If you’re thinking about implementing a separate event management software tool, you might be asking questions like these: Are you happy with how your association management system (AMS) handles event registration? Would you like to stop hiring an event registration company each year for your annual meeting and handle it in-house? Do you want to know what your registration data could tell you if you could only access it?
You’re not alone, and these questions can keep you awake at night, but they are not the first questions you should ask. If you’re thinking about improving the attendee experience at your next event, you’ll want to start with two fundamental questions.
Question #1 – Does my staff have the skills and resources necessary to manage an integration between my AMS and my event management system?
Question #2 – Is member satisfaction with our online services, such as event registration, trending upwards?
You need to pose these questions before you ask any others because buying an event management software package is not mandatory. Your AMS can likely manage event registrations in a mostly satisfactory way.
But if you have complex group registration requirements, intricate rate cards, or complicated discounts, you might require specialized event registration tools. Likewise, if you want a great microsite, abstract or exhibitor management, a unique calendar display, or a specific format for sessions and speaker bios, your AMS alone may not be able to handle these requirements. That’s when many association teams begin wondering about the possibility of buying a separate event management system or platform.
When the AMS can’t deliver on expectations, associations often buy a separate event management system to handle specific functions – and then hope that they can get the data into their existing AMS.
What Do We Mean by ‘Manage an Integration’?
We mean the ease with which your team can get two or more separate systems to integrate and share information. Not every association is ready to work with developers to build an integration, maintain the flow of information from one system to another, and to make sure the transfers are accurate. Other teams, however, have enough staff members and expertise to handle complicated automations and integrations from enterprise systems. You must determine the level of complexity your team can handle, and we recommend you determine your comfort level long before you start searching for a new system.
The Technology & Member Satisfaction Balance
If you know that your members are getting what they want from your current registration system and your team is comfortable with their workload, you might not need to change anything. But if your members want more functionality or your technology is limiting your staff’s productivity, you should balance your need for greater member satisfaction with managing the technology it requires.
We’ve seen associations that implemented two-way, full financial integrations for registration software packages and regretted their decision. It sounds like an ideal solution, but it’s expensive and rarely does the integration work without creating unforeseen problems. For example, reconciling registration revenue to an existing financial package can be daunting, especially when you consider where the data is stored initially, where it needs to end up, and all the ways registrations can change after a transaction is recorded.
But if you don’t integrate the financials, your staff may need to access two systems to view membership and event engagement. To build a successful integration your staff needs to understand the pros and cons of different levels of data sharing and work with vendors to accurately build the automation they expect.
At the very least, you want to offer single sign-on for members; but what data does each system need to know about your constituents to work properly? Do you require their member status or committee participation? Where else do your attendees and members need easy access, and how can your technology reduce the friction? Is your staff able to manage the integrations needed to create a seamless experience?
Is Your Attendee Satisfaction Trending Upward?
Few things are more frustrating than trying to spend money with an association and not being able to. When a member or a potential attendee can’t register, it’s a problem for them and for you. When they go online to register themselves or someone else, to see who else is registered, scan the sessions, or read a speaker bio, they want easy, immediate access.
If you have a subpar registration system, it’s the user who suffers. Make them suffer long enough, and they may choose to disregard your event altogether.
You probably track online satisfaction closely; but if you don’t know how you’re doing, ask! Use all the techniques at your disposal – surveys, focus groups, social media quizzes, member service calls, test groups – to find out. If your members are struggling to transact business, you need to know.
Keep an Eye on Staff Frustration
You’ll also want to measure the mood of the staff during the weeks of open registration. Large meetings are complicated beasts, so some staff frustration is expected. Keep an eye, however, on unnecessary irritation, especially if it increases due to technology issues or manual workarounds. It can be a sign that your technology needs attention.
Solicit staff opinions about how much manual work vs. technology management they want to handle. Discuss your event requirements, such as session access, lead retrieval or exhibitor management in addition to the basics of registration. Determine what functions you need and which ones would be nice to have. Prioritize your list of requirements before you start shopping.
Words of Advice Before You Select Your New Event Management System
Installing a new system, even the best one for your association, is a major undertaking. For the project to be successful, you should be confident that you’ve made a good choice and that the new system will serve your members and staff well. You will also need to understand how you’ll share data between your systems so that your operations and members aren’t impacted.
That’s really our point. You must decide what’s more important – making things easy and using a simple system or having a great user experience and dealing with the complexity of an integration.
We Can Help
Fortunately, at Dennison & Associates, we can help you determine what you need and help you choose and integrate new technology.
We’d love to discuss your situation and lend a hand with advice or an assessment. Feel free to contact us to request a conversation or consultation.
