By Mashum Mollah
In a recent article by CNBC, the sixth most stressful job in the U.S. is that of event coordinators. The bases of the survey are reports of frequent and unrealistic deadlines, lack of career growth, and having to interact with the public.
It’s true – event planners have demanding jobs because they have to stick to deadlines while trying to please attendees, sponsors, clients, exhibitors, and speakers. However, in terms of career growth, the events industry is projected to grow by 11 percent by 2026.
To keep track of details, successful event planners use productivity tools. Using Tixily, for example, is a big help in selling tickets, planning schedules, and mapping exhibits.
Let’s see the seven-most challenging situations faced by event planners and how event tracking software can come to your rescue here:
7 Challenges Faced by Event Planners and How Using Event Software is the Solution:
1. Unexpected Changes in Venue and Speakers
From experience, every event planner knows that Murphy’s law is real – anything that could go wrong will go wrong.
For one, the venue needs changing at the last minute due to inclement weather or double booking. Or, a speaker may be sick or need to attend to personal emergencies.
How does an event planner communicate these changes immediately to attendees?
Using Tixily or any other event software, an organizer can shoot an email to the list of attendees with just a few clicks. This way, everyone can travel to the new venue with managed expectations.
2. Attendance Is Lower Than Expected
One of the worst fears of organizers is when the event has a meager turnout of attendees. After going through months of coordinating, ticket sales are low. Fortunately, there is a solution.
Using the software, event planners can monitor the progress of ticket sales in real-time. If the numbers are still low, they still have time to promote the event by offering promotional discounts and raffle prizes.
3. More People Show Up Than Expected
Here’s a different scenario. If ticket sales are rising dramatically, event planners have two options – find a larger venue or stop ticket sales and set up a waiting list.
This is achievable by monitoring signups using event management software. Organizers are alerted if ticket sales are higher than expected. The heads up gives them the chance to scout for larger venues.
4. Canceled Events
There are cases where events have to be postponed or canceled. Using event software, organizers can email attendees in advance. Re-scheduling is also easy since you can send email notifications using the email feature.
5. Speaker Needs Guidance
In an article by public speaking expert Steven Cohen, he says that connecting with the audience starts with thorough audience analysis. It won’t be easy for your speaker to connect without detailing.
Fortunately, with event software tools, demographics are readily available. By knowing the age group, profile, and pre-survey expectations of the audience, the speaker can customize the topic accordingly.
6. Layout Changes Are Necessary
Whenever there is miscommunication with volunteers regarding the layout, it is still possible to adopt changes.
The exhibit hall mapping in event tools makes changing the layout manageable, even at the last minute.
7. Sponsors Need Customer Information
As mentioned above, event software can store demographic information of attendees – email addresses, mobile numbers, age, etc. This information is a goldmine for sponsors. The attendee profiles can be shared with sponsors as long as it’s within the contract.
Although event planning is stressful, organizers measure their success with the satisfaction of attendees, meeting the objectives of the event, and staying within the budget. With an event software in hand, event planning becomes less stressful and success within reach.
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