“Tools that solve all your problems in one often are too good to be true. One-size-fits-all often fits poorly,” says Stephanie Barkley, principal and co-founder of Spark Event Collective. DepositPhotos.com

In a fall 2021 survey of 319 qualified meeting planners, of whom 31% represented association markets, association respondents cited their continuing support for increased expenditures in event technology. By reducing the costs of in-person meetings, re-skilling staff in new technologies, and relying on event tech-management support, association planners are shifting their previous strategy from hosting mostly in-person events to an increase in virtual and/or hybrid models instead. As a result, planners are able to offer greater accessibility, inclusiveness and sustainability by limiting in-person meetings.

Trends Driving Technology Options

John Chen, CEO of Engaging Virtual Meetings, cites the impact of COVID-19 as a key factor in the rise of virtual meetings and the resultant reliance on technology, saying, “No one ever got sick on a virtual meeting. And “As we enter our third year,” Chen adds, “attendees now have the basics of a virtual meeting, and they are looking for deeper experience and more powerful tools.”

Even so, as attendees have grappled with the unprecedented demands and distractions of a global pandemic, one thing is clear: “People are burned out and feeling overtaxed,” says Stephanie Barkley, CMP, principal and co-founder of Spark Event Collective.

Connie Stevens, director of education for Florida-based Continuing Education Inc., says the latest meetings technology enhances trends such as interactive learning and gamification, and creates dynamic content and learning experiences, along with learner engagement. Planners can also use tech to make learning interactive, and use QR codes for distributing links and information to attendees and planners, she says.

And while investing in state-of-the-art technology can challenge a meeting planner’s budget, Chen points out that it’s a matter of balance. “Now that you’re not spending on food and beverage, hotels and travel, spend more on your speakers and trainers to engage your audience,” he says.

From a positive perspective, says Brooke Eder, DES, virtual events manager for Cloud Security Alliance, “With the push to virtual events, there is so much more data available about event attendee behaviors at your events [that] the amount of data we have from virtual events is going to provide valuable insights when developing a year-round event engagement plan for your audience,” she says. “Data holds the key for companies to understand their clients.”

For Barkley, that means keeping things simple is the best approach. “Anything with a learning curve is a tough sell for buy-in,” she says. “Things need to be intuitive, clean-looking, [and] familiar, or people may tune it out. Ease of use is important.” Barkley also recognizes that people want things on their own time. “On-demand viewing of content is also important,” she says. “[And] I think passive engagement options are helpful.” People say they want active engagement, networking, etc., but passive gamification seems to be just as popular or more popular right now. “With time restraints, people want stuff that delivers ROI,” Barkley says. “There is a lot of focus on ‘What’s in it that’s tailored to my current needs?’ Things like match-making is more popular than general networking spaces.”

Also, Eder says technology that uses artificial intelligence to help create learning paths for content delivery is going to become more prevalent over the next few years. “Especially for small associations that do not have a large staff or the resources to hire a data scientist to dig deep into the patterns,” she says, adding, “Creating on-demand content from your events is a breeze when sessions are recorded.”

Zoom stands out as a planner favorite because of its ease of use, and its popularity means many businesses use it, so it’s familiar technology to millions of people. DepositPhotos.com

Planner Favorites

When it comes to tech tools, Barkley responds enthusiastically that she loves technology. “I’m always testing out new tools for event planning/operations.” From check-in and registration, to networking and attendee engagement, technology offers event organizers a wide array of viable solutions. Also, technology can help association planners streamline internal operations and communications, not to mention save time and increase productivity. Just ask any planner for their favorite tech tools to discover the breadth and depth of applications available.

Jessica L. Levin, CMP, CAE, DES, president and chief connector, Seven Degrees LLC, uses Zoho for association management and their Backstage product for event registration, she says. “One of the biggest factors for an association is how well a product integrates with your Association Management System (AMS). If it doesn’t, it costs you a lot of time. I always start here when looking at tech for associations.”

Stevens likes “tablets for on-site management, [and for] using collaboration and chat software, and online forms for collection of data from faculty and meeting planners,” she says.

For Barkley’s operations, she likes any technology that helps keep her organized. “I can’t live without a project management tool to keep my lists and timelines organized.” She adds that she is currently using Teamwork PM, Monday.com and Asana, and is testing Notion. Other tools in her association event management arsenal? “I love Canva for quick creations and collaborating with graphic designers. Slack is invaluable for communicating with committees and remote teams.” Plus, “I recently discovered and am addicted to automators like Zapier and Integrately, that are streamlining processes and repetitive tasks.”

Among Chen’s favorite tech are “Office [and] One Drive.” He notes that “Shared document editing is the single technology accelerating design and reducing errors.” In addition, Chen cites OneNote and Zoom because “Of all the platforms, [Zoom is] the most stable, has the most features and is the most well known. It’s good for conferences up to 1,000, saving money over buying an organizing platform.”

Levin agrees with the popularity and ease of use of Zoom. “There are a lot of tools out there, but so many businesses use Zoom that it eliminates a huge barrier. The ability to integrate with Zoom seems simple, but it’s important. Flexibility is important — the ability to convert to online from in-person has been invaluable.”

For check-in and registration, Chen likes “EventBrite, with Zoom’s built in registration.” He also finds that “the use of Powerpoint as a virtual background, open broadcaster software and other visual tools are creating better and more meaningful learning experiences.” One other consideration Chen mentions is the use of breakout rooms for exhibit space, with the ability of the attendee to choose their room “the most valuable use of exhibit space.”

Among her favorite tech tools, Eder includes Airtable, which she likes for managing sponsors and benefits, as well as deliverables and deadline management. She also likes Trello for task management; Calendly, which she says makes scheduling meetings a breeze; Grammarly, which automatically scans your text for common grammatical errors as well as tone; and Slack, which makes it easy to share and collaborate with internal, and external, stakeholders around events and projects.

Barkley also has a list of her favorite tech tools. “I’m pretty tech-savvy, and like to customize things, so I like MyConferenceSuite for registration, which also has a nice virtual posters interface. For more ‘plug and play,’ we’ve been using PheedLoop a lot,” as well as for program content and learning experiences, she says. “PheedLoop is a user-friendly tool for virtual sessions and on-demand content. If you’ve got [the] budget, check out eventPower. [Also] OpenWater is on my radar for speaker management and abstract collection.” To engage attendees, she uses “Twine, Slido and good ol’ Zoom for breakouts and polls.” When asked about a favorite tech tool for exhibit space, Barkley admits: “I haven’t found a favorite tool for virtual booths. There’s some impressive ones out there, but I never have that kind of budget.”

Planners admit that the COVID-19 pandemic forced many of them to get up to speed on the latest meetings technology as they were forced to switch to hybrid and virtual formats. Courtesy of Zoom

Top Tips for Choosing Tech Tools

So what’s a planner to do? How can event organizers stay up-to-date on latest technology while choosing wisely among the number of options available? Levin recommends starting with the basics. “Look at your needs first, and then see if the tools fit. Don’t buy a tool and then find a need,” she says. “There are situations where you didn’t know you needed something until you have it, but understanding your goals first goes a long way.” Levin also advises that planners stay connected with peers. She recommends Liz King Caruso from techsytalk and Chen as “great resources.”

As tempting as it might be to opt for one tech tool to meet all event management needs, Barkley cautions: “Tools that solve all your problems in one often are too good to be true. One-size-fits-all often fits poorly.” Instead, Barkley advises planners to pay attention to “word of mouth and to stay up-to-date through industry articles and blogs, in addition to doing your own Google research.”

Chen suggests planners avoid virtual platforms that use browser-based video. “I’m personally not a fan,” he says. “They have a tendency to break, and organizers spend a lot of their time telling attendees to F5 or refresh their browser, thus hurting their association’s brand.”

As hybrid meetings become more popular among meetings planners, Levin says she isn’t a fan of the format overall. “Unless you have a huge budget, someone is always sacrificed. That someone is often the planner, who is stretched thin,” she says. “I think you can do an in-person event and share the content afterward … but running them together is really challenging for everyone, especially associations with limited budgets. I know most people consider hybrids the hottest trend, but I don’t know many planners or attendees who loved the experience.”

Stevens recommends setting up Google news alerts to stay on top of current trends, and checking out various meetings and association management websites. Others suggest using social media to follow other event planners.

Barkley also suggests that planners do hands-on testing. “Go beyond the sales pitch/demo, and ask for a free trial to create a dummy event or scenario and get a few friends and colleagues to use the tool in a simulated environment,” she says. “Ask people you trust if they’ve used it/would use it/think it’s useful in the long run.”

Levin also recommends taking the tech tool for a thorough test drive. “I like to experience things myself, and have always tried to attend various events to see how tools are being used from the attendee perspective,” she says. “You can research and read, but until you are on the learning end of things, you don’t fully appreciate the experience.”

Most importantly, Barkley says, “Make sure that the tool has benefits. Will it create new engagement or require so much explanation and push for adoption to zero out the benefits? Will setting up a new tool eat up the time savings that the tool supposedly offers?”

Planners should avoid “anything that is out of your budget. Any tools that do not scale to the size of your meetings,” and “Depending on your budget and the size of your meeting, make sure it fits your needs and your target audience,” Stevens says.

Chen admits it’s a tough road to travel for many planners. “While I’m a fan of #failfaster, the best thing is to ask [around] … and to test [a new tool] extensively before investing in it.” He also advises that planners “Find a valuable resource such as a Facebook group, publishing resource or blog and subscribe to it. Also valuable is your platform blog, such as Zoom’s, which will tell you about the latest releases.”

To choose wisely while avoiding the next shiny object, Eder suggests connecting with other planners who have used the tools you are evaluating before making a decision. “There are so many tools to choose from that look great, but some of them are very new and need additional development to deliver on what they promise,” Eder says. “I would also make sure to fully vet product support teams to find out how your questions are routed, what their response times are, and if they have support available in your time zone.”

She identifies three steps in her own learning journey in choosing the best tech tools to meet the needs of an association: “Networking, education and getting involved. I began by attending webinars about trends in event tech and reaching out to people who are thought leaders in this space to learn more,” she says. “Through connections that I made, I have discovered many smaller event-tech networking communities and meetings. There are many smaller meet-up groups that event tech experts have formed that I have discovered by reaching out to webinar speakers, course instructors and other attendees.”

Regarding education, Eder says there are many opportunities to increase your event tech knowledge through online trainings, certifications and webinars. “The Virtual Event and Meeting Management certification at the Events Leadership Institute and the Digital Event Strategist certification through PCMA were two great courses to expand my knowledge of event tech,” she says. “Through those courses, I was also able to network and idea share with other event professionals with similar goals. Enrolling in the DES course gives you access to a private ‘Digital Events’ Slack channel, which has been helpful for getting questions answered as well.”

Like Levin, Chen suggests the best way to learn how to use a technology tool is simply to use it early and often. “One of my six core principles is “Get Productive with Virtual Tools.’ Learn the tools on your platform and around your platform. Figure out which ones solve your problems the best, and invest in learning the many new ways you can use this with your attendees.”

Ultimately, Eder has discovered that “Getting involved in professional associations, like MPI, has been key for me to meet new people and stay up to date on industry trends. MPI also has global community forums to ask questions,” she says. “Last year, I planned a Virtual Chapter Summit event and was looking for a fun virtual engagement activity to break up the sessions in the event. Through a post about virtual engagement partners on the MPI Community Forum, I met Heather Rogers and Velia Amarasingham of Curated Entertainment. [They] developed a customized activity for our attendees that fit the theme of our event perfectly and attendees loved it.” | AC&F |