Meetings Blog Oct 13, 2017
When Microsoft founder Bill Gates predicted 20 years ago that it wouldn’t be long until everyone was walking around communicating via a mobile device, even he may have been amazed at how this hand-held technology has transformed day-to-day life. And in today’s world of smart phones and event planning applications, never more so have they been more valuable in helping objectives being met. We look at five apps currently on the market that have caught our eye. Perhaps we´ll introduce you to your favorite meeting planner app for many events to come.
Although initially flying somewhat beneath the high-profile radar, there is a good chance that you have used a DoubleDutch product if you have ever downloaded a customized event app. The company has been around since 2011 and its mobile offering allows you to develop an app to keep abreast of attendee engagement at your trade fair or conference. The key to the success of this product is simple enough: by encouraging your attendees to intuitively interact via their mobile, they get a better and more controlled experience, while you get to collect the data of their involvement and use that for follow-up and future improvements.
From attendee polling and surveys, to gamifying discussions and driving live interaction through an activity feed, the app creates the opportunity to facilitate better networking and focus the attention of those in attendance to make suitable connections at mutually agreeable times. Use of its GPS-linked messaging also allows you to push updates depending on the location of the attendee, including information regarding a nearby speaker.
The objective of Attendify, in the company’s own words, is to ‘help event planners build deeper relationships with their attendees through engaging, social-first mobile event apps’. And fortunately they do this rather well. By nurturing the relationships between all event stakeholders this fully customized meeting planner app makes a planner’s life much easier and the rewards on the back of the event more than justify the time, however short, invested upfront. Creating the app is quick and easy and once attendees have it in their hand there is a natural desire to interact with others. This not only helps their experience on the day – the social network is combined with the event guide – but gives great insight into how the event panned out, not to mention live updates on issues that need ironed out during the day. Attendify also puts a strong focus on the relationship between attendee and the exhibitors or sponsors with ROI at the heart of it.
If simplifying your project management tasks is proving a challenge then give Trello a try. Not only does it look neat and tidy, its drag-and-drop functionality is simple and the app allows collaboration across several teams. With everyone involved knowing at what stage each requirement is at, there are no excuses for miscommunication. The whole event planning process from start to finish can be managed in a fun way using Trello, and once in progress all you need to do is jump into one of your ‘boards’ to see quickly what has been done, or what still requires action.
From trade shows to corporate meetings, Superevent can be tailored to deliver an application that works for you. Its social media feature can connect you to the attendees and the speakers in a neat communication loop that can continue after the event comes to a close. The app offers you the chance to get the audience active by participating in surveys and polls which then give you, and other stakeholders, a better understanding of key areas which you determined during the build process. With participation increased and more attendees benefiting from the networking encouraged through the app, Superevent delivers on the key success factors for most planners. And with its developers’ understanding that delegates often plan their time on flights without data coverage, they have ensured that offline support is catered for.
Customization is again the keyword when it comes to TapCrowd. Knowing the audience, the goals and the tone of the event can be used to develop a unique experience each time this app is used, which then provides neatly presented information (floor plans, exhibition news etc.) on a single platform. Through push notifications you can interact directly with the attendees and stay across everything that is happening on the ground in real time. Building the app to meet your goals is simple enough and the team behind it also offers support throughout the process and during the event itself.
These are a simple handful of the many options available to bookers and planners in the events industry and as our mobile devices become faster and smarter, along with the insatiable ingenuity of app developers, you can be sure that there are more on the horizon. We’ll keep our eyes open for any new meeting planner app and will bring you another review in the coming months.
