In a recent interview with host of the Planner's Podcast, co-host James Eager of Metropolis Live, interviewed Rachel Ruggieri, Bizzabo’s Customer Success Director. The in-depth interview highlights important event industry trends, the value of event technology, and Bizzabo’s all-in-one success platform.
James and Rachel discussed how event technology is rapidly disrupting the industry by increasing revenue and saving time for event organizers.
Rachel provides a comprehensive overview of why and how event technology is playing a critical part in the evolution of the event planning industry. In this post, you’ll find a thematic breakdown of the most important discussion points in the podcast, while also learning how one former professional event planner was able to break into the tech space.
Event Organizing Stress
“They have to feel, understand and always have multiple backup plans”
Before discussing how Bizzabo helps event organizers save time and money, Rachel talks about her work on the ground as a corporate event planner before joining Bizzabo.
She mentions that event planning is listed as one of the top 10 most stressful jobs. Event organizers can attest to this statistic. Managing speakers, sponsors, attendees and handling all the nitty gritty responsibilities needed to make an event successful can often make planning for events an overwhelming and stressful endeavor.
Why Event Technology?
"Make sure that you're prepared for all things at all times"
Rachel points out how the reality of the event organizer’s stress gives event management software its momentum. She then ties in Bizzabo’s place within this new industry trend, a platform that “works with organizers to simplify a lot of the stresses that organizers deal with everyday.” This simplification lies in streamlining the event planning process into one platform, so that the event planner will be prepared for anything with minimum worry.
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Bizzabo’s Big Four
After discussing the stresses of the industry and the importance of event technology, Rachel delves further into the features that drive the success of event technology. They discuss the four major aspects of Bizzabo’s platform: Event Management, Event Marketing, Event Experience, and Event Success.
Event Management
“What we’re doing is offering a way to bring everything together in one place”
Managing all the features of your event can be overwhelming. You have to worry about handling event registration, targeting your key audience, and figuring out how to engage them. Rachel highlights how event planning software brings together all of these features, from CRM to an event website, in order to make managing your event both more efficient and more enjoyable for the organizer.
Event Marketing
“Put your event in front of your contacts”
Organizers must have a thoughtful event marketing campaign in order to create buzz around your event. Rachel discusses how Bizzabo’s event marketing tool allows you, the organizer, to pick and choose what you want to share with your attendees and to segment your audience accordingly. For example, Bizzabo has a built in emailing system with various templates tailored to different segments of your event community, with built-in and clear call-to-actions. Event marketing is all about communication, so event technology should have a system that keeps attendees engaged with your event through promotions, updates about future events, etc.
Event Experience
“We’ve built our interface for everyone”
James brings up that techno-phobes may have some difficulty making the transition to event technology. Rachel points out how this is a real issue, and many event organizers may fear purchasing a software they do not understand or have difficulty using.
This shows the importance of having an event technology that is both intuitive and user-friendly. Many organizers may have a hard time changing the way they already do things. Rachel also points out that most event organizers don’t know how to code and don’t know how to create an app. Once organizers realize the efficiency that comes with event technology, they’ll be willing to make the switch.
“What we’re doing is building real connections”
Rachel and James also discussed how the networking capabilities of event technology are a lot like Internet dating. Through building interest-based connections, event technology's networking features create connections between attendees with shared professional values.
Event Success
"Understand the numbers surrounding your event"
Technology trends indicate that the event industry is becoming more and more data-driven. Event technology should encompass this trend, using data about your event to drive its success.
Features like Ticket Boost organize and give you the data you need to drive ticket sales and make your event a success. Rachel also says that a key to event success is a supportive customer success team.
Even though Bizzabo's event management platform is intuitive, you will always be in good hands in case you come across any difficulties.
Understanding these four major aspects that drive Bizzabo’s platform really shows how event technology is changing the events industry and changing the event experience for organizers and attendees alike.
Bizza-Culture
“There’s a company culture here that I think a lot of our customers feel”
Rachel talks about how Bizzabo’s family-like culture has a great effect on the way we work with our customers. Even the other way around, Rachel is entirely focused on serving customers’ needs, and this reflects onto Bizzabo’s culture.
Rachel tops off the interview with her future aspirations at Bizzabo and in the events industry, saying that what motivates her everyday is the ability to work directly with customers.
Conclusion
If you're interested in working with an award winning event management platform, and a company that's committed to ensure that each customer achieves event success, click the button below to learn more!
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