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Consider this from QuickMobile’s introduction to its event app analytics guide: “A good event app will generate a deep and rich record of virtually every aspect of your attendees’ behavior. Whether through a live poll, schedule personalization, or social media activity, mobile technology paints a very thorough picture of what kind of engagement went on during your event and what kind of return it delivered to your bottom line.”
You can see why the company considers app analytics the “holy grail” of event ROI measurement. This guide explains how to quantify the interactions between the different groups of stakeholders at your meeting: attendees, exhibitors, presenters, organizers, and sponsors. It takes you through three types of data, and what insights each reveals about your event.
Free registration required for the download here.
From a big-picture, chronological event-planning checklist to a detailed discussion of pre- and post-event survey design, Attend.com’s Event in a Box is full of practical information that new planners will devour (there’s even a budget template). But the seasoned planner, too, will find plenty of nuggets, from event check-in tips (if you assume everyone will use entrance A, you know a bunch of attendees will come in entrance B and miss your sign for the registration desk) to working with volunteers (role play with them, so they know how to handle a wide variety of questions).
Free registration required for the download here.
The experts at Seasite.com, the cruise meetings information site of cruise specialists Landry & Kling, have put together an e-book with questions to ask cruise meetings companies who want to help you book a ship.<p>
The 14-page PDF offers detailed suggestions for digging into a broker’s knowledge of seagoing vessels, itineraries, destinations, negotatiations, and more, including tough questions to ferret out their real expertise.<p>
Just two examples: “Can you show me an example of one of your client’s day-by-day block-outs of their cruise itinerary showing the daily schedule of their business events in appropriate meeting/function rooms, and how it all fits with the ports of call?” and “How do you keep up to date on unpublished itineraries, unique vessels, and last-minute group specials and charter ‘remnants’?”
Free registration required for the download here.
Cloud-based enterprise event-management software provider Cvent has created a software buyer’s guide, detailing questions to ask potential providers that also can help planners clarify their own needs. Covering how to balance a system’s complexity and capabilities with the scope of a planner’s requirements, the guide also suggests digging into the contact management system on offer (is it CAN SPAM compliant?), mobile capabilities, whether you will get a dedicated account manager, the ratio of support staff to customers, transparency of fees, and more.
Downloadable here (registration not required).
The meeting planners at Spear One, a full-service marketing programs manager specializing in meetings, events, and incentives have created this guide to all-inclusive resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean as a collection of quick vignettes covering an impressive 36 properties, all of which cater to groups. The planners also list the all-inclusive brands they believe are more focused on the leisure market and therefore are not recommended for planners’ short lists.
Download the guide and find out which resort incorporates wine into its spa treatments, which is on a beach that’s beautiful but not swimmable, which has “the most exquisite food in Mexico,” which is minimalist, which is over-the-top, and which might wake you up with AC/DC.
Spear One also has downloadable guides to meeting on each of the Hawaiian islands.These guides are useful, readable, and full of not just hotel stats and local activity info but planner insights, such as which hotel on Maui is the cool new kid on the block and which hotel you should seriously consider despite the assumptions you might make about its brand.
Free registration required for the download here.
The International Congress & Convention Association has created the ultimate crisis management guide, designed for association executives and meeting managers to prepare for, handle, and recover from any crisis situation. Covering both what you do (the operations side of things—focusing on your people and your assets) and what you say (the communications side of things—focusing on public relations and the media), the guide was developed with experts including Andy Williams of Safehotels, which provides independently verified security and safety certification for hotels and meeting venues; ICCA Congress speaker Tina Altieri of Media Australasia Xchange; and ICCA Communication Strategist Mathijs Vleeming.
We’ve posted many elements of the report here, along with a link to download the full guide from ICCA.
This quick-hit paper from Attend.com explains how to find your cost per program-generated lead, measure “pipeline acceleration” (that’s how much faster a company is able to close a sale with an event attendee as opposed to a lead obtained by other marketing methods), and check retention and upsell rates from customers who have attended an event in the past year as opposed to customers who have been targeted by other marketing campaigns, all in the service of determining the return on investment for your events.
Free registration required for the download here.
A basics guide from cloud-based event-management software company Lanyon, including what you should include in your RFPs, how to review and compare the responses you receive, contracting and negotiation tips, plus a baker’s dozen best practices. Number one on the list: Limit the destinations under consideration to three, keeping weather, airlift, attractions, and getting around on the ground in mind. Then choose five to eight hotels to whom you will send your RFP—you want them to know you’re serious.
Free registration required for the download here.
While it is rare to find a high-profile, flagship event that hasn’t taken the plunge on mobility, says QuickMobile, there is a universe of smaller meetings out there that might not be delivering the mobile information and services that attendees expect now. This guide covers four drivers for mobile app adoption throughout the enterprise, what apps can do for small meetings, and best practices for implementing an enterprise-wide event app platform.
Free registration required for the download here.
