Choosing Event Management Software

Start with your events, not the vendors

Describe the events you run in a year: how many, how large, in person, virtual or hybrid, and who attends. Then write down what has to happen at each stage - before, during and after - and who on your team does it today.

That list is your requirements. It keeps a demo focused on your events, and it stops a long feature list from deciding for you.

• Event types

  Conferences, trade shows, association meetings, galas, corporate or university events - each leans on different modules.

  Event management guide

• Format

  In person, virtual or hybrid. Hybrid needs both an onsite operation and an online one that work from the same attendee list.

  Hybrid event platform

• Goals

  Revenue, leads for exhibitors, meetings for buyers, member renewals - decide how you will measure them before you choose.

  How to measure event ROI

The features to list

Most events need some of these, few need all of them. Mark each as must-have, nice to have or not needed:

• Registration and ticketing

  Ticket types, promo codes, early bird and group tickets, registration questions, and how payments are taken.

  Event registration software

• Check-in and badges

  QR check-in, on-demand badge printing, self-service kiosks and session tracking.

  Onsite event management

• Event app

  Agenda, speakers, exhibitors, floor map and messaging, under your own brand or the vendor's.

  Event mobile app

• Exhibitors and floor plans

  Booth sales on a floor plan, an exhibitor portal and lead retrieval for booth staff.

  Exhibitor management software

• Networking and matchmaking

  Attendee matching and scheduled one-to-one meetings, for events where meetings are the point.

  Business matchmaking app

• Virtual sessions

  Streaming, Q&A, polls and virtual booths, if any part of the event is online.

  Virtual meeting app

Test the onsite day, not only the website

Registration pages look alike in a demo. The differences show at the door: how fast a badge prints, what happens when the line is long, and who answers when a printer stops.

• Printers and hardware

  Which badge printers the platform supports, and whether you can use the ones you already own or must rent theirs.

  Check-in and badge printing

• Self-service

  Kiosks where attendees check themselves in and print their own badge, so the desk needs fewer staff.

  Event check-in kiosk

• Walk-ins

  Whether people who did not register can sign up, pay and get a badge onsite.

Compare the whole cost

Platforms price in different ways - a license per event or per year, a fee per registration, a commission on each ticket, or a mix. Price the same event on each, with your expected registrations and ticket price, so the totals can be compared.

• Ticket fees

  A per-ticket commission grows with your success; on a large paid event it can outweigh the license.

  Zero-commission ticketing

• Modules and add-ons

  Whether the app, lead retrieval or matchmaking are included or priced separately.

  Eventdex pricing

• Onsite costs

  Printer and kiosk rental, badge stock, shipping and onsite staff from the vendor.

Check how it fits your other tools

Event data is most useful outside the event platform: in the CRM where sales follows up leads, and in the marketing tools that invite next year's attendees.

• CRM

  Whether attendees and leads go to your CRM automatically, or by export.

  Salesforce integration

• Everything else

  Connections to the rest of your stack, directly or through Zapier.

  Zapier integration

• Your website

  Whether registration can be embedded on your own site rather than only linked to.

Questions to ask every vendor

Ask each vendor the same questions, in writing, so the answers can be compared:

1. 1

   Which of our must-haves are included?

   And which are extra, or on the roadmap rather than live.

2. 2

   What will our event cost in total?

   For our registrations and ticket price, with every fee shown.

3. 3

   Who supports us on the day?

   How we reach them during the event, and how quickly they respond.

4. 4

   Can we try it first?

   A trial, a sandbox event or a free tier, so the team can use it before buying.

5. 5

   How do we get our data out?

   Attendee, order and lead exports, and whether we keep our data if we leave.

6. 6

   Who else like us uses it?

   References from events of the same type and size, and their reviews.