Customer Review: Port Hope community is hopping with events throughout the year

by ClearEvent Support | Event Management

We had the opportunity to sit down with Jeannie Maidens, Coordinator at the Municipality of Port Hope this week to learn about how she plans her community events.  Jeannie runs monthly events throughout the year and has modernized her event planning process using the ClearEvent platform.  Join us in understanding what some of her challenges were and how she is handling event planning today.

Tell us a bit about yourself and the events that you plan.

As the Events Coordinator for the Municipality of Port Hope there are three areas of focus within my portfolio.  The first area is planning for the Municipality of Port Hope corporate events like our Volunteer Firefighter Appreciation Banquet and the Civic Awards Ceremony.  The second planning area is for municipal community events like our Canada Day Celebration or Port Hope Arts Festival.  And lastly, I also facilitate 3rd party events on municipal property like Cultivate, a Festival of Food & Drink.  For 2 years we’ve been using ClearEvent software for planning some of these events and we plan to expand its use to more events as we go forward.

What were you using before you started using the ClearEvent platform?

Prior to ClearEvent we were using a collection of tools – email, excel spreadsheets, word, and scribbled notes predominantly.  We were introduced to the ClearEvent solution through the Festivals & Events Ontario Conference in 2015.  I definitely saw the value for its use within our program. The software looked as if it would help us stay more organized.

What has ClearEvent allowed you to do that you couldn’t do with your previous event planning methods?

The biggest improvement for me was the ability to process online registration and payments.  Handling this online has allowed me to connect with new participants and engage them in a way that I wasn’t able to before.  ClearEvent’s registration software really up’d our game.  The process that we were using before was a big barrier.  We used to send folks a pdf and ask them to fill it out then mail it back.  Very time consuming and challenging to keep track.

Have your customers been able to adapt to the technology easily?

Before we had the online payment and registration option through ClearEvent, we had two camps of customers.  One group wanted the registration/payment online option and wondered why we didn’t already have it.  At the same time, some vendors were used to the way things were and less comfortable with technology, especially around our Farmers’ Market event.  As part of our customer service approach, we have set up things to help them navigate it.  We also accept offline payments via check in addition to online for those who were less comfortable with the technology.  The ClearEvent system allows for both.  And the ClearEvent team has been very helpful providing materials that I can provide my customers to help them along.  Overall though, switching to the ClearEvent platform has broadened our reach and we’ve gained more registrants as a result.

What has been ClearEvent’s key benefit to you?

Other than being able to process online registrations and payments, it does offer a new level of organization.  It houses everything together and offers a new communication platform through the included Event Portal.  I know the information is in the platform and others can access it through a self-serve mode removing me from the pressure of being a single point of communication.  I also like that we are evolving and modernizing our events.  The support from the ClearEvent team has been so helpful and a big benefit of going with ClearEvent.  With our Canada Day Event on the horizon, the countdown clock on the Dashboard is another favorite part of the software.

Time-saving element.

Like any new system, you have to invest some upfront time to get started.  You become more efficient as you get used to the system.  And unique features like Rollover also are a huge time-saver if you have repeating events because it reduces much of the initial event set up.  And the ClearEvent support team did a lot to help me get up to speed- great support.

What advice would you give someone else considering an Event Management Software System?

Think big about how you organize your event plans.  Pay attention to all the features that ClearEvent offers and it can be the Mothership for your events.  Have a good idea of what the main event planning problem is that you would like to solve.  Focus on that to begin with and sort that out on the system first knowing that there’s lots of other ways to use the system that you’ll get to.  You don’t have to utilize all the included tools right away.  There are lots of features that can be adopted as you go because there is a lot in the platform.

Port Hope Canada Day Parade, 2017

Port Hope Arts Festival, 2017

Is Your Ticketing Company a Valued Partner?

by ClearEvent Support | Event Management

Event planners are busy and it’s no easy feat to pull off a great event. Think for a moment, which of your suppliers go the extra mile to make sure everything is optimal for you? And even more importantly, which of your suppliers just do the minimum?

It’s especially important to ask “Is my ticketing company a valued partner?”. Sales from tickets is often the main source of revenue for many events. Your ticketing system is often the first point of contact with your event for your attendees, and first impressions matter!

Choose a ticketing company that treats you as a partner!

When it’s time to find a better ticketing company, how can you tell your new ticketing company will be a valued partner contributing to your overall success, and not just another average supplier? The following three factors make all the difference.

Are your Goals Aligned?

Are the goals of your ticketing company aligned with yours? Take a look at how they get paid and their impact on your attendees.

Is payment to your ticket company connected to the number of tickets sold, or to the amount of ticket revenue? Since total revenue is usually more important to most event planners than the number of tickets sold, it is better to work with a ticket company where their payment is tied to maximizing your revenue.

Work with a ticket company where their payment is tied to maximizing your revenue.

What about happy customers?

Does your ticket company care about your ticket buyers’ experience. If not, this means they may be okay with more unhappy attendees than you are! Since your ticket company is selling tickets to your customers, choose a ticket company that goes the extra mile to make sure that every ticket purchase leads to a happy customer.

Is Their Focus on Your Success?

Big companies with thousands of customers often find it difficult to provide great service to all their customers. This happens for many reasons and as a customer you feel it.

So when deciding on a ticket company, always remember, there’s a big difference between a company wanting your business and wanting you to succeed. Seek out a ticket company that truly understands that your success is their success. Choose one that understands what you are trying to do, and helps you get achieve that success.

Choose a ticketing company that helps you to succeed, not one that just wants your business.

Are They Looking For Ways to Help You?

Is your new ticketing company nimble and flexible? When you need something,how do they respond? Quickly and cheerfully or do you get treated like a number, just one of thousands of similar requests? Are they interested in suggestions for new features? Do they add new features requested by customers?

Your ticket company should be very eager to help you and your team and your attendees.

If attendees need technical help during or after purchasing tickets, your ticket company should promptly address any issues. If you or your colleagues have questions about the software, there should be multiple layers of support available to you, from simple tooltips all the way to live one-on-one support.

At ClearEvent, we believe our success should be connected to your success. We’re glad to provide guidance on best practices and we’re always looking for ways to make our event platform even better. On a regular basis, we add new features to help your event make more revenue and to improve the experience for your attendees. ClearEvent has a great track record of releasing new features requested by our customers. We know your feedback is the best way to make our event platform even better for you.

Finding ways to help you should be “just how your ticket company operates”.

Choose a Ticketing Partner, Not Just Another Average Supplier

In the event space, it’s essential your suppliers work with you as a partner, not just another supplier. This is especially true for your ticketing company. Your ticketing company has a big impact on revenue and attendee experience, both are key to great events.

Make sure your ticketing company treats you as a partner:

• Are your goals aligned?
• Is their focus on your success?
• Are they looking for ways to help you?

Quite frankly, why would you want anything less from a supplier? Smart event planners know to keep the suppliers that treat them like partners and replace the others with ones that will!

Happy Planning!

Learn how ClearEvent is the ticketing partner you’ve been looking for!

Interested In Other Topics?

As a conference planner, knowledge is key. Let us know the topics you’d like to hear about to help increase your event planning success, at support@clearevent.com.

In the meantime, Happy Planning!

Tips for Compelling Conference Branding

by ClearEvent Support | Event Management

You invest thousands of dollars on your conference. Your marketing targets potential delegates across the country. Your goal is a great return on your investment. But, your challenge is to get noticed and make a compelling connection with delegates to  attract them to your conference! How do you achieve your goal when there is so much noise drowning out your message? A big part of the answer is by leveraging conference branding!

This article focuses on on using conference branding to grab your delegate’s attention so you can let them know what a great conference you have in store for them. If you can’t get their attention, how will they know to come to your event?

Expect your marketing to grab only a tiny fraction of delegates’ attention. In other words, even if they see your marketing, you have only a second or two to connect. What to do? Compelling conference branding is your best weapon against distraction.

What is Compelling Conference Branding?

Your conference brand needs to instantly catch delegates’ attention, in a memorable way.

Conference branding functions as shorthand for your conference and the value it provides. It is compelling if your delegates instantly think of your conference when they see your conference branding. And do delegates think good things about your conference – fun, educational, productive? This is the effect you are looking for.

There’s not enough time for reading to work well. Instead, compelling conference branding hooks their attention visually. Your marketing copy then has a chance to connect with the delegate and get them to sign up.

3 Tips: Compelling Conference Branding

So, effective conference branding is all based on visual cues. To get the best results for your conference, pay close attention to the following three must-do tips.

1) Communicate Visually

Humans process visual information extremely rapidly, without thinking about it. People also recognize patterns and repetition without thinking about it. (1,2,3!). The associations and connections are there before we even know it.

These unconscious behaviours are always exploited by the most effective visual messaging.

Symbols, colors, and graphics are your building blocks for effective visual messaging. These map perfectly to logo, color themes and imagery for your conference. Use these essential aspects to build compelling conference branding with a powerful visual message.

Logo

Don’t skimp on your conference logo!

Your logo stands for your conference, what it is about, and the value it provides. Your conference logo delivers this essential visual message which is reinforced every time it is seen thanks to the visual parts of our brain.

Graphic designers are skilled at converting your conference focus and value into a stunning, communicative memorable logo.

Collaborate closely, with your graphic designer. Ask them to generate several alternatives. Be prepared to iterate through multiple designs to get to the best one.

When you have good candidate logos available, share them with ten to twenty delegates to learn which logos resonate the way you want them to.

Color Themes

Colors provide strong associations. Look around, marketers are bombarding us  with their brand colors and our brains are unconsciously interpreting and connecting certain colors and factors with certain brands.

Red and yellow associate with (fast) food brands. Blue and green makes us think calm and cool. (More Info: Color Association Infographic.)

What colors stimulate the right associations for your conference? Make sure to choose theme colors that unconsciously connect with the right associations for your conference. For example, avoid red for a spa or pastels for a race event.

Give close consideration to how your conference color themes can be incorporated into your logo. Your graphic designer will be your best asset in coming up with the right blend.

Imagery

Imagery for your conference is very important. Compared to logo and colors, imagery is a supporting actor but plays a vital role in visually conveying what your conference stands for.

Images can be a single image used throughout your branding. It can also be a series of images with each one contributing a reinforcing visual message. You can use pictures or graphic designs. The key objective is to strengthen the message visually. A simple test is to take the image away and ask if the message is clearer with or without it?

Consider for each image whether it visually conveys something essential, not already provided by your logo, colors or other images.

2) Keep it Simple

People like simple.

In producing your logo and selecting your colors and deciding on your images, make sure the overall combination is simple and easy to digest visually.

It is easy to overdo it. Adding more to your visual messaging usually weakens its impact. So, if you’re having trouble dialing in your conference branding, the answer is usually to take something away and simplify it.

3) Be Consistent

Now you have your conference branding selected, use it consistently.

Consistent use of your conference branding takes advantage of our tendency to make connections and recognize patterns. You’ve worked hard to produce compelling conference branding. Don’t dilute your message by offering unbranded or poorly branded items to your delegates.

All of your delegate facing materials should be branded with your logo, colors and imagery. Minimally this should include:

• Conference website
• All marketing materials, ads, blog articles, social media and printed pieces
• Registration and event management software
• Communications, messages and email
• Signage at your conference
• Conference collateral such as badges, lanyards, programs, schedules, tickets, bags and swag

Get great ROI from your Conference Branding

Grab your delegates attention with compelling conference branding. Communicate the value and focus of your conference visually, because you only have a few seconds to grab delegates’ attention.

• Create eye-catching branding with your logo, color themes and imagery.
• Keep it simple
• Be consistent, use your branding on all items you expect your delegates to see.

These are three easy wins that will boost recognition and connections with your delegates.

Good Luck!

Interested In Other Topics?

As a conference planner, knowledge is key. Let us know the topics you’d like to hear about to help increase your event planning success, at support@clearevent.com.

In the meantime, Happy Planning!

Delegate Experience Matters to Savvy Planners

by ClearEvent Support | Event Management

Sometimes the very thing we need to pay attention to is right under our nose. We just can’t see it. Every conference planner works hard to secure the best venue, deliver the best program and provide amazing food. In dealing with these important elements, it is easy to overlook the smaller details in your event that contribute a lot to delegate experience. And delegate experience matters!

Make me feel special!

The one thing that every conference delegate wants – heck, we all want! – is to feel special. So, savvy conference planners must make choices for their event that they believe will make every delegate feel special.

Five Quick Easy Wins Many Conferences Miss

For this article we’ll focus on five quick and easy wins many conferences miss.

As they say, the devil is in the details. Big items, like venue, decor, food and entertainment are on most planners’ minds. Here are some easy wins that often get missed and make such a difference.

These simple touch points have the potential to make every delegate at your conference feel special at no additional expense to your conference.

1) Great Personal Interactions

There is no better way to show delegate experience matters than providing excellence in personal interactions with delegates. Every encounter with delegates should be professional, respectful, knowledgeable, helpful, friendly and it at all possible, fun.

This is not a tall order. It is basic table stakes if delegate experience matters to you. When conference staff provide great personal interactions with delegates, every interaction leaves your delegate feeling special.

Get the best staff

Thinking about your conference, there are three types of people your delegates will have contact with:

1. Venue staff
2. Service providers hired by your conference
3. Your own conference staff

The first two om this list are hired by your conference. Since you don’t directly hire or manage the people working for the venue or suppliers, it is essential to verify that their staff meet your standards for delegate interactions. Thorough vetting is key when choosing venues and suppliers.

Once you have a short list, ask to observe their managers and staff at a different event which is similar to your conference. Observing venue and supplier staff in action provides an important opportunity for you to verify their people really deliver the way you need them to.

Ensure your own conference staff provide exceptional service

Merely good, doesn’t cut it. With your own staff and workers, take the time to educate and train them. Don’t take for granted that they know best practices for interacting with delegates.

Ensure every person on your conference team is a fabulous ambassador for your event and that every interaction leaves delegates feeling special. Do your staff know the names and faces of VIPs? Do they all learn how to greet these VIPs or how to direct them and give VIPs that extra level of support?

Once they know how to treat VIP’s, it’s easy to get your staff to treat every delegate as a VIP!

2) Registration

For most delegates, registration is the first contact with your conference.

In addition to processing delegate registration, your registration system is like a business card for your event. It conveys your brand, conference themes and values, and lets delegates know what they can expect from your event.

Your registration system is like a business card for your event.

Every delegate registers with your event, so it is very important that the registration experience is great.

The registration form should be easy to complete by the vast majority of your delegates. It should be well thought-out, taking no more of the delegates time than absolutely necessary. In other words, keep your registration forms as short as possible with a minimum of reading!

The controls and directions on the form should be clear and easy to follow. Review and test your forms before going live to eliminate all typos and any correct any parts that are not clear. Read more “3 Must-Do Tips For Creating A Great Registration Experience”

Lastly, delegates often have questions, despite your best efforts to create a great registration experience. Ensure there are two types of help available to them. The first is a way to ask questions about registration or your event. The second is technical support in the event they encounter technical difficulties with their registration.

Time invested tuning up your registration process will reflect well on your event and send a message that delegate experience matters.

3) Check-in

This one is easy to overlook, but also an easy one to get right. Ask delegates and they’ll all have a bad check-in story to tell.

Don’t squander this opportunity!

Check-in is an easy win for every conference to make every delegate feel welcome and special. The first interaction at the event itself should be a great feel-good interaction. Responsibility for a great check-in experience falls squarely on the shoulders of the conference planner.

Making Check-in Great Again

So, in addition to the guidance from the first easy win in this this article, make sure your check-in staff:

•  Know how to use your check-in system
•  Are very knowledgeable about your conference
• Understand their primary role is to welcome your delegates!

Check-in staff should be patient, thoughtful and understanding in every interaction. Prepare your Check-in staff with the question “What will you do if something goes wrong, and what is the priority?”. They should know how to get problems fixed and throughout any unexpected issue, the delegate experience matters!

Take extra time ahead of your event to make sure that check-in leaves every delegate feeling special and every aspect of the check-in says delegate experience matters! To get check-in right, you need to do your homework and be prepared. Once check-in is live, it’s too late. Make sure your staff are competent knowledgeable and can handle typical questions and issues that occur during check-in.

Once Check-in is live, it’s too late!

4) Signs

This one is so simple it amazes me that conferences overlook it!

Delegates need to know where to go to get to the various parts of your conference. They’ll also want to know schedule and general event info.

Seems simple, yet I have seen examples of deserted conference reception areas with delegates looking for information unable to get the answers they need. With no one to answer their questions, there were also no signs or fliers with event information, no event app, and hotel staff could not answer questions about the conference.

The good news is this type of situation is very avoidable. Ensure information easily available to your delegates and let them know how to reach a member of your organizing team if they need to, but can’t find one.

A Conference App Helps

Conference planners serve their delegates well by making information available in more than one way to delegates. A conference app is an effective readily-available source of conference information and makes a great addition to every conference.

Effective Conference Signage

Conference signage is commonly supplied by conference organizers in addition to the signs installed and/or provided by the venue.

To be effective, conference signs need to be:

• Findable
• Readable by delegates with vision challenges
• Have clear messaging
• Placed in locations where delegates will likely be looking for conference information.

Conference signs should be placed so they are visible even when the space is crowded. Before ordering your signs, check and double check that the messaging is clear and the copy is easy to read.

5) Seating

This one is so simple, it should never be a problem for any conference. Comfortable seats!

No conference planner deliberately chooses uncomfortable seats for their attendees. And yet, we’ve all been to conferences where the seats were uncomfortable!

We’ve all been to conferences where the seats were uncomfortable!

When scoping out your venue, take time to sit for a while in the proposed seating.

Your delegates will be sitting for hours at a time. Far better for you to reject uncomfortable seats in the planning stages! The venue may not even be aware that their seats are uncomfortable as none of their staff sit in them for hours at at time.

Give your guests comfortable, supportive seats so they can sit comfortably and enjoy the bigger things you have worked so hard to share with them at your conference.

There’s nothing like comfortable seating to let your attendees know delegate experience matters!

Let them know Delegate Experience Matters

Your delegates are the reason your conference exists. Let them know they are special, in every interaction. Every decision you make as a conference planner affects how your delegates feel before, during and after your conference.

Always look in the details for simple ways to make your delegates feel special, such as:

1. Knowledgeable accessible hosts and staff. Make sure help is always close by.
2. A professional, hassle-free registration process.
3. A warm welcoming check-in.
4. Easy to use, informative event app and signage that’s easy to read, clear and easy to find.
5. Comfortable seats!

The five easy wins in this article are really just the start of what you can do. Each one directly impacts most if not all your delegates. You’re already working hard on the big aspects of your conference, don’t overlook the smaller things because they matter too!

Interested In Other Topics?

As a conference planner, knowledge is key. Let us know the topics you’d like to hear about to help increase your event planning success, at support@clearevent.com.

In the meantime, Happy Planning!