Technology is constantly evolving, and for meeting planners, especially in the life-science sector, this creates both opportunities and challenges. The right technology can streamline workflows, elevate the experience for Healthcare Professional (HCP) attendees, and improve the return on investment (ROI) for event hosts.
To gain further insights, we spoke with Kristen Hunter, HMCC, CED, a life-science event director with over two decades of experience and principal at KH Conferences. “Most technology products are constantly changing, and professionals who aren’t embracing that innovation will fall behind,” she stated. “Planner productivity increases greatly with the right application of technology.”
Prioritizing Technology for Optimal Impact
Hunter emphasizes that budget isn’t the sole determining factor in acquiring effective technology. Instead, she stresses the importance of aligning tools with specific goals and needs. It’s crucial to avoid being overwhelmed by excessive features and to focus on the desired outcome of the event.
“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 Use with Attendee Experience
Hunter also advises against overwhelming attendees. Understanding this balance is vital to maximize the potential of tech tools.
“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 useful tip for planning is to provide advance notice to HCPs about the technology they’ll be using at the event. Hunter has also observed that some planners select technology with robust engagement and data capture capabilities but only use the basic features.
“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. HCPs have some comfort in the familiar when on site, but they will get bored if it’s the same experience every time.”
In summary, Hunter recommends utilizing as many features as possible without overwhelming attendees. The goal is to provide the event attendees are accustomed to with a “sprinkle of technology-driven improvements that brings variety and increases overall value to both the attendees and the host organization.”
Boosting a Meeting’s Appeal
Because HCPs need solid reasons to leave their practices, technology plays a critical role in demonstrating the value of an in-person event. Hunter believes planners must show HCPs “it’s worth it to leave the office for one, two, or even three days,” demonstrating a clear return on investment.
Content plays a central role, and technological innovation enhances how that content is delivered, how HCPs interact with it, and the resulting effects.
She suggests posing the following questions when planning technology-based components:
- How are we making the conference experience valuable, so HCPs can implement changes within their practices?
- What will HCPs do with what they learned at the conference, and how can we assist them in sharing their post-event actions with fellow attendees?
Ultimately, “event technology should help attendees be able to make a direct link between what they learned at the conference and taking action to make change.”
Selling Executives on Technology investment
Planners often identify technology tools they believe will improve the attendee experience and accomplish stakeholder goals, but they sometimes encounter resistance from budget controllers. Hunter suggests articulating the organization’s potential gains from implementing the right technology and highlighting the potential losses from not using 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.’”
One potential benefit lost without the proper technology – and a well-chosen tech vendor as a partner – is the planner’s ability to manage other meeting areas effectively. “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,” Hunter explained.
Additionally, “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,” she said. “As planners, 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.”
Hunter encourages organizations to employ technology beyond the meeting itself. She advocates using tech to enable collaboration and transparency among all departments involved in meeting creation. She also suggests that planners use AI for tasks such as writing emails and building vendor contracts. “Planners who leverage technology in those ways will get things done so much more quickly than those who don’t.”
Kristen Hunter, HMCC, CED, a life-science event director with over two decades of experience and principal at KH Conferences.
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.
