As the meetings and events industry evolves, Paragon Events, Inc. continues to exceed their clients’ goals by maintaining an industry-leading stance on Event Technology. As a longtime partner of Cvent, Paragon Events understands the value of investing in new software and tools to ensure client success.
Paragon Events, Inc. is a full service strategic meetings management, association management, and marketing firm headquartered in Delray Beach, FL. with team members in: Boston, MA, Honolulu, HI, Los Angeles, CA, Orlando, FL, Philadelphia, PA, Pittsburgh, PA, Richmond, VA, St. Augustine, FL and Washington, D.C. For over 30 years, Paragon Events, Inc. has been trusted by companies around the world to conceive, plan, and execute meetings and events of all sizes and caliber.
Investing in Event Technology for Client Success
Over the last three decades, Paragon Events has grown their organization to meet shifting industry trends. “Technology has been a huge change agent for our industry,” says Renee Radabaugh, Founder, President, and CEO. She recalls early days with the company’s greatest resource being “a fax machine and a $3,000 computer we had to share together as an office.” Today, Paragon Events is an industry leader pushing the boundaries of the digital landscape to provide their clients with a competitive edge. “Fast forward thirty years, and almost everything we use has a digital component with smart features available,” she says.
This digital-first approach has been key to Paragon Events’ success as an international provider to clients across various fields. Cementing a strong partnership with industry-leading technology providers like Cvent has only furthered Paragon’s standing within the business. “Integrations with products such as Cvent have really helped us centralize and access information in one place,” Renee notes. In the early days of the organization, the team relied on paper documents, fax machines, and manual processes for registration. “Now, we can receive notifications as quickly and close to us as an Apple watch on our wrist,” says Renee. She adds that originally spending years managing spreadsheets meant investing ample time and resources for large purchases, such as a single monitor that had to be shared amongst the entire team. Now, team members are armed with computers, tablets, MiFi’s, and portable chargers to serve client needs at any moment. “With smart technology, we are able to automate our processes and create a much more streamlined workflow,” she explains.
In first partnering with Cvent in the early 2000s, Paragon Events initially used Cvent’s Event Management solution solely for registration. The company was initially searching for a productive way to manage attendees while focusing on the other facets of their growing event portfolio. “At the time, registration was very labor-intensive, and Cvent offered a solution that was a great resource for saving manpower and collecting information that could turn into valuable data,” Renee notes. By creating efficiencies in registration and harnessing the power of technology to drive data-backed decision making, the team found themselves at the forefront of the industry. “This service catapulted our performance as we evolved in the events industry and expanded the services we provide our clients,” she adds.
Curating a Lasting Partnership with Cvent
Since beginning their initial partnership with Cvent, Paragon Events has served hundreds of clients and produced thousands of events. They have diversified their technology stack with a suite of products such as Cvent’s CrowdCompass mobile app and Onsite Solutions. They have also grown their partnership to be in the top 10% of producers for Cvent. With high engagement amongst their team, Paragon Events is strongly dedicated to the use of digital resources. “We believe in the functionalities of the product, and understand the value of it,” notes Renee. Her team sees the benefit of using the integrated platform to ensure a seamless dataflow throughout the event lifecycle. Several team members have also become Cvent certified to better showcase their expertise.
Renee credits these close partnerships with organizations like Cvent in driving both the organization and the industry forward. “It’s about having a team of vendors that support us both as an event management company and an advocate for our client goals. We look at our vendors as an extension of our team and a true partnership,” she explains. Most importantly, investing in close relationships with their Cvent team allows Paragon Events to elevate the success of their clients. “Particularly over the last five years, the growth and acquisitions of Cvent have been phenomenal for us as a customer,” notes Renee. “We always stay up-to-date with their press releases, blogs, and announcements with support from our account manager. We also make sure to utilize the educational tools and knowledge base to the fullest so that we can continue to provide the most innovative information to our clients as well.” Leveraging event technology to improve the attendee experience, better manage internal processes, and prove return on investment for clients has established Paragon Events as a true industry leader. Renee advises fellow event and association professionals to take the time to cultivate close vendor relationships to build a strong business foundation. She insists, “Putting time and effort into strengthening your vendor relationships creates an investment in the overall success of your company.”
A Successful Future for Paragon Events
As Renee and the Paragon Events team shift into 2020 and beyond, they are looking forward to many more successful years as a world-class agency. The organization continues to master new technology to stay agile as industry standards evolve. “As we are growing and adapting, one of the things we have looked at is to provide strategic resources to clients while recognizing that we have to change with the marketplace and stay ahead of industry trends,” she says. This necessitates a proactive approach to expanding their tech stack. She explains that at any given time, the team is researching up to thirty different products and seeking “the next big thing” that will prove efficiency, effectiveness, and a clear return on investment. When planning for what’s ahead, Renee views technology and live events as a symbiotic relationship. “Looking to the future of the event industry, we believe technology will continue to become much more prominent and advanced. At the same time, we find that there is still a craving for human connectivity,” she says. She finds it interesting to look at the balance between these two ends of the industry scale, noting how they mutually enhance one another. “You can have your team personally greet attendees paired with Cvent tools, or stay conversational with custom messaging on mobile apps. Cvent does a great job of providing genuine customer service and offering products that engage people in a user-friendly way,” she notes.
As they hold a view of the next thirty years, Paragon Events recognizes the importance of the past in planning for the future. “The rearview mirror is very clear, and it’s impressive to see where we came from...we went from fax machines to now leveraging high-tech tools and advanced products,” notes Renee. She adds that the next several years will entail continued efforts to “collaborate as a team, elevate our employees with instrumental tools, and provide thought leadership as a high-quality event production company.” As they push the industry forward over the next several decades, Paragon Events is proud to have Cvent as a lasting partner in their success.
Interested in learning more about Paragon Events, Inc? Visit www.paragon-events.com or email info@paragon-events.com.
