Planners should consider the benefits of a centralized event platform regardless of their meeting medium.
There is no question, the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of virtual events brought new attention to event platforms. Their role in helping virtual attendees register, attend, and interact with their event from a centralized platform allowed organizations to communicate and interact when it was impossible to do so face-to-face.
However, with common capabilities such as event registration, event schedules, personalized schedules, access to meetings and sessions, interaction tools and push notifications … not to mention more advanced features like AI networking, analytics, human help desks, and archival experiences … centralized event platforms should not be limited to virtual events.
Keep reading to learn why you should consider a centralized event platform regardless of whether or not your meeting is virtual, in-person, or hybrid.
What is a centralized event platform?
A centralized event platform is one convenient location, accessible by phone or computer where event attendees can access registration, scheduling, interaction, and networking for their event. Usually made available prior to the event and lasting weeks or months afterwards, attendees are able to continue interacting with each other and event content long after the final session.
What is the purpose of an event platform for my event?
If your event is virtual, the benefits of a platform are obvious … but those benefits ring just as true for in-person events!
This all-in-one resource contains registration, scheduling, communication, interaction, and networking. Having one location to register, view their schedule or site maps, and interact with other attendees will streamline the event process and remove guesswork for attendees by keeping all necessary event information in one, convenient location. After the event has ended, attendees can continue to communicate and interact through the centralized platform, increasing the reach of the event.
Secondly, capabilities from the event platform can be used during in-person sessions, as well as virtual or hybrid sessions. Instead of asking people to put their phones away, encourage increased communication by using Q&A, chat, polling, and networking through the app. This will allow a greater number of attendees to communicate and interact with your event.
Your event platform is also a great opportunity to increase sponsorship of your event. In-person event venues have limited locations for valuable visibility. Platforms that all attendees (in-person and online) have access to allow a wider audience and more opportunities for sponsorship.
Analytics are a powerful tool in measuring the success and impact of your event. Centralized platforms allow you to gather data from in-person and remote participants. Do you want to know how many attendees were actually present? Who participated, and in what sessions or formats? These detailed analytics allow you to make informed decisions about your next event, making each event more effective than the one before it!
Finally, centralized event platforms have amazing archiving tools and capabilities. Long gone are the days where attendees had to choose between multiple sessions only taking place at the same time, or worry that missing a session meant the information was lost to them. Centralized event platforms give attendees the ability to attend one session live, and view records of others afterwards. Attendees are also able to re-watch or reference important sessions as they need to.
Can the same platform work for hybrid meetings?
As events move into the future, we believe centralized event platforms are going to be used more widely and more heavily throughout all meeting types.
Perhaps the meeting type they are able to impact in the most unique ways are hybrid events. While it’s easy to create opportunities for interaction and engagement in either format, combining the two can often create silos between in-person and virtual attendees. This is where the centralized event platform comes into play!
The centralized event platform creates an easy space for communication between both in-person and virtual attendees, removing limitations on who attendees are able to easily interact with. Additionally, for Q&A sessions, both in-person and virtual attendees are able to submit questions and interact with presenters in the same way, prioritizing both of their experiences.
At Encompass, we have unique backgrounds that situate us perfectly to produce high end and complex offerings. We’ve worked in broadcast television, touring entertainment, live sporting events, and countless convention facilities across the country.
We have technical design experience and a disciplined process in place that allows us to easily scale events and shift from in-person to virtual without angst. There isn’t much that’s beyond our scope and we love the intensity of putting on events!
If you’re a planner working to create an event, seeking help with virtual event technology, or simply want to learn more … we can help! Sign up below to receive our updates (we promise to keep your contact information secure and won’t “overshare”).