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Event Technology

Dear event organizers, here is what event sponsors and exhibitors expect from you

Mar 06, 2024 / 5 min read
By: Adis Jugo, President at run.events
Dear event organizers, here is what event sponsors and exhibitors expect from you. run.events can help you deliver on it.
Dear event organizers,

Let's talk frankly: we sponsors and exhibitors come to your events to expand our leads database and our partner network, and to increase brand awareness around our companies. Our motives are purely business, and it is good that way: the whole sponsors and exhibitors ecosystem is one of the pillars which is holding your event and the whole events industry together.

As an event organizer, you can do a lot to help us. Even if this might sound like something that goes without saying to you, it is sadly not the case with many events that I attend, either as an attendee or as an exhibitor. As always, it is all about experience, and that experience is something that will decide if we are going to feel respected (or not!) and if we are going to feel welcome (or not!). And if we are returning the next year.
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Organizers of smaller events, or those just starting out, often face the challenge of affording professional tools. These tools are key to offering a first-class event experience. As a result, they might opt for a combination of tools to support different aspects of event management, hoping that cheaper or even free tools will provide an easy and inexpensive way to start their event. Top tip: they won't.

Ten Reasons Why Even Small Events Need a Professional Event Management Platform
Why am I writing such an open and direct blog post?

Last week, run.events visited an industry event in London. We were exhibiting there, but I was also a speaker. Since it is one of the major industry events in Europe, everyone of interest to us was there, and we have achieved our goals, but honestly, our experience (and our perceived valuation) as a sponsor was terrible.
Let's start with the fact that we had six different logins to different systems that the event was using. It took me almost two hours to log into everything and to configure most of it (I didn't even manage to configure everything). Event registration was one system, the mobile app was an entirely different thing, a third system was used to submit my session proposal, a fourth system to upload my slides, and my colleague Elena was using two additional systems to finish our booth configuration, update exhibitor tasks, and to order booth services.

I am sorry, but this is not how you make your sponsors and speakers feel valued. If this event had proper competition, we would probably never choose to come back again.

And yet, it could all be so easy, given you use the right event tech. Yes, like run.events.

Dear event organizers, this is my list of requirements for you. It is 2024, and all of this is already easily possible.
 
In an imaginary world, as soon as I sign the exhibitors' contract for your event, I would:
 
  1. Get an invitation for the sponsorship dashboard. There, I would see all the important info at a glance: the data that will be displayed on the sponsor page, my sponsorship team, and the tasks I need to fulfill together with their deadlines.

  2. I would also like to see the event status: how many attendees have already registered, what are their demographics, profiles, companies, job roles, do we know some of them from previous events?

  3. I can upload my logo, change my company's description for the event page, upload brochures or other relevant documents, select my social media, and other communication channels.

  4. I can select my team, invite my colleagues, assign them event tickets, and roles within the team. For example, not everyone will have access to lead retrieval and lead management, as well as not everyone will be assigned to each task that we get from the organizer. I would like my team members to be listed on our sponsor's web page and mobile app page so that attendees can easily recognize them and get in touch with them if they are interested in our products and/or services.

  5. If the event is running some kind of gamification on their side, I'd like to maintain our participation in that gamification - I'd like to list our giveaways, prizes, etc. Also, I'd like to use my sponsor dashboard to organize side-events which will either take place at our booth (e.g., social gatherings), or at some nearby location (e.g., VIP dinner).

  6. I want to be able to configure my booth: to purchase all the furniture and services which I need, and to upload all the designs needed by the booth builder (if I use the event's booth builder and not my own booth builder). Ideally, it should all be in 3D, just like IKEA's kitchen design studio.

  7. If we have got sponsor sessions, I would like to be able to see and maintain those sessions from my sponsor dashboard, as well as to upload any eventual session assets, such as PowerPoint presentations, PDFs, or anything like that. Also, I would like our sessions to be listed on our sponsors' web page and mobile app page, with the possibility for attendees to easily subscribe to those sessions, since this is an important lead generation tool for us.

  8. Last but definitely not the least - I would like to be able to pre-configure my lead retrieval in a way that I set up labels and shortcuts, which will help me to quickly qualify the leads that I collect during the event.
Confex 2024

It often happens that event organizers ask us, "What is your niche?" when trying to understand what run.events is and the benefits it can bring to them. The answer may seem strange at first glance, but it is the true one: our niche is completeness. We come from the event industry ourselves. We have organized dozens of events, faced all the problems, and experienced all the pains. Today, our mission is solving them.

Five reasons why is run.events the right choice of platform for your next event
During the event, for me as a sponsor or exhibitor, everything is about communication and lead retrieval.

  1. I want to be able to retrieve leads quickly, and that should be part of the official event mobile app. I don't want a separate app, since I want all my crucial information to be in one place, and I don't have time to switch. Oh, and all team members should see leads retrieved by other team members. 

  2. I want to be immediately able to chat or otherwise communicate with my retrieved leads. Sometimes, waiting for after the event to contact them might be too late.
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Dear event organizers, don't forget: post the event is before the event.

  1. I want to be able to download my leads, together with all the qualifications of notes, or otherwise integrate it with my CRM.

  2. I want to be able to preselect my booth position for the next edition of your event if it has already been planned. Again, ideally in a 3D version of the expo where I can easily decide what's the best booth position for me.
Dear event organizers, if you care about us, and if you would like to provide us with all of this, but you don't know how: talk to us. run.events can help. And we can show you how.
 
Recap

Dear event organizers, when we sponsor your events, when we exhibit at them, we invest in your events with clear business objectives in mind: to grow our leads, to network effectively, and to strengthen our brand presence. That means that we don't want to focus on your numerous event tech tools, we want to make the best use of our investment at your event. 

Please consider our perspective and needs, since they are important for your event. Modren event platforms, such as run.events, can help you offer first-class experience to your sponsors and exhibitors. By doing so, you will not only meet our expectations but also foster an environment of growth, innovation, and partnership, which will also make us return the next year.