It is more important than ever to have a good handle on your meetings and events. Check out our 5 key tips for making sure your program measures up.

Choose the Right Tech Tool for You

There are a lot of great event technology options out there, and the truth is that choosing the right one can be daunting. But the alternative is to be trapped in an endless nightmare world of unfathomable excel spreadsheets and repetitive manual process – and that is pretty scary too! When you have the right system in place, planning events is quicker, easier, more professional and more cost effective. You will also have the data you need to drive savings and improve control for your entire meetings and events program. It is well worth the effort, and it doesn’t have to be hard! At Huddle, it is our mission to ensure event managers are armed with the technology that best fits their needs and their budget. We are not aligned with any one product. We make it our business to know them all and to recommend what will work best for you.

Customize to fit your needs

Often, it’s hard to find one out-of-the-box event tech solution that does everything your company needs it to do. You may need a customized budget approval process, or a self-service option for small meetings. Your finance team may require a specific type of reporting or HR might want automated traveler tracking.  You may also need to ensure that multiple systems are integrated, like your event registration system and your flight booking tool. No out of the box system will fit every business. The secret to an effective meeting management program is to select the right systems and then customize them to the specific needs of your organization. That way, every department gets what they need, and meeting planning is as efficient as possible. But all this analysis and decision-making sounds difficult and time consuming, right? Wrong! Your Huddle Event Tech Team will work with you to customize your set-up so that it does exactly what you need it to do. We will automate as many processes as possible so that you can focus on being a kick-ass event manager.

Easy monthly pricing

Implementing a meeting management system has historically come with a hefty up-front investment of $10,000 or more. Even though the program will pay for itself many times over with productivity increases and savings, many companies have a tough time swallowing that initial investment. Look for subscription-style monthly pricing to spread the cost over the whole year rather than paying in one lump sum. This will help you get approval to move forward.

Effective Implementation and training

Unfortunately, many companies are paying a lot of money for event management systems that are not configured and customized properly to fit their needs or are not used effectively because of a lack of training. This is frustrating for all involved, and harmful to the business. But there is an easy fix! Ensure you have an effective implementation plan with experts (like us!) on board who are skilled in training and change management for meetings and events and have the experience to know how things should work. With proper system configuration and an effective implementation and training plan, you will ensure you are getting the best possible use out of your investment and great returns for your program.

Data at your fingertips

So, you have cleared the first hurdle – you have selected and implemented your system and you now have lots of data about your events in a pretty dashboard. The important next step is to use that data to produce strategic insights that will improve your program and make a real difference for your company. Sounds good, right? But its easier said than done when you are busy running your daily events program. Here’s where you need a skilled partner (like Huddle!) to help you interpret your data and develop the strategy that will check all the boxes for your company and make you look like a Rockstar. You’re welcome.

Contact us today for a FREE one-hour consultation with a Huddle SMM Expert!

Let’s chat about your meeting and events program and how we can make it even more effective. Contact us here…