Cvent’s Tools Target Event Planning Inefficiencies

By E.J. Siwek, CMP

One of the many benefits of being connected to the Internet is the ability to rapidly touch base with growing numbers of users … regardless of where they are. Not only does this type of technology allow us to promote our organizations faster and throughout a wider geographical market, but it also allows us to solicit feedback almost in real time.

One application on the market today that is redefining these benefits is Cvent.com. It is an event planning application for meeting professionals with a robust e-marketing feature integrated throughout the product. Cvent includes such functions as online registration, secured fee transaction, targeted e-mail, name badges and labeling, surveying, online invitations and reminders, and reporting and data analysis. Because no software is involved, Cvent will both host and maintain the application on secured servers.

Cvent.com helps associations maximize their ‘return on event,’ said Reggie Aggarwal, founder and CEO of cvent.com. “Our Web-based tools enable associations to run their events as strategic marketing campaigns, so they can be more responsive to their members’ needs. By analyzing your members’ preferences and behavior patterns, you can deliver a more meaningful experience the next time around. Based on best-of-breed technology, cvent.com’s tools target the three major inefficiencies of traditional event planning: cumbersome invitation registration, impersonal mass marketing, and under-utilization of valuable member data.”

The core activity of the application is based on planning your marketing segment. In other words, who do want to invite to attend a session or event? Once you’ve defined your market, you can generate personalized e-mail invitations designed on your organization’s e-letterhead. To give you a jump-start, the application includes a series of templates for letterhead design. When a prospect responds, they are linked directly to an online registration form that includes core event information, saving your staff time as well as your attendee.

An ongoing marketer’s challenge is determining which list or message gives the best return. When your message is built around an electronic exchange like Cvent’s, there is no question that the marketing data will be accurate. Armed with data, you will know which messages draw the best response in terms of both speed of response as well as total responders. 

The online survey function further extends the marketers’ arm by providing the ability to construct surveys with text, multiple choice, numeric, check boxes, and yes/no question formats. When properly designed and administered, surveying can help you finely target your message and program. You can also identify reasons behind declined invitations. The use of the survey module enables you to reduce your market community, while increasing attendance rates and providing a tool for monitoring customer satisfaction/customer needs. (And in the end, you’ll save thousands of dollars in postage.)

Advanced features allow you to provide value-added services to your attendees, such as directions to the event, the ability to be placed on a waiting list, the ability to view multiple day agendas and schedules, and the ability to link to additional Web sites. Again the clear advantage is that there’s one source for all pertinent information about an event.

By using the automated message component, the system will automatically send out reminders and confirmations to your attendees on a time sequenced basis. With proper planning, you can “empower” the system to do the work you would normally assign to your staff.

With the e-marketing campaign component, you can monitor the status of your various campaigns. The provided grid shows the status of an event or session, the start date, and how many people have accepted, declined, or are tentative. You can then assess which efforts have performed better, allowing you to drill deeper into the successful market segment.

With both the reporting and data analysis components, you can monitor the attendee’s payment status, identify who declined, identify who didn’t answer, and obtain integrated counts for no shows and total participants.

Cvent Users Praise One-to-One - Communication Approach

•  “Cvent.com is revolutionizing how the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA) communicates with our members, as well as automating many of the tasks our staff once did by hand -- saving us time, money, and effort. Our meeting planner uses cvent.com to create and send “personalized” e-mail invitations for ERA’s conferences, gather RSVPs, and look for patterns in guests’ responses. The Web-based software automatically tracks responses, sends queries to those who haven't responded, issues confirmations and reminders, and provides us with instant reports on who has and hasn’t registered. Leveraging these personalization and segmentation capabilities, ERA is executing a stronger one-to-one communication approach, which gives us a great advantage.” -  Elissa M. Myers, CAE, president and CEO, ERA, Arlington, Va.
• Using cvent.com has been helpful on a number of levels: First, it has helped us clean up and maintain our database with far greater accuracy and speed than we’ve been able to do before. It has also helped us expand our marketing at a very low cost while creating a positive impression of the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association (HSMAI) and our capabilities. But the bottom line is that it is helping us raise HSMAI’s profile, improving brand awareness and HSMAI’s market penetration, which in turn increases meeting attendance. - Jane Nordstrom, director of education, HSMAI, Washington, DC.

 For more information, contact Cvent.com at (877) GO-CVENT or e-mail: sales@cvent.com

E.J. Siwek is director of marketing of Excel Partnership, an international training organization, and president and founder of Flashpoint Technologies, LLC. Forward your questions about technology to him at techeditor@pcma.org.

CONVENE -November 2000 - Meeting Technology

©2000 Professional Convention Management Association