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The Anatomy of a Perfect Event App

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Title: The Anatomy of a Perfect Event App


1
THE ANATOMY OF A PERFECT EVENT APP
Volume 2
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
03
Features Checklist Must haves in an Event App
04
15
Event App Trends for 2017
20
Chatbot Turning Point for Event Apps
8 Event Apps you Should Be Taking Inspiration From
31
37
20 Questions to Ask Before Investing in an Event
App
48
Flowchart How to Choose the Perfect Event App?
2
3
INTRODUCTION
Since you have downloaded this e-book, we assume
that you understand or if nothing else , have an
idea about an event app. You have previously
experienced an event app and need to improve or
you are coming up with an event and you are
intrigued to use a mobile event app, whatever it
might be, you have come to the right place. But
?nding the right app for your event is a tough
job unless you learn how ! So what are you
waiting for? Dive in! Read further to ?nd out
the secret to choosing the best app for your
event !
3
4
FEATURES CHECKLIST MUST HAVES IN AN EVENT APP
1
  • Every event app provider is going to be di?erent.
    From creating social stream, including games and
    more to monitoring it all, it is a di?cult
    Process. Use this checklist to make sure you
    have all the essential features you need to make
    your event experience personalized and
    extraordinary.
  • This checklist is divided into 5 primary
    categories to ensure we cover smallest of the
    smallest features.
  • Technology
  • Content management
  • Audience engagement
  • Event App Analytics
  • Revenue generation

4
5
Features Checklist Must haves in an Event
App 1. Technology Is the technology youre
being provided innovative enough and will it be
meeting your event demands? Mobile Platform
Native (iOS Android) Web (HTML). Customization
Branding options with logos and banner,
colors, screens, etc. Registration Platform
Easy method to preload attendee information or
register through the app. Of?ine mode Access to
event app without data network connection.
Multiple Event Access Access to multiple events
from a single app. Admin panel Ability to
update event data in real-time through
CMS. Closed Network Open or closed
registration options and ability to retain
attendee privacy.
5
6
Features Checklist Must haves in an Event
App Last-minute activation Ability to keep
certain features/content hidden until
showtime. Security Ability to ensure
third-party security services. Location-based
messages Send push noti?cations to attendees
present in nearby areas of iBeacons. QR Code
Scanning Built-in QR code scanner for games,
exhibitor booth check-ins, etc. 2. Content
management Can event app be updated in
real-time and easily managed ? Agenda/Schedule
Ability to personalize schedule, check-in, ?lter
sessions and track time and date. Attendees
Pro?le Ability to search other attendees and
sort according to their name, interest, etc. and
personal messaging.
6
7
Features Checklist Must haves in an Event
App Speakers Pro?le Speaker pro?le, bio and
other relevant information, access to their
content, rate bookmark their sessions. Exhibito
rs/Sponsors list Company pro?les with relevant
information, access to their content, bookmark
and easy to navigate map layout to their
booth. Venue Map Interactive map with
point-to-point directions. Documents Uploading
content and downloading it via email. Video
In-built video player. Photos Ability to
upload photos in the activity stream. Promotion
Easy to add images or sponsored content in the
activity stream at a speci?ed time and its
scheduling. Push messages Push noti?cations
with custom messages for a speci?ed group of
attendees.
7
8
Features Checklist Must haves in an Event
App 3. Audience engagement How helpful will it
be for attendee engagement? My Agenda
Personalize your agenda. Activity stream
Personalization of activity stream with
favourited speakers, attendees, exhibitors,
etc. Bookmarking Bookmarking speakers,
exhibitors, sessions, sponsors, sessions,
etc. Live Polling Conduct real-time polls and
discussion forums. Surveys Ask multiple choice
or subjective questions. Rate Review Rate
speakers, sessions and many other things based
on a 5 - start review system and include a text
review as well. Activity Feed Show all the
status updates images, promoted messages,
upcoming sessions reminders, etc.
8
9
Features Checklist Must haves in an Event
App Social Media Integration Allow status
updates to be shared simultaneously on Facebook,
Twitter LinkedIn. Attendee Pro?le Include
basic attendee information with social media
accounts, topics of interest, designation and
company name, etc. Status updates Publish
status updates with text/images/videos. Comment/L
ike Like or comment on other peoples status.
An indication of popular topics or in?uential
people on activity feed. _at_mentions/hashTags
Ability to tag people with _at_mention and use of
EventHashtag. Attendee match-making Ability
to suggest people to network based on their
interest, designation, etc. Following Ability
to follow attendee and their activity. Private
message Allow attendees to send in-app private
messages to other attendees.
9
10
Features Checklist Must haves in an Event
App Session check-in Allow attendees to
check-in at the sessions to track their
attendance. 4. Event App Analytics How easily
can you access analytics in real-time and
generate actionable data? Post Event App
engagement Report of event data including
number of active users and total in-app actions.
View total number of bookmarks, status updates,
comments, likes, check-ins, surveys, photos and
ratings. View breakdown of device, speaker,
exhibitor, sponsors , etc. Event Performance
Real-time event app analytics to depict important
engagement going on at the event. View event app
adoption score and engagement score. Recommendat
ions View recommendation for improvements on
event performance. App adoption funnel View
email invites sent, open rate, click-through
rate, app logins and overall conversion rate.
11
Features Checklist Must haves in an Event
App Attendee Experience View overall attendee
engagement score. Usage stats View total
number of users, actions taken, status updates,
likes, comments, bookmarks, check-ins, surveys,
polls, impressions, engagement rate,
etc. Downloadable Reports Generate data
reports on overall attendee engagement with
respect to each actions takes. 5. Revenue
Generation Can you generate revenue from the
app ? Lead Generation Scan badges containing
QR Codes, Add notes to scanned leads and update
instantly. Grant or remove booth sta?
permissions to scan leads. Booth admins can
export leads anytime. Sponsorship Opportunities
Promotes status updates in the activity feed.
Sponsored content- surveys, polls, badges, push
noti?cations, documents, iBeacon. etc.
Highlighted booth in the Interactive
maps. Understand these features better with some
examples from the real world! Go ahead !
12
EVENT APP TRENDS FOR 2017
2
  • There is an app for that !
  • It was only a few years prior that Apple had
    launched the App Store and now there is an app
    for everything. Since then the mode of utilizing
    our mobile phones has been revamped.
  • Today, there are around 2 million apps in Google
    Play Store and Apples App Store. As indicated
    by an economic specialist, App Annie reports that
    by 2020, the app economy can develop to end up
    noticeably twofold in size to 101 billion.
  • Now, it would be wrong to say that the event
    industry is immune to this massive growth. There
    has been a noteworthy growth in the expectations
    of event professionals and that is rapidly
    reshaping the event market.
  • So, lets have a look at the 6 big trends that
    can shape the future of event apps in the event
    industry.
  • Social wall
  • Networking Matchmaking
  • AI Gami?cation
  • Chatbots
  • Virtual Reality
  • App Support

13
  • Event App Trends For 2017
  • Social Wall
  • Social walls or activity feed as we know it are
    one of the most sought after features in event
    app among event goers. Whether it is by means of
    integration within the app, on-screen feed or
    via live display application.
  • The perks of having a private social networking
    platform are proactive engagement beyond polls,
    discussions and QA. Social media indeed helps
    in retaining the attendees within the app.
  • Networking Matchmaking
  • According to a research conducted by Event
    Manager Blog, the attendee interaction is
    profoundly associated with how we evaluate and
    engage with events. Despite networking being one
    of the original features why apps were
    conceived, just half of the apps surveyed o?er
    networking capabilities.
  • Now, this is quite surprising where we have
    external apps like Tinder to o?er matchmaking.
    Event App providers do not seem to embrace
    something that the audience of event
    professionals demands quite vigorously.

14
  • Event App Trends For 2017
  • AI Gami?cation
  • Arti?cial Intelligence is not something we are
    not aware of. It has been around the block a
    while in many forms and applications, for
    example, Gami?cation. Gami?cation is quite a
    trend because who wouldnt like to play games?
  • Secondly, who wouldnt want proactive audience
    engagement? Presentations, discussions and polls
    may get boring and exhausting some of the time
    but video games could never!
  • ChatBots
  • Chatbots are the most visual application of
    arti?cial intelligence. They are computer
    powered chat interfaces where the user seems to
    interact with a person.
  • And thus chatbots are quickly appropriate for
    events because they help in getting the relevant
    information immediately. A great example of an
    event app with a chatbot integration would be
    the mobile app for the event Vibrant Gujarat
    Global Investors Summit 2017.

15
Event App Trends For 2017 5. Virtual Reality I
am sure you must have heard of Oculus Rift, HTC
Vive or Google Glass. With virtual reality going
big in the realm of event technology, it is
important to understand this and implement in
your events. But do not confuse virtual reality
with 360-degree photos and videos. The
overwhelming success of Pokemon Go shows that VR
is here to stay for a while. With more than 9
million app downloads, it is to comprehend that
general public is willing to commit to VR
Technology and event industry should make the
most out of it.
6. App Support Let us assume that you got 100
adoption for your event app but thats it? It is
not the end. Because getting people to download
the app is just the 50 of work while retaining
them is other 50. But how do you ensure that
happens ? Well, having a dependable support,
possibly even onsite support at times is
necessary to implement successful event app
programs.
16
Event App Trends For 2017 Those companies who
will be able to guide event professionals and
troubleshoot when things go wrong (because often
they will) are to be favoured in
2017. Therefore, simple online support will not
su?ce because we are dealing with a sensitive
type of event technology that requires a number
of technological factors to be successful. One
of the most revolutionary of these trends is The
Chatbot !
Lets explore how Chatbots are a major turning
point for event apps.
17
CHATBOT - TURNING POINT FOR EVENT APPS
3
We will move from a mobile ?rst to an AI ?rst
world - Sundar Pichai Technology is a dynamic
entity. It is a process, ever evolving. The
results of this process, often mind-boggling.
One such awe-inspiring result of this process is
the concept of Arti?cial Intelligence. Man has
progressed up to a point where he can create a
machine that can display intelligence of its
own. The AI market is expected to grow to 4.05
billion by 2020, according to research ?rm
Markets and Markets. It is very much a rising
trend. AI can be present in very many forms
robots, autonomous cars, etc One similar product
of AI are chatbots. These are simpler forms of AI
that have paved their way into our lives and are
quite en vogue.
18
Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps By
de?nition, Chatbots are A computer program
designed to simulate conversation with human
users, especially over the Internet. Eliza,
the ?rst chatbot ever was meant to simply mimic
the human voice. Since then, chatbots have come
a long way with the recent trend being chatbots
for messaging apps. According to an article on
the future of meeting and event communication
networking by Skift, Products such as Siri,
Amazon Echo, and Google Home are ful?lling our
desires for immediate answers, resolutions, and
general information, and that has led to the
surging popularity of chatbots. Messaging apps,
including Messaging apps, including WhatsApp,
Facebook Messenger, and Slack, all incorporate
some text-based AI to help us connect.
19
Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps The
advent of social media coinciding with the
increasing use of smartphones had led to the
rise of messaging app. There are a lot of chat
bots on popular messengers like Facebook
Messenger, Slack, Telegram and Text Messages. FB
to CNN, major corporations are integrating
chatbots in their apps. Even the White House uses
it. Event industry is de?nitely abreast with this
trend. Chatbots have entered the event tech
industry with organizers integrating this AI tech
with their event apps. The Evolution of Event
Apps Lets take a recap back to Chapter 2 where
we discussed the overall evolution of event apps
to the time when developers integrated in-app
messaging with the event app. Attendees could
interact with each other through direct
messaging via their event app. But that wasnt
enough. It was essential to make networking more
e?cient and much smarter. This is where the
organizers recognized the scope of integrating
chatbots in the form of virtual assistants.
These virtual assistants are the attendees go
to feature to answer any sorts of queries that
they have related to the event. The attendees
simply need to drop in a text to the bot and
voila! Within seconds, the bot would gather
information that it has received previously,
process the query and provide answers.
20
Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps A great
example of an event app with a chatbot
integration would be the mobile app for the
event Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit
2017. The event, Vibrant Gujarat Investors
Summit is one of Indias biggest business
summits. The 2017 edition of the summit had an
event app with a chatbot integration. The app
chatbot could carry out a lot of varied tasks
with its extensive range of features
Schedule and Agenda
Direct connection to organizer app
Venue
Networking
Transportation and Accommodation
Travel Guide and much more
21
Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps The app
had more than 20,000 downloads with the virtual
assistant playing a major role in facilitating
an overall memorable attendee experience and
maximizing engagement. For an event with more
than 55,000 attendees, the app was the
organizers helping hand. For the attendees, it
was a trusted assistant contained in the palm of
their hands that was with them throughout their
event experience. Just think of the bene?ts that
such an addition to event app can provide. 1.
Attendee Convenience Perhaps the most important
bene?t of having an in-app chatbot is attendee
convenience. Happy attendees make loyal
attendees. A chatbot can really simplify
navigating through the event for the
attendees. Considering the Vibrant Gujarat app,
the attendees could inquire about various modes
of transportation to and from the event
venue. The bot was able to provide information
regarding the public transport system at the
venue as well as a list of private cab
providers if the attendee wishes to hire private
transport. Attendees could also text their
queries about the availability and contact
information of hotels and other options for
accommodations around the venue i.e. Mahatma
Mandir.
22
Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps The
nearest cities around the venue were Ahmedabad
and Gandhinagar. Attendees could ask for
information on hotels and transport in any of
these cities. All of this with just a text. 2.
Individual voice Every element of your event
re?ects your brand including your event app and
the bot that you integrate with it. An eventbot
is a great opportunity for event branding. Your
app re?ects your brand personality. Your bot
can be fun, sarcastic or serious. One way to do
represent your brand personality is by giving
your bot a creative name. The event app creators
for the VG summit wanted their bot to be fun and
helpful. Hence, they got creative and named their
bot Botman. In case of any query or confusion,
Botman was always at the attendees service! Thus
your chatbot can be a great way to establish your
identity among your attendees and further build
up on that. Happy attendees are your biggest
promoters. Make sure to leave a good impression.
23
  • Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps
  • Personalization
  • It is their own virtual assistant. Right from
    the message the message that pops up as soon as
    the bot introduces itself to every query thats
    answered every reply is addressed directly to
    the attendee.
  • Every individual attendee gets to maintain their
    own pro?le and a database with their in-app
    virtual assistant. The bot takes care of the
    attendees
  • Travel plans
  • Meetings set up
  • Reminder
  • Pro?le
  • Queries based on every aspect of the event
  • Schedule and agenda
  • This makes up for a highly personalized event
    experience for the attendees. Personalization is
    key to creating a memorable event and ensure
    event success.
  • Attendee ROI Event ROI.

24
Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps 4. Event
App Adoption
Having a chatbot e?ective in order
can be really to maximize
your event adoption rate and seeing to it that
the attendees engage with your app. They can
navigate through the event with their helpful
assistant in place. Make this fact known to your
attendees and Im pretty sure your app download
rates are bound to rise. Wonder why the Vibrant
Gujarat App had more than 20k downloads ? As
chatbots are a rising trend, it is a relatively
new experience for the attendees as well. Be
creative with your bot, give it a voice and make
your bot as e?cient as possible to ensure
engagement. Be sure to promote your bot and keep
emphasizing on the e?ciency and necessity of it.
25
Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps 5.
Smarter networking In case of the Vibrant
Gujarat event app, every attendee had their own
user pro?le where information such as their
interests, current profession, the industry that
they work in, their company/organization etc. was
listed. The bot was able to scan through
attendee pro?les and enable smarter
networking. It matched attendee pro?les and
guided them in terms of whom them in terms of
whom to meet, which booth they could visit,
etc. Apart from this, the bot also helps
attendees keep track of their meetings as well
as their overall schedule and agenda. Chatbots
can thus really help attendees network
e?ectively, thus maximizing attendee ROI. The
prospect of this increased ROI also becomes an
additional reason for the attendees to download
and engage with your app.
26
Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps 6.
Features Not Limited to Event Premises The
utility of your apps bot should not be limited
to the event premises. As mentioned earlier, the
organizers must make sure that their app is as
e?cient as possible so that it becomes more of a
necessity than a novelty for the
attendees. Making sure that the app is useful to
the attendees for all sorts of purposes
throughout the duration for the main event is a
part of this. Again, taking into consideration
the Vibrant Gujarat app, the bot took care of
the overall attendee experience during the
entirety of the main event. It was a personal
guide for the attendees in terms of their
transportation to the venue, navigation
throughout the event as well as outside the
event premises. Heres an example For the
attendees willing to explore various destinations
in and around the main event venue, i.e.
Gandhinagar, the bot helped them create and
manage their travel plans, suggested popular
tourist spots they could visit and also keep
track of their overall itinerary. It was not
just their virtual assistant but also their
personal travel guide.
27
Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps 7. Direct
Connect with Event Organizers The chatbot is a
great way to build a direct connection between
the attendees and the organizers. Again, using
the VG start-up summit event app as an example,
the organizers were provided with their own
event organizer app that was directly connected
to the event attendee app with the chatbot
integration. The queries that the chatbot was
unable to solve on its own were conveyed to the
event organizer through this organizer app. The
organizers received a direct message from the bot
regarding the attendee query. They were then
able to get in touch with the attendees directly
and sort out their doubts. This just adds on to
the attendee experience They are sure to
remember the e?ciency of the organizers in making
sure that they have a great event
experience. With its many- fold bene?ts and the
application of latest technology, chatbot is an
innovation meant to entirely revamp mobile apps
for events. It is not just an addition, it is a
revolution for event apps. Lets see how further
can this technology develop and impact the event
app industry. The only way to go now is further.
Keeping up these trends can be a bit
overwhelming, lets simplify it a little with
this features guide for event apps.
28
8 EVENT APPS YOU SHOULD BE TAKING INSPIRATION
FROM
4
With the boom in technology, it is necessary for
the event industry to stay abreast with the
changes that it has brought about. Event-tech is
the need of the hour. Event-planners have
multiple event tech tools at hand now to
optimize their events and to simplify certain
processes. Event app is one of those essential
tools for better and simpler event- management.
It will help you digitize your entire event and
simultaneously save up a lot on resources. You
know the bene?ts of an event app and what
constitutes a good event app. Many events in the
past have opted for an event app and have
leveraged these event apps in order to make
their event a success. Here are a few examples of
good event apps that have been launched in
recent years. Go ahead, take note.
29
  • 8 Event Apps you should be taking Inspiration
    from
  • Cannes Film Festival
  • Developed in partnership with Orange, the
    Festival De Cannes 2017 app has a lot of
    interesting features including live video
    streaming, hour by hour updates of the event,
    and permanent access to the festivals
    TV channel as well as access to its radio
    and podcasts along with the geolocation feature.
  • The app also gives personalized features to its
    users in terms of inculcating a diary and a wish
    list into the app. The app has gained major
    popularity with more than 10,000 downloads on
    the Android Playstore alone.It has a 4 star
    rating on both Apple and Android platforms.
  • 20th eGov Conference
  • The 20th eGovernance Conference that was held in
    Andhra Pradesh created its o?cial event
    application in partnership with Hubilo and was
    available on both Android and Apple platforms.
  • The application received a 4-star review on the
    Playstore and had more than a thousand
    downloads. The application contained an e?ective
    networking feature and social media integration
    (Twitter).

30
8 Event Apps you should be taking Inspiration
from The best feature of the application however
was the integration of a one of its kind bot
i.e. a Virtual Assistant that guided the
attendees throughout based on their pro?les in
terms of the attendees that they could meet, the
sessions they could attend, etc. The virtual
assistant really simpli?ed it for the attendees,
helping them navigate through the entire event
smoothly. This way, they could make the most out
of their event experience. 3. Intel ISEF 2017
The application for the The Intel International
Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) is
available on both Android and Apple platforms
and has a 4-star review. The application made vari
ous necessary facilities accessible to the
attendees through the app itself, including
transportation and accommodation details along
with information of various emergency services
like medical facilities. Apart from social media
integration, the app also provides real-time
updates, changes, information on ?nalists and
presentations.
31
  • 8 Event Apps you should be taking Inspiration
    from
  • The YMCA Flowertown Festival
  • The Summerville Flowertown Festival by YMCA had
    an o?cial event app available for download on
    the Android Playstore. The application is
    convenient in terms of the inclusion of a
    digital ?ower passes for checking in.
  • Various activities, kids festival, community
    details along vendor details have been included
    in the app.
  • Apart from this, details related to vendors, food
    and beverage stalls, etc. have also been
    mentioned. It also includes a comprehensive and
    interactive venue map as well. Flower Festivals
    app was pretty simple yet e?ective.
  • National Womens Parliament
  • Created by Hubilo, the National Womens
    Parliament app received more than thousand
    downloads on the Android and Playstore. The
    application can de?nitely be studied in terms
    of networking platform. The attendees can
    interact with each other as well set up
    meetings with various fellow attendees,
    investors and mentors.
  • The app also facilitates personalized scheduling.
    Any last minute updates or changes in the
    schedule are sent through the app, immediately
    notifying the attendee for their convenience.

32
8 Event Apps you should be taking Inspiration
from 6. MPI Toronto Education Conference The
o?cial event app for the MPI Toronto Education
Conference can be downloaded
from the Android app store and is named TEC
2017. It is quite interactive and personalized
with essential features like the
speaker info, venue map and sponsor details.
Along with it, the app also facilitates the
attendees to network through the messaging app.
They can create their own schedule based on the
overall event schedule, take notes along with
storing and reviewing their documents. All in all
it is quite an interactive app. 7. Festival of
Marketing This event app for the Festival of
Marketing held is available on both Android and
Apple platforms. The application has received
more than a thousand downloads and has a 4-star
review on the Android Playstore. It includes
multiple features such as agenda setting, speaker
and attendee information, networking platform.
It also contains venue and transportation
details, making it even more convenient for the
attendees.
33
8 Event Apps you should be taking Inspiration
from 8. IPE 2016 The application for the confer
ence Inter- professional Care for the 21st
Century Rede?ning Education and Practice,
contains multiple features including personal
schedule and agenda setting along with the
messaging feature. Apart from basic information
and speaker details, the application also
facilitates live polling and taking notes during
the session save it for later. This makes
real-time feedback really easy. Live updates and
information on last-minute changes or additions
are also provided through the event feed in
terms of push noti?cations. This is a really
convenient app. An event-application can be a
boon for planners when done right. Technology is
your friend, your trusted helper. Be sure to make
the most of it. Considering getting a kick-ass
mobile app for your next event? In this next
section,check out 20 questions that you should
ask before investing in an event app.
34
20 QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE INVESTING IN AN EVENT
APP
5
  • Finding the right event app for your next live
    experience can come o? as a big problem, even
    for the most seasoned event organizers.
  • There are numerous solutions from which youll
    have to choose the perfect ones which suit your
    event and evaluating them is a daunting task, if
    you ask me !
  • Although the searching for it can seem
    overwhelming, lets focus on how you can avoid
    all those unnecessary wandering through options.
    So that, you can focus more on creating an
    unforgettable experience for your event
    participants.
  • But ?rst, you need to determine what your needs
    are and will the event app su?ce them or not?
  • Hence, ask yourself these questions to get a
    clear picture of what services you are
    subscribing for !

35
  • 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
    App
  • How far is the E-Day ?
  • Di?erent providers have di?erent delivery times.
    If youre searching for something to help you
    with your event thats coming up in a few days,
    youll need to ?nd a DIY Event Management
    Software and make it as quickly as possible.
  • Otherwise, if you have considerable time for your
    event and if youre looking for a long term
    investment which you can use for multiple events,
    it will be your best interest to search out for
    more customized and dynamic solutions for your
    event.
  • How ?exible is your budget ?
  • Event budgets are expected to grow by 10 in
    2017, but due to their higher perceived costs,
    these budgets are often trimmed. Hence, it is
    very important to consider whether investing in
    an event app would be a wise decision or not!
  • A clear devised plan on how using an event app
    will prove that your return on your investment
    is critical. Decide your Key Performance Indexes
    to measure your event success and prove your
    overall event ROI to your leadership or whoever
    is controlling your event budget.

36
  • 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
    App
  • Is this investment for single or multiple events
    ?
  • Too often, event app is purchased for just a
    single event. Unfortunately, this doesnt allow
    one to holistically look at the entire strategy
    over the year and report back on the insights,
    analytics and ROI to prove the value of dollars
    spent on your event.
  • Deciding whether to go for subscription model or
    one-time purchase when it comes to event app is
    where most of the event organizers are confused.
    If you organize more than 3 events a year, a
    subscription model is better. If not, you might
    be okay with a much less robust and less
    expensive system.
  • How would you be de?ning ROI ?
  • De?ning the event app ROI has long been a dire
    pain point for many event marketers.
    Fortunately, it is much easier, thanks to the
    advances in event technology solutions like
    event management software.
  • Before you decide on settling for the event app,
    think about the questions youll need to answer
    ?rst. Think about what you already know, as well
    what you need to know, to come up with the kind
    of metrics that will be important for you to
    de?ne your event ROI.

37
  • 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
    App
  • What problems am I trying to solve with event app
    ?
  • The job of the event app is to make your event
    planning processes easier rather than more
    complex, at all. But you need to think ?rst
    about what speci?c problems youd like to
    address with the event app.
  • As a result, you should be able to solve a
    speci?c set of problems with the event app you
    craft for your event. Identifying the perfect
    pain points of your event will help you in
    choosing the perfect event app which provides
    best solutions to your problems.
  • What features are essential for your event ?
  • Once you decide which is the primary reason for
    you to invest in an event app, its time to
    shortlist the essential features youll need in
    your event app for the overall success of your
    event.
  • For example, if one of your issues is
    facilitating a seamless networking experience,
    your solution should feature a state-of-the-art
    networking platform to make sure that your
    attendees not only network but plant lasting
    relations.

38
  • 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
    App
  • Would you be needing any additional features ?
  • After youve decided what are the essential
    features youll be needing in your event app
    its time to determine what additional features
    you can opt for.
  • Think about how these extra features would add an
    extra bene?t to enhance your event experience.
    Or may help in making your event management
    process seamless or optimize your guests ability
    to interact and engage with your brand.
  • Who will be the managing admin ?
  • All thanks to the automation of event technology,
    you wont be requiring an entire team to manage
    the back-end processes as everything is
    automated But that doesnt mean you dont assign
    this task to anybody at all.
  • It is very critical to grant the access to who
    all will be managing the chosen app, which may
    include yourself, your teammates, sponsors,
    exhibitors and may be more. Consider their needs
    and how theyll interact with your event app
    before arriving at your ?nal decision.

39
  • 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
    App
  • How skilled is your team when it comes to
    embracing a new technology ?
  • Di?erent event apps require di?erent kind of
    technical skill to operate. If learning a new
    technology tends to stress you out, you might
    want to opt for an app which is easy to use and
    manage in the long run.
  • You should also consider how long it takes you to
    learn a new technology and implement it when
    determining your time frame, as I mentioned in
    the ?rst point.
  • Does the app after training/support matches you
    and your teams technical literacy ?
  • In addition to considering how easy it is for you
    to embrace a new technology, think about how
    well your team would be able to inculcate this
    new technology in their work?ow. What kind of
    training or documentation will it require in
    order to be successful ?
  • Make sure your provider o?ers you the best
    training/ documents which would enable you to
    use event app e?ectively.

40
  • 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
    App
  • Who will be providing the technical support ?
  • Will your internal team handle this, or youll be
    relying on the event apps support department?
    If its the latter, make sure that you choose
    the best possible plan or service package that
    best correlates to you and your event needs.
  • In either case, it will be very helpful to have a
    designated and pre-decided point of contact to
    have a smooth channel of communication to help
    you with whatever the issues that may arise.
  • With which other platforms or system will the app
    need to communicate ?
  • One of the more compelling reasons to have a
    robust event app is that you can integrate it
    with other apps as well for a more holistic view
    of your events strategy and how that ?ts into
    your overall event experience.
  • For example, you might want to connect your event
    app with taxi and hotel booking platforms,
    social media platforms, and more so as to make
    it convenient for attendees and manage everything
    seamlessly from a single app only.

41
  • 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
    App
  • What about data security/privacy expectations ?
  • If data security and attendee privacy is a
    critical issue for your organization, make sure
    you choose the app provider trusted by other
    companies as well.
  • A representative from the app provider should be
    able to able to ?ll you in on the di?erent
    security measures
  • that they have taken to make sure that your
    attendees info and data you collect about them
    stay safe and secure.
  • How about your event branding requirements ?
  • The best event app will let your events assets
    truly represent all aspects of your brands look
    and feel. You need to check on the event apps
    ability to be customized, and ask whether white
    labelling is important to your company or not.
  • Lastly, think about the branding options in the
    framework of the event app and whether or not
    you can rely on them for graphics and other
    elements, or if youll need to turn to more
    standardized templates to complete your design
    assets like event website

42
  • 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
    App
  • What devices/platforms your event app supports ?
  • Now it is time to think about what type of
    devices your audience will be using. Consider
    about the OS of your attendees devices (e.g.
    Apple or Android), and if the app allows the
    ?exibility to use both phones and tablets.
  • This fact will solely depend on the devices that
    your audience will be using and what event app
    providers can o?er, their familiarity with
    di?erent platforms types, and how quickly they
    can learn.
  • What are the device pre-requisites for the event
    app ?
  • Will your attendees be needing cellular data or
    WiFi in order to run the event app? Will they be
    able to access the content without internet?
    Many apps require constant internet access in
    order to successfully check people in, sell
    tickets or add additional people to the guest
    list.
  • Also, if youre not sure if your event venue will
    be able to provide power or constant WiFi, make
    sure that your event app also has an o?ine mode
    feature that youre not left stranded in case
    something unexpected happens.

43
  • 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
    App
  • What is the backup plan if the event app stops
    functioning ?
  • As much as were increasingly reliant on
    technology, the solutions that it o?ers are not
    100 fool-proof. And that is the reason why
    having a contingency plan in case your event app
    freezes up is a good option.
  • Itd be recommended to have a physical print out
    of your guest-list and other necessary
    information that you simply cant live without
    once your event incepts.
  • What data do I want to capture from my attendees
    ?
  • In addition to collecting essential information,
    asking di?erent questions will make it easy for
    you to gather additional data about your
    attendees without having to do much of extra
    work or taking too much of additional time.
  • For instance, asking attendees about their
    personal interests and buying interests are
    great for helping you ?nd ways to further engage
    your attendees and o?er them a splendid
    experience.

44
  • 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
    App
  • How about post-event data reports ?
  • For those of you who are Excel Wizards, you must
    be great at analyzing data. A simple CSV ?le
    that you can work on in Excel may be su?cient
    for you in terms of report generation options.
  • However, if spreadsheet hacking isnt one of your
    strongest skills, look for the event app
    providers that o?ers di?erent types of reporting
    like customizable dashboards, intuitive
    analytics report, to help you make sense of the
    new data that youve acquired from your
    attendees.
  • Does this event app seem like a reliable solution
    that you can trust ?
  • Before signing a contract, do your due research
    and ensure that this is a trustworthy company.
    Review their previous event apps on the
    playstore to see what others in your shoes have
    to say about their experience.
  • You can also ask for a case study and
    testimonials, as well as for a reference or two
    to put your mind at ease.
  • Keep these questions in mind to ?nd the perfect
    event app.
  • May be these questions are too much for you? Let
    us sum it up in a ?owchart and help you ?nd the
    perfect solution thats best for you without
    breaking a sweat !

45
HOW TO CHOOSE THE PERFECT EVENT APP FOR YOUR
EVENT
In order to create a spectacular app that is
perfect for your event, you must ?rst decide
upon the features that you wish to include in
your app. Here are the six main types of
features that you can integrate with your event
app
6
  1. Update features
  2. Engagement features
  3. Promotional features
  4. Personalized features
  5. Networking features
  6. Organizer features

46
  • How to choose the perfect Event App for your
    Event
  • Update Features
  • These are the basic features to keep the
    attendees updated on the entire event
    proceedings. These features include event
    information, event agenda, speakers info and
    schedule, venue map, major highlights, event
    gallery and push noti?cations. For events such as
    conferences, seminar etc. it is also possible to
    list down awards, upload e-papers, etc.
  • Engagement Features
  • Engaging attendees with your event is of prime
    importance to boost downloads. An event app can
    have multiple features for engagement such as
    live polling, discussion forum, agenda questions,
    gami?cation, activity stream, social media wall
    etc.
  • Promotional Features
  • Engaging attendees with your event is of prime
    importance to boost downloads. An event app can
    have multiple features for engagement such as
    live polling, discussion forum, agenda questions,
    gami?cation, activity stream, social media wall
    etc.

47
  • How to choose the perfect Event App for your
    Event
  • Networking Features
  • It is possible to integrate an event networking
    platform within the event app. Attendees can set
    up their pro?le.Attendee pro?le listing can
    enable the attendees to sort out relevant people
    to network with. Other features include setting
    B2B meetings, document sharing and in-app
    messaging.
  • Personalized Features
  • Organizers can personalize their event app for
    the attendees too. They can set up their own
    personal agenda for the event, get apersonal QR
    code for check-ins, create and manage their
    schedule and maintain their meetings calendar.
    It is also possible to integrate a virtual
    assistant with the app that acts their own
    personal guide.
  • Organizer Features
  • These features make event management easier for
    the organizers. The features include
    registrations and ticketing, check-ins both
    manual and digital (QR code scanning),
    badge-printing, help and info section with all
    the FAQs, travel and accommodation facilities,
    terms conditions, etc. listed down.

48
How to choose the perfect Event App for your Event
Do I need an app for my Event ? Y E S Single
Event App
Multi Event App
UPDATE FEATURES
Conference App
Organization App
Festival App
Exhibition App
ENGAGEMENT FEATURES
Summit App
PROMOTIONAL FEATURES
Incentive Travel App
NETWORKING FEATURES
PERSONALIZED FEATURES
ORGANIZER FEATURES
49
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jay Sitapara is an engineer having an inclination
towards innovation in technology. Currently,
associated with Hubilo, an event-tech startup
which aims to change the way how events are
organised and people network at events. Jay is
particularly passionate about crafting
stimulating, resourceful and in-depth guides for
Event Planners to keep them updated and
acknowledged about latest event industry trends.
He is speci?cally interested in e?ective use of
event technology and social media for greater
ROI through innovative thinking and skills. Jay
is also a Digital Marketer, Editor, Community
Manager and a regular contributor to Hubilo
Blog. His philic nature is prone to dogs, poetry,
co?ee, friends and co?ee with friends. If you're
on Twitter, say Hello to him _at_jsitapara and
follow his articles on blog.hubilo.com. And Jay
says, do not forget to share this Ebook!
50
About the author Hemani Sheth is a Mass
Communication major and an event enthusiast. She
is currently associated with Hubilo, a cloud
based event management platform that aims to
help event professionals create exceptional
events. Hemani strives to create resourceful
guides that pave way for insightful discussion
built around various facets of the event
industry. She has a keen interest in event
technology and how multiple innovations in the
?eld can help transform the way events are
created, marketed and executed. Hemani is also a
content marketer and a key contributor to Hubilo
Blog. Go check out more of her handy articles on
blog.hubilo.com. An avid reader, traveller and a
movie bu?, she is open to conversations on any
topic under the sun! Go ahead, say hello to her
on twitter _at_HimaniSheth .
51
With a vision of building a one-stop solution for
any type of event - may it be a conference, a
seminar, a workshop or an off-site event, Hubilo
helps you in executing a dynamically interactive
event by setting up the entire online management
suit required for the event within a few
minutes! Say goodbye to the mundane task of
doing things manually and allow the event
management software to do it an easier and much
more ef?cient way. Automate the whole process and
get your event powered by Hubilo. The value
addition that Hubilo offers is equivalent to the
services offered by 7 vendors, making it a
perfect recipe for successful event planning.
From event creation, event promotion, event
engagement to analytics, we tech-care of all your
event-tech worries.
52
We tech-care of your event
Contact us Meghna Mittal meghna_at_hubilo.com 91
9099197091
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