For the majority of event planners events are seen as a very useful marketing tool. They are used to produce new business leads, foster relationships, educate and generate brand awareness. However no event can be successful without the right delegates attending. The need to generate a return on investment from the events they run whilst ensuring they host an event which attracts a high volume of quality delegates is no easy task!

One area of growth within the events industry is the use of online event management software. Event managers are embracing this type of technology more and more as it provides event managers with a full end to end management tool, helping them to organise everything from venue selection, delegate management, event marketing, invoicing/payment and follow up surveys.

Most event managers are nore sure what to expect from their event software, what should it do? What benefits will it offer me? How will I justify the initial cost outlay? Below is a list of 10 things your event management solution should do and will hopefully provide you with a little more insight when you make the decision to invest. 

1. Increase delegate attendance through seamless online booking journey
2. Enhance communication - branded & personalised invitations through to communicating through delegates preferred method of communication
3. Seamless journey for your delegates due to automation of all event processes
4. Measure performance metrics of your event - Provide a clear ROI - improved reporting stats
5. Ensure you provide a clear and effective event message
6. Enhance your event marketing through personalised communication
7. Integrates into your internal business applications to enhance your overall business strategy
8. Understand your delegates better through an online event survey
9. Increase efficiency of your events through total automation
10. Ensure your event is a success

As online event software continues to grow and become an integral part of maanging, planning and running an event, it is crucial that you fully understand what it is an event solution can actually do for you as an organisation.

If you would like to see how an event management solution works then please contact us on 0800 3698677 or complete our form

 In the first part of the blog we established that more and more organisations are singing to the same tune, be more efficient with a reduced budget! For organisations that run events this might seem like an impossible ask, however through the implementation of the right event software solution you can start to see your event ROI rising and rising.

In the first part of the blog we covered how the implementation of an online event software solution that included a comprehensive self service portal can have massive efficiency savings for local authorities, in the second part of the blog we will be looking at how an online self service portal can provide efficiency savings and doing more with less from a commercial perspective.

So as an organisation how do you know if your event is efficient? What are the metrics you use to measure whether it has been a success or not? There is no point organising and running an event if you don't know whether it has been a success or not, are you looking to improve efficiency, create more revenue back to your business or to maintain your customers? All of these metrics can be done with face to face marketing which is seen as an extremely effective and also one of the simplest methods to determine whether your event has been a success, it can be also be simplified if you implement and utilise the relevant tools, such as an event software solution with a fully functioning self service portal.  

Having the ability to measure cost per delegate and overall event profitability and then enabling you to present exact projected sales forecast to your organisation is fundamental.  Event software solutions let you to do this and will query your event data making the measurement and reporting process much easier, more cost efficient and less time consuming.

For the commercial event organisation, making use of an online self service portal has a number of transparent efficiency benefits, from clean and up to date data through to improved delegate management. A self service event booking portal will allow the delegate to book online - from the point of booking, to payment, to registering on the day; ensuring the delegates’ journey is quick, painless and error free. Events that are not successful are events that have not been organised efficiently and this will leave the delegates with an unsatisfying experience, resulting in lowered delegate attendance for future events.

If you would like more information on evocos' self service booking portal then please contact the evocos event software team and request a demonstration of our solution.

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In the first part of this blog I covered how selecting the right event software is key if you are looking to integrate with your internal office systems. In this post we will be looking at integration into back office applications.

When you are planning an event all parts of the business need to be informed and kept informed, from selection of the delegates to sending out the invites to them confirming their presence online to receipt of payment. You need to be sure that you document EVERYTHING in all your systems. If you were to integrate your event system into your internal business applications, then it will ensure you offer relevant and update to information and stats on your event, this means that the event manager can make more strategic and sounder financial decisions when setting up future events

It is all good and well telling you that it is beneficial to you to integrate all your internal back office systems, so here are a few clear benefits of doing it:

·         Immediate access to up to date data (event, delegate etc)

·         Reduce administration through automation of many event processes

·         Your event data can be positioned, viewed and analysed from a single location

·         Creates a all inclusive event CRM system

·         Integrates with back office system for authentication on costs/discounts/prices etc and all delegate data

·         Full control over all areas of your event

·         Ensures you have clean and up to date information on your delegates

CRM Integration with your Event Processes
How great would it be if you could have more control over your customer/delegate data and be more efficient and targeted with your event marketing? Well by integrating your in-house CRM with your event software you are able to realise this, meaning that the contact and company details, alongside your event booking and attendance records would be pooled between the two systems allowing for event bookings and event amendments to be made straight from its own contacts records, allowing the CRM user absolute control of customer event interactions.

Finance Integration with your Event Processes
How do you currently manage payment of your events? This is always a tricky one as there can be no room for error. Through integration of your finance application with your event solution will let payment information and details to be passed seamlessly between the two systems. Invoices and credit notes that are directly related to the event and can be created and distributed in either the event system or in your internal finance system, at all times ensuring a seamless and secure payment journey for you and for your delegates.

Event managers have a tough and demanding job but have started to realise that through the integration of their online event software into all their internal business systems, they are able to access critical and relevant data and stats on all areas of the event, this will make it easier for them to make improved strategic and financial decisions when planning events.

For further information on integrating your event software with your internal back office solutions then please contact the evocos team.

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Even though event software can help event managers plan more successful events with a greater level of efficiency, the benefits do not just extend to the event managers and team who use it but to the delegates as well. They can reap the rewards of more flexible and appropriate communciation, fewer errors, improved event experiences and delegate journeys.

Event management software can be a fantastic tool for event managers - helping them to manage more successful, efficient events. The benefits extend beyond time and cost savings; delegates will often benefit directly from attending events that are managed using event software.

Website Integration
Utilising event software will allow events managers to publicise and promote their event on their own website. With 8 out of 10 people researching events online, it is now more important than ever that prospect delegates can find information of your event on your website. Having the event software integrated into your corporate website will mean that information on the event can be promoted with the same "look and feel" and on the same domain, providing a sense of trust to the delegate.

Online Registration
Once the delegate has found an event on the Internet, being able to given them the ability to register online is a huge benefit. People are increasingly used to being able to carry out activities and transactions online and allowing them to register there and then is not only convenient for the delegates but will also increase registration rates. By allowing delegates to register online also reduces errors with regards to delegate information - things like name, address & contact information are more likely to be entered correctly by the delegate. This will reduce problems later on down the line.

Online Payment
Event management software solutions should come with the ability to handle online transactions. As the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) stated in July 2010: "E-commerce is having a huge impact on the way we do business. It can lead to dramatic growth in trade, increase markets, improve efficiency and effectiveness and can transform business processes." So the benefits of taking online payments is clear – both to the event holders and the delegates. For delegates, paying online is a fast and easy way to secure their position at the event. Event software offers a facility which allows delegates to choose their preferred method of payment using a variety of leading online payment engines, such as' Worldpay, Protix, Google pay, Paypal etc, via a secure website. Using event software will also provide a level of trust to delegates, as it will not record or retain any sensitive payment details.

For the event manager, taking payments online reduces paper work and helps to improve cash flow. It eliminates any late payments and reduces admin as invoices and other documents do not need to be manually created and sent out. After taking payment online, the event software can automatically update the finance system and issue a receipt to the delegate.

We will be covering Improved Communication, Fewer errors, Supplier Management and Access to Data in part two. However in the meantime if you would like more information regarding evocos event software then please do not hesitate contact us

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This blog post is going to cover how to create a group in LinkedIn to effectively promote your event. The post will cover:

• Creating a LinkedIn Group
• Promoting a LinkedIn Group
• Managing a LinkedIn Group

The first part of the article will cover "Creating A LinkedIn Group" for Effective Event Management.

LinkedIn can be utilised as an effective platform for events managers to promote not only their events but their company. A key tool for any organisation within LinkedIn is the groups function which allows event managers to create focused groups, build up a network of engaged and targeted members through which events can be not only discussed but also promoted.

A lot of organisations are looking for a cheaper and more cost effective way to market and promote their events. More and more organisations are utilising social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, as they are all free to use but have a great scope in terms of reaching a wider audience.

LinkedIn currently has over 4 million users in the UK alone, and event companies are now starting to understand the benefits it can bring to their event marketing. It is great platform to network with peers and colleagues but LinkedIn also allows members the opportunity to create and manage groups focused on a wide range of subjects. Some of these groups have hundreds of thousands of members and alone can rival in many niche social networks outside of LinkedIn in terms of their size and activity. Groups within LinkedIn can offer fantastic networking opportunities for members.

Creating a group in LinkedIn is very easy, you simply go to "Groups" then "Create a Group", at this stage you need to start thinking carefully about what to name your group, think about the keywords your target members will use to search, it is more than likely that people join a group based around an industry so probably not the best idea to name it after your company.

The next step is to design a logo for your Group, this is quite small (100x50 pixels) so it would be advisable not to add too much text to the logo. Keep the design clean and simple but it needs to be eye catching, once you have done this you will need to add a short description that effectively tells LinkedIn members what your group focuses on and who it is for. Make sure that the box is ticked that says "Allow group members to display the logo on their profiles. Also, send my connections a Network Update that I have created this group." This will help increase the visibility of your group within LinkedIn and will hopefully help to generate new members.

The next part of the blog will be focusing on Promoting a LinkedIn Group. If you would like to contact me to discuss any of this or your even requirements then please click here

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Delegates will have an improved experience if the event runs smoothly and without errors. Being efficient ensures that delegates have an enjoyable and error free journey – from the point of booking, to payment, registration on the day, experiencing the event and providing post event feedback.

Events with efficiency issues are likely to be poorly managed, with errors and mistakes causing delegates to have unsatisfactory experiences. Ensuring that you provide the best possible experience for delegates is vital for the success of future events.

Increasing delegate attendance is something many organisations struggle with, and if an organisation has issues over its reputation, due to their inefficiency, that will have a knock on effect on future event registrations. A key part of successful events is building up reputation in the industry and generating a long list of loyal, repeat purchase delegates.

Finally, being an efficient event manager also means that they are able to organise more than one event at a time. For companies that are based solely around event organisation, or for companies that just happen to host many events, this is a vital part of the event management process. Event managers must be able to successful organise the planning and running of multiple events and this can only be done if they are working to best practice, efficient event processes.

Improving Event Efficiency

Event managers can help to improve the efficiency of their working practices by making use of event management software. Event software is able to take best practice event processes and automate and manage them from one central platform. Removing inefficient spreadsheets from the process and working on a software solution designed specifically for event management had proven to have huge cost and time saving benefits.

Event management software solutions are able to manage all areas of event planning from:

• Website Integration
• Online Registration
• Event Communication
  • E-Invite
  • Email
  • E-Survey
• Badge Production
• Resource Management
• Management of Financials
• Event Reporting and Analysis

With the event management industry being hit with rising costs and lower delegate attendance, it’s vital that companies organising events fight back by being as efficient as possible and continually improving their processes. It is the companies that tackle efficiency issues head on, and employ the use of technology who will ensure their events are successful now and in the future.

To find out how to improve your event efficiency, contact us and we can provide a free event health check on your event management process or provide you with a one to one demonstration of an event management software solution.

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It can take many years of training and on the job experience for an event manager to become extremely effective at what they do. This series of blog posts will be looking at three areas of event management where efficiency gains can be made:

• Time savings
• Cost savings
• Improved event performance

This post will be looking at the importance of efficiency in order to gain time savings:

Working to an efficient process has huge benefits in terms of time savings. Creating processes that others can follow also means that other team members can assist or take over the management of an event with ease. Team members are able to understand quickly what stage of planning the event is at; cutting down on meetings and training sessions.

Many event managers will create and update their processes with each event; learning from their experiences to make the process of managing each event more effective and efficient. Having a set procedure that is written down means the events can be planned and managed far easier - important areas are never missed out and realistic timescales can be easily produced. Having dedicated processes saves time because event managers do not need to create plans from scratch for each event. They can replicate each event process again and again, building on in and improving it with each event.

Being efficient in the event planning process also helps with event analysis. This includes analysing the performance of suppliers – knowing who has been used in the past to supply goods and services and having details of the relationship can help analyse if this relationship is working at maximum efficiency. It’s vital to understand if suppliers standard are falling, and this can only be done if the event manager is working efficiently and monitoring the relationship with each event. It is hugely beneficial for event mangers to be able to use the same suppliers over and over again – sourcing new suppliers is an extremely time consuming process. Additionally having suppliers that let you down can be a huge drain on time as event managers try to resolve the issue at the last minute. So understanding and staying on top of existing supplier relationships is a vital part of efficient event management.

Post event, it’s important for event mangers to be able to quickly and efficiently get management information on that event to analyse the success of that event; was there an increase in delegate attendance, did delegates rate the event highly, did you get a good return on investment (ROI) etc. These are important event metrics that must be analysed quickly and efficiently. A common issue event managers have is that they are so busy planning multiple events, that they do not have time for this important event analysis stage. However, it is only by analysing events that you can help to improve the performance of future events.

Our next post will focus on the importance of efficiency in order to save money - a vitally important part of event management in the current climate. If you're interested in finding out about the latest best practice event processes, then please call or email us and we can provide a free event health check on your event management process or provide you with a one to one demonstration of an event management software solution.

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Part 2

Over half of all respondents of the survey (56%) also stated that the ability to allow delegates to register online was also an important part of modern event management. Online event registration empowers delegates to manage their own registration process – by removing event managers from this stage, it enables them to focus on more productive areas. Online registration forms can be customised to the individual event, ensuring that the specific data required from delegates is easily obtained. Registration forms can also be saved as a template, allowing them to be easily replicated for future, similar events.

Directing delegates to the host website to register also helps to boost website traffic and can be used in conjunction with online promotions to help increase the number of website visitors and online conversions in other areas.

The use of events software to help manage part or all of the event management process can be further extended to cover the post event analysis. Ensuring events provide a high ROI is one of the key metrics that event managers are measured on. Being able to effectively measure ROI and other KPIs quickly and effectively is now something that event planners demand. The use of event management software to quickly and accurately create post event reports means that event organisers are able to effectively evaluate the success of their events.

Used in conjunction with the email surveys mentioned earlier, event software reporting tools can measure event metrics such as:

• Attendance vs. Delegate registrations
• Expense to Revenue Ratio
• Conversion rate of invites sent vs. delegate registrations
• Delegate Lead Quantity and Quality
• Opportunities and Sales Cycle

Automatically importing the results of the email surveys into the event management software enables the user to create customised and event-specific reports. These can be done automatically by the software and has the ability to drill down into very minute detail. Quite often the process of creating post-event reports can be a very time consuming job, however the use of event software to help manage this activity means that event managers are able to quickly and easily see the results of their events.

Event software is now one of the fastest growing areas in the event management sector. Taking advantage of the benefits of automation and online software tools is helping to keep the event industry afloat during this recession. Increasing efficiency and reducing the cost of event management all helps increase the return on investment provided to both delegates and event hosts. Many event managers are choosing to use a full end-to-end event management software solution that encompasses:

• Website registrations
• Email marketing for promotion, invites and post event surveys
• Automatic badge production
• Resource management
• Online payment facilities
• Sophisticated reporting suites

Making the investment in a total event solution that offers all the event management functions required for event planning can help make the difference between a poor event and a successful event. Resource Box For more information on full end-to-end event management software solutions, talk to evocos. In the past year alone evocos event & delegate management software solution has created over 7000 events, managed approximately 75,000 delegates and has taken over 50,000 online bookings. evocos event management software team ensures our customers are able to seamlessly manage their events; gaining huge cost and efficiency benefits.

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 evocos event management software will ensure you do more with less and will increase your efficiency savings through:

• Reduction in staff costs - lower head count required due to automation of processes
• Move towards a paperless office by implementing a fully web based event solution
• No need to outsource the organisation or management of your eventsClosely monitor and maange budgets and costs - ensuring savings are made wherever possible
• Time savings - ensure your event system integrates seamlessly with all internal business applications
• Low implementation costs - giving a fast return on investment (ROI)

Do more with less; one system does the job of many systems

• Manage events
• Online registration & delegate management
• Simplifies the complex scheduling process
• Integrated email marketing tool
• E-survey manager
• Reporting
• Payment process
• Reporting & analysing tool
• Event Checklist
• ROI Measurement  

To learn more about how you can make efficiency savings then please contact evocos and we would be more than happy to come and discuss your concerns.

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Event planners, more often than not, find themselves trying to manage and juggle multiple spreadsheets. A big issue for an event manager is control; "who updated the last

• Seamlessly integrate into your existing website
• Allows you to register your delegates online
• Automates email invitation process
• Enhances targeted communication to delegates through an integrated email marketing tool
• Quickly and simply produces delegate badges
• Schedules and manages multiple event resources
• Delegates can pay securely online
• Determines event ROI through a comprehensive and integrated reporting and analysis suite
• Establishes better relationships and understands your delegates through an integrated event survey manager

Event managers can gain huge efficiency and control benefits by implementing and utilising a flexible and easy to use event software solution making your job/role that little bit simpler and definitely more efficient.

For further information on event software, contact evocos.

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