First annual study highlights the complexities and opportunities within the meetings and events planning lifecycle

Cvent, Inc., a market leader in meetings, events, and hospitality technology, today announced the results of their first annual Day in the Life of an Event Planner study. The key findings, as determined from the responses of more than 600 meeting and event professionals nationwide, demonstrate that event professionals are still looking for better ways to improve productivity, communicate with stakeholders, and demonstrate the impact of their events including return on investment.

“It is no secret that the job of an event professional is incredibly complex, and there is a reason why Forbes recently named it the fifth most stressful job in the United States,” said Brad Gillespie, Vice President of Enterprise and Corporate Marketing at Cvent. “But what we see in the results of this study was the extent to which planners are still struggling to maximize efficiency and productivity at each stage of the event lifecycle. This tells us there’s a big opportunity to simplify and improve the day-to-day workflow for planners through event management technology. Additionally, the study shows that many are still relying too heavily on success metrics that do not clearly reflect the financial impact of their events. This means there is a disconnect between what planners are reporting on and what the c-suite wants to see.  Planners need to utilize event management technology to help simplify processes, communicate more effectively, and demonstrate event ROI.”

Key findings include:

• Planners are still focused on satisfaction rates to determine event success. While the majority of planners rely heavily on both stakeholder and attendee satisfaction to determine their event’s success, organizations are looking for more in-depth analytics as well.  There is a big opportunity to redefine success metrics by focusing on an event’s revenue impact and overall ROI.
• The use of event management technology varies widely. Fewer than half of the respondents utilize a marketing technology tool in their planning, highlighting an opportunity for event planners to enhance their event marketing efforts and increase collaboration with their marketing teams with the use of technology to help automate and improve their event programs.
• Collaboration and communication across stakeholders are a key concern. The majority of planners agreed that both internal and external collaboration was a challenge– specifically collaborating with stakeholders while overseeing onsite experiences and managing logistics. Tools that support cross-collaboration and enhanced reporting capabilities can help planners get the information stakeholders need with less effort. 

“Our goal in bringing this study to the marketplace was to not only highlight areas of opportunity but also to understand where meeting and event professionals and marketers, face challenges. Armed with this knowledge, we can better serve the industry and continue to offer event technology and services to help organizations reach their goals,” continued Gillespie.

For full study results, click HERE.