The OpenWater Blog

5 Ways to Cut Costs Without Compromising on Event Experience

“Events” and “budget cuts” aren’t two words you want to use together. After all, “budget cuts” are associated with a number of other terms, such as “cheap,” and no organization wants their abstracts conference to come across as cheap to attendees, judges, or others.

However, there is a way to save money without feeling as if you’re going to compromise the quality of your event or prestige of your organization. In this article, we’ll explore five strategies you can turn to when you want to save money without adversely affecting the quality of your program.

1. Be Open-Minded About Options

Some of the most significant expenses in your program – venue included – can change to save money. For example, too many organizations get hung up on their event being held at a particular location at the cost of spending more than they need to.

Provided that your location is convenient and conducive to a layout that works for your program, there’s no need to hold yourself to a particular venue or date if the weekend you were planning on having the conference is significantly more expensive than another, similar timeframe.

You may also want to adjust the event schedule to save money. Instead of starting at 9 a.m., you could start at 1 p.m. to eliminate meals from your event budget as well. There are always options, and you should be willing to explore them.

2. Get Prepared and Eliminate Tasks Early

Once you’ve booked your venue and set a schedule, it’s important to reach out to vendors, suppliers, and other companies you’ll need involved at the event. This will help you ensure that they’re available for the dates you need and you can shop around for suppliers to get the best price before all of the vendors get booked.

Coordinating your vendors is also important. This means that you should host conference calls to avoid any confusion, facilitate plans, and eliminate added expenses down the road.

3. Purchase Rather Than Renting

Purchasing staging or lighting elements might seem like a waste of money. However, if you’re going to hold this conference every year, purchasing certain items makes more sense than renting year after year. You may also want to invest in graphics you can reuse that aren’t specific to the event’s theme for that year.

4. Save Power and Wi-Fi

There are always more affordable options with the technology you need for your event. For example, there are many lighting elements that are battery-powered and even audio systems that save on electricity. By exploring these options, you can determine whether it makes sense to invest in these options as compared to the price of electricity.

You may also be able to negotiate with your venue on the cost of Wi-Fi. Some venues have Wi-Fi available and others may offer you other providers as well. While it may take some time to explore all of these tech-related options, it may be worth it.

5. Go Paperless

Mobile apps, made simple through your use of abstracts management software, is the future of abstracts conferences. Moreover, mobile apps eliminate the printing costs of event schedules, speaker handouts, registrations, and follow-up surveys, which can add up depending on how many attendees will be at your conference.

Of course, there are always attendees that will prefer printed materials to mobile materials. As such, you should make all materials available on your website prior to the event so attendees can print them out if they prefer.

Where Can You Cut Costs?

There are several areas of any abstracts conference to cut costs without compromising on experience.

So, where can or will you cut costs? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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