There are a lot of event builders out there, but the biggest problem with most of them is that they’re not integrated and offer a solution to only one problem at a time. This is why out-of-the box event builder solutions often fall short when trying to meet the demands of larger-scale organizations.
More so, hosting multiple events in a calendar year can be challenging for any organization, especially when it comes to creating memorable experiences and offering real value for attendees. However, with the right operational solution, you can create exceptional events that are easy to manage and customize, so you can focus on providing the best content for your audience.
That's where capable, integrated event builder solutions and quality partners come in - they provide a range of benefits that can help you streamline the process, save time and resources, and deliver a better experience for attendees.
In this blog, we'll explore the key functionalities a capable event builder and the right development partnership can bring to your organization.
Full website integration
Because larger organizations have more demanding needs when it comes to event management, perhaps the most significant feature you should look for when considering event builder tools for knowledge management and content reuse is the ability to fully integrate content with your existing (or new) website. This means that users do not need to adjust to another system and can access event content directly from your website.
This integration can take many forms, from banners and session data showing up on landing pages to event data embedded into article texts. Notifications and reminders can also be integrated with your main website, providing users with a cohesive experience across the board.
At Netgen, for multiple clients such as ESMO, IRB, HROUG, Salsa Adria, we’ve already implemented event-builder systems that are fully customized and integrated with their backend systems, having noticed multiple improvements right off the bat.
Seamless User Management & Registration
Next, a key operational aspect when managing any type of event is your audience and their ability to access and register for an event. Be it a physical or a virtual one, most of your pre-event audience activities, such as registration, will likely be managed online.
This is why you need to select a solution that seamlessly integrates with your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, which your attendees and registrants will live in. If this is not properly integrated, it can lead to a disjointed user experience when using multiple systems. Capable event builder solutions integrate with your CRM seamlessly, allowing you to effectively track and manage communications with your event attendees, as well as follow up.
This type of integration makes it easy to manage attendees, track registrations, and communicate with them before, during, and after the event. You can also use CRM integration to gather valuable insights about attendees, such as their preferences, interests, and behaviors, to better tailor your future event content to their needs.
Multi-event support
Next, especially with large scale organizations hosting multiple events at the same time, you’ll have to quickly generate multiple event landing pages, form fields and back-end data, so you can have your event registrations up and running in a few hours without sacrificing extensibility.
Multi-event features allow you to create multiple events with different structures, all within the same system. You can customize each event to meet specific needs, such as different registration options or a unique event landing page design, or test out various designs.
The European Society for Medical Oncology benefited from one such Netgen solution, gaining an accessible worldwide hub for oncologists handling 500+ events per year.
Event Builder Customization & Flexibility
Indeed, one of the main reasons to consider a customized event builder is extensibility. While it does lower the go-to-market speed for the initial setup, long-term it gets your events up and running much faster.
Because each one of your virtual events is catered to a specific audience, you’ll need to adapt your landing pages, event content and registration to their preference. A setup that allows quick customization of your landing page templates might be tricker to set up at first, but once you’re able to quickly customize landing pages, registration forms and overall functionalities, it significantly lowers the time to market for all future digital events and helps you improve on the overall user experience for each specific event.
This type of integrated solution should provide a set of flexible modules that you can use to easily add and remove event-specific features and content. Think of this as Lego blocks that allow you to easily customize event landing pages to your specific needs, without additional web development. This means that any content manager in your organization can build an engaging, user-friendly event landing page in a relatively short time.
Out-of-the-box data structures for defining the event (event - track - day - session), rich multimedia options, calendar and user registration / login are a welcome sight and dramatically simplifies and streamlines a lot of your event operations, which frees up time for you to focus on event content and innovation.
Additionally, you’ll want to consider API-based integration with different backend systems (such as CRMs and CMS systems) available and script importing, that can offer support for mobile apps with content being served via API - and even well versed in custom app development - in case of larger events with multiple tracks or on-site attendee engagement potential.
Once the event builder integration is complete, your organization will waste less time on getting operational aspects of each event off the ground.
Virtual event capabilities
Online registrations and sign up are a must for most events, but even so a large number of events will likely be taking place virtually, so it’s vital that the event builder solution offers easy management for virtual sessions.
The capabilities of running and hosting virtual events was especially crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic, since a lot of organizations had little experience in running virtual events and had to adapt really quickly. Obviously, the benefits of hosting a virtual event are fairly straightforward - it’s relatively inexpensive and you can easily host a global audience.
However, a lot of your virtually hosted audience can feel disconnected as they struggle with technical difficulties, which is why you need to have features that increase attendee engagement and offer a stable, frictionless experience throughout the duration of the event. The event software/solution partner of choice should also offer dedicated onboarding and training, and tech support during your first couple of virtual sessions.
For example, a well-done Zoom integration and support can help you tackle even the most demanding online events from a technical and user experience standpoint. Moffitt Cancer Center deployed Zoom to 6,000 people in just two weeks and leverages most of the Zoom platform — Zoom Meetings & Chat, Zoom Webinars, and Zoom Room, bridging the gap between locations and creating a holistic, single-point communications experience.
Content & resource management
One of the key benefits of using event builder tools for knowledge sharing is the ability to create, store and reuse valuable meeting resources. These can include video and audio materials, PowerPoint presentations, PDF documents, and other content types to be shared with your audience.
With event builder tools, you should be able to store these resources in a centralized location and make them easily available for future use. This can be a valuable asset for your business or organization, as it saves time and resources by avoiding the need to create new content from scratch and can be easily shared with attendees prior and after events.
Another benefit of using event builder tools for knowledge management and content reusability is the ability to make your content searchable and filterable. By using the right event builder tools, you can easily tag and categorize your resources, making it easier for all types of users to find what they are looking for. You can also integrate your event content with your main website search, providing users with an easy way to access it.
There you have it. These are most of the things you need to keep an eye on when selecting your event builder solution and partner.
At Netgen, we are happy to help you launch a solution that gets your events up and running in no time. Learn more about how we help organizations with their digital transformation, from customized event builders to digital knowledge management.
Get in touch with us here, we’ll be glad to see what we can build together!