Mobile app Eventee is undoubtedly a huge asset for events of all kinds. Our clients appreciate the fact that their event is becoming an interactive entertainment thanks to Eventee. As event organizers, they can take the benefits of plenty of great features to be interconnected with the participants and thereby to intensify their experience of the whole event. Since there are many ways to handle these features, here is inspiration on how the app is used by our long-time client: the GrowJOB Institute.
We interviewed Aneta Martinek, Marketing and Event Manager of the GrowJOB Institute, and bring some tips on how to use Eventee to the maximum. Get inspiration and begin well!
Hello Aneta. Could you introduce yourself briefly, please?
Hello Nikola, sure. I work for the GrowJOB Institute where I am in charge of marketing and events. We organize about 6 to 7 events per year.
What kind of events are you in charge of?
Before the end of 2018, I was mainly in charge of conferences, but starting from 2019, I have taken over lectures, workshops, and academies all over the Czech Republic.
How big are these events?
I have just processed the report for 2018, so here are the latest figures. In 2018, there was a total of 3700 participants.
Who is your target group?
It is very difficult to specify the target group of our conferences according to any tables. Some of our conferences are rather personally developing, others are more about business, focused on leadership, and we are usually doing them for the widest public. This means that we try to make them primarily simple and comprehensible, so that every participant can take something of it. The only thing I can say about our target audience is that it is a group of people who are interested in the topics that are contained in our conferences – from personal development through leadership to women’s self-confidence.
What is the concept of your events?
We always have one-day events. Our favorite format is a conference from 5 PM to 10 PM because it is usually attended by people who have a personal interest in the conference and are not get paid by their employer just to extend their work-related training.
How long have you been using Eventee for your conferences?
We use Eventee for almost every conference, at least five events a year. The first time we used Eventee was at a conference focused on personal growth in 2015 – so this is our fourth year of using Eventee.
Do you use mobile applications with a specific design?
We had specific designs for events before, but since our conferences are often attended by the same people, they had to use four different applications. That's why we have switched to publishing conferences directly in Eventee – it's so much easier.
Can you tell us which application features you use?
First, we plan the contents in the app. Here we appreciate the feedback we get thanks to Eventee. Previously, we tested lots of options – paper questionnaires, emails, google forms, but none of them was as effective as Eventee. Using the app, at least half of the attendees always provide feedback to individual speakers. We also use Newsfeed as a communication tool with the participants. Moreover, we use hashtags – each of our conferences has its hashtag that is reflected in the app. We encourage attendees to share hashtagged photos from conferences thereby promoting the conference. This year we also plan to run Networking for the first time.
Can you tell why you use Eventee, and not another application?
Eventee is a beautiful, simple and intuitive app. It meets our needs perfectly from the very beginning, and we have never thought of changing to another app. I recommend it wherever possible, it's a great simple application that helps us and can be used for anything.
Has it helped you somehow to be interconnected with the attendees?
Absolutely! Thanks to Newsfeed, we are always in contact with the attendees. Attendees receive a notification after each part, to select thumbs up or down depending on how they liked it. We inform them that the coffee break will soon be over and to return to the lecture hall. Likewise, we remind them to join the competition. Participants always receive notifications, so they do not miss any of our messages. Thanks to their immediate response, we can also solve any problems or shortcomings during the conference.
When you compare your conferences without Eventee and with it. What made the app easier for you?
The application made our work easier in many ways, but I will focus on the feedback, as already mentioned. People really give us the thumbs up and down, they comment on the speakers, evaluate them, and we have an immediate response. The growth in the amount of feedback cannot even be quantified; we used to get just a few responses, but now we are getting dozens.
Could you try to quantify it at least approximately?
Before we had the app, we had sent email questionnaires after the conference and they had been filled in by up to an average of 10 people. So some ten people gave us feedback on the entire conference. Now, thanks to Eventee, we have feedback from at least 70 participants on each speaker. The difference is really remarkable.
How many people really use Eventee?
An estimated 50 % of people download it. This differs a lot depending on the place we host the conference in. For example, we have reached 70 % in Prague, while just about an average of 30 % of people in Brno (the 2nd largest city in the Czech Republic, note author).
Do you inform participants about Eventee before the conference?
Definitely, we normally publish information about the app on the website, send Google Play and App Store download links to their emails, and also post the information on the event's Facebook page. We communicate that by highlighting that we are paperless and that all necessary information will be in the application, so attendees should not forget to download it.
Are you motivating participants in some way to use the app?
Sure. We always have a competition with interesting prizes for people who join, evaluate, and comment on the speakers. At the beginning of the conference, the presenter explains the competition, and later during the conference we have a presentation with a QR code to download it so it is really easy for the interested participants. Some people really comment on all parts, share photos with hashtags, and put effort into it. We have e.g. books or other prizes for these ones. At a November conference, for example, we selected the most original and humorous comment that won a special prize: a Beauty Day for CZK 10 000.
How long does preparing a conference in the application take?
Some 3 weeks before the conference, I start preparing the agenda and BIO about speakers in the app. I gradually add all the information I want to communicate to the participants so that I have everything ready at the latest one week before the beginning of the conference. So I plan everything except the Newsfeed, I use the Newsfeed intuitively on the very day of the conference. I am sitting in the auditorium with the attendees and communicate with them as it comes to my mind at that moment and how I need it.
Do you edit something in the app during the conference as well?
I don’t think so. When a substitute speaker arrived at the last minute, for example, I wrote it to the participants through the Newsfeed and they received their notifications. I did not use the opportunity to edit the program during the conference.
What is the feedback to Eventee from the participants?
We've worked with Eventee since its very beginning, so some participants were sometimes not able to login or install the application. But these were technical issues which the guys from Eventee always handled over the phone, the support from them was really huge. However, these technical mistakes disappeared over time, people got used to the application, and there has been no problem at all for the past year. Just the opposite. Participants are happy with the intuitive controls and features in the app. They like that we are paperless and zero-waste conferences, they also appreciate the opportunity to give instant feedback to express their impression right after the lecture as they feel it. They do not need to look for ways to express feedback in a different way, such as posting opinions publicly on the event facebook section, etc.
Could you finally offer 3 tips to people who are going to have Eventee at their conference for the first time?
Absolutely! First, inform people sufficiently that they should use the app. Use the web, email, and social networks, and then do not forget to remind them during the conference, 10-15 minute intervals are still fine. The more people know about the app, the more likely they will use it.
Second, involve the participants in the application, preferably using competitions. Then they will be more motivated to collaborate.
Third, use the Newsfeed and communicate everything you need. Respond to lectures, to current needs – where to be, what is happening, etc. Communicate about partners, speakers, lunch breaks. Take advantage of this opportunity to get in touch with the attendees fully. :)
Thanks for your interview. Have a nice day!
Thank you too, Nikola. It was my pleasure!
