Event Technology Makes the List for Association Must-Haves

According to recent association news, including this Association Now article and a recent Association Chat (#assnchat), event tech is making its way to the” must-have” list for event professionals. Mobile event apps, digital brochures, gamification, Twitter walls, RFID, photo booths—if you’ve attended any of ASAE’s conferences, I’m sure you have seen and/or used at least one of these.

As the marketing coordinator for ACGI, I can tell you from experience there are many benefits to incorporating technology into your association’s next event. However, I must echo what many said during the #assnchat, that technology is only effective when well-made, well-implemented and well-promoted to attendees.

It also never hurts to align technology purchases with some organizational strategy… At the very least, your association should have some end-result in mind for each event tech purchase (e.g., how will this save us money or drive greater participation). From my experience, these commonly include:

• Quick, flexible, easy-to-use online and on-site registration process
• Timely and effective means of communication to registrants, attendees, exhibitors, etc.
• Control over tracking and managing all event-related fees/payments
• Reduced cost and effort of event setup
• Self-service options for members, exhibitors and sponsors
• Simple process for managing speaker/proposal selection, coordination with reviewers and scheduling
• A fun tool for engaging and encouraging attendees to network (QR code games, awarding digital badges)
• Real-time reporting of event metrics for post-event assessment and future planning

Through centralized data management, process automation and integration with your website and our resource partners’ event systems, ACGI’s Association Anywhere AMS makes these benefits achievable.

We have experienced the benefits of adopting these technologies ourselves during our Knowledge Days users conference, where we worked with the following resource partners to create an interactive and engaging attendee experience:

• EventMobi provided a personalized mobile event app from which attendees could access need-to-know info about the conference, create a customized schedule, and participate in our KDays QR Code Challenge.
• CommPartners provided onsite photography and video recordings of general sessions, customer testimonials and the overall conference experience.
• Expo Logic’s Badge[on]Demand streamlined the on-site registration process, making attendee check-in and badge printing a breeze! (Webinar with Expo Logic November 13, details below)

If your association would like to know more about our event management solutions and how we have integrated with other associations and third-party vendors, you can request a demo, contact us online, or stop by booth 121 to see us at ASAE’s Technology Conference in National Harbor, MD, on December 16-17.

We also encourage you to register for our next Resource Partner Series webinar with Expo Logic, “Event Services and Attendee Check-ins Made Easy: Integration is Key,” which will take place Thursday, November 13 at 1:30pm ET.

What event technologies has your association used to engage and inform members? Share with us on Twitter @ACGISoftware, #assntech!

Post by Melissa Madigan, Marketing Coordinator, ACGI