Meeting and event planning has been ranked as one of the most stressful jobs for consecutive years. And it makes sense, as there are a lot of factors that play into this scenario, one of the major reasons being the hassle of multi-tasking.
They need to deal with different tasks at the same time, and can’t lose any detail because a single oversight can spoil the entire meeting or event.
There are multiple pain points in the process of event planning and management.
1. Budget and overspending
In general, event or meeting planners work under a budget, so they have to take care of expenses as much as possible.
Coordinating the overall client budget, big or small has always been a major pain point for event professionals. For instance, many times planners do not account for hidden expenses such as room drop-out charges, early check-in charges for hotel, resort fees, etc., and additional costs in venue bookings, accommodation bookings for guests, etc.
To avoid or at least control these expenses there are alternatives. For example, when it comes to organizing travel and accommodation, TROOP offers all the data in a simple-to-use view that allows you to make informed decisions.
2. Lead times, shorter and shorter
Event and meetings lead times are becoming shorter by the day. But what does this mean? It is the duration of time in between handing over of the event to an event management professional by a client to the actual e-day.
And nowadays this has become shorter and shorter, often even just mere 30 days. Coping with such shorter lead times and getting quality work done for impeccable event execution is a major challenge for event planners.
To solve this issue, there are many alternatives, but the vast majority involve using the appropriate tools. At the end of the day, these are projects, and using a suitable project management tool helps in the process. It is convenient that they have deadlines, people in charge, descriptions, priorities, etc.
3. Venue booking management
For example, according to AMEX’s 2019 Global Meetings and Events Forecast, the expected rise in Meeting and event planning activity is 1.3 % in North America and 1.5 % in Europe. The expected increase by planners in the meetings space, on the other hand, is approximately 0.7%. This leads to a scenario where planners may need to shell out more in order to book a good event space, putting more strain on the budget.
This, however, also has a solution. Meeting and event planners can utilize digital venue booking tools in order to get good deals on available meeting space. Many venues offer discounts or loyalty deals if booked through certain platforms.
4. Attendee management and engagement
Efficient attendee management is always a major concern for event planners. Keeping proper track of event registrations and ticketing, keeping a note of no-shows, attendee check-ins to attendee feedback at the end of an event, it can all be a major hassle for event planners.
Besides, in the age of social media and the increasing importance of event experience, it is difficult to engage attendees using traditional formats that include simple sessions and lunch hours.
To handle this, there are meetings and events management software that can be used for multiple purposes including setting up event registrations and ticketing, event check-in app as well as feedback. And you can also leverage the power of event technology in order to engage your attendees. You can facilitate an event app that can help attendees network during your event and gain valuable business contacts, thus maximizing their ROI.
5. Data collection and analysis
Data holds great importance. It doesn't matter if you’ve organised a big event or meeting if it can't be backed up with data.
So the answer to meeting and event planning is clear: meeting and events organizers should utilize complete event management suites with good support teams and detailed data reports. There are a lot of great tools in the market that helps sort out event planning and management processes from event registrations, and event marketing to feedback and provide detailed reports to boot.