Tech
Attention span
DURING A PANEL DISCUSSION AT CVENT CONNECT EUROPE, CMW ASKED A SELECTION
OF EVENT APP EXPERTS: HOW CAN WE GET AUDIENCES TO ENGAGE?
“We need to be using carrots, not sticks,
when it comes to event apps,” says Jamie
Vaughan, head of sales for Cvent.
“Too often, event app developers are
locking their registration, or other key
services, behind an app download. An
app shouldn’t be a barrier to your event
– it should be an enabler. It should
remove barriers, not create them.”
We are discussing the issue of
Our panellists top tips for increasing
engagement with event apps:
1.) Know your audience, and
personalise the experience for them
2.) Remove as many entry barriers
as you possibly can to the
technology
3.) Reward your users for
downloading an app, rather than
punishing them for not
4.) Keep your content fresh, and
continue the message post-event
students. “We are attempting to engage
teachers and their teenage pupils at the
same time, so we have to be careful
about privacy and security,” he says.
“It is important that we create a social
aspect of the app, so that the students
can interact with each other, while
making all information as transparent
as possible for teachers and parents.”
Creating a sense of community within
apps is the key for DiDomenico’s
audience, too. “Our apps are not for
profit – they are aimed at fostering
communication within the
multi-national audience which attends
OSCE PA events. They are members of
Parliament for countries all over the
world, coming to discuss issues of
security and policy, and we want them
to feel part of an international
community.”
Engagement, then, doesn’t have to
mean engaging with a particular event,
or a brand. If an event app can be a
vehicle for users to connect with each
other, it is much less likely to be deleted
as soon as said event is over.
“It’s difficult to keep audiences
engaged with an event app once the
event is finished,” says Vaughan. “But if
you can create meaningful video content
or incentives, you can reward your
delegates both before and after the
event, and give them a reason to keep it
on their phone.”
Lastly - knowing your audience is
essential. Harley creates upwards of 100
event apps a year for various corporate
clients, including Shell. He says:
“Understand who you are trying to
engage, before anything else. If you
personalise your app to that
demographic, you can create engaging
apps even at a large scale.”
“If an event app can be
a vehicle for users to connect
with each other, it is much less
likely to be deleted.”
engagement within event apps, during a
panel discussion at Cvent Connect
Europe, hosted by CMW. Joining
Vaughan on our panel is Stuart Harley,
an Event App Developer for W1
Communications; Anna DiDomenico,
Communications and Press Officer for
political congress organisers OSCE PA;
and Tim Tillett, Project Manager for
Engineering in Motion (EIM).
Each of our four panellists creates
apps for very different audiences, but all
have plenty of tips to share when it
comes to engagement. Tillett and EIM
create event apps for F1 in Schools, an
initiative dedicated to promoting
Formula 1 and engineering to young
Above: From left:
Tim Tillett, Stuart
Harley, CMW’s
Stuart Wood, Anna
DiDomenico, Jamie
Vaughan
ISSUE 103
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CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
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