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  • An Event Tech Team’s Guide to Replatforming

    An Event Tech Team’s Guide to Replatforming

    In today’s environment, you need a flexible platform to power event success and often that entails ditching antiquated technology for a more modern, SaaS-based end-to-end event solution. Replatforming is arguably one of the most difficult endeavors you can tackle, especially in the midst of a busy events season, but in working with the most innovative brands who have made the switch, here are some best practices and tips to make it less daunting.

    Before we jump into it, let’s level set on a few of the basics:

    What Is Event Replatforming?

    Event replatforming is the process of migrating off an existing event platform to take advantage of modern technologies, environments, and architectures.

    Why You Might Consider Replatforming?

    There are a few reasons to consider replatforming:

    • Going Hybrid: Over the past year, organizations rushed to bolt on virtual-only solutions to their existing event platforms, which has left them managing multiple vendors and disparate systems. As organizations plan for hybrid, they will need a flexible all-in-one platform that handles virtual, physical, and hybrid experiences seamlessly in order to streamline operations and ensure the best experience for their audiences.
    • Being Migrated to a New Product: Other organizations may be forced to switch products within their legacy provider, essentially forcing them to replatform, which creates massive headaches and limited upside.

    Why Is Replatforming Difficult?

    The primary concern of teams who switch platforms is ensuring that all of the right integrations are set up and functioning as they should. Many teams avoid switching platforms out of fear that doing so will disrupt their user experience as well as the sunk cost of integrations or customizations that they think are too expensive to recreate in another platform. As with any new tool, adopting a new platform may require a bit of a learning curve. It is likely your team will have to undergo training to completely understand how to use the new platform’s capabilities.

    Another challenge of switching platforms is transferring data. Downloading and uploading attendee info can be monotonous and time-consuming. That being said, transferring your data to a new platform may also open up new opportunities for improved cross-event data analysis, increased visibility for stakeholders, and the ability to create consistent attendee experiences.

    One might ask, “if replatforming is so difficult, why do so many organizations do it?” There are many reasons why organizations choose to change platforms. The following are reasons why companies have decided to make the switch to RainFocus:

    What Are the Benefits of Replatforming?

    1. Improved scalability. RainFocus clients are able to deliver their large complex event portfolios without error.
    2. An enhanced user experience. Teams looking to ditch complex processes take comfort in RainFocus’ simplified and streamlined event management.
    3. Top-notch security. Events enable teams to gather and process large amounts of data, RainFocus ensures that data remains safe as it is shared with stakeholders through secure integrations.
    4. Increased profitability. RainFocus empowers events and marketing teams to realize event value with instant access to event-qualified prospect data, insight dashboards, and more.
    5. All-in-one event management. With RainFocus, event teams have the flexibility to seamlessly manage multiple events, whether virtual, physical, or hybrid, with one centralized end-to-end platform.
    6. Ease of data clean up and import. RainFocus makes it easy to import all of your previous data (drag-and-drop field mapping, acceptance of common event file types, unlimited storage, and more) into the platform.
    7. Expanded configuration and integration options. Modern platforms like RainFocus are designed to accommodate with ease all of the costly customizations clients may have spent in the past through our flexible configuration. Our rules engine and workflow builder make recreating and improving these customizations a breeze. Integrations can be just as simple and cost-effective with our large library of standard integrations and robust APIs.
    8. Better support. Your current tech stack may be outdated and too much time wasted just to try and keep it afloat. Moving to a more modern codebase can mean fewer bug fixes or time spent talking to customer support.
    9. Expand on best practices. Replatforming is a great time to take what you have loved or/are familiar with on your old platform and build upon it. It’s time to rethink what is valuable, what you would do differently, and what you need for future growth, which can help drive massive efficiencies and set your team and events up for greater success.
    10. Industry-leading innovation. Working with the largest and most innovative brands with the most complex event needs, RainFocus’ roadmap is driven by customer feedback to fuel continued improvement for deploying immersive and integrated virtual, hybrid, and on-demand experiences with ease.

    Is It Worth It? Our Recommendations for Replatforming

    Despite the effort it takes to transfer data, set up integrations, and familiarize yourself with a new platform, replatforming can be extremely beneficial. The following are our recommendations for replatforming:

    1. Consider the size and complexity of your events portfolio. As you begin your replatforming journey, look for a platform that will scale to meet high demand and enable you to pivot easily between virtual, physical, and hybrid events and support your large down to your small recurring meetings.
    2. Determine how you will share data across your entire tech stack. Evaluate whether or not the platform you are considering can integrate with the tools you need before switching.
    3. Look for a platform that is backed by world-class customer support. Seek a partner who will conduct load testing, meet often, and provide resources without charging you hidden fees.

    How RainFocus Helps

    Demonstrating return on investment is critical to quantify the benefits of switching, but success may look different for each organization. For some, the focus is cost reduction and time savings, while for others it’s increased revenue. While these may look different for each customer, the results are clear. With RainFocus, customers save time, increase engagement, and maximize event value at every touchpoint.

    RainFocus is equipped to adapt, flex, and make your job easier as your audiences expect more. As one integrated events platform, it brings companies and customers together with the right experience aligned to your goals and gives stakeholders a single, shared view of event success. In addition to the cost savings and results, our customers also save considerable costs by eliminating redundant expenses and hidden service fees—inclusive of integrations, reporting tools, troubleshooting, security breaches, testing, and more.

    Explore how switching to RainFocus might ultimately save you time and money by requesting a demo.

  • Planning for Hybrid Events: Takeaways from RainFocus’ Product Working Group

    Planning for Hybrid Events: Takeaways from RainFocus’ Product Working Group

    Yesterday we were thrilled to host a product working group discussion with event professionals from leading enterprise organizations. In the meeting, we discussed our strategy for hybrid events, including how the RainFocus Platform enables a safe return to physical events, how to optimize the attendee experience both online and in person, exhibitor activation, measurement, and more.

    RainFocus’ Product Offering for Safe Return to Physical Venues

    At the beginning of the product working group meeting, our product marketing team gave an extensive overview of RainFocus’ hybrid product offering. The following is a brief summary of the products presented:

    Segmented Registration: The RainFocus Platform ensures attendees get the right experience from the very beginning, whether they are attending in-person or online. Registration includes SSO to enable maximum security.

    Touchless and Socially-Distanced Check-In: Using a mobile app, attendees can use a QR code to check-in with their own mobile device. Admins can also check attendees in remotely as desired.

    Session Planning: With RainFocus’ Content Module, event teams can easily manage room capacity and traffic allowed in sessions.

    Cleaning Schedule: Likewise, teams can plan, track, and audit cleaning schedules to ensure that cleaning personnel has the right amount of time to clean for maximum safety.

    Bring Your Own Device (BYOD): Exhibitors can bring their own device to scan leads with. Device agreements can be managed online in the Exhibitor Portal.

    A Blended Approach to the Hybrid Attendee Experience

    To gain insight into the current planning landscape working group members were presented with three different approaches to hybrid events: uniform, targeted and blended.

    Uniform: All attendees (virtual and physical) are given access to the same content at the same time.

    Targeted: Access to content is granted based on the attendee being either virtual or physical

    Blended: A combination approach to event access based on factors such as physical vs. virtual, etc.

    75% of working group members envisioned their event taking a blended approach. The general consensus is that virtual will forever be a subset of physical events. As such, event teams are beginning to consider how they can leverage insights from either their physical events or their virtual events to better the accompanying experience. For example, you might consider which of your physical sessions are most popular and then convert those into virtual sessions.

    Creating Attendee Value at Hybrid Events

    Working group members agreed that both the virtual and physical aspects of events should bear equal value to the attendees. The group discussed how attendees could possibly change their method of attendance at any given time with a hybrid structure. Group participants agreed the ideal hybrid experience would be one that enables all attendees to access the same content at the same time and connect with each other regardless of where they are attending.

    A shared concern about the hybrid experience was how event teams could create the same value for virtual attendees as those who are attending in-person. The group discussed the unmatched networking value of meeting someone in the hall or sitting next to someone in a session. One possible solution that was brought to the table was mobile engagement. One participant explained, “the mobile app is less about solving a problem and more about creating an opportunity.” Mobile apps provide virtual attendees with a second screen to interact with others while sessions are in progress. Likewise, mobile apps give physical attendees a way to engage with virtual content.

    Pricing for Hybrid Events

    Because event teams are investing the time and energy to ensure both virtual and physical experiences are highly valuable, they assert that the virtual experience of a hybrid event should not be free. Event teams who were quick to switch to free events with the emergence of COVID-19 have since switched to one virtual pricing model or another.

    Enabling Exhibitors Through Hybrid Delivery

    While discussing exhibitor engagement in hybrid events, some working group members suggested that exhibitors would rather return to full-physical booths rather than remain virtual. Many exhibitors have expressed that virtual booth interaction can feel awkward. RainFocus’ Product team countered these concerns by presenting a better way to handle hybrid exhibitors by releasing virtual booths early to drive pre, during, and post-event engagement with both physical and virtual interaction.

    Measuring and Reporting on Hybrid Event Data

    The meeting concluded with a conversation about measurement and reporting needs for hybrid events. The general consensus was that event teams would need unique data for their virtual and physical audiences. Working group members stressed the importance of having consistent data security and tracking measures in-person and online to provide a clear picture of each attendees’ journey.

    To learn more about RainFocus’ Hybrid delivery, click here or request a demo.

  • From One Marketer to Another: Best Practices for Attendee Data Capture & Reporting

    From One Marketer to Another: Best Practices for Attendee Data Capture & Reporting

    For the majority of my career, I’ve led demand and campaign strategy focused on attracting and engaging qualified buying groups across a series of integrated programs and tactics. One of the most influential tactics in our program mix and customer lifecycle always circled back to events. Events by far are the most impactful in acquiring and further engaging net new, building better relationships with existing customers, and even facilitating cross-sell/upsell opportunities. These are in addition to brand awareness and thought leadership benefits.

    Now coming up on a year working for RainFocus, I have had the unique opportunity to learn and observe how leading customers and innovators partner with our product and services team to elevate their event strategy and unify these efforts with marketing. With the digital transformation of events, I’m excited for the future of events and incorporating this into the overall marketing mix.

    In this first post of a series, I’m excited to share some tips and best practices (down in the weeds style) for attendee data capture and reporting based on our configuration for our annual conference, RainFocus INSIGHT, which took place in January.

    Maximize Use of Event Attendee Data Within Your Tech Stack

    With our Salesforce integration, rich behavioral data is captured in the RainFocus Platform and seamlessly passed and recorded in Salesforce to maximize event impact and power sales and marketing success. This integration provided the team with the ability to capture and utilize registrant/attendee engagement and behavioral data to accelerate campaign, qualification, and sales conversions.

    As defined in our integration setup, powerful rules matched a registrant based on their email address in Salesforce. If a match was found, the integration triggered the association of the contact or lead record with the respective campaign and assigned the defined member status (e.g., Registered). If a match was not found, a contact was created and associated to the account (based on a related lookup for email domain on the account record) or created as a lead, depending on the defined rules. That contact or lead record was then associated with the respective campaign. Like many organizations supporting modern buying motions today, we follow an account-based engagement model so associating registrants with their respective accounts was key for sales and marketing visibility and conversions.

    All registration data is pushed in real-time so internal stakeholders always had up-to-date information and performance data via Salesforce Reports (in addition to RainFocus Dashboards). This empowered our Sales team to increase registrations and drive more qualified contacts to register for the event — all while working in their familiar, core system. With the data in Salesforce, our Sales team was able to easily see who had registered from their accounts and identify those who had not yet registered for personalized outreach and follow-up. This also enabled effortless roll-ups of account owner-level data to power a healthy competition that motivated our Sales team to acquire delegates. In addition, account-level roll-ups provided actionable insights into client account representation, new logo prospects, and intra-pipeline acceleration opportunities.

    With real-time integrations seamlessly passing attendee data on session attendance and engagement into Salesforce via the Campaign Members object, we also created child campaigns and nested them under the parent event. This enabled us to pass rich, behavioral data over, including status, engagement duration, as well as other key details. The team was able to easily aggregate data and filter by session, account owner, or account. This deep level of integration enabled us to provide visibility and actionable insights to power more timely, personalized, and effective sales and marketing outreach for accelerated attendee conversions. In addition, our sales and marketing teams have been able to combine this behavioral data with existing data sets to fuel planning for more personalized and integrated attendee journeys.

    Ultimately, our team was able to quantify and demonstrate event impact and ROI. In addition to the robust ROI analytics and dashboards provided within the RainFocus Platform, the team ran cross-object reports within Salesforce — to track and monitor the pipeline opportunities and closed deals attributed to the event.

    Want to learn more? Tune into the following sessions to learn how you can get the most out of your event data:

    Reaching Integration Nirvana

    What’s Working: Analytics and UTM Tagging to Track Your Event Marketing Efforts

  • How to Reevaluate Your Virtual Event Content Strategy

    How to Reevaluate Your Virtual Event Content Strategy

    Almost one year ago, RainFocus was the first event marketing and management solution to convert a massive global conference into a successful virtual experience. At that time, nobody could have foreseen how valuable virtual event content would become. As we tracked events throughout 2020, we saw some dramatic increases when comparing spring events to fall and winter events. The following statistics are derived from events delivered to 2.5 million attendees from over 165 countries worldwide.

    Sessions Had More Traffic

    By fall, session attendance increased by 43% and session participation raised 39%. The rise in session engagement proves that content is king when it comes to virtual events. As attendees become more accustomed to digital session formats, companies continue to add digital events to their event portfolios—creating a continuous virtual experience for clients, prospects, and other stakeholders.

    Shorter Sessions Are Preferred

    The rise in session engagement may be due to the fact that the average session duration has decreased 14.5%. Many event professionals discovered early on that attendees were not interested in watching long online sessions and have since shortened their sessions. RainFocus President Doug Baird explained, “Pretty much everyone is dealing with virtual fatigue. People do not have enough patience to stick with a session that’s going to be an hour long.”

    In addition to shortening session lengths, event teams are playing with different session formats. Some are arranging sessions back to back while others are releasing sessions slowly over time. Both methods have proven effective in a virtual setting. We advise that you first think about your audience and then ensure that you connect the right experience to that audience. The length of your sessions should be determined by format. More interactive lab sessions may be better consumed in a longer time frame due to their immersive nature whereas presentations are better kept short.

    Meetings Increased in Value

    Much like sessions, we saw a significant uptick in meeting engagement. While there were 23% fewer meetings, the meeting attendance rate increased by 810% and overall participation in meetings increased by 988%. Attendees have always participated in events to meet with individuals and this growth suggests that they are still looking to connect with others at events.

    Sponsored Sessions Outperform Virtual Booths in Engagement

    Sponsored session participation increased 120% from spring to fall whereas the average number of exhibitors visited dropped 27%. Our customers have attributed that to utilizing better marketing strategies and the availability of additional technology features to drive more traffic to sponsored sessions. Enabling exhibitors to gather and qualify leads through session attendance has never been more valuable.

    In addition to gathering leads through attendance, sponsored sessions also have a positive effect on virtual booths. Exhibitors who produce a sponsored session net greater virtual booth visits, meetings, chats, downloads—resulting in a magnitude of leads.

    To learn more about RainFocus’ virtual content management, request a demo or watch Upgrade the Quality of Your Content at rainfocusinsight.com.


  • RainFocus Receives Highest Current Offering Score in The Forrester Wave™ Marketing Event Management Solutions Report

    RainFocus Receives Highest Current Offering Score in The Forrester Wave™ Marketing Event Management Solutions Report

    Today, RainFocus was listed as a Strong Performer in The Forrester Wave™: B2B Marketing Events Management Solutions, Q1 2021. We believe the strength of the RainFocus Platform is demonstrated by its highest-ranked current offering category score. The Forrester report states, “RainFocus’ capabilities for agenda management, session engagement, nonspeaker content sharing, lead management, event data management, and communications stand apart in this market.”

    Delivery, Management, and Marketing in One

    To determine each solution’s ranking, the Forrester report evaluated each platform on their current offering, market presence, and strategy. The report gave RainFocus’ the highest-ranked current offering category score with the highest possible scores in the following criteria:

    Video or content delivery? Our take:

    Whether live, simulive, or on-demand, RainFocus enables event teams to deliver any number of sessions simultaneously without error. Additionally, speakers can offer resources such as slide decks, worksheets, and collateral alongside the session to support audience engagement.

    Event Registration and management. Our take:

    RainFocus fuels registration with powerful personalization and segmentation tools that guide attendees to their ideal experiences. Drag-and-drop workflows capture unlimited interests, preferences, and marketing insights, in any desired order, to automatically route attendees to the right experiences, discounts/payments, hotel options, and payment collection.

    Session engagement. Our take:

    With RainFocus, event teams can incorporate live chat, reactions, polling, and other forms of engagement into their digital sessions—and measure that engagement with ease.

    Attendee engagement. Our take:

    From segmented registration to exclusive 1:1 meetings, sessions, and training, teams can prescribe and automate personalization at every step of the attendee journey for both online and offline experiences. In addition, RainFocus provides event teams a holistic view of attendee actions while empowering them to maximize engagement.

    Training and support. Our take:

    RainFocus’ consultative model provides clients implementation support, general and solution-based training, and empowers them to self-administer. RainFocus Academy, a self-paced certification program, provides hands-on exercises to teach clients the technical skills needed to execute flawlessly on the platform.

    Production/rental services. Our take:

    RainFocus offers best-in-class services to support day-of-show experiences and supplies all of the onsite technology and tools that event teams need to check attendees into the event, supply exhibitors with leads, and gather attendee insights.

    Lead management. Our take:

    With RainFocus lead management, exhibitors can easily identify the highest quality leads and then share those leads instantly with their sales and marketing teams to accelerate campaigns, qualification, and sales conversions.

    Event communications. Our take:

    RainFocus streamlines attendee, speaker, and exhibitor communications pre-, during, and post-event—reducing the need for countless spreadsheets, overwhelming emails, and constant reminders.

    Integrations Our take:

    According to the report, “[RainFocus] boasts among the broadest list of out-of-the-box technology integrations…” Our take: RainFocus’ integrations enable teams to build their ideal virtual experience without jeopardizing years’ worth of valuable insights from physical events. The platform’s robust and powerful API framework allows for deep, real-time, and bi-directional integrations with marketing and business systems—offering stakeholders a shared view of success.

    Proven Success

    For several years, RainFocus has been the platform of choice for the world’s leading brands powering the most complex and modern event portfolios and business requirements. In 2020, we enhanced our platform to equip event teams with the most advanced offering for hybrid event management.

    RainFocus’ success in 2020 is evident with these top performance indicators:

    • 380% Growth in Events
    • 3.2M+ Business Users
    • Localized experiences across 165+ Countries
    • 218% user growth
    • 99.99+% Uptime
    • 6M+ Session Engagements

    RainFocus is designed to bring together all audiences, virtually and physically, for seminars to massive conferences in one easy-to-use, data-rich, and fully-integrated platform. JR Sherman notes, “With this highly intentional, yet flexible system, RainFocus aims to provide options and packages—rather than just a list of features—that allow clients to deploy immersive and integrated virtual, hybrid, and on-demand experiences with ease. The end goal is to enable clients to maximize their hybrid event portfolios by driving attendance, engagement, and satisfaction across all touchpoints of the customer lifecycle.”

    At RainFocus we are constantly evolving to meet customer and partner needs and empowering clients to do the same in delivering unparalleled experiences for attendees, exhibitors, and speakers at their world-class events. We focus every dollar on driving the evolution of this industry through strategy and roadmap collaboration with the leading global brands and innovators.

    Download the full report here or request a demo to discover why RainFocus is quickly becoming the most sought-after event management solution.

     

  • Ten Ways to Market Virtual Booths

    Ten Ways to Market Virtual Booths

    Virtual booths can be just as powerful, if not more so, than a live exhibit hall. The challenge is getting attendees to visit and interact with those booths. During our RainFocus INSIGHT panel, Providing Exhibitors With Value to Keep Them Coming Back, attendees showed interest in virtual booth promotion. In response to their questions, we’ve put together this list of ten marketing tactics for driving traffic to virtual booths.

     

    Sponsored Sessions

    Content is king online. With the help of our data analysts and customers, we’ve discovered a 120.3% uptick in sponsored session attendance in the last year. Offering exhibitors sponsored session packages will not only grant them increased booth traffic but will also help you boost your overall event ROI. By converting session attendees into leads, sponsored sessions produce a bounty of hot leads for exhibitors.

    Collaborated Sessions

    Much like sponsored sessions, collaborated sessions offer high lead counts for exhibitors. Consider offering exhibitors positions in your panel sessions, workshops, and other multi-speaker sessions. Collaborated sessions enable exhibitors to educate attendees about their product in a more natural, conversational way.

    Gamification

    Incentivizing booth visitation has proven to be a highly effective way of connecting attendees with exhibitors. In fact, gamification increases engagement by 80%*. There are many ways to integrate sponsors into your event gamification strategy.

    Consider awarding attendees points for the following actions:

    • Being one of the first 100 attendees to visit a booth

    • Scheduling 1:1 meetings

    • Engaging in chat

    • Attending sponsored sessions

    • Taking sponsor surveys

    • Sharing sponsorship information with a peer

    Targeted Agendas

    Align your exhibitors with the content that most pertains to their offering and then block time in your attendees’ schedules to meet with relevant exhibitors. Building exhibitors into attendees’ agendas will encourage them to interact even more and will provide them quick access to exhibitor booths. For example, if your exhibitors sold marketing software you would include them in your track for marketing professionals.

    Social Promotion

    Utilizing social media for sponsorship promotion can be a way to draw attendees back to your event. Now that events are virtual, event teams can embrace the opportunity to maximize social media. There are endless forms of social promotion that can elevate the value of your event for exhibitors. For example, you could create a highlights reel for exhibitors, award those who tag your event along with a sponsor’s name, create templated posts for your exhibitors to share on their own social profiles, and much more.

    Emails

    Emails are the foundation of all digital marketing. Virtual booths can be a great way to get attendees engaging early with your event. Email attendees before your start date and invite them to explore your exhibitor catalog. Include your exhibitors in your post-registration and post-survey emails to provide them with greater exposure. If your event is public, encourage your exhibitors to email their own prospects inviting them to meet up at your event.

    When Possible, Integrate

    Are there opportunities to showcase exhibitor products as part of your virtual event? When executed well, this can be one of the most valuable tactics for promoting exhibitors. For example, during RainFocus INSIGHT we integrated with and showcased Pigeonhole Live for Q&A, Ubersnap for our digital photo booth, D3G Productions for simulive sessions, Braindate for meetings, and Eventbase for mobile. Since the event, many of our attendees have reached out to our exhibitors to form partnerships for their own events. Not only did our exhibitors gain instant leads, but we also benefited from their contributions to our event.

    Collaborate SWAG

    When you can’t integrate with exhibitors, consider offering them a spot in your physical SWAG send. SWAG gives attendees something tangible to associate with their virtual experience and encourages participation and engagement. Read Virtual Event SWAG: Tips for Shipping, Item Selection, and More to learn how to implement a virtual SWAG send.

    Don’t Limit Opportunities to One Event

    The future of sponsorships is quickly moving toward a multi-event model. Many teams offer exhibitors recurring spots in their smaller repeating events. Consider which of your online events could reasonably house virtual booths.

    Enable Topic-Based Content Searches

    Help attendees find the exhibitors who are going to be of most interest to them by organizing your exhibitors by industry or product. By grouping exhibitors together, you may help attendees discover a vendor that they would not have considered prior to your event.

    To learn more about virtual booths request a demo or visit https://learning.rainfocus.com/virtual-booth.

    *Gamification impact on engagement sourced from ELearning Industry

  • Exploring Virtual Event Gamification

    Exploring Virtual Event Gamification

    Virtual event gamification was a recurring topic during RainFocus INSIGHT (our annual user conference) this year. Gamification can be incorporated into any event to help your team meet your engagement goals whether it’s motivating more attendees to register early, increasing the number of sessions attended per attendee, or boosting interaction for exhibitors.

    As gamification has grown in popularity, to maximize engagement we hosted three sessions dedicated to teaching RainFocus users how to get the most out of their game strategies, each of which included Q&A. To educate those who missed out, we’ve decided to share the questions and answers that were given during these thought-provoking sessions.

    How many people participate in the game?

    Any number of attendees can participate in the game.

    Can you create games based on other attributes aside from attendee type?

    Yes. You can use any attendee attribute to govern the game. The parameters you set to structure your game should reflect your event goals. Creating the game by attendee type will enable you to identify and qualify buying personas.

    Can attendees cheat the system?

    RainFocus’ event gamification is based on flexible business rules.  For instance, if you want to reward session attendance and you’re worried about people clicking into all of the sessions just to gain points, we can add an additional parameter to qualify attendees only if they watch for a certain amount of time.

    Are badges and points awarded immediately? 

    You can set your game to automatically add points and badges, but you can also go in and make some manual adjustments as needed. For example, for our user conference gamification, we manually added points for those who posted on social media with our hashtag.

    How much work is it for event managers to maintain the game? 

    The technology of the game is fairly easy to set up—especially for simple games meant for meetings. The majority of the work is done before the event begins. During the event, you will only need to support those who have questions about the game and maybe a few disputes about points.

    Is it necessary to use a mobile app to get the most gamification or can it be done just through a standard web portal?

    A mobile app facilitates behaviors that you may want to reward but gamification can be done without one. Most smaller meetings and events won’t require a mobile app, enabling you to set up behavior tracking on the back end and create a simple portal or page where attendees can instantly view any points earned. For RainFocus INSIGHT, our team tracked and displayed all mobile actions within the Attendee Portal as a responsive web page.

    How can an individual see their points? 

    Points can be shown in the Attendee Portal on a card or on their own gamification page. We recommend including a list of actions and the points they equate to. Badges or trophies can also indicate earned points. For example, you might have a badge dedicated to those who attended a certain number of sessions.

    Can the attribute to assigning points handle negative numbers for redeeming points?

    Yes. Points can be added and taken away from attendees from the admin view of our platform.

    Which gamification actions are auto-updated for an attendee and which require manual updates?

    Every action that happens within the RainFocus Platform can be automated. Our development team continues to add new automated actions weekly.  For the time being, some tasks (such as social posting) have to be awarded manually, so if you are anticipating tens of thousands of attendees you may want to limit actions that attendees can take to earn points.

    Tune into the following sessions to learn how you can get the most out of RainFocus’ gamification offering:

    Gamifying Event Engagement 

    Quality vs. Quantity Leads through Gamification

    Modernizing Meetings through Simple Gamification


  • Reflecting on 2020: Learnings and Predictions for 2021

    Reflecting on 2020: Learnings and Predictions for 2021

    One of the primary purposes we have for hosting our user conference each year is to reflect on the previous year and determine how we can improve events in the coming year. In 2020, nearly everything changed within the span of three weeks. RainFocus President and Founder, Doug Baird explained this industry-altering year in his session 2020: The Year that Felt Like a Decade. For those of you who missed out on that insightful recap, there’s still time to tune into Doug’s session at rainfocusinsight.com. Don’t have time to watch the full session? Continue reading for key takeaways. 

    Takeaway #1: Event Professionals Are Experts at Handling Uncertainty 

    When it comes to uncertainty, no one is better equipped to handle last-minute changes like event professionals. Events have always come with surprise cancellations, new requirements, and the need for system updates. This year has made event professionals even more adaptable. Doug pointed out, “Whatever challenges there are that we’ll be faced with in the future, we can now say it’s been worse in the past.” 

    Takeaway #2: Focus on the Core Value of Events 

    If there is anything that 2020 has taught us, it is that the core value of events does not change from in-person events to virtual events. Doug explained that the core of events is connecting attendees with really valuable content and in that way, guiding the attendee experience. Once you’ve figured out how to get meaningful content in front of attendees, then you can add a bit of pizzazz to your event. 

    Takeaways #3: Physical Events Are Not Dead 

    While virtual events have proven to be of great value to businesses, nothing can replace the energy of face-to-face interaction. Doug illustrated this idea by pointing out that the NFL uses recordings to drum up energy when the number of spectators is reduced. Doug also reminded attendees that this is not the first time physical events have been challenged. In the months after 9/11 and again in 2008, events were perceived as a huge risk. However, these pivotal moments in history demonstrated a pattern of resilience. Physical events will come back and they will come back stronger than ever.   

    Takeaway #4: It’s Time to Think of Events Holistically 

    In the not too distant future, there will be no such thing as ‘virtual events’ or ‘in-person events,’ there will just be ‘events.’ In fact, Doug went a step further in stating that hybrid events will cease to be a concept but a reality. What does this mean for event professionals now? It means that it is time to start planning events for both virtual and physical attendees. 

    Takeaway #5: 2020 Brought Marketing and Events Teams Together 

    One of the greatest outcomes of 2020 is the union of events and marketing teams. As event professionals embrace and strengthen the relationship they have with their marketing teams both teams will be more empowered to meet the needs of their business. Doug explained, “The truth is we know the needs of our businesses and how to work with marketing. Let’s take this opportunity to make that so much better. “ 

    Doug’s session was one of many that elaborated on key learnings from 2020. Learn more about attendee engagement, content management, exhibitor activation, and more at rainfocusinsight.com 

  • Virtual Event Swag: Tips for Shipping, Item Selection, and More

    Virtual Event Swag: Tips for Shipping, Item Selection, and More

    In preparation for our company’s first-ever virtual user conference, RainFocus INSIGHT 2021, our team shipped SWAG to attendees both domestically and internationally. Our goals were to build anticipation for the event, encourage participation, and drive a deeper connection with our virtual audience.  As a follow-up, we received several questions regarding our fulfillment process and our virtual event SWAG strategy. To answer these questions we’ve put together this blog post with everything you need to know.

    Tips for International SWAG Shipments

    1. Ship through USPS for the lowest rates. Rates may vary over time, but as they stand currently, USPS is typically less expensive than FedEx or UPS.
    2. Be sure to include a field for country code in your registration process. When you go to ship internationally, you’ll be required to enter a country code for your shipment. Having the country code on hand will save you the hassle of searching the web for the correct code.
    3. Budget wisely for international shipping. Another question you will be asked is how much your package is worth. More expensive packages may require a package protection fee. Consider sending smaller and less expensive packages out to your international attendees.
    4. Translate your SWAG items. If you are sending out written items, consider sending a translated version to those who speak and read other languages. Even if your attendees speak English, SWAG translation is a courtesy.
    5. Send your international packages out early. Shipping outside of the USA can take up to eight weeks depending on the destination of your package and the carrier you choose. The USPS website suggests that priority mail shipments take 8-10 business days. In addition, factor in delays that may come as a result of customs.

    Tips for Domestic SWAG Shipments (USA)

    1. Plan the right amount of time for on-time shipments. Depending on where you are located shipping in the USA will be fairly quick. Plan 1-2 days for states closest to the origin of your packages and 3-4 for states that are farther away.
    2. Dimensions are just as important as weight. When planning your SWAG shipment consider which items will fit together in a tight box. The smaller your dimensions, the less expensive your shipment will be.

    Other Considerations for Your Virtual Event SWAG Strategy

    1. Order all of your SWAG three months in advance at the very latest. Covid has impacted production timelines and resources so be sure to begin your design process early to ensure that your fulfillment company has plenty of time to package and ship your boxes.
    2. Emphasize SWAG deadlines. Let your attendees know exactly when your cutoff date is for SWAG sends (if you have one) and the corresponding criteria for receiving it. You may want to state this in multiple emails, during registration, as well as on your website.
    3. Ensure you offer an opt-in during the registration process. Not everyone will want a swag box. Identifying those who want the items will help you allocate resources appropriately. On average we only see 70% opt-in.
    4. Reduce your chances of error with one size fits all clothing items. Whether it’s sunglasses, backpacks, or unisex socks, simplify your packaging process with items that will delight all of your attendees regardless of their size.
    5. If possible, order all of your SWAG through your fulfillment company. Having one point of contact for all of your SWAG will enable you to better keep track of deadlines and mishaps that happen along the way.
    6. Design and order your boxes first, this one is a must! With all that is going on right now, printed boxes are in high demand and are taking longer to print than usual.
    7. Consider the purpose of your SWAG. Don’t waste money and effort by sending out SWAG that does not align with your event goals. For example, if your goal is to entice attendees to watch certain sessions, you might send them an event handbook with session highlights.
    8. Remember, SWAG is first and foremost a marketing tactic. Incentivize and enable your attendees to show off their SWAG whether it’s through social media or a virtual photo booth. Consider incorporating SWAG into your gamification. For example, you might award a certain number of points to those who post about your event with their SWAG pictured.
    9. Determine whether you will outsource your fulfillment process or take on the process yourself. While in-house fulfillment is less expensive, you’ll need to quantify how much you are actually willing to spend in employee work-hours. Outsourcing is much easier and may be worth considering.

    Learn more about RainFocus INSIGHT and register for sessions on-demand at https://rainfocusinsight.com/.


  • Five Themes from RainFocus INSIGHT

    Five Themes from RainFocus INSIGHT

    It’s a wrap! RainFocus INSIGHT was a triumph with 60 expert sessions spread across seven content tracks and emcee commentary all throughout. Sessions are now available at rainfocusinsight.com. For those who don’t have time to watch the sessions on-demand, a few themes that emerged from the sessions include the following:

    A Virtual Event is More Than Sharing Videos

    It takes more than just internet savvy to deliver a great virtual event. Strategy, strong communication, thorough analysis, and all of the other skills that set event professionals apart from everyday YouTubers are all vital to creating a noteworthy virtual experience. Senior Director of Strategic Events at Servicenow, Scott Owens, said it best when he explained, 

    “Just having videos on a webpage is not enough, and it’s not really a digital experience. We’ve always had an agenda page or a sponsors page, or a schedule, but digital is now right at the front. To do digital well is a complete shift for the industry. You’ve got to be good at doing events and good at the digital aspect too.” – 7 Digital Pivots to Make NOW!

    As Owens explained, events have always had digital aspects. Now is the time for event teams to strengthen their virtual muscles and apply everything they know about physical events to their virtual experiences. 

    Hybrid Events = Greater Connection

    Discovering how to bring live audiences and digital audiences together through natural interaction is quickly becoming the focus of every event professional. Marilyn Good, Sr. Director of Events at Oracle, stated,

    “Virtual can’t just be bolted on to in-person events. It needs to be an integral part of the event experience. The two audiences need to feel like they are one. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the pricing structure needs to be the same for both in-person or virtual, or even that they get all of the same benefits, but we need to facilitate the networking whether they are onsite or not.” -Let’s Get Physical: Planning for a Safe Return to In-Person Events.

    Hybrid events have the potential to connect audiences worldwide in ways that are meaningful and engaging. Many of the speakers indicated that, for this reason, they themselves plan to host hybrid events in the future. 

    Experience is Everything

    Nearly all of the speakers at INSIGHT emphasized the need to focus on the attendee experience. When it comes to the attendee experience, consistency is key. Providing your attendees with consistent interactions and processes from event to event will ensure that they get the most out of their event experiences.

    “Having an attendee experience that is easy to adapt to, having a single place where all the activities of around an attendee are presented, having the interactions happen in one spot, and doing that in a branded seamless way is extremely important for driving adoption and usage in a digital environment.” – Doug Baird, President & Founder of RainFocus, State of the Events Industry.

    Post-Event Engagement Significantly Contributes to ROI

    Another recurring theme was extending the life of your online content. The industry experts speaking at INSIGHT taught post-event engagement is just as critical as live interaction. Tom Keefe, Director of Marketing Operations at Demandbase, explained that measuring post-event engagement is essential to proving event ROI. He stated, 

    “Revenue doesn’t happen the day after the event. What does happen? Sales follow-up. It is important to determine how long after an event a person can reply to sales in order to get event credit. The more campaign successes you have, the more attribution touchpoints you have.” – Raising the Bar on Event ROI.

    Exhibitors Play a Critical Role Online 

    According to our latest State of Events Survey, the inability to provide exhibitor value remains one of the biggest concerns of event professionals going into 2021. Throughout the event, speakers demonstrated how incorporating exhibitors into content through sponsored sessions has been shown as the best way to drive exhibitor value. Other speakers suggested that offering exhibitors the opportunity to engage in smaller events would also provide them with increased value. 

    “Looking forward, exhibitors will have opportunities to not only engage in large tier-one conferences but also on webinars, webcasts, and other events. We’ll definitely see exhibitors playing a big role in the entire event ecosystem.” – Irene Martynova, Sales Executive, RainFocus, Providing Exhibitors With Value to Keep Them Coming Back. 

    Access more pro tips and insights from sessions on-demand at rainfocusinsight.com.