Skift Take
Finding event technology that matches your unique needs can be like finding a needle in a haystack. Fortunately, there are ways to shortcut this process.
Staying up-to-date with event technology is not easy. Tracking down the ideal tool for any given meeting or event is challenging for many planners. Getting a full understanding of what any single platform can do is no easy task. Comparing multiple platforms gets more and more complex.
The whole event technology landscape has changed. At the start of the Covid pandemic, most platforms pivoted to become virtual event platforms. To do this, development in other areas was put on hold. With the focus now firmly on in-person events, event technology needs are evolving again. While they may be similar to before the pivot to virtual, the technology has evolved, and so have users’ expectations.
Mergers and acquisitions are also playing a role in narrowing the field. Many companies now offer an all-in-one approach and propose their platform as cornerstone event technology. Fortunately, some take different approaches that are also worth considering.
In this episode of the Skift Meetings Podcast, we talk about the latest Skift Meetings report, the 2023 edition of Event Technology Made Simple. Explore the whys, whats, and hows of this complete report.
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Event Technology Made Simple
Event Technology Made Simple is a new report designed to provide business event professionals with a clear and concise summary of what event technology platforms have to offer today.
The event technology sector has evolved to match current planner needs for in-person, hybrid, and virtual events. In light of this, we strategically merged two of our most popular reports, the Virtual Event Tech Guide and the Mobile Event App Guide, into one complete report.
This report showcases almost 70 different companies and products, each with unique characteristics. It compares and contrasts 61 of the leading event technology platforms that provide event management features. It combines months of work from our team behind the scenes, collecting, analyzing, and curating data from leading event technology platforms and presenting it in a format that is easy to digest and quick to reference.
How to Make the Most of the Report
We’ve focused on finding the best way to categorize event technology tools and compare the features that make a difference, so you can easily identify which technologies may best suit your needs.
Understanding the features that you need is a great starting point. There are general categories, such as registration or mobile app, that can quickly narrow down platforms that suit your needs. You can also drill down further in the comparison tables that list features under categories.
You should also consider exploring deal-breaker features. These include things like how platforms manage data if they offer a white-labeling option, and if 24h support is available. These details are worth considering early in the selection process to ensure you don’t have a surprise later in the process.
The next step is to explore company listings, where you will find information on where the company is headquartered, how long they have been in business, how many people they employ, its top client sector, the number of clients, and much more.
From here, it’s up to you. This report has plenty more information to help you understand today’s many different types of event technology. We’re confident that this guide provides a valuable resource for any event professional looking to use event technology platforms in 2023.
Thank you to our sponsors: Cvent and Onyx CenterSource, without whom this report would not be possible.
Photo credit: refargotohp / Unsplash
