The Anatomy of a Perfect Event App

1
THE ANATOMY OF A PERFECT EVENT APP
Volume 2
2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
03
Features Checklist Must haves in an Event App
04
15
Event App Trends for 2017
20
Chatbot Turning Point for Event Apps
8 Event Apps you Should Be Taking Inspiration From
31
37
20 Questions to Ask Before Investing in an Event
App
48
Flowchart How to Choose the Perfect Event App?
2
3
INTRODUCTION
Since you have downloaded this e-book, we assume
that you understand or if nothing else , have an
idea about an event app. You have previously
experienced an event app and need to improve or
you are coming up with an event and you are
intrigued to use a mobile event app, whatever it
might be, you have come to the right place. But
?nding the right app for your event is a tough
job unless you learn how ! So what are you
waiting for? Dive in! Read further to ?nd out
the secret to choosing the best app for your
event !
3
4
FEATURES CHECKLIST MUST HAVES IN AN EVENT APP
1

• Every event app provider is going to be di?erent.
  From creating social stream, including games and
  more to monitoring it all, it is a di?cult
  Process. Use this checklist to make sure you
  have all the essential features you need to make
  your event experience personalized and
  extraordinary.
• This checklist is divided into 5 primary
  categories to ensure we cover smallest of the
  smallest features.
• Technology
• Content management
• Audience engagement
• Event App Analytics
• Revenue generation

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5
Features Checklist Must haves in an Event
App 1. Technology Is the technology youre
being provided innovative enough and will it be
meeting your event demands? Mobile Platform
Native (iOS Android) Web (HTML). Customization
Branding options with logos and banner,
colors, screens, etc. Registration Platform
Easy method to preload attendee information or
register through the app. Of?ine mode Access to
event app without data network connection.
Multiple Event Access Access to multiple events
from a single app. Admin panel Ability to
update event data in real-time through
CMS. Closed Network Open or closed
registration options and ability to retain
attendee privacy.
5
6
Features Checklist Must haves in an Event
App Last-minute activation Ability to keep
certain features/content hidden until
showtime. Security Ability to ensure
third-party security services. Location-based
messages Send push noti?cations to attendees
present in nearby areas of iBeacons. QR Code
Scanning Built-in QR code scanner for games,
exhibitor booth check-ins, etc. 2. Content
management Can event app be updated in
real-time and easily managed ? Agenda/Schedule
Ability to personalize schedule, check-in, ?lter
sessions and track time and date. Attendees
Pro?le Ability to search other attendees and
sort according to their name, interest, etc. and
personal messaging.
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7
Features Checklist Must haves in an Event
App Speakers Pro?le Speaker pro?le, bio and
other relevant information, access to their
content, rate bookmark their sessions. Exhibito
rs/Sponsors list Company pro?les with relevant
information, access to their content, bookmark
and easy to navigate map layout to their
booth. Venue Map Interactive map with
point-to-point directions. Documents Uploading
content and downloading it via email. Video
In-built video player. Photos Ability to
upload photos in the activity stream. Promotion
Easy to add images or sponsored content in the
activity stream at a speci?ed time and its
scheduling. Push messages Push noti?cations
with custom messages for a speci?ed group of
attendees.
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8
Features Checklist Must haves in an Event
App 3. Audience engagement How helpful will it
be for attendee engagement? My Agenda
Personalize your agenda. Activity stream
Personalization of activity stream with
favourited speakers, attendees, exhibitors,
etc. Bookmarking Bookmarking speakers,
exhibitors, sessions, sponsors, sessions,
etc. Live Polling Conduct real-time polls and
discussion forums. Surveys Ask multiple choice
or subjective questions. Rate Review Rate
speakers, sessions and many other things based
on a 5 - start review system and include a text
review as well. Activity Feed Show all the
status updates images, promoted messages,
upcoming sessions reminders, etc.
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9
Features Checklist Must haves in an Event
App Social Media Integration Allow status
updates to be shared simultaneously on Facebook,
Twitter LinkedIn. Attendee Pro?le Include
basic attendee information with social media
accounts, topics of interest, designation and
company name, etc. Status updates Publish
status updates with text/images/videos. Comment/L
ike Like or comment on other peoples status.
An indication of popular topics or in?uential
people on activity feed. _at_mentions/hashTags
Ability to tag people with _at_mention and use of
EventHashtag. Attendee match-making Ability
to suggest people to network based on their
interest, designation, etc. Following Ability
to follow attendee and their activity. Private
message Allow attendees to send in-app private
messages to other attendees.
9
10
Features Checklist Must haves in an Event
App Session check-in Allow attendees to
check-in at the sessions to track their
attendance. 4. Event App Analytics How easily
can you access analytics in real-time and
generate actionable data? Post Event App
engagement Report of event data including
number of active users and total in-app actions.
View total number of bookmarks, status updates,
comments, likes, check-ins, surveys, photos and
ratings. View breakdown of device, speaker,
exhibitor, sponsors , etc. Event Performance
Real-time event app analytics to depict important
engagement going on at the event. View event app
adoption score and engagement score. Recommendat
ions View recommendation for improvements on
event performance. App adoption funnel View
email invites sent, open rate, click-through
rate, app logins and overall conversion rate.
11
Features Checklist Must haves in an Event
App Attendee Experience View overall attendee
engagement score. Usage stats View total
number of users, actions taken, status updates,
likes, comments, bookmarks, check-ins, surveys,
polls, impressions, engagement rate,
etc. Downloadable Reports Generate data
reports on overall attendee engagement with
respect to each actions takes. 5. Revenue
Generation Can you generate revenue from the
app ? Lead Generation Scan badges containing
QR Codes, Add notes to scanned leads and update
instantly. Grant or remove booth sta?
permissions to scan leads. Booth admins can
export leads anytime. Sponsorship Opportunities
Promotes status updates in the activity feed.
Sponsored content- surveys, polls, badges, push
noti?cations, documents, iBeacon. etc.
Highlighted booth in the Interactive
maps. Understand these features better with some
examples from the real world! Go ahead !
12
EVENT APP TRENDS FOR 2017
2

• There is an app for that !
• It was only a few years prior that Apple had
  launched the App Store and now there is an app
  for everything. Since then the mode of utilizing
  our mobile phones has been revamped.
• Today, there are around 2 million apps in Google
  Play Store and Apples App Store. As indicated
  by an economic specialist, App Annie reports that
  by 2020, the app economy can develop to end up
  noticeably twofold in size to 101 billion.
• Now, it would be wrong to say that the event
  industry is immune to this massive growth. There
  has been a noteworthy growth in the expectations
  of event professionals and that is rapidly
  reshaping the event market.
• So, lets have a look at the 6 big trends that
  can shape the future of event apps in the event
  industry.
• Social wall
• Networking Matchmaking
• AI Gami?cation
• Chatbots
• Virtual Reality
• App Support

13

• Event App Trends For 2017
• Social Wall
• Social walls or activity feed as we know it are
  one of the most sought after features in event
  app among event goers. Whether it is by means of
  integration within the app, on-screen feed or
  via live display application.
• The perks of having a private social networking
  platform are proactive engagement beyond polls,
  discussions and QA. Social media indeed helps
  in retaining the attendees within the app.
• Networking Matchmaking
• According to a research conducted by Event
  Manager Blog, the attendee interaction is
  profoundly associated with how we evaluate and
  engage with events. Despite networking being one
  of the original features why apps were
  conceived, just half of the apps surveyed o?er
  networking capabilities.
• Now, this is quite surprising where we have
  external apps like Tinder to o?er matchmaking.
  Event App providers do not seem to embrace
  something that the audience of event
  professionals demands quite vigorously.

14

• Event App Trends For 2017
• AI Gami?cation
• Arti?cial Intelligence is not something we are
  not aware of. It has been around the block a
  while in many forms and applications, for
  example, Gami?cation. Gami?cation is quite a
  trend because who wouldnt like to play games?
• Secondly, who wouldnt want proactive audience
  engagement? Presentations, discussions and polls
  may get boring and exhausting some of the time
  but video games could never!
• ChatBots
• Chatbots are the most visual application of
  arti?cial intelligence. They are computer
  powered chat interfaces where the user seems to
  interact with a person.
• And thus chatbots are quickly appropriate for
  events because they help in getting the relevant
  information immediately. A great example of an
  event app with a chatbot integration would be
  the mobile app for the event Vibrant Gujarat
  Global Investors Summit 2017.

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Event App Trends For 2017 5. Virtual Reality I
am sure you must have heard of Oculus Rift, HTC
Vive or Google Glass. With virtual reality going
big in the realm of event technology, it is
important to understand this and implement in
your events. But do not confuse virtual reality
with 360-degree photos and videos. The
overwhelming success of Pokemon Go shows that VR
is here to stay for a while. With more than 9
million app downloads, it is to comprehend that
general public is willing to commit to VR
Technology and event industry should make the
most out of it.
6. App Support Let us assume that you got 100
adoption for your event app but thats it? It is
not the end. Because getting people to download
the app is just the 50 of work while retaining
them is other 50. But how do you ensure that
happens ? Well, having a dependable support,
possibly even onsite support at times is
necessary to implement successful event app
programs.
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Event App Trends For 2017 Those companies who
will be able to guide event professionals and
troubleshoot when things go wrong (because often
they will) are to be favoured in
2017. Therefore, simple online support will not
su?ce because we are dealing with a sensitive
type of event technology that requires a number
of technological factors to be successful. One
of the most revolutionary of these trends is The
Chatbot !
Lets explore how Chatbots are a major turning
point for event apps.
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CHATBOT - TURNING POINT FOR EVENT APPS
3
We will move from a mobile ?rst to an AI ?rst
world - Sundar Pichai Technology is a dynamic
entity. It is a process, ever evolving. The
results of this process, often mind-boggling.
One such awe-inspiring result of this process is
the concept of Arti?cial Intelligence. Man has
progressed up to a point where he can create a
machine that can display intelligence of its
own. The AI market is expected to grow to 4.05
billion by 2020, according to research ?rm
Markets and Markets. It is very much a rising
trend. AI can be present in very many forms
robots, autonomous cars, etc One similar product
of AI are chatbots. These are simpler forms of AI
that have paved their way into our lives and are
quite en vogue.
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Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps By
de?nition, Chatbots are A computer program
designed to simulate conversation with human
users, especially over the Internet. Eliza,
the ?rst chatbot ever was meant to simply mimic
the human voice. Since then, chatbots have come
a long way with the recent trend being chatbots
for messaging apps. According to an article on
the future of meeting and event communication
networking by Skift, Products such as Siri,
Amazon Echo, and Google Home are ful?lling our
desires for immediate answers, resolutions, and
general information, and that has led to the
surging popularity of chatbots. Messaging apps,
including Messaging apps, including WhatsApp,
Facebook Messenger, and Slack, all incorporate
some text-based AI to help us connect.
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Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps The
advent of social media coinciding with the
increasing use of smartphones had led to the
rise of messaging app. There are a lot of chat
bots on popular messengers like Facebook
Messenger, Slack, Telegram and Text Messages. FB
to CNN, major corporations are integrating
chatbots in their apps. Even the White House uses
it. Event industry is de?nitely abreast with this
trend. Chatbots have entered the event tech
industry with organizers integrating this AI tech
with their event apps. The Evolution of Event
Apps Lets take a recap back to Chapter 2 where
we discussed the overall evolution of event apps
to the time when developers integrated in-app
messaging with the event app. Attendees could
interact with each other through direct
messaging via their event app. But that wasnt
enough. It was essential to make networking more
e?cient and much smarter. This is where the
organizers recognized the scope of integrating
chatbots in the form of virtual assistants.
These virtual assistants are the attendees go
to feature to answer any sorts of queries that
they have related to the event. The attendees
simply need to drop in a text to the bot and
voila! Within seconds, the bot would gather
information that it has received previously,
process the query and provide answers.
20
Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps A great
example of an event app with a chatbot
integration would be the mobile app for the
event Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit
2017. The event, Vibrant Gujarat Investors
Summit is one of Indias biggest business
summits. The 2017 edition of the summit had an
event app with a chatbot integration. The app
chatbot could carry out a lot of varied tasks
with its extensive range of features
Schedule and Agenda
Direct connection to organizer app
Venue
Networking
Transportation and Accommodation
Travel Guide and much more
21
Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps The app
had more than 20,000 downloads with the virtual
assistant playing a major role in facilitating
an overall memorable attendee experience and
maximizing engagement. For an event with more
than 55,000 attendees, the app was the
organizers helping hand. For the attendees, it
was a trusted assistant contained in the palm of
their hands that was with them throughout their
event experience. Just think of the bene?ts that
such an addition to event app can provide. 1.
Attendee Convenience Perhaps the most important
bene?t of having an in-app chatbot is attendee
convenience. Happy attendees make loyal
attendees. A chatbot can really simplify
navigating through the event for the
attendees. Considering the Vibrant Gujarat app,
the attendees could inquire about various modes
of transportation to and from the event
venue. The bot was able to provide information
regarding the public transport system at the
venue as well as a list of private cab
providers if the attendee wishes to hire private
transport. Attendees could also text their
queries about the availability and contact
information of hotels and other options for
accommodations around the venue i.e. Mahatma
Mandir.
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Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps The
nearest cities around the venue were Ahmedabad
and Gandhinagar. Attendees could ask for
information on hotels and transport in any of
these cities. All of this with just a text. 2.
Individual voice Every element of your event
re?ects your brand including your event app and
the bot that you integrate with it. An eventbot
is a great opportunity for event branding. Your
app re?ects your brand personality. Your bot
can be fun, sarcastic or serious. One way to do
represent your brand personality is by giving
your bot a creative name. The event app creators
for the VG summit wanted their bot to be fun and
helpful. Hence, they got creative and named their
bot Botman. In case of any query or confusion,
Botman was always at the attendees service! Thus
your chatbot can be a great way to establish your
identity among your attendees and further build
up on that. Happy attendees are your biggest
promoters. Make sure to leave a good impression.
23

• Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps
• Personalization
• It is their own virtual assistant. Right from
  the message the message that pops up as soon as
  the bot introduces itself to every query thats
  answered every reply is addressed directly to
  the attendee.
• Every individual attendee gets to maintain their
  own pro?le and a database with their in-app
  virtual assistant. The bot takes care of the
  attendees
• Travel plans
• Meetings set up
• Reminder
• Pro?le
• Queries based on every aspect of the event
• Schedule and agenda
• This makes up for a highly personalized event
  experience for the attendees. Personalization is
  key to creating a memorable event and ensure
  event success.
• Attendee ROI Event ROI.

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Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps 4. Event
App Adoption
Having a chatbot e?ective in order
can be really to maximize
your event adoption rate and seeing to it that
the attendees engage with your app. They can
navigate through the event with their helpful
assistant in place. Make this fact known to your
attendees and Im pretty sure your app download
rates are bound to rise. Wonder why the Vibrant
Gujarat App had more than 20k downloads ? As
chatbots are a rising trend, it is a relatively
new experience for the attendees as well. Be
creative with your bot, give it a voice and make
your bot as e?cient as possible to ensure
engagement. Be sure to promote your bot and keep
emphasizing on the e?ciency and necessity of it.
25
Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps 5.
Smarter networking In case of the Vibrant
Gujarat event app, every attendee had their own
user pro?le where information such as their
interests, current profession, the industry that
they work in, their company/organization etc. was
listed. The bot was able to scan through
attendee pro?les and enable smarter
networking. It matched attendee pro?les and
guided them in terms of whom them in terms of
whom to meet, which booth they could visit,
etc. Apart from this, the bot also helps
attendees keep track of their meetings as well
as their overall schedule and agenda. Chatbots
can thus really help attendees network
e?ectively, thus maximizing attendee ROI. The
prospect of this increased ROI also becomes an
additional reason for the attendees to download
and engage with your app.
26
Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps 6.
Features Not Limited to Event Premises The
utility of your apps bot should not be limited
to the event premises. As mentioned earlier, the
organizers must make sure that their app is as
e?cient as possible so that it becomes more of a
necessity than a novelty for the
attendees. Making sure that the app is useful to
the attendees for all sorts of purposes
throughout the duration for the main event is a
part of this. Again, taking into consideration
the Vibrant Gujarat app, the bot took care of
the overall attendee experience during the
entirety of the main event. It was a personal
guide for the attendees in terms of their
transportation to the venue, navigation
throughout the event as well as outside the
event premises. Heres an example For the
attendees willing to explore various destinations
in and around the main event venue, i.e.
Gandhinagar, the bot helped them create and
manage their travel plans, suggested popular
tourist spots they could visit and also keep
track of their overall itinerary. It was not
just their virtual assistant but also their
personal travel guide.
27
Chatbot - Turning Point for Event Apps 7. Direct
Connect with Event Organizers The chatbot is a
great way to build a direct connection between
the attendees and the organizers. Again, using
the VG start-up summit event app as an example,
the organizers were provided with their own
event organizer app that was directly connected
to the event attendee app with the chatbot
integration. The queries that the chatbot was
unable to solve on its own were conveyed to the
event organizer through this organizer app. The
organizers received a direct message from the bot
regarding the attendee query. They were then
able to get in touch with the attendees directly
and sort out their doubts. This just adds on to
the attendee experience They are sure to
remember the e?ciency of the organizers in making
sure that they have a great event
experience. With its many- fold bene?ts and the
application of latest technology, chatbot is an
innovation meant to entirely revamp mobile apps
for events. It is not just an addition, it is a
revolution for event apps. Lets see how further
can this technology develop and impact the event
app industry. The only way to go now is further.
Keeping up these trends can be a bit
overwhelming, lets simplify it a little with
this features guide for event apps.
28
8 EVENT APPS YOU SHOULD BE TAKING INSPIRATION
FROM
4
With the boom in technology, it is necessary for
the event industry to stay abreast with the
changes that it has brought about. Event-tech is
the need of the hour. Event-planners have
multiple event tech tools at hand now to
optimize their events and to simplify certain
processes. Event app is one of those essential
tools for better and simpler event- management.
It will help you digitize your entire event and
simultaneously save up a lot on resources. You
know the bene?ts of an event app and what
constitutes a good event app. Many events in the
past have opted for an event app and have
leveraged these event apps in order to make
their event a success. Here are a few examples of
good event apps that have been launched in
recent years. Go ahead, take note.
29

• 8 Event Apps you should be taking Inspiration
  from
• Cannes Film Festival
• Developed in partnership with Orange, the
  Festival De Cannes 2017 app has a lot of
  interesting features including live video
  streaming, hour by hour updates of the event,
  and permanent access to the festivals
  TV channel as well as access to its radio
  and podcasts along with the geolocation feature.
• The app also gives personalized features to its
  users in terms of inculcating a diary and a wish
  list into the app. The app has gained major
  popularity with more than 10,000 downloads on
  the Android Playstore alone.It has a 4 star
  rating on both Apple and Android platforms.
• 20th eGov Conference
• The 20th eGovernance Conference that was held in
  Andhra Pradesh created its o?cial event
  application in partnership with Hubilo and was
  available on both Android and Apple platforms.
• The application received a 4-star review on the
  Playstore and had more than a thousand
  downloads. The application contained an e?ective
  networking feature and social media integration
  (Twitter).

30
8 Event Apps you should be taking Inspiration
from The best feature of the application however
was the integration of a one of its kind bot
i.e. a Virtual Assistant that guided the
attendees throughout based on their pro?les in
terms of the attendees that they could meet, the
sessions they could attend, etc. The virtual
assistant really simpli?ed it for the attendees,
helping them navigate through the entire event
smoothly. This way, they could make the most out
of their event experience. 3. Intel ISEF 2017
The application for the The Intel International
Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) is
available on both Android and Apple platforms
and has a 4-star review. The application made vari
ous necessary facilities accessible to the
attendees through the app itself, including
transportation and accommodation details along
with information of various emergency services
like medical facilities. Apart from social media
integration, the app also provides real-time
updates, changes, information on ?nalists and
presentations.
31

• 8 Event Apps you should be taking Inspiration
  from
• The YMCA Flowertown Festival
• The Summerville Flowertown Festival by YMCA had
  an o?cial event app available for download on
  the Android Playstore. The application is
  convenient in terms of the inclusion of a
  digital ?ower passes for checking in.
• Various activities, kids festival, community
  details along vendor details have been included
  in the app.
• Apart from this, details related to vendors, food
  and beverage stalls, etc. have also been
  mentioned. It also includes a comprehensive and
  interactive venue map as well. Flower Festivals
  app was pretty simple yet e?ective.
• National Womens Parliament
• Created by Hubilo, the National Womens
  Parliament app received more than thousand
  downloads on the Android and Playstore. The
  application can de?nitely be studied in terms
  of networking platform. The attendees can
  interact with each other as well set up
  meetings with various fellow attendees,
  investors and mentors.
• The app also facilitates personalized scheduling.
  Any last minute updates or changes in the
  schedule are sent through the app, immediately
  notifying the attendee for their convenience.

32
8 Event Apps you should be taking Inspiration
from 6. MPI Toronto Education Conference The
o?cial event app for the MPI Toronto Education
Conference can be downloaded
from the Android app store and is named TEC
2017. It is quite interactive and personalized
with essential features like the
speaker info, venue map and sponsor details.
Along with it, the app also facilitates the
attendees to network through the messaging app.
They can create their own schedule based on the
overall event schedule, take notes along with
storing and reviewing their documents. All in all
it is quite an interactive app. 7. Festival of
Marketing This event app for the Festival of
Marketing held is available on both Android and
Apple platforms. The application has received
more than a thousand downloads and has a 4-star
review on the Android Playstore. It includes
multiple features such as agenda setting, speaker
and attendee information, networking platform.
It also contains venue and transportation
details, making it even more convenient for the
attendees.
33
8 Event Apps you should be taking Inspiration
from 8. IPE 2016 The application for the confer
ence Inter- professional Care for the 21st
Century Rede?ning Education and Practice,
contains multiple features including personal
schedule and agenda setting along with the
messaging feature. Apart from basic information
and speaker details, the application also
facilitates live polling and taking notes during
the session save it for later. This makes
real-time feedback really easy. Live updates and
information on last-minute changes or additions
are also provided through the event feed in
terms of push noti?cations. This is a really
convenient app. An event-application can be a
boon for planners when done right. Technology is
your friend, your trusted helper. Be sure to make
the most of it. Considering getting a kick-ass
mobile app for your next event? In this next
section,check out 20 questions that you should
ask before investing in an event app.
34
20 QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE INVESTING IN AN EVENT
APP
5

• Finding the right event app for your next live
  experience can come o? as a big problem, even
  for the most seasoned event organizers.
• There are numerous solutions from which youll
  have to choose the perfect ones which suit your
  event and evaluating them is a daunting task, if
  you ask me !
• Although the searching for it can seem
  overwhelming, lets focus on how you can avoid
  all those unnecessary wandering through options.
  So that, you can focus more on creating an
  unforgettable experience for your event
  participants.
• But ?rst, you need to determine what your needs
  are and will the event app su?ce them or not?
• Hence, ask yourself these questions to get a
  clear picture of what services you are
  subscribing for !

35

• 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
  App
• How far is the E-Day ?
• Di?erent providers have di?erent delivery times.
  If youre searching for something to help you
  with your event thats coming up in a few days,
  youll need to ?nd a DIY Event Management
  Software and make it as quickly as possible.
• Otherwise, if you have considerable time for your
  event and if youre looking for a long term
  investment which you can use for multiple events,
  it will be your best interest to search out for
  more customized and dynamic solutions for your
  event.
• How ?exible is your budget ?
• Event budgets are expected to grow by 10 in
  2017, but due to their higher perceived costs,
  these budgets are often trimmed. Hence, it is
  very important to consider whether investing in
  an event app would be a wise decision or not!
• A clear devised plan on how using an event app
  will prove that your return on your investment
  is critical. Decide your Key Performance Indexes
  to measure your event success and prove your
  overall event ROI to your leadership or whoever
  is controlling your event budget.

36

• 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
  App
• Is this investment for single or multiple events
  ?
• Too often, event app is purchased for just a
  single event. Unfortunately, this doesnt allow
  one to holistically look at the entire strategy
  over the year and report back on the insights,
  analytics and ROI to prove the value of dollars
  spent on your event.
• Deciding whether to go for subscription model or
  one-time purchase when it comes to event app is
  where most of the event organizers are confused.
  If you organize more than 3 events a year, a
  subscription model is better. If not, you might
  be okay with a much less robust and less
  expensive system.
• How would you be de?ning ROI ?
• De?ning the event app ROI has long been a dire
  pain point for many event marketers.
  Fortunately, it is much easier, thanks to the
  advances in event technology solutions like
  event management software.
• Before you decide on settling for the event app,
  think about the questions youll need to answer
  ?rst. Think about what you already know, as well
  what you need to know, to come up with the kind
  of metrics that will be important for you to
  de?ne your event ROI.

37

• 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
  App
• What problems am I trying to solve with event app
  ?
• The job of the event app is to make your event
  planning processes easier rather than more
  complex, at all. But you need to think ?rst
  about what speci?c problems youd like to
  address with the event app.
• As a result, you should be able to solve a
  speci?c set of problems with the event app you
  craft for your event. Identifying the perfect
  pain points of your event will help you in
  choosing the perfect event app which provides
  best solutions to your problems.
• What features are essential for your event ?
• Once you decide which is the primary reason for
  you to invest in an event app, its time to
  shortlist the essential features youll need in
  your event app for the overall success of your
  event.
• For example, if one of your issues is
  facilitating a seamless networking experience,
  your solution should feature a state-of-the-art
  networking platform to make sure that your
  attendees not only network but plant lasting
  relations.

38

• 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
  App
• Would you be needing any additional features ?
• After youve decided what are the essential
  features youll be needing in your event app
  its time to determine what additional features
  you can opt for.
• Think about how these extra features would add an
  extra bene?t to enhance your event experience.
  Or may help in making your event management
  process seamless or optimize your guests ability
  to interact and engage with your brand.
• Who will be the managing admin ?
• All thanks to the automation of event technology,
  you wont be requiring an entire team to manage
  the back-end processes as everything is
  automated But that doesnt mean you dont assign
  this task to anybody at all.
• It is very critical to grant the access to who
  all will be managing the chosen app, which may
  include yourself, your teammates, sponsors,
  exhibitors and may be more. Consider their needs
  and how theyll interact with your event app
  before arriving at your ?nal decision.

39

• 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
  App
• How skilled is your team when it comes to
  embracing a new technology ?
• Di?erent event apps require di?erent kind of
  technical skill to operate. If learning a new
  technology tends to stress you out, you might
  want to opt for an app which is easy to use and
  manage in the long run.
• You should also consider how long it takes you to
  learn a new technology and implement it when
  determining your time frame, as I mentioned in
  the ?rst point.
• Does the app after training/support matches you
  and your teams technical literacy ?
• In addition to considering how easy it is for you
  to embrace a new technology, think about how
  well your team would be able to inculcate this
  new technology in their work?ow. What kind of
  training or documentation will it require in
  order to be successful ?
• Make sure your provider o?ers you the best
  training/ documents which would enable you to
  use event app e?ectively.

40

• 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
  App
• Who will be providing the technical support ?
• Will your internal team handle this, or youll be
  relying on the event apps support department?
  If its the latter, make sure that you choose
  the best possible plan or service package that
  best correlates to you and your event needs.
• In either case, it will be very helpful to have a
  designated and pre-decided point of contact to
  have a smooth channel of communication to help
  you with whatever the issues that may arise.
• With which other platforms or system will the app
  need to communicate ?
• One of the more compelling reasons to have a
  robust event app is that you can integrate it
  with other apps as well for a more holistic view
  of your events strategy and how that ?ts into
  your overall event experience.
• For example, you might want to connect your event
  app with taxi and hotel booking platforms,
  social media platforms, and more so as to make
  it convenient for attendees and manage everything
  seamlessly from a single app only.

41

• 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
  App
• What about data security/privacy expectations ?
• If data security and attendee privacy is a
  critical issue for your organization, make sure
  you choose the app provider trusted by other
  companies as well.
• A representative from the app provider should be
  able to able to ?ll you in on the di?erent
  security measures
• that they have taken to make sure that your
  attendees info and data you collect about them
  stay safe and secure.
• How about your event branding requirements ?
• The best event app will let your events assets
  truly represent all aspects of your brands look
  and feel. You need to check on the event apps
  ability to be customized, and ask whether white
  labelling is important to your company or not.
• Lastly, think about the branding options in the
  framework of the event app and whether or not
  you can rely on them for graphics and other
  elements, or if youll need to turn to more
  standardized templates to complete your design
  assets like event website

42

• 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
  App
• What devices/platforms your event app supports ?
• Now it is time to think about what type of
  devices your audience will be using. Consider
  about the OS of your attendees devices (e.g.
  Apple or Android), and if the app allows the
  ?exibility to use both phones and tablets.
• This fact will solely depend on the devices that
  your audience will be using and what event app
  providers can o?er, their familiarity with
  di?erent platforms types, and how quickly they
  can learn.
• What are the device pre-requisites for the event
  app ?
• Will your attendees be needing cellular data or
  WiFi in order to run the event app? Will they be
  able to access the content without internet?
  Many apps require constant internet access in
  order to successfully check people in, sell
  tickets or add additional people to the guest
  list.
• Also, if youre not sure if your event venue will
  be able to provide power or constant WiFi, make
  sure that your event app also has an o?ine mode
  feature that youre not left stranded in case
  something unexpected happens.

43

• 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
  App
• What is the backup plan if the event app stops
  functioning ?
• As much as were increasingly reliant on
  technology, the solutions that it o?ers are not
  100 fool-proof. And that is the reason why
  having a contingency plan in case your event app
  freezes up is a good option.
• Itd be recommended to have a physical print out
  of your guest-list and other necessary
  information that you simply cant live without
  once your event incepts.
• What data do I want to capture from my attendees
  ?
• In addition to collecting essential information,
  asking di?erent questions will make it easy for
  you to gather additional data about your
  attendees without having to do much of extra
  work or taking too much of additional time.
• For instance, asking attendees about their
  personal interests and buying interests are
  great for helping you ?nd ways to further engage
  your attendees and o?er them a splendid
  experience.

44

• 20 Questions to ask before Investing in an Event
  App
• How about post-event data reports ?
• For those of you who are Excel Wizards, you must
  be great at analyzing data. A simple CSV ?le
  that you can work on in Excel may be su?cient
  for you in terms of report generation options.
• However, if spreadsheet hacking isnt one of your
  strongest skills, look for the event app
  providers that o?ers di?erent types of reporting
  like customizable dashboards, intuitive
  analytics report, to help you make sense of the
  new data that youve acquired from your
  attendees.
• Does this event app seem like a reliable solution
  that you can trust ?
• Before signing a contract, do your due research
  and ensure that this is a trustworthy company.
  Review their previous event apps on the
  playstore to see what others in your shoes have
  to say about their experience.
• You can also ask for a case study and
  testimonials, as well as for a reference or two
  to put your mind at ease.
• Keep these questions in mind to ?nd the perfect
  event app.
• May be these questions are too much for you? Let
  us sum it up in a ?owchart and help you ?nd the
  perfect solution thats best for you without
  breaking a sweat !

45
HOW TO CHOOSE THE PERFECT EVENT APP FOR YOUR
EVENT
In order to create a spectacular app that is
perfect for your event, you must ?rst decide
upon the features that you wish to include in
your app. Here are the six main types of
features that you can integrate with your event
app
6

1. Update features
2. Engagement features
3. Promotional features
4. Personalized features
5. Networking features
6. Organizer features

46

• How to choose the perfect Event App for your
  Event
• Update Features
• These are the basic features to keep the
  attendees updated on the entire event
  proceedings. These features include event
  information, event agenda, speakers info and
  schedule, venue map, major highlights, event
  gallery and push noti?cations. For events such as
  conferences, seminar etc. it is also possible to
  list down awards, upload e-papers, etc.
• Engagement Features
• Engaging attendees with your event is of prime
  importance to boost downloads. An event app can
  have multiple features for engagement such as
  live polling, discussion forum, agenda questions,
  gami?cation, activity stream, social media wall
  etc.
• Promotional Features
• Engaging attendees with your event is of prime
  importance to boost downloads. An event app can
  have multiple features for engagement such as
  live polling, discussion forum, agenda questions,
  gami?cation, activity stream, social media wall
  etc.

47

• How to choose the perfect Event App for your
  Event
• Networking Features
• It is possible to integrate an event networking
  platform within the event app. Attendees can set
  up their pro?le.Attendee pro?le listing can
  enable the attendees to sort out relevant people
  to network with. Other features include setting
  B2B meetings, document sharing and in-app
  messaging.
• Personalized Features
• Organizers can personalize their event app for
  the attendees too. They can set up their own
  personal agenda for the event, get apersonal QR
  code for check-ins, create and manage their
  schedule and maintain their meetings calendar.
  It is also possible to integrate a virtual
  assistant with the app that acts their own
  personal guide.
• Organizer Features
• These features make event management easier for
  the organizers. The features include
  registrations and ticketing, check-ins both
  manual and digital (QR code scanning),
  badge-printing, help and info section with all
  the FAQs, travel and accommodation facilities,
  terms conditions, etc. listed down.

48
How to choose the perfect Event App for your Event
Do I need an app for my Event ? Y E S Single
Event App
Multi Event App
UPDATE FEATURES
Conference App
Organization App
Festival App
Exhibition App
ENGAGEMENT FEATURES
Summit App
PROMOTIONAL FEATURES
Incentive Travel App
NETWORKING FEATURES
PERSONALIZED FEATURES
ORGANIZER FEATURES
49
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jay Sitapara is an engineer having an inclination
towards innovation in technology. Currently,
associated with Hubilo, an event-tech startup
which aims to change the way how events are
organised and people network at events. Jay is
particularly passionate about crafting
stimulating, resourceful and in-depth guides for
Event Planners to keep them updated and
acknowledged about latest event industry trends.
He is speci?cally interested in e?ective use of
event technology and social media for greater
ROI through innovative thinking and skills. Jay
is also a Digital Marketer, Editor, Community
Manager and a regular contributor to Hubilo
Blog. His philic nature is prone to dogs, poetry,
co?ee, friends and co?ee with friends. If you're
on Twitter, say Hello to him _at_jsitapara and
follow his articles on blog.hubilo.com. And Jay
says, do not forget to share this Ebook!
50
About the author Hemani Sheth is a Mass
Communication major and an event enthusiast. She
is currently associated with Hubilo, a cloud
based event management platform that aims to
help event professionals create exceptional
events. Hemani strives to create resourceful
guides that pave way for insightful discussion
built around various facets of the event
industry. She has a keen interest in event
technology and how multiple innovations in the
?eld can help transform the way events are
created, marketed and executed. Hemani is also a
content marketer and a key contributor to Hubilo
Blog. Go check out more of her handy articles on
blog.hubilo.com. An avid reader, traveller and a
movie bu?, she is open to conversations on any
topic under the sun! Go ahead, say hello to her
on twitter _at_HimaniSheth .
51
With a vision of building a one-stop solution for
any type of event - may it be a conference, a
seminar, a workshop or an off-site event, Hubilo
helps you in executing a dynamically interactive
event by setting up the entire online management
suit required for the event within a few
minutes! Say goodbye to the mundane task of
doing things manually and allow the event
management software to do it an easier and much
more ef?cient way. Automate the whole process and
get your event powered by Hubilo. The value
addition that Hubilo offers is equivalent to the
services offered by 7 vendors, making it a
perfect recipe for successful event planning.
From event creation, event promotion, event
engagement to analytics, we tech-care of all your
event-tech worries.
52
We tech-care of your event
Contact us Meghna Mittal meghna_at_hubilo.com 91
9099197091