Pacific Pension & Investment Institute

Pacific Pension and Investment Institute (PPI) is a US based non-profit. Mark Mancao, the Chief of Staff for PPI is responsible for everything from event technology to managing the events themselves. "At PPI, we hold 3 main events a year, gathering 150+ attendees from across the globe but with a particular focus on the Asia Pacific region." 

The need for change 

Prior to utilising Cvent, PPI were managing their event registration like many Event Managers still do, using multiple spreadsheets and physical check-in lists, and were cautious of the impact of this on the attendee experience. Mark reflects on their previous processes, saying “It was kind of a mess, and I don't know how we got through that time.”  

The PPI team initially started looking for a mobile event app provider, and they soon began to realise they could combine this with the search for a system to streamline processes, and to bring event management under one umbrella. A major priority for the future event management system was to improve the attendee’s registration experience, ensuring that repeat attendees are recognised, and information such as photos and biographies were stored. 

"It was kind of a no-brainer to purchase Cvent, because I hadn't found another competing product that could offer as much flexibility. We now basically live out of Cvent every day in order to set-up registration, create event websites, manage registrations day to day and ongoing communications throughout the event lifecycle"

Mark Mancoa, Cheif of Staff, PPI

Using Cvent 

As attendee experience was the main driver for the adoption of Cvent, Mark was delighted when the members began noticing the improvement in the registration process, as well as appreciating the system’s ability to speed up event registration if you have attended previous events. “We noticed an increase in people finishing the event registration, and increased satisfaction in post-event surveys”. 

Since utilising the Cvent mobile event app, PPI have noticed the level of engagement of attendees increased both on the event day, and outside of the event. By launching the event app early, and leaving the event open, it allows attendees the access to connect with one another throughout the event timeline. Mark tells us “as well as reaping the benefits of content presented at the event, they can use the app as a direct networking tool to support an ongoing connection with the folks they’ve met.” 

Another functionality PPI have begun utilising is the ‘Check-In’ feature on OnArrival in order to improve the event check-in process. Mark tells us the value of attendance being instantly recorded in the Cvent platform, thus saving time and improving reporting capabilities. Using the OnArrival app to check attendees in as well as replacing physical event hand-outs with the event app creates a “cleaner experience and helps PPI to focus on interacting with registrants as they arrive at the event, helping the staff relate to attendees more”. 

Prior to becoming a Cvent user, Mark admits ‘we didn’t have the capacity to focus of event tracking’, however by utilising the Cvent overview dashboard, the event planning team are able to compare data event to event consistently and diligently, which Mark has said has been really eye-opener for the organisation.   

With Cvent reducing the admin side of the event, it gave Mark and his team more time to focus on event strategy. Mark says “once we were able to focus on how our events were being received, what the experience was for attendees, I really do feel like we started to rethink how we produced our events, and the whole participant experience that we are offering to our members, where we didn't have that consciousness before. This opened doors for us to start making some real positive changes to retain members, as well as expand our membership”.