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How to Win Industry Awards for Your Events
The new year is the perfect time to begin thinking about event recognition. Winning an industry award for your successful event not only showcases your hard work, but also builds your profile as an event professional and generates publicity for your organization.

Nominating your event for an award (or multiple awards) is easy when you plan ahead and know what the requirements are for a winning entry. In this post, we’ll cover everything you need to know to qualify for event awards and submit a great application.

Planning An Award-Winning Event

The best award entries begin with intentional event planning, whether the goal is to win for the most innovative event, most engaging event, or anything else. Here are some considerations for planning an award-winning event:
1. Define your goals with concrete data. Award providers often ask for goals and key metrics to support your entry. Of course, because results are often weighted the heaviest of all entry evaluation criteria, make sure to document all of the most important KPIs early on.
2. Identify ways to differentiate your event. Many award applications ask, “What made your event unique or original?” Rather than repeating what others have done, evaluate new ways to take your content, activations, and networking to the next level.
3. Plan for broad impact. Your goals will determine your event’s impact on your business, your attendees, and your industry. Think about the tactics you will use and the data you will capture to create an influential and memorable experience. Demonstrating your ability to attribute your event to growth and positive changes will make your award entry stand out.
4. Create an immersive experience. As you’re planning the overall event design, consider ways to make the event more visually engaging. These will enhance the event itself as well as photos and videos documenting the event and submitted with award applications.
Preparing Your Award Entry

Once your event is complete, you’ll be ready to submit your award application. Although each award is different, some core guidelines generally apply:
1. Address questions and prompts directly. Read all questions carefully to ensure you’ve supplied all the requested information. If you are applying for several awards with similar questions, it can be tempting to copy and paste previous answers, but make sure to avoid accidentally omitting important evaluation criteria specific to a particular application.
2. Be concise. For long answers, include bullet points, subheads, and line breaks whenever possible for ease of reading. Award judges may have a high volume of entries to read through. Making your submission scannable will make evaluation easier and leave a positive impression.
3. Respond to feedback. Occasionally, you may receive questions or suggestions in response to your entry. Be sure to implement all recommendations promptly for a strong application.
There are many awards programs that recognize outstanding events and other achievements in the events industry. Some notable awards include the following:
RainFocus also presents awards to top-performing event teams. Our annual Innovation Awards recognize customers and partners that demonstrate forward thinking and excellence in their use of the RainFocus platform. These awards are announced during our INSIGHT conference. To learn more or to nominate your team, visit our event website.
January 9, 2025
Four Trends That Defined the Events Industry in 2024
Another amazing year of events has drawn to a close! As always, working alongside our clients as they plan and execute some of the world’s biggest conferences gives us a unique view into events industry trends.

The RainFocus blog shares these insights to help all event teams (whether or not they’re our clients!). We especially love asking our executives for their candid thoughts on the latest trends and challenges, and letting them tell the stories behind how the RainFocus team develops new features and processes based on client learnings.

It’s no surprise that many of this year’s most popular blog posts reflect the trends that were top of mind for event leaders and their teams this year. As we gear up for 2025, let’s take a look back at what captured everyone’s attention this year:

One: Integrations make sharing event data even easier and more useful.
We all know that events provide a wealth of valuable zero-party and first-party data that can fuel marketing and sales campaigns. But that only matters if stakeholders can seamlessly access it, interpret it, and put it to work. Our groundbreaking new Salesforce integration (as well as some guidance on event data analysis for marketers, who also benefit from convenient integrations) are designed to help with just that.

Learn more:
Two: Everyone is still buzzing about generative AI, but a lot remains to be seen.
Naturally, no 2024 recap could make it very far without mentioning what has continued to arguably be the hottest topic — not only in events but also in the broader tech, business, and societal worlds. This year, we saw plenty of innovative applications of these tools. Teams gained efficiency, tried new things, and kept learning. Our ongoing series with RainFocus CTO Mike Bushman provided critical guidance on the myriad considerations related to security, privacy, the role of big tech companies, and overall best practices.

Learn more:
Three: Details make all the difference for a memorable on-site experience.
From an enormous annual user conference to a local executive luncheon, an event must get all the “little” things right for its attendees. A streamlined check-in experience with badges that print without delay. A convenient app that makes navigating the venue a breeze. Adjustments to materials and signage that promote sustainability. Better swag. Elements that may seem inconsequential on their own all add up to a seamless event that attendees remember for the right reasons.

Learn more:
Four: Great event content and an efficient process for creating it have never been more important.
Event attendees increasingly crave authenticity and fresh content that speaks to their needs. This year, we heard a lot about different learning styles, which are often yet another reason to think beyond just the traditional keynote and breakout session formats. Your event speakers — whether internal, external, or both — must rise to the challenge. Presenting the very best content also requires a convenient, collaborative process for selecting submissions from your call for papers and then partnering with the chosen speakers from start to finish.

Learn more:
Ready to gear up for a successful 2025? Learn more about all these top events industry trends — and so much more — by joining us at RainFocus INSIGHT. Happy new year to everyone in events!
December 20, 2024
Planning Impactful VIP Event Experiences

Are you looking to elevate your VIP event experience? There are hundreds of ways to impress VIPs, whether they are executives, prospects, influencers, celebrities, or long-time supportive clients.

What makes VIP experiences truly exceptional is personalization and attention to detail. In this post, we’ll explore how to plan ahead to create a VIP experience that enhances your valuable relationships with these attendees and supports your business goals.

The Power of Exclusivity

There are two types of VIP experiences: standalone gatherings and experiences embedded in a larger event. Both serve a distinct purpose—to create a sense of exclusivity that makes people feel valued and gives them an opportunity to form lasting memories and relationships.

For VIP experiences that are part of more general events, one easy way to signal an exclusive experience from the start is to give VIPs a unique badge design. In addition to being a visual indicator, this badge grants them access to special activities and meetings. Activities may include early-access sessions, upscale dinners, spa days, concerts, sports activities, and one-to-one meetings with executives.

Attendee Profiles: The Ideal Starting Point for VIP Event Planning

The need to “wine and dine” executives and influencers at events is standard. But what sets a VIP experience apart is knowing what matters most to individual attendees and using that information to tailor their experience.

Event teams worldwide have discovered that the more they know about their audience, the easier it is to keep them coming back year after year. These attendee profiles are especially useful for VIPs, especially if they compile each person’s likes, dislikes, and behaviors in one place. Teams that successfully build such profiles are far more likely to attract and retain VIP attendees.

There are several ways to build up VIP profiles if you don’t have a lot of data to start with. One way is by looking at past behaviors. What other events have they attended? Search through their social profiles to see what content they’ve interacted with. You can also crowdsource data about VIPs from colleagues and peers. Data can be continually added and updated with each interaction point.

Personalizing VIP Experiences

Once you’ve identified your VIPs’ preferences, you can begin to use that information to personalize experiences. Small details make a difference. For example, if you know several of your VIPs are vegetarian, you can plan meals accordingly before they even submit new dietary requests.

There are many ways to make the most of executive profiles. During INSIGHT Premiere, Devin Cleary from CyberArk shared an example of how his team uses executive profiles to plan who to invite to each event and how to approach them with planning questions.

Tailoring registration based on what you know about your VIPs is another fantastic way to personalize their experience. Using SSO or pre-filling their agendas with activities you’re certain your VIPs will enjoy are little actions that demonstrate how much you value your relationships.

With smart use of data and some advance planning, you can easily set the foundation for memorable VIP experiences. Click here to discover how RainFocus enables event planners to easily build attendee profiles and personalize attendee experiences with centralized event data.

December 17, 2024
How Does RainFocus Compare to Other All-in-One Event Management Platforms?

During any major technology purchase decision process, third-party evaluations and comparison data are invaluable. Smart buyers rely on these resources to dig into whether a vendor’s offering truly reflects its claims. Reports from analyst firms and other trusted sources can be especially useful during the evaluation stage, after you’ve narrowed the field to a few contenders.

At RainFocus, we’re always proud of our seamless, fully integrated event management platform and its real-time engagement capabilities. But we were also excited to learn that RainFocus was just named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: All-In-One Event Management Platforms, Q4 2024 report!

The report called out RainFocus’ “superior vision,” which “centers on delivering timely and personalized attendee experiences and helping clients maximize the value of the data these interactions deliver.” We believe these capabilities are even more important as the world moves away from third-party cookies and zero- and first-party data from events plays a larger role in marketing and sales strategies.

In addition to receiving the highest possible scores in the vision, innovation, roadmap, partner ecosystem, and community criteria, RainFocus also received the highest possible scores in 19 more criteria. These included event planning and setup, exhibitor and sponsor management, on-demand content, customer service and support, and 15 more.

“RainFocus has an unrivaled ability to deliver complex tier-one events; it now marries this with capabilities to deliver tier-two and tier-three events,” the report said. “Its core strength resides in its ability to capture and maximize the value of attendee data by feeding it into the wider tech stack through unique partnerships with the likes of Adobe.”

The Wave report, which thoroughly evaluated the “12 providers that matter most” among all-in-one event management platforms, recommended that buyers consider three overall factors: “the mix of events they run,” “the importance of event data,” and “integrations into the wider technology stack.”

Of course, as a provider of unified event experiences, RainFocus accommodates events of all sizes and types — from the smallest internal meetings to global user conferences. Given the continued rebounding popularity of in-person events as well as the still vital role of virtual and hybrid offerings to increase attendee reach and engagement, our platform is equipped to meet organizations’ current and future needs.

We were thrilled to see the report include event data and integrations as recommended platform consideration factors.

“…[M]arketers must quiz vendors on their ability to capture and analyze attendee data and use it to deliver more personalized experiences,” the report said. “Leading vendors will be able to aggregate data across events and accounts, benchmark data versus peer data, and use AI to answer data questions, run predictive analytics, and make customized attendee recommendations.”

The data-driven insights that the RainFocus platform provides help teams personalize touchpoints for attendees, generate real-time analytics to make effective event decisions, and amplify the impact of every event. We know that for many organizations, budgetary pressures and a need to do more with less will make this data even more vital.

Want to learn even more about how RainFocus stacked up against the top providers? A full copy of the The Forrester Wave™: All-In-One Event Management Platforms, Q4 2024 report can be accessed here.

December 12, 2024
Does Event Swag Matter? New Data on What Attendees Really Want
An optimized attendee experience at your event is all about the details. From a speedy check-in experience to easy venue navigation between sessions to pleasant informal mealtime networking, your event attendees will remember much more than just their big-picture impressions of the keynotes and breakout sessions.

Even event swag — those famous branded items picked up at the event and stuffed into a suitcase for the trip home — can contribute to (or detract from) the overall experience. Some organizations might overlook event swag. Others might spend too much time and money on it, with little ROI.

What do attendees really want? How much does swag matter? We’ve got the inside scoop! Our recent study uncovered the types of swag attendees like best, how long they hold onto items, the ways event swag can intersect with brand perception, and even some honest guidance on how companies should be allocating resources when it comes to swag.

Here are a few of the most interesting findings:
1. Practical work-related swag items are considered the most valuable and useful. A full 25% of survey respondents said notebooks and planners are their favorite things to get at an event. Tech items often used for work, such as chargers, earbuds, and mini speakers, placed second. Other swag types, including glassware, branded snacks, digital giveaways, and accessories like sunglasses and tote bags, were considered less appealing.
1. Attendees hang on to useful swag for a while. The most preferred swag types — notebooks/planners and tech items — tend to easily integrate into an attendee’s daily routine after they return home from the event. So it’s not surprising that 82% of survey respondents said they keep swag for at least a month. Ideally, this visual persistence enhances the brand’s visibility, especially if a notebook or phone charger is being used in an office.
1. Quality and brand loyalty matter. Of course, not all swag persists in attendees’ daily routines. More than half (56%) of respondents said they donate unwanted items or give them away to friends and family members. Additionally, event teams should note that most attendees (76%) find that the quality of giveaway items shapes their perception of a brand, while 15% select the items themselves based on brand and gravitate toward those they are familiar with, suggesting that brand perception is bidirectionally important.
1. (Maybe) some resources should be spent elsewhere. So, does event swag matter? When asked if they believe organizations should reallocate resources for event giveaway items and merchandise, one-third of respondents said yes, and 46% said “somewhat.” Based on the other study findings, certain items definitely provide value and enduring brand benefits. But for some organizations, it may be worth looking into alternatives. Given that event budgetary pressures are expected to continue next year, we recommend ensuring event swag is thoughtful and tailored to your attendees’ preferences.
For much more expert advice on best practices for every aspect of event planning, marketing, and execution, join us at RainFocus INSIGHT 2025!
December 5, 2024
INSIGHT Premiere Takeaways: Predictions and Advice for 2025 Events
Yesterday’s INSIGHT Premiere marked the kickoff of our annual INSIGHT program. RainFocus CMO Ashleigh Cook led the discussion, which featured event experts Heather Schneider from Celonis and Devin Cleary from CyberArk.

We dove into trends from our Events and Marketing Strategy Survey and shared best practices for using AI, maximizing budget, and personalizing attendee journeys. Here are a few key takeaways:

Top Trends in the Events Industry

The conversation began with predictions for 2025. Our experts predicted the following:
1. Event teams will move away from a one-size-fits-all event approach and focus on personalization. They must strike a balance between templatizing events and providing bespoke attendee experiences.
2. There will be a greater effort to optimize virtual events for greater accessibility.
3. Teams will begin delivering more non-traditional sessions, bringing new individuals to the forefront of the event.
4. Data protection will remain top of mind.
5. Companies will continue to see success from hosting pre- and post-event experiences online.
How Do You Make the Most of Your Investment in AI?

In 2024, the number of event professionals using AI doubled from 16% to 34%, but a significant number of companies have yet to embrace these technologies. “There needs to be organization governance and different AI personas because every employee will use AI differently,” Schneider noted. Understanding how each persona will use it can help your organization create a more comprehensive rollout strategy.

Both panelists encouraged event professionals to seek out a wide range of AI tools that are applicable to event marketing. “Don’t let your four walls of work be your limitation,” Cleary said, pointing to tools available for presentation-building, creating graphics, and sourcing royalty-free music that can help event teams.

Recommendations for Extending Your Event Budget

While many event teams expect to see a flat budget next year, 31% expect an increase. For both groups, rising costs and the continued growth of in-person events will require strategies for making the most of all available funds. Cleary and Schneider recommended the following:
1. Work with partner brands to supplement costs at third-party events (e.g., trading off who purchases floor space each year).
2. Consider restaurants and other venues outside of events for sponsored experiences. Or take a “tiny house” approach and look for ways to use smaller spaces more efficiently.
3. Reuse and repurpose activations wherever possible.
4. Leverage virtual options to deliver messaging to larger audiences at a lower cost.
Maximizing Event Data

The RainFocus Events and Marketing Strategy Survey results showed that audience segmentation and personalization were the top use cases. Our panelists offered timely tips for increasing personalization.

“We have to move away from standardized events,” Schneider said. “We have to take the data and look at who we want to reach and determine ‘why’ we want to reach out. If you do this, your message is going to stick with your audience a lot better.”

“The biggest mistake event organizers make is sharing the wrong information,” Cleary added, explaining that sharing behavioral data is better than sharing answers to preference questions. “Go-to-market needs information of which sessions attendees went to, not just what they said in registration,” he explained. “We need to source data that we’re actually going to use.”

Want to learn more? Watch INSIGHT Premiere on demand here.

For more expert advice and best practices, register and attend our INSIGHT conference. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to meet the world’s top event thought leaders and hear about their strategies for 2025.
November 14, 2024
How to Measure ROI for In-Person Corporate Events

Internal corporate events are an important part of an events program. Whether it’s a sales kickoff, an executive summit or a board meeting, hosting these events can require a significant amount of time and budget. But what does that investment amount to, and how do you justify spending money on event platforms to bring employees together? Many companies have recently begun to more directly measure and attribute ROI of their internal events. Here are some areas to evaluate:

Employee Advocacy

Employee advocacy is essential for business growth, and there’s no better way to showcase new products and educate revenue teams on upcoming offerings and news than an event. The easiest way to attribute ROI to an event is by running comparisons. For example, companies might simply compare sales before the event to sales after the event.

The assets developed for an event to enable sales reps can also be used in employee advocacy. Work with the marketing team to track how these assets are being distributed, how many views they are receiving, and the conversion rates associated with them. Examples of content that might be generated include sales sheets, slide decks, and social media posts. Each employee has a unique social network with potential buyers. Use gamification to further encourage employees to share content generated for the event.

Improved Performance

Tracking employee performance based on event attendance is another effective way to attribute ROI and justify spending money on future in-person corporate events. Events are often the primary channel through which employees receive training and certification, so comparing the performance of those who attended training versus those who did not will help you demonstrate event ROI.

For accurate tracking, Investing in a single platform to track attendance across multiple events can help you monitor employees’ progress over time. Event platforms also often allow you to host recorded content online so that employees who missed your event can still participate, and those interested in reviewing the information can do so.

Greater Retention

In addition to driving sales, effective internal corporate events can help decrease turnover. By comparing those who attended your corporate events with those who didn’t, you can identify potential positive impacts on retention.

To increase the impact, companies often host awards ceremonies at events to celebrate high performers and employees celebrating tenure milestones. These ceremonies create a sense of belonging that encourages employees to remain loyal to your company, reducing the costs associated with finding and hiring new employees

Whether you are helping educate your employees to be better advocates of your products, improving sales performance, or boosting retention, in-person corporate events can help you meet your goals. Furthermore, having an all-in-one platform like RainFocus can help you drive employee engagement and demonstrate event ROI. Learn more about how our platform powers corporate events for many of the world’s most innovative companies.

November 7, 2024
In-Person Event Technology: Top Trends Positioned for Growth in 2025

Since the return of on-site events three years ago, we’ve seen many exciting developments in in-person event technology. Check-in, badging, session scanning, on-site analysis, and more have all become much more sophisticated.

During our long history in the events industry, RainFocus has gained extensive experience with on-site event technology. Our commitment to successfully delivering in-person events and our ongoing research and analysis efforts help us predict what’s coming next.

Overall, while remains to be seen, the latest trends in in-person event technology can be summarized in two words: convenience and responsibility.

More Convenient Attendee Experiences

Event teams are constantly seeking ways to make attendees’ experiences easier. As we approach 2025, there continues to be a lot of chatter about AI and speculation about how it will enhance on-site experiences. Every day we talk to another event team that is implementing one or more AI tools to help them deliver more impactful events.

In our Events and Marketing Trends survey, we asked our audience how they plan on using AI in 2025. Of those who are planning to use AI for their 2025 events, 42% have said that they will use it to send recommendations to attendees. Such recommendations make for a much smoother on-site experience, enabling attendees to spend less time deciding on which sessions to join and more time networking with the right people.

Here are some other ways we’re seeing event teams deliver more convenient attendee experiences:

Attendee matchmaking: Organizations might use technology to segment their attendees and then turn to physical items like ribbons, stickers, color-coding, or pins to badges to help attendees visually spot like-minded peers.

Mobile apps: Teams can enhance attendee engagement through push notifications, mobile catalogs, attendee-to-attendee chat, maps, and gamification.

Digital signage and maps: Tools can help attendees easily navigate even the largest venues. Digital signage and mobile maps are sustainable wayfinding solutions that are becoming more sophisticated and dynamic. They allow teams to make updates to sessions, speakers, exhibitors, and games in real time as needed.

QR codes: Attendees can conveniently increase their engagement with quick links to session resources or activities, exhibitor webpages, maps, product testing, or surveys. A new increasingly popular use for QR codes is enabling attendees to scan each others’ badges to instantly connect on LinkedIn.

Badge tracking: NFC encoding on badges provides easier session scanning and reporting, especially at events with large audiences.

Security and Sustainability

Event technology providers are constantly adapting their products to mitigate evolving global security threats and comply with the latest guidelines. Many event teams are also looking to incorporate more sustainable solutions for their events. Here are some ways on-site event tech is becoming more secure and sustainable:

Protective badge watermarks: Some printers can now print transparent watermarks on badges to prevent them from unauthorized copying. This is another step to ensure that only attendees with the right permissions have access to certain parts of an event.

Facial authentication: Facial authentication software can quickly verify attendees’ identity and eliminate the need to type sensitive information, such as email addresses and passwords, in an area where others are present. This technology is becoming increasingly popular at all types of events. Many attendees are familiar with it from experiences in their daily lives, such as at National Football League games, which use facial authentication to protect fans’ information and speed check-in.

Improved materials and paperless solutions: Many event teams are using heavy-duty cardstock for badges rather than PVC or plastic. Cardstock prevents bleeding and is compostable and recyclable. Elsewhere, digital signage and other digital materials can replace paper-based products, reducing waste.

Interested in learning more about rising technologies and what’s to come in 2025? Register for INSIGHT Premiere. During this virtual event on Nov. 13, 2024, we’ll share all of the results from our Events and Marketing Trends survey. INSIGHT Premiere will also feature commentary from CyberArk’s Devin Cleary, a favorite speaker from last year’s INSIGHT event.

October 30, 2024
Event Content Spotlight: Effective Event Content for All Learning Styles

Everyone’s brain operates a little differently! We’ve all heard people mention that they’re visual learners. Or perhaps they’re auditory learners, reading/writing learners, interpersonal learners, or kinaesthetic learners. Some people might not have identified their exact type, but they know that some event sessions they’ve attended over the years simply “worked” better for the way they prefer to process new information.

Accommodating your attendees’ learning styles is a critical part of smart, inclusive event content planning. Whether you’re an event leader planning out the big-picture agenda for your next big conference, a content manager evaluating and reviewing external submissions, or anyone else involved with event content, considering how your attendees can best absorb the content improves engagement, learning outcomes, and overall attendee satisfaction.

Fortunately for busy event teams, the keys to creating content for various learning styles can be simple. There’s no need to pursue advanced studies in psychology and neurology or learn convoluted color-coded quiz systems to get it right. Based on our experiences working with high-performing event teams, we’ve compiled some quick tips:

Start with industry practices and role preferences. One easy first consideration: How do people in your field or within each expected attendee group typically prefer to learn? Although individual variety will no doubt exist, certain industries may attract a large number of learners wired to favor a particular form of presentation. For example, B2B sales reps who spend their fast-paced days in conversation may learn best if they can speak to others and role-play in dynamic conference sessions rather than silently viewing a series of slides.

Offer a mix of formats. When planning the event agenda and reviewing event content submissions, consider adding a field to all documents and tables referencing potential sessions to indicate the learning style(s) the session most strongly serves. Speakers might also have preferred presentation and teaching styles, creating a natural balance. When the agenda is released, include the format, planned activities, and other relevant information in session descriptions. Attendees can favorite sessions and build out their event schedules based on their desired style. With this information, a learner who wants to explore an advanced topic by listening and taking notes, for example, won’t inadvertently wind up in a session centered on a group whiteboard exercise.

Make it interactive. Regardless of format and targeted learning style, most event sessions can benefit from incorporating interactive elements when possible. Even an introductory thought-provoking exercise or series of quick hand-raising polls scattered throughout the presentation keeps audiences engaged. Gamification, surveys, and other technology-enabled interactive features not only further boost engagement, but also provide valuable data from attendees for their global attendee profile.

Embrace flexibility. Finally, accommodating attendees’ learning styles at your event is valuable, but it shouldn’t dominate every content decision. Event teams know that a variety of important factors go into their selection process. Your final session catalog might not have a perfectly balanced mix of presentation types — especially if you identified earlier that many of your likely attendees share a common learning style. Encourage open-mindedness and exploration among attendees. They likely already experience content and events presented in a range of styles throughout their everyday work lives. At your event, they may even find they enjoy learning in a whole new way!

Learn more about how RainFocus’ streamlined content capabilities support an efficient content management process and a seamless guided content experience for every attendee.

October 25, 2024
Think Repeatable: How to Templatize Your Events

Starting event planning from scratch is often less than ideal. As the events industry increases efficiency through AI and automation, many event owners are working to templatize their events to become even more efficient.

Event templates maximize efficiency for repeat events by simplifying setup processes and creating familiar experiences for attendees. The first step to properly templatizing events is creating a comprehensive and user-friendly template.

The Foundation of a Successful Event Template

When it comes to repeatability, centralized data is key. The data you use to configure your event template and the data you collect from your events should be housed in the same platform. Types of data include attendee information, event details, and branding elements, along with other forms of data. Keeping event configuration data and collection data in the same platform streamlines your event setup and enables you to connect your sales and marketing technologies through a single integration. Overall, having a single source of truth makes for cleaner reporting.

Centralized data is just the start. To build a solid foundation for your event template, you’ll also need to standardize your data collection. Ensuring the same metrics are captured at every event (when applicable) allows you to compare events consistently. When building the event template, work with your sales and marketing teams to identify which data points you need to capture to drive your business forward.

Establishing the Right Mix of Static and Dynamic Components

Once you’ve established a solid foundation of centralized and standardized data, you’re ready to begin structuring your event template. Event templates include static and dynamic elements. Each team can decide which elements should be dynamic and editable and which should remain the same from event to event.

Generally, static components include fonts, colors, registration questions, payment processing methods, and integrations. Keeping these components consistent ensures every event looks and feels the same. Dynamic components, such as dates, housing options, venue information, and (sometimes) language, are updated for each new event.

Simplifying Your Event Template

While an event template could potentially contain hundreds of elements, creating a comprehensive template does not necessarily mean that it has to be complex. The right template just needs to cover the event’s core elements. For example, if the events to be templatized only have a few sessions each and no separate tracks, you can remove session tracks from your template. Cleaning up your event template can save your team time and eliminate unnecessary or redundant tasks.

Want to learn more best practices for building event templates? Join us in February at INSIGHT 2025! You’ll find sessions on creating repeatable events and opportunities to speak with subject matter experts and peers who are experienced in templates.

October 18, 2024