The OpenWater Blog

3 Steps to Building a Better Conference for your Attendees

Overseeing conference planning is stressful. You have to watch your team scramble to gather all necessary materials, collect payments, manage speakers, plan the event, and schedule it all in a coherent manner.

In the past, conference managers were forced to do this all manually and with the support of only spreadsheets and binders. Today, you can do it with abstract management software to build a better, more efficient conference than before. Not only does this lessen the stress of the process, but putting together and executing a better conference boosts organizational prestige and attendee satisfaction.

So, how can you build a better conference with abstract software? We have a straightforward, three-step process to guide the way.

Step 1: Invest in Great Abstract Software

You can’t skip the first step where you actually purchase the abstract software you’ll use to build the better conference. This step applies even if you already have abstract software because chances are, there’s a better solution available than the one you’re already using.

The right abstract software makes your event easy to manage and eliminates the manual processes you relied on before (spreadsheets included). Most importantly, it automates tasks and keeps your entire organization on track by organizing everything in one, centralized system. By streamlining processes and allowing you to provide instant updates in real-time and in an intuitive way, abstract software is the simple way to stay on track and build a better conference.

Step 2: Provide Event Technology to Attendees

It isn’t enough for you and your team to enjoy abstract software. Because even if you do, one question remains: what about attendees?

Stimulating interest and generating engagement are two of your primary goals for attendees. Without technology, this is going to be difficult. With technology – especially a mobile event app – it isn’t.

Mobile event apps allow attendees to network, browse presentation materials, and even collect contact information of those they meet during the conference. Most importantly, it connects your use of abstract software with attendees to keep everything organized and simple. Take a look at how one of our clients, AAPOR, uses OpenWater for mobile-ready conference management.

Beyond the mobile app, you need a great website. The website is your centralized resource to provide real-time updates, an itinerary, and virtually any other information you know your staff will find useful. While the website won’t be used as much as the mobile event app during the conference itself, it’s a core component of building a better conference with abstract software from start to finish.

Step 3: Allow Attendees to Take it Home

Your conference can’t end once the actual event does. Instead, you need to ensure you provide additional materials so attendees can continue to learn and engage with one another.

Without abstract software this isn’t just costly, but difficult as well. After all, it would be up to you to create a marketing plan and build a platform you can continue to use to communicate with attendees. With abstract software, you already have everything you need on one platform.

Continuous education is one of the simplest ways to allow attendees to take the conference home with them. This ties back into the mobile event app because all of the presentation materials are there for your attendees to take notes on and then review later. By hosting post-conference speaker webinars or otherwise providing new materials, attendees will stay engaged with your organization and engaged year-round until your next conference (which they’ll be more likely to attend).

Do it Better With an Abstract Software

While you can certainly try to organize a better conference without abstract software, it’s much easier if you invest and use abstract software to do it all.

You always want to build a better conference. By investing in abstract software, doing so is more seamless than you might think.

Read more: What Conference Planners Get Wrong 100% of the Time

Already with OpenWater’s Abstract Management Software? Have you checked if your organization is OpenWater certified? Hurry! Check out our calendar to find out about upcoming webinars and certification programs.

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