Event Planning Apps

What event planning apps do

Planning an event means tracking many small things at once. Apps take over the parts that spreadsheets and email handle badly. The common jobs are:

• Checklists and tasks

  A list of what must be done, by whom and by when, shared with the team.

• Schedules and agendas

  A timeline for planning, and an agenda for the event itself.

• Vendor and budget tracking

  Quotes, contracts, payments and the budget in one place.

• Registration and tickets

  A page where guests sign up or buy, with payments and a guest list.

• Check-in

  Scanning or ticking off guests as they arrive, with a live count.

• Attendee engagement

  An app guests use for the agenda, updates, networking and questions.

Categories of event planning apps

Sort by the job to be done. Pick the category first, then compare the choices inside it. One tool may cover several categories, and the table says what each is for.

Organizer apps and attendee apps

Avoid looking for one app to do both. The two sides want different things.

Organizer-side apps are for the people running the event. They help plan tasks, track budgets and vendors, take registrations and check guests in. The test is whether they save the team time and keep the data in one place. Attendee-side apps are for the guests. They put the agenda, speaker information, updates and ways to meet people in a phone. The test is whether attendees actually open them, which depends on how easy they are to get and how useful the content is.

The two sides should share data. If registration lives in one tool and the attendee app in another, someone will copy lists by hand, and that is where errors creep in.

• Organizer apps

  Tasks, schedules, vendors, budget, registration and check-in. Judged on time saved and one source of truth.

• Attendee apps

  Agenda, alerts, networking, polls and questions. Judged on whether guests use them and whether the content stays current.

How to choose: a criteria checklist

Work through these questions for each app you consider. Write the answers down, so you compare like with like.

1. 1

   What job must it do?

   Name the one or two jobs you need most, such as registration and check-in, and judge every app on those first.

2. 2

   Who will use it?

   Organizers, volunteers, vendors, speakers or guests. A tool that frustrates the people who must use it will not be used.

3. 3

   Does it fit your event size?

   A tool for a small dinner may not cope with a conference, and the reverse can be too heavy for a small team.

4. 4

   How does it connect to your other tools?

   Check for exports, integrations and whether data flows between registration, check-in and reports.

   Eventdex integrations
5. 5

   Does it work on the day?

   Ask how it behaves with weak wifi, many scanners at once and last-minute walk-ins, and test it at the venue if you can.

6. 6

   What does it cost in total?

   Ask about fees per event, per user, per ticket and for add-ons, with your own numbers.

7. 7

   What happens to the data?

   Ask where attendee data is stored, who can see it and how you export or delete it, and involve your privacy or legal contact if needed.

8. 8

   How easy is it to learn?

   Run a small test event with your team before the real one.

An app scorecard with blank scores

Score each app from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) on each criterion, multiply by the weight you set, and compare totals. Set your own weights before you look at any app, so the scoring reflects your event and not a sales demo.

A simple way to put apps together

More apps is not better. Every extra tool is another login to share, another list to keep in step and another thing that can fail on the day. Add a tool only when it removes a job someone is doing by hand today, and retire one when two tools overlap.

A simple setup is a task list for the team, one system for registration and the guest list, a check-in app tied to that list, and an attendee app if the event is large enough to need one. Add a vendor and budget tracker if you manage many suppliers.

Start with the guest data, because everything on the day depends on it. Whichever tools you choose, make sure the list you register guests on is the list you check them in from. For a planning method that is not tied to any app, read the event planner tools guide, and for a system that bundles registration, check-in and reports, the event management system guide.

• Event planner tools

  The tools a planner uses across the whole job, from budgets to run of show.

  Event planner tools

• Event management system

  What a single system covers across registration, check-in and reporting.

  Event management system

• Event networking apps

  Attendee-side apps built for meeting people at events.

  Event networking apps

What Eventdex covers, and what it does not

Eventdex is event software with organizer-side and attendee-side tools. These points come from its event planning software, event mobile app and attendee check-in app pages. None of those pages describes vendor-tracking or task-management apps, so Eventdex does not describe itself as one. Use a separate tool for vendors and tasks if you need one.

• Planning tools

  The event planning software page lists floor plans, seating charts, registration and tickets, guest lists, agenda and sessions, and an event app.

  Event planning software

• Attendee mobile app

  The mobile app page lists a program agenda, push notifications, networking, live polling, Q&A and surveys, in iOS and Android versions, with branding options.

  Event mobile app

• Check-in app

  The check-in app page lists QR and barcode check-in, offline syncing, check-in from multiple devices, on-demand badge printing and live analytics.

  Attendee check-in app

• Not covered

  None of these pages describes vendor tracking, contract management or team task lists.