Log In
Organising a conference or a team? Here are some tools for your utility belt.
By Jack Carter, Untangled
Thanks to smartphone technology, it is possible for planners to fit everything they could possibly need to pull off a spectacular event in the palm of their hand.
And apps don’t just provide quick and easy access to an event agenda or a seating plan. At the flick of a touch screen, planners can reach directories for hotels and venues around the world, edit their to-do lists, or curate pin boards full of ideas.
The Eventbrite Organizer app is the American event-tech titan’s one-stop shop for attendee management, overseeing everything from managing ticket sales to checking-in delegates. Planners can also access real-time data from an event, seeing how many delegates have checked in and at what locations inside the venue.
For anyone with a team to manage and tasks to set, Trello is an organisational tool that is easy to use. With a range of customisable job boards to choose from, users are able to create workflow charts that can be shared with colleagues, making it simple to assign roles and stay on top of deadlines.
Gone are the days of event staff needing to hurdle chairs and sprint down aisles with a microphone in hand during the post-panel Q&A. Sli.do lets delegates join the conversation. By posting questions to speakers through the app, audience members can vote on favourites, participate in live polls during the discussion, and send tweets via the event hashtag.
Here are some additional recommendations from event professionals:
Max Burger
Max Burger, director business development, MCI
The event app I can’t live without …
I really like the Basecamp app. I find it useful when having to manage a variety of teams that work on smaller work packages within a bigger event project.
Why is this app an effective tool for planning events?
Basecamp enables you to break big chunks of work down into smaller projects and lets you assign colleagues to certain tasks. You can then track the progress of every task, easily communicate with your team through various channels within Basecamp, and organise future deadlines and work steps.
It sends you daily reviews of what has happened and offers a very nice dashboard that displays all the important information and progress for the project manager.
Carrie Tsoi
Carrie Tsoi, director of marketing APAC, FreemanXP
The event app I can’t live without …
DoubleDutch; it provides mobile applications and performance analytics for events, conferences, and trade shows.
Why is this app an effective tool for planning events?
While saving money on printed programs, we can keep attendees informed with live updates on the event itinerary through the app. Attendees can also personalise their own agendas according to the sessions they want to attend, then see where they need to head next at a glance. The app can gather real-time event feedback, too, so we can make intelligent decisions throughout our event and for next year’s show.