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Today we live in a rapidly changing digital and technically-enhanced environment.

As such, the corporate meetings industry is constantly afflux with evolving tools that make the corporate meeting event planning and attendance experience streamlined for corporate meeting planners and attendees alike.

If orchestrated effectively, these insider “tools” are being used as a “Swiss Army” knife, allowing corporate meeting planners to effectively design, organize and deliver exceptional corporate event experiences that result in solid attendee engagement throughout an entire event.

Marcia White, senior manager of association events for MCI USA, a global marketing and engagement agency in Washington D.C., said that technology has undoubtedly impacted the corporate meetings and events industry in recent years, helping planners in their day-to-day activities.

“Technology has become more of a staple in the event industry,” White said. “There are many project management tools available now to work with internal staff and external clients. All groups can be working off the same plans to ensure that all projects are being completed in a timely manner and are able to collaborate easier. There are also video calls now that are easier to hop into and work through the project plans.”

As White pointed out, technology has also allowed for more virtual and hybrid events, which has allowed corporate event planners such as herself to operate in any type of environment. It also allows for the ability to host the sessions post event in an on-demand manner.

So what are some of the “go-to insider tools” that White turns to in her job as a corporate meeting planner?

“I really do use Excel and Word a lot which keeps me well organized,” White said. “I use Excel to do staffing calendars and organize attendees and any volunteers I have helping on-site. Microsoft Word is great to use for hotel and/or convention food and beverage and AV orders. It is an easy tool to put all the information in one place.”

White has also used tools such as Asana, Smartsheet, Google Drive and One Drive to keep all the tasks itemized and organized. During her corporate career as a meeting planner, she’s also learned that a tool that you’ve used for one event might not always work for the next

“It all depends on the size and goals of the event,” White said. “Some are learning events, some are networking and experience events. Determining the objectives will help you choose the right tools for a successful event.”

According to Jennifer Ruthig, CMP, senior meeting manager at Cigna, a global health company in Bloomfield, Connecticut, technology has allowed the world to become smaller in some ways. She said that corporate planners no longer have massive paper trails and games of playing phone tag. Now, planners can send items via email, text, “instant message” their questions and they can almost always get answers within a day or so, or at least an acknowledgement of receipt that that one is working on the task.

“Yes, we still keep our types of written communication as backup, but no longer are we cutting down a forest to do that,” Ruthig said. “Everything goes into the online files and then they are saved to the cloud. I also appreciate looking into past files from previous years as benchmarks. The downside is that we too are almost always ‘on call’ to answer questions and react to situations.”

Ruthig’s career as a corporate meeting planner has been expansive, having recently included being the global channel events manager at Danfoss Power Solutions in Plymouth, Minnesota, as well as an event planner at Eaton in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Through this experience, there are key “insider tools” that Ruthig has used to streamline the corporate meeting and event planning process.

“So what works well for me?” Ruthig asked. “I love One Drive Suite. I save all my files and necessary emails I want to keep in my files so that I can access at any time. It is even better if your company allows you to have One Drive on your cellphone. Then you really have everything at your fingertips.”

During the planning process, Ruthig keeps all of her notes in One Note. She has learned to do separate columns in her One Note versus one long train of content.

“For example, one section is for the planning team meetings, the next section is with the hotel, the next section is with production,” Ruthig said. “If someone is sharing their screen during a meeting, I usually screen shot it and then save it to my One Note to reference back to.”

When the corporate meeting or event is actually taking place, Ruthig prefers to not use a three-ring binder with all the details enclosed. Rather, she prints off her last round of meeting specs and carries those around, along with her banquet event orders (BEOs).

“Then, I create an ‘electronic binder’ for on-site in One Drive and share it with my on-site staff,” Ruthig said. “In that e-binder for on-site I have folders for each of my important documents to reference, like rooming lists, diagrams, production and décor.”

Of course, “insider tools” used by corporate meeting planners extend on-site to the event itself. As such, Ruthig is a huge fan of on-site badge printing, like Cvent OnArrival.

“I appreciate that an attendee can edit their name, location, etc.,” Ruthig said. “For some of my past programs, we would print the attendee’s breakout session or departure notice on the back of the badge. When that badge printed, we knew it had the latest and greatest information. It wasn’t days old.”

The other benefit that she pointed to is that her team also has the OnArrival app on their phones.

“I was able to answer questions instantly about how many people were checked-in or if a specific person had checked-in with us at the conference,” Ruthig said. “Lastly, for a large incentive trip, I was able to determine right away if I had general hotel guests trying to crash my event. One time I asked a person his name since he didn’t have a name badge. As soon as he saw me looking up the list on my phone, he knew I busted him at my event and off he went.”

Learning From Experience

Through her career, White has learned that meeting planning tools simply won’t account for all last-minute changes and edits.

“As a planner, you always have to think of contingency plans that may come up throughout the planning process,” White said. “There are also outside factors that need to be thought about, such as shipping needs and/or any delays that may occur.”

While a corporate meeting planner can build some of these items into their planning and timelines, there are always items that pop up that the planner won’t have in their project plans. There may not be a specific tool to address these issues.

There are also things that corporate planners should consider when identifying the tools they will need for each specific meeting or event they are planning. For example, White advises other corporate planners that they should consider the overall goals of the event when identifying the tools needed.

“Educational-only events will use a different tool than one that has some education and networking,” White said. “To have a successful event requires knowing the right tools for the job.”

Sometimes, she added, a pen and paper is still the best implement to accomplish your goals.

“I still use a handwritten planner and sometimes use my own documents to draw out where tables and easels will go at an event,” White said. “It makes it easier to visualize what you are laying out when you are planning an event.”

Other planners are turning to creating their own apps to not only streamline the planning process, but to also provide attendees with everything they need to know about a meeting/event at their fingertips. When app building, it is vital that meeting planners think about what types of information attendees would want from the meeting, including networking opportunities, polling, surveys, way finding, notes/brochure downloads and more. The most important consideration is creating an intuitive user experience with the app for both the planner and attendee alike.

In addition to using such elements as customized event apps that corporate meeting attendees have come to love, a lot of events have shifted to using QR codes to download apps for their online agendas and program guides.

“It is easier to make changes quickly if an agenda needs to be changed or shifted. The apps also help send out notifications to remind attendees of speakers or sessions or networking events,” White said. “Events are leaning toward replacing paper programs with these mobile apps and check-in kiosks. Attendees can even chat within apps to meet up during or post event and make those important connections.”

Ruthig is also a big proponent of “less is more.”

As she explains, corporate meeting planners don’t need “crazy, expensive tools.” For example, planners should always check into the registration software they are using for the corporate meeting or event to see if they have an app available, then see if it fits your needs, before potentially creating a custom app for the event.

If executed and designed correctly, an event app can dramatically impact the effectiveness, communications flow, engagement and success of a corporate meeting or event program, leaving a lasting impression for both the meeting planner and event attendees.

“Figure out one that works best for you and your group and stick to that,” Ruthig said. “Don’t add so many items of technology that you are having to constantly jump between systems.”

In the end, planners and companies need to identify what  the “problems” are that they are trying to solve with the meeting planner tools available.

“Define what solving them would look like,” Ruthig said. “Know that going into a discussion on technology versus being ‘wooed’ by technology and then having a “secret” tool sounds silly, but in this day and age, sometimes a simple phone call can solve a lot of issues.”

A small group of attendees learn about PPC techniques in one of the breakout sessions that took place at Hero Conf London. Courtesy of Marcia White

Full-Speed Ahead

With each new day, technology brings corporate meeting planners exciting opportunities for growth and success. As technology evolves, planners encounter tough decisions regarding how to best use the technology available.

Planners agree that as technological advancements continue and tools that we can use in the palm of our hands (i.e., a smartphone) become more streamlined, it is important that corporate meeting planners recognize the vital role that these tools play in their day-to-day activities within the corporate meeting industry.

“Technology has already helped the industry evolve,” White said. “Covid made us shift faster to the virtual and hybrid options. However, there is still the joy of meeting in person and networking.”

Of course, regardless of the type of tech tools that corporate meeting planners use, security also needs to be an ongoing concern for small and large corporate meeting planning departments. Companies need to be aware of the repercussions of sharing files and information online regarding meeting and events.

Corporate planners need to ask themselves, “who has access to this information?” and determine what precautions they need to take. If you’re just exchanging emails back and forth, that should be fine, but once a planner starts exchanging mission-critical data, you want to determine the security options available.

To protect information assets pertaining to meetings and events, determine what type of information you are protecting and assess your security risk. Also educate yourself about the different types of security available. Also be sure to seek help from security experts to implement firewalls, etc.

Security issues aside, Ruthig believes that technology will continue to have a major impact on how attendees experience events, not just how planners do the management behind the scenes. One of her biggest concerns is not staying abreast of what is out there and things that are being overlooked.

“I see the days of a simple general session and breakouts are evolving into unique stage sets, using apps to interact and network with fellow attendees,” Ruthig said. “I haven’t looked into it a great deal yet, but it is on my to-do list, such as the ways that AI will and can impact meetings.”   C&IT