Event Website

Wondering how your upcoming exhibits will be perceived by today's under-40 attendees? A new study by the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR) has shed some light on the habits of both Millennial attendees (ages 18 to 27) and Generation X attendees (ages 28 to 39). Here's a snapshot of how they stack up when it comes to your exhibits and tradeshows:

Who is most likely to come to my show?

Millennials, for the most part. Generation Xers do not want work to intrude on their personal times, while Millennials are more driven about excelling in their careers, according to the report.

Respondents to the study had the opportunity to attend an average of 7.6 events related to their careers over the past three years, and typically Millennials attended a higher percentage of these meetings than Generation Xers did. As the report says, "In summary, Gen Xers are the challenge facing the exhibitions and events industry, while Millennials are the opportunity."

What are they looking for?

Both sets of attendees said that convenience and relevance of the event's theme are top factors in deciding whether to attend. Additionally, Gen Xers said that cost was a top factor; Millennials did not.

In terms of format, about 47 percent of respondents said their first choice for session format is a one-hour lecture followed by a 15-minute Q&A session.

How can I reach them?

Not surprisingly, under-40 event attendees are all over social networks, with 88 percent saying they use a social networking website regularly. Also of note is that 78 percent said they get exhibition information from event websites, while 60 percent get it from publications and journals.

The vast majority of under-40 exhibition attendees prefer to be reached and marketed to via e-mail.

For more information about the CEIR report, visit www.CEIR.org.

Don't settle for customer care that simply ends with product support. The highly-qualified professional services team at Cvent is available for additional support options such as data processing, campaign analysis and database management.

Our dedicated team responds to a variety of needs:

*Full-service event website and online event registration design
* Email marketing campaign and strategy consulting to achieve maximum response rates
* Database management services to help you clean, manage and grow your database
* Complete on-site support including registration and check-in, name badge production and payment processing
* Call center support that provides attendees with a phone number they can call to register, get information and resolve any issues related to your event
* Custom report creation and event data analysis

Take advantage of the extra help Professional Services offers. This group is determined to match up to our professional products, and their job is to give you the time and support that you deserve, but that many competitors in our market don't bother to provide.

Branding should be at the forefront of every event planner's mind as they coordinate an event from start to finish. The event invitation emails, website, collateral—it should all have a consistent, polished look. Quality event branding not only makes your event look more professional, it also makes it easier to tie your event into other marketing strategies.

Cvent does its best to help event planners with their event branding efforts. One unique feature we offer is branded URLs for your events.

Brand URLs offer several benefits to planners. For example, they:

• Make it easier for attendees to remember your web address

• Improve your event websites rank in search engines

• Establish consistency between your event and company or association

Event planners can create branded URLs in Cvent that include the company name or even the title of the event itself. For more information on branded URLs and Cvent's branding package, contact Customer Care.

Perhaps you're worried about the cost of investing in online event management software because your organization charges little or no money for its events. No matter the price (or lack thereof) associated with your events, you shouldn't let it hold you back from reaping the benefits of a great online system - so let's look at a new way to work around some seemingly unavoidable expenses.

Among the numerous industries Cvent works with: corporations, associations, universities, non-profits, government and independent planners, many rely on sponsors for support - whether it be financial help or through the provision of products and services.

Many of our clients have taken advantage of this situation by tapping into their sponsors to further cover event costs. How? They charge them more money in exchange for more exposure!

Think of it as selling "electronic real estate." As a planner, you can use Cvent's capabilities with email invites and event websites to generate this additional revenue. For example, you can require sponsors pay a higher price to have their logos displayed on every event-related email or placed prominently at the top of the "Sponsors" page you create on your event website.

Or you can "sell a survey question" in a pre- or post-event survey (think about selling multiple questions if you have multiple sponsors).

Just check out this sample event Cvent did for a real client to see how SCW Fitness Education leveraged its sponsors!

Slowly but surely, your sponsors are realizing that there exists a two-way street and that they benefit from getting their name advertised throughout the entire registration process as well as on the day of the actual event.

So don't be afraid to leverage those who are already willing to help your organization - just approach it in a smart way and be prepared to defend your request with reasons why it's smart for them to get as much time in the spotlight as possible.

Ever wondered what makes Cvent different from all other e-registration tools? One of our clients, a reading association, used Cvent for their annual event and had nothing but great things to say about our customer service excellence and level of professionalism. As they put it, "Cvent doesn't just make events, they make events a success."

Why? For one, sending out event reminders three weeks before the actual event helped them capture 30 percent more registrants. And their planners did not have to spend hours sitting in front of an Excel workbook to compile the list of undecided invitees. Cvent’s email delivery system is intelligent enough to automatically send out these reminders only to those who have not responded.

Cvent's ability to create customized pages on event websites also afforded this client the opportunity to sell space on these pages. They allowed presenters/exhibitors to contribute to the event by purchasing some "electronic real estate" in which they could put their company logo and a weblink.

Overall, what really sets Cvent apart is our service. As this client told us, "You have a question and the Cvent Client Services team of professionals really is just a phone call or an email away." To make a software WORK for the clients' events is as just important working on the software itself, and Cvent is happy to hear from clients who see this in action!

As the meetings industry prepares for the H1N1 flu virus, are you ready for handling events during flu season? Check out these 4 tips for how to be prepared:

1. Stock up on hand sanitizers.

Hand sanitizers are a decent safeguard to spreading diseases from hand to mouth. Though they don't replace hand washing, they are especially helpful at meetings and events where your guests cannot always run to the bathroom for soap and water. Just make sure to purchase sanitziers that contain an alcohol (ehtyl alcohol, ethanol, etc.) in a concentration of at least 60 percent. Studies have shown that anything less than this is not effective.

2. Educate your guests.

Provide your attendees with helpful information on how they can keep themselves and others healthy. Washing hands frequently, avoiding touching eyes, nose and mouth, and coughing into a sleeve or elbow—not hands—are among the best tips to stay healthy. Share these with your attendees on your event website or in your email marketing.

3. Stay informed.

Just as your guests should be in the loop, event planners should make sure to regularly visit reliable websites such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to keep current on the flu vaccine, influenza activity in the United States and more.

Additionally, it also helps to be familiar with the symptoms of the flu, which include fever, sore throat, headache, body and muscle aches, dry cough, runny or stuffy nose and fatigue. Note that for adults, symptoms such as difficulty breahting or shortness of breath, sudden dizziness and severe vomiting warrant urgent medical attention. Establish a plan of action should an event guest, or one of your staff members, fall sick. Designate a contact person to whom guests can turn for medical assistance.

4. Have a back-up plan.

Last year, many event planners were caught unawares by the pandemonium brought on by the flu. Make sure to establish procedures for attendee cancellations, speaker cancellations, etc. Have a policy in place when it comes to refunding event fees for your attendees. This also holds true for your event venue and suppliers—go over how payments/refunds will be handled should you need to cancel or change locations at the last minute.

Now you know how to use Cvent for sponsorship sales. Here are three great tips for maximizing Cvent's features to incentivize your potential sponsors:

• Provide sponsors with sales leads by using registration questions. Tell your sponsors that you will create a registration question about their organization, asking all registrants if they’d be interested in learning more about their product and/or services. Once your event is closed for registration, run a report to see those who are interested in more information. Give this report to your sponsor(s)—it will provide valuable leads to their businesses.

• Use "electronic real estate" to promote sponsors. Place sponsor logos at the bottom of your email invitation for all invitees to see. Even those who cannot attend the event will still see these logos and may want to find out more information.

• Create web traffic for your sponsors through your event website. Create a custom page on your event website dedicated to your sponsors. If you have different sponsorship levels/tiers, you can place Platinum sponsors at the top, then Gold, followed by Silver, and so forth. You can also can place the sponsor’s logo, mission statement, description of products/services, a link to their website, etc., on the page. This will help create traffic to their website and possibly generate leads for their business.

What gets you excited about events or conferences you attend? The biggest thing for me is the location. I love getting to see cities and venues I've never seen before, it adds an element of fun to any event. Use Cvent's Destination Guide to find the perfect venue in the perfect city, and then let your invitees know about it! 

With Cvent's custom event website pages, you can design and display information about the hotel or venue. When your invitees are taken to your mini-event website from their invitations, they can not only learn more about the event itself, but also get more information about their destination to make them more likely to attend! Branding and customizing your website to get people excited and looking forward to your event is just one more way Cvent promises higher attendance and higher ROE (Return on Events)!

Check out this mini-website as an example!

Planners can create any number of custom web pages for their event websites. Include a page that lists your staff members and contact information. Post your event agenda. Or even make it possible for guests to see other attendees' names their companies. With Cvent, you can create pages for whatever works for you and your event!

A great feature about the web pages built through Cvent is that you can determine if only certain contact types can see each of the event's custom pages. For example, perhaps you have a page about hotel information. It only makes sense to show registrants about the hotel information.



You can easily customize your show/hide page options even further, by selecting only certain contact types to see a web page, or only registrants with certain contact types. Use this tip the next time you want to limit website access to different attendee types!

Put yourself in the shoes of an event invitee. You've just heard about an event—an industry tradeshow, association seminar, user conference, etc.—that you really want to attend. You go to the event website to register, only to be met with a simple message: "This event is closed."

How frustrating! It's bad enough that the event is closed, but a message like these really closes the door completely to your potential attendees. What if someone wants to know if you'll be having a similar event next year (because they'd attend)? What if someone wants to be included in your event marketing so they'll be ahead of the game for similar events in the upcoming months? A simple "This event is closed" message doesn't give them any where to turn.

When you build an event with Cvent, it's easy to edit your "Event closed" message with more specific information. Include the planner's name and email as a contact, or provide specific instructions for those who would still like to register. You could even direct visitors to your events calendar so that they can sign up for future events. Don't close the door completely on interested guests!

Cvent’s custom web pages are a great way to provide additional information to your invitees about your event or your organization! These web pages can feature information about speakers, sponsors, or even a description and images of your event venue. You can also market future events by using these web pages to host information about your organization's activities.

If people are traveling from out of state to your event, you can create a web page that details attractions that are popular in the destination city. Aside from being a helpful addition, it can also serve as an incentive for invitees to attend. For example, maybe your invitee has always wanted to go to Chicago, and after seeing the photos and landmarks that are included on your web pages, he has even more of a reason to attend your event in the Windy City and make a whole trip out of it!

Event web pages can also be used to keep your event design simple and organized. Clearly separate information about your event into named tabbed pages. This way, your invitees can easily find the information they are looking for with just one or two clicks of the mouse. There is no limit to how you can utilize the event website pages to your advantage!

Larger organizations tend to have many users for their online registration software, and most of the time these users are located in different offices. This may cause difficulty in maintaining an organization’s standard of branding for events. Cvent offers a number of features to help address this.

Using Cvent, users can create and save event templates with their organization’s look and feel for the various types of events that they host. Once created, users can then easily clone a suitable template over and over for future event websites, invitations, etc.



Account-level email templates are also extremely helpful in these circumstances. Standard emails that may be used across multiple events can be set up at the account level for users to send to their specific targeted audiences. This will standardize the terminology and branding of an organization across its account.

Just because your email marketing is standardized doesn't mean it will be formal and cold. Through the use of data tags, these emails are also tailored to each individual that receives it, maintaining that personal feel. This is very helpful when sending out newsletters, announcements and invoices.

Administrators on accounts also have the ability to control the visibility and permissions of their users. This allows organizations to uphold the certain standard to which they are accustomed.

We've seen these features in action at large organizations. One client has even developed their own Cvent user guide with their organization's standards. They have found that using event templates and account-level email templates has helped them maintain their organization's branding and standard of communication.

Social networking links are not the only update Cvent has made available for your event summary websites. In addition to the Share-Save link and the Twitter link, a number of other options have been added for you to further customize your page.

Add to Calendar Link
Invitees can add your event to their Outlook, Google, Yahoo! or MSN Calendar. As the planner, you can specify what will be added: the event details description, invitation description, custom note, etc.

Get Weather Link
Help your attendees keep up with the forecast in your meeting destination so they can plan their attire ahead of time and be prepared. Specify a link to direct your attendees to, for example, weather.com.

Location Map Link
Let your attendees know where your venue is. Use either the default MapQuest map, or enter a custom weblink to use your own map.


Directions Link: This is a great way to help guide event attendees who are unfamiliar with the area. Use either the default MapQuest directions or enter your own weblink to take attendees to directions on another website.


These options are customizable—you can change the text displayed with them and/or change the links. And of course, you don't have to include them on your page if you don't feel it's necessary for your event. Still, it's another way to customize your event website with helpful information for your attendees.

Many of Cvent's new features make it easier for meeting and event planners to promote their events via social media. Letting your invitees share your event on their networking pages and including a link to your Twitter page are both great ways for planners to spread the word about their upcoming meeting, conference, etc.

Still, we know that no form of promotion has quite the same impact as word-of-mouth advertising. That's why Cvent has added another feature that makes it easy for your event invitees to let their friends and colleagues know about your event.

As you build your event website, you can opt to "Forward the event to others." This will place a "Send to a Colleague" link on your event website. By clicking this, event invitees can forward the invitation to others who may be interested, along with a short note.



If this option seems familiar, you may be thinking of Cvent's tell-a-friend functionality, which is another great way to allow person-to-person recommendations of your event. However, the new Forward option lets not just attendees tell their friends, but invitees as well. So even if one of your contacts has a scheduling conflict and cannot make it to your meeting, he or she can still pass it on to others who may be interested.

Note, however, that invitees must access your event website through a Cvent email. Those coming from a weblink will not be able to forward the event.

Yesterday I blogged about how Cvent's new social media features make it easy for your event invitees to share information about your meetings with all their friends and colleagues. Well, that's not all the August 2009 release is bringing to your events when it comes to social media. After all, with all my talk about promoting your events on Twitter, it just wouldn't be right to not have included something for all the Twitter users out there, right?

One of Cvent's many new features is the ability to include a link to your event's Twitter page on your event website. Similar to adding the Share-Save link, planners need only select the Twitter link option when building their website, then enter the Twitter URL. For example, to link to Cvent's Twitter page, I would enter "http://twitter.com/cvent"

The familiar Twitter logo will appear on your event summary page online:



Keep in mind that even if your event does not have it's own page on Twitter yet (what are you waiting for?), you can always link to your company page or even your own—whatever makes the most sense for your event. Either way, this convenient feature makes it easy for you to advertise your Twitter account, gain followers, and promote your event!

One of the most common questions event planners ask us is, "Now that I've sent out my email invitation, what can I do to increase my response rate?" Invitation reminders are a great answer.

Invitation reminders can be sent to all meeting invitees who have not yet responded to your event invitation. In Cvent, these guests fall under the "Undecided" category. By sending an invitation reminder to these Undecided guests, you may see response rates increase by up to 50 percent.

So, what exactly should you include in your invitation reminder?

• Custom "From" and "Subject" fields. These are the two most important components of an email. After all, invitees evaluate whether or not to even read your email invitation based on these fields. Make sure yours are attention-grabbing and relevant to your target audience.

• Event registration link. Aside from your well-written copy about your event, which you've likely already created for your initial event invitation and event website, make sure to include a link to your event registration page. Without it, how would your invitees sign up for your conference?

• Event registration URL. Along the same lines, it's important to include the full URL of your event registration. This way, if for some reason an invitee cannot click on the link to register, he or she can copy and paste this URL into a web browser and still access your conference registration site.

• A "No" button. Let your invitees know that to prevent receiving any further emails about the event, they need to click the "No" button on the invitation. For example, write, "Click here to respond to this invitation. If you do not plan to attend this event, and would not like to receive any further emails, please respond 'No' by clicking on this link." By getting a definite answer from an invitee, you'll save both your time and theirs spent on further event-related communication.

After an attendee registers for your event online, it's important to follow up with them via an event confirmation email. Especially when your event attendees have submitted a payment for your event, a confirmation email goes a long way in assuring them that their registration has been received and confirmed. Plus, when you use online event management software such as Cvent, sending confirmation emails is so easy, there's no reason to not to do it.

After creating a confirmation email in Cvent, it can be sent out to registered attendees automatically. Simple, right? The hardest part is what to include in your email. Here are a few suggestions:

• Basic event details (event name, date and time, location, etc.)

• Sessions for which the attendee is registered (when applicable)

• Event confirmation number

• Link to event website/event summary

• Planner contact information (in case attendees have questions regarding the event)

Overall, when creating your event confirmation email, remember that your attendees are likely inundated with emails around the clock. For your event alone, you'll probably be sending quite a few, from the event invitation to the post-event feedback survey. So make sure your emails are clear and concise. Provide the basics that your attendees will need (and want) to know without being lengthy.

Increase attendance at your events without spending more money. It's every meeting planner's dream, but really more of an oxymoron, right? Not necessarily.

You can roll out an expensive marketing campaign or turn to discounted event prices to encourage registration, but you don't always have to do so. Here are three great ways to reach more attendees without having to spend more money:

• Use social media. The importance of social media in event promotion is undeniable. By jumping on Twitter, blogging, creating a Facebook group and more, you can access an entire network of potential event attendees who are interesting in learning more about your organization and its conference.

Using social media you can provide real-time updates about the goings-on of your event, give people a behind-the-scenes look at how it's coming together, share testimonials and happenings from last year's event, etc. The various social media platforms allow you to illustrate the value your event can bring to attendees, all at no cost to you other than time.

Just remember: it's important to whole-heartedly enter the social media sphere—any other approach will appear contrived or spammy, which is a surefire way to actually lose interest.

• Encourage guests to tell a friend. Your meeting attendees are an easy connection to a host of qualified contacts. Encourage them to invite these friends and colleagues along to your event.

Using Cvent's Tell-a-Friend feature, meeting planners can easily allow attendees to enter the names and email addresses of those who may want to attend the event. Not only do you gain access to a whole new set of potential invitees, but you also get the benefit of word-of-mouth marketing about your event from a trusted source.

• Leverage partnerships for promotions. As you plan your event, you're likely working with a number of people outside of your organization: speakers, restaurants, entertainment, etc. Why not use these outside sources to help promote your events? Professional speakers, for example, generally have their own website or blog—ask them to post something about your event, and in turn include their bio and contact information on your event website.

You might even be able to secure discounts and promotions to offer to your attendees in return for promoting certain partners. For instance, if you are hosting a cocktail reception after your event at a local restaurant, see if you can work out a deal with the manager in which you promote his/her venue in exchange for a meal discount you can give to attendees. It's a little extra incentive for encouraging registration, and it won't cost you a thing.

Cvent Surveys blogger Sherrie, my go-to guru for all things marketing research-related, recently shared some interesting data with me regarding blogs. eMarketer has said that, as of 2009, 96.6 million people are blog readers, representing 48.5 percent of the Internet population. It predicts that by 2013, 58 percent of all U.S. Internet users will read a blog at least once per month. Stats that impressive beg the question—are you using blogs to promote your events?

Blogs need not be an overwhelming task for meeting and event planners. I know I'm a little biased—with over 500 posts and six months of blogging under my belt, the task is starting to come a lot easier.

Still, even social media newcomers can get into the blogosphere quickly and easily thanks to a number of blog tools, many of them free like Blogger and Wordpress. Best of all, you already have one of the most difficult parts of blogging, deciding on a topic to blog about, covered: the event itself is your focus.

Now you need some content ideas. Brainstorming posts is probably one of the second-toughest parts of an event blog for newcomers. That's why I've come up with four great (and easy!) post ideas for a successful event blog:

• Sessions and speakers. This is one of the most basic topics to blog about. While the agenda page on your event website may only be able to provide a title or brief sentence about a session, your event blog can offer much more detail as to the topics covered, panelists, etc. This information can be posted either before (as a preview) or after (as a recap) the session.

• Behind-the-scenes chatter. So much of what happens at an event or meeting doesn't occur at the sessions and workshops, but rather in the hallways, lounges and pre-function gathering spaces. Make sure your event staff is out among this spontaneous networking to pick up on thoughts, tips, and more, straight from the attendees' mouths.

• Extra Q&A. Often times meeting attendees are in a hurry to get from one session to the next that they do not have time to stick around for Question & Answer sessions or to ask their questions. Why not do it for them?

Have event staff transcribe the Q&A from various seminars or speaker presentations. Better yet, have them catch the panelists at the end and get some exclusive Q&A feedback for your blog.

• Receptions, team building, and other "fun" activities. Not to discount all the hard work you've put into making your session topics and speaker presentations interesting and relevant, but your entire blog can't be hard content and text. Social aspects of your event are often the most memorable. Plus, they lend themselves well to pictures, video, etc.

Make sure to take photos of your cocktail reception or shoot a video of a group outing that you can them on your blog. You don't even need much accompanying text for these posts—the visuals tell the story.

Starting an event blog can be overwhelming, but the benefits of doing so make taking the plunge worthwhile. Plus, when you use these four tips for generating blog content, you'll find that it can be easier—and more fun—to blog about your meetings and conferences than you thought!

This week Cvent is celebrating a milestone: we've surpassed 500 posts on the Meetings & Events blog! Since starting the blog in October 2008, we've kept you up to date on everything from best practices for your meetings to the tips and tricks of Cvent's software, from great event venues to hotel deals at properties across the globe. And of course, we make sure you have up-to-the-minute details on the latest news and trends in the constantly changing meetings and events industry.

Take a look at our top five posts of the past 500:

1. Ramp Up Your Event Marketing

2. Dos and Don'ts of Event Websites

3. How to Boost Responses to Your RFPs

4. 5 Ways Meetings Affect Your Organization

5. 3 Reasons Why Michael Scott Needs Cvent for The Office

What have been your favorite posts over the past few months and why? Tell us what you like, and we'll keep writing it!