Boosting Life-Science Events: Technology’s Role in Planner Success
In the fast-paced world of meeting planning, particularly within the life-science sector, technology has become indispensable. It streamlines workflows, elevates the experience for Healthcare Professional (HCP) attendees, and maximizes return on investment for event hosts.
According to life-science event director Kristen Hunter, HMCC, CED, and principal at KH Conferences, who has over two decades of experience in the field, “Most technology products are constantly changing, and professionals who aren’t embracing that innovation will fall behind.” She adds, “Planner productivity increases greatly with the right application of technology.”
While budget considerations are always present, Hunter cautions against simply equating increased spending with greater benefits. Instead, she emphasizes the importance of prioritizing needs and goals to carefully select the technology that best addresses them. “Sometimes there are so many bells and whistles in a technology product that it becomes overwhelming for planners to use,” she observes. “You must start with the outcome in mind: What are you looking to accomplish? If the goal is to maximize engagement at a conference, you don’t need to use a platform that has sponsorship features. You simply want a tool that facilitates polling as well as opportunities for attendees to ask questions easily.”
Balancing Technology and Attendee Experience
Hunter advises planners to use technology carefully: “Focus on leveraging technology to engage attendees without inadvertently discouraging its use. If HCPs aren’t comfortable using the technology during the meeting, you will not meet your objectives. Always keep that user experience in mind.”
One effective strategy involves informing HCPs in advance about the technology tools they’ll encounter at the event.
Hunter also notes that some planners invest in robust engagement and data-capture technology but only scratch the surface during a meeting. “You’re paying more to have those features but missing a lot of opportunities. And some conferences run the same way year after year, yet the hosts wonder why they’re not growing or improving,” she states. “HCPs have some comfort in the familiar when on site, but they will get bored if it’s the same experience every time.”
In essence, Hunter recommends striking a balance: “It’s a delicate balance between providing the event experience you know your attendees like, along with a sprinkle of technology-driven improvements that brings variety and increases overall value to both the attendees and the host organization.”
Maximizing Value and Engagement
As HCPs require substantial justification to leave their practices to attend an event, technology can significantly enhance in-person gatherings. “We must show HCPs it’s worth it to leave the office for one, two, or even three days,” Hunter says, “and the only way to convince them is to clearly demonstrate they will get the experience that makes them and their practices better.”
Content quality is, of course, crucial. But Hunter believes technological innovation can significantly improve content delivery, HCP engagement, and the resulting outcomes. She suggests that planners consider these questions when planning the event’s technology components:
- How are we making the conference experience valuable so that HCPs can make changes in their practices?
- What will HCPs do with what they learned at the conference—and how can we help them share their post-event actions with fellow HCPs who attended the event?
Hunter believes technology can empower attendees to forge a direct connection between conference learnings and practical application.
Selling Executives on Technology
Meeting planners often propose technology tools to improve the attendee experience and achieve stakeholder goals only to face budget constraints. Therefore, planners must effectively communicate the gains from embracing the right technology while also highlighting the risks of not adopting it.
“It’s a matter of saying, ‘Here’s what will accomplish what you told me is the purpose for the meeting, and here’s how.’ However, you should also explain, ‘Here’s what will happen if we don’t implement this technology. Here are the inefficiencies that will remain, here’s how that makes it tougher to reach the event’s goals, and here’s how our competitors could outperform us as a result.’ ”
Another potential loss without appropriate technology – and a capable tech vendor – is the planner’s ability to address issues in other areas of the meeting. Hunter explains, “I need to have confidence in my vendor’s work and don’t want to spend my time worrying that something won’t get done without my specific direction.” She continues: “It’s a snowball effect: Knowing the vendor is handling the attendee-facing technology allows me to handle small problems in other areas of the meeting before they become big problems.”
Furthermore, the right technology partner should provide insightful attendee data promptly post-event. According to Hunter, “a technology partner should be able to provide insightful attendee data shortly after the end of the meeting; if a planner has to wait a week to deliver that data to their stakeholders, that’s a missed opportunity. As planners,” she notes, “we often do things ourselves to get the quality we want, but our plates are so full that it’s impossible to do it all ourselves; we have to leverage good technology and good technology partners to get everything done.”
Finally, Hunter encourages leveraging technology beyond the meeting itself. For instance, she recommends implementing tools that support collaboration and transparency among departments involved in meeting creation, and using A.I. for tasks such as email composition and contract development. “Planners who leverage technology in those ways will get things done so much more quickly than those who don’t.”
Chris Bryant is senior vice president, commercial and business intelligence for Array, a company that provides content engagement technology, event-production expertise, and analytics for life-science meetings.
