In this digital age, new trends come and go in the blink of an eye. That can lead to stress and frustration for those in leadership positions. You may want to adapt, but you don’t always know what tools are worth learning. That’s why I’m so excited to share how an Event App can change your game! This digital tool offers convenience, flexibility, and sustainability. It also reduces your event costs!

Using event apps for sustainable event management

If you’ve used any sort of smart device, you’ve likely used apps. Their purpose may have been important (booking a hotel, checking into your flight) or trivial (playing a game or hopping on social media). Either way, you likely noticed how quick and easy they made your experience! 

Apps are highly portable, adaptable, and always at your fingertips! Beyond that, they can also minimise waste and promote sustainability.

So how could an app be used during an event, you ask?

Well, apps let us tap into many exciting, creative, and sustainable ways to better serve our delegates! 

For example:

If you’re like us, you’ve likely faced the dilemma of having to carefully weigh the costs of printed programs and handouts. When you host a conference with 300 attendees (or more!), and have a handbook around 40 pages, these prices can skyrocket well into multiple thousands of dollars.

Now imagine digitally producing handbooks and making them available to your attendees via an app. Each delegate can have immediate access, and they don’t have to haul a binder or book around with them. 

Where would you choose to invest those savings? 

When you use an app, you’re also not left with a pile of leftover manuals that aren’t reusable. After all, conference handbooks typically contain specific dates, itineraries, and references to other event-specific information. They aren’t easy to get use out of down the road, unless you happen to be in need of a couple dozen door stops!

Not only are you saving money for yourself, you’re also reducing your usage of NZ’s environmental resources. The paper, staples, bindings, glue, and ink can live to see another day!

Mobile technology is easy to edit

In addition to the obvious material savings, there’s another big upside to digital products.

Say your keynote speaker’s flight was canceled…

Your caterer informs you that meals actually need to be pushed back 30 minutes…

You realise there was a typo in the company’s motto…

Or you left a key sponsor off the sponsorship page…

And on and on.

Event managers are cringing at the thought. It’s terrible to know you’re going to have to hand out materials that are less than their best.

But if you’ve had any experience with printing manuals, you know how many tiny things can go wrong! And if you’ve used a traditional printing method, what’s done is done. The best you can hope for is that no one notices (and someone always does!). 

Often you have to wrangle someone into making intermediate announcements to remind people about venue or schedule changes that aren’t up-to-date in their handbooks.

And you can do that…

But what if you were able to just update it on the go? 

When you use an Event App to push out the conference information , you’re not only saving on printing costs, you’re also ensuring that the material you present to your delegates is the best it can be.

You’re no longer at the whim of the ever changing event details  (and we all know how event-related things can change at the drop of a hat)!

The event app offers flexibility

Although you’ll still want to set in-house deadlines for having your Event App done, you’ll no longer be under the strict deadline of an off-site printing company. Rather than missing a due date (or accidentally having an unfinished product go to print), you’re in charge of the app. You can get your event information uploaded on a timeline that feels good to you. 

Plus, you have the power to make edits when you need to. You’ll never end up trapped with a product you’re reluctant to give your delegates! In the app, you’ll be able to include all of these features:

• Key event information 
• Programme 
• Exhibitors 
• Sponsors 
• Speakers (photo and abstract) 
• Announcements 
• Newsfeed 
• Attendees
• Floor plans 
• Maps
• Evaluations 

No more making hard decisions about what to cut out of the handbook! You can also stop scrambling to find a pile of unused evaluation forms, passing out maps, or paying higher rates to print quality looking images of your speakers and sponsors.

Another great win?

The Event App has a flat fee, regardless of the amount of information you include.

You can have as many pages and images as you’d like, and there are no “extra” costs the way there would be at a printer. When creating bios and abstracts, you’re also not constrained to a world limit. (If you’ve designed a handbook, you know how particular they can be on those elements!)

You also don’t have to decide in advance how many handbooks to print, and you’ll never run out of digital copies.

Technology is key for event management

More and more delegates have integrated technology into every part of their lives. Shouldn’t you do the same?

Set your organisation apart (and make it clear that you’re up to speed) by using an Event App to up-level your next conference or event.

With a few changes to the way you’ve always done things, you can: 

• Eliminate the cost of printing delegate handbooks
• Minimise stress by being able to make changes to event information as needed
• Become more sustainable and eco-friendly

And as an added bonus….it is free for your delegates to download the Event App on Google and in the Apple store! 

In the event industry, sustainability is highly important. And just like any other industry, we have to take initiative to find ways to reduce waste and be more economical where possible. Our Event App has allowed us to go virtually paperless. We no longer print event handbooks or programs, and we’ve reduced resource usage and costs.  

We are proud to take an active role in becoming more environmentally responsible as we do our part in helping to keep NZ green. 

We’ll be sharing more advantages of the Event App in upcoming weeks. Tune in to find out how we can help you alleviate stress, be more sustainable, and up-level your delegate engagement at your next event.