| A recent survey conducted by a leading provider of | | | | and time consuming task. It is quite often the case |
| event management software asked UK based event | | | | that when using spreadsheets, the activity of |
| managers what was their preferred tool for | | | | measuring event performance is forgotten or |
| managing and planning their events. The most | | | | dismissed. |
| common tool by far was event management | | | | Lack of management information: Similarly to the |
| software with 67% of the votes. Coming second | | | | difficulty in creating reports to analyse performance, |
| and third were spreadsheets and 'other' respectively. | | | | there is also a lack of management information |
| Spreadsheets are a tried and tested way of | | | | overall. For companies organising many events a year |
| managing events - they can track budgets, monitor | | | | it's important to be able to have a clear picture of |
| resources and can be an effective way of creating | | | | these events as a whole; understanding delegate |
| and managing lists. The main benefit of spreadsheets | | | | numbers, budgets and other KPI's across all events |
| as an event management tool is the low cost | | | | can help shape event strategy in the future. |
| associated with them. The majority of event | | | | These issues create too many problems for |
| managers have access to spreadsheets and they are | | | | organisations with many events to plan. For this |
| a widely accepted document format. | | | | reason, numerous event managers are now turning |
| However, there are a high number of drawbacks if | | | | towards professional event management software |
| event managers decide to use spreadsheets as their | | | | to help manage their events. These software |
| main event management tool. Common issues include: | | | | solutions have been designed specifically for the |
| Poor efficiency: Using spreadsheets is not a very | | | | event management industry and contain a range of |
| efficient method of managing all the aspects of an | | | | comprehensive, yet easy-to-use features. Common |
| event. It is likely that event managers will be using | | | | features include: |
| many different spreadsheets, all with dozens of tabs, | | | | · Website Integration: Seemless integration with |
| holding a huge amount of data. Managing all this data | | | | your website gives delegates a smoother, safer |
| within spreadsheets can be confusing to an outsider, | | | | journey and ensures you stay within your corporate |
| and time consuming for all users. | | | | brand guidelines |
| Lost data: Spreadsheets are only as safe as the | | | | · Online Registration: Creating fully customisable |
| server/system they sit on. If they are kept on a | | | | online booking forms on your own website, capturing |
| computer hard drive, there is a risk that all the data | | | | the most relevant information from your delegates |
| will be lost if anything happens to that computer or | | | | · Online Payment Processing: Allow your delegates |
| laptop. Spreadsheets are also prone to freezing | | | | to pay online in a safe, secure environment |
| stalling and unless the event manager is accustomed | | | | · Invitation Management: Make sure you are |
| to saving on a regular basis, there is a high risk that | | | | targeting the right prospect delegates with an |
| data and work will be lost. | | | | integrated invitation management tool |
| Trouble keeping data up to date: Many events have | | | | · Email Marketing: Powerful, integrated and fully |
| multiple event managers, all using the same | | | | functional email marketing tool to send highly |
| spreadsheets to organise and plan various areas. | | | | targeted email campaigns to delegates and prospects |
| Problems arise when managers update spreadsheets | | | | · Badge Production: Save time by producing |
| without informing the other event mangers that the | | | | personalised badges quickly and effectively |
| spreadsheet has changed. If event managers take a | | | | · Resource Management: Simply manage all your |
| copy of the master spreadsheet and work on that, | | | | resources though a comprehensive calendar |
| the master soon becomes out of date. There are | | | | · Integrated Reporting and Analysis: Ensure you can |
| also issues when more than one event manger needs | | | | determine the true ROI of your events though a |
| to access the spreadsheet at the same time. Only | | | | powerful reporting and analysis suite - quickly and |
| one editable copy can be opened, causing the others | | | | simply drill down to the event data in a matter of |
| to be 'read only' - removing the ability to make | | | | seconds |
| updates. | | | | · Event Survey: Create integrated, customisable and |
| Hard to create reports to measure success: A key | | | | automated surveys for effective feedback |
| part of event management is the ability to analyse | | | | management. |
| event success. It is vital to have the ability to | | | | Event management software tools also have the |
| understand what makes a particular event successful | | | | benefit of multiple deployment methods. Many |
| and what needs to be measured in order to analyse | | | | companies choose options such as Software as a |
| event performance. Using spreadsheets makes this a | | | | Service (SaaS) or hosting to keep costs and internal |
| difficult task. Although creating graphs and charts can | | | | IT involvement down. Alternatively companies can still |
| be easy on spreadsheets, the amalgamation and | | | | purchase the systems outright, but still gain the |
| sorting of the data can be an extremely complicated | | | | benefits on long term, ongoing support. |