone these days and they’ll thank you for making the registration process much more painless. Save a tree (or several) by going paperless, reduce the human resource time-sink of managing all those cumbersome lists of names, increase your attendees’ delight with no more long registration lines.

While it can feel a bit daunting to step away from that tried-and-true binder stuffed with coffee-stained notes and endless lists, it might be time to fall in love with event tech so you can focus on what you do best – create a unique event experience that lets your company stand out from the competition. Contact us today and let’s explore how you can get started!