How Online Registration saves Event Organisers 55% Time

In Meeting Planners International Future Watch survey, event organisers positioned Workload as the number one issue impacting their job and industry. Overworked and underpaid could not be a more appropriate way to describe event organisers today juggling location logistics, hotels, catering, agendas, marketing and the many other details relating to registering people to their events.

Please find below ways in which event organisers are reducing their workload by 50% by using online registration and why online registration is the fastest growing solution in event organising today.

According to industry expert Corbin Ball, 80% of event organisers are really being disadvantaged by managing their registrations using paper, spreadsheets and home-grown systems. They are missing out on cutting their workload in half because they are not using an online registration system. In a recent survey, 342 event organisers estimated their workload was reduced by 55% on average after switching to an online event registration system.

A good online registration system eliminates a lot of work by automating tasks that event organisers used to do manually, like data entry, reporting, mailing and payment processing work. Below are seven ways a good online registration system can cut an event organisers workload in half.

Reduce data entry work

If you are using paper registrations or web forms that get emailed to you, then you have data entry or transfer issues which becomes a time consuming process that leaves you struggling with illegible handwriting and correcting wrong information. An online registration system takes the registration data right from the online form, stores it in an online database where you can access any delegates information at anytime and runs an unlimited number of reports with a click of a button.

Reduce accounting work

Collecting payments from those who have forgotten to pay is an ongoing issue before, during and after events, turning into too many mailers, phone calls and keeping up-to date on your accounts receivable tracking. An online system automatically accounts for who owes what and produces reports where you can email personalised letters with amounts due at just a click of a button.

Reduce mailing work

When someone registers using paper or a web form, your manual work has just begun i.e. printing, copying, folding, mailing, emailing etc. An online system will eliminate these time-consuming activities by automatically emailing everyone when they register with their receipt, invoice and event materials. It also makes reminders a breeze when you can email everyone with a click of a button.

Reduce reporting work

If you use Excel spreadsheets or home-grown databases to organise your data, then
you have the ongoing task of transferring and compiling data to get the totals you need for your event. An online registration system will automatically compile and tally all of your data for you in real-time. With a click of the button you can run summary reports that tell you how many people are attending, how much they paid, and what dietary requirements you need to order. You can also give links to these reports to your clients or vendors so they can get up to the-minute information without you having to send updates.

Reduce credit card & payment processing work

Accepting credit cards and other payments is a manual processing, with data entry, wrong credit card numbers, declined cards and accounting complexities. Or you just accept cheques taking longer to collect money. An online system will eliminate these extra steps with real-time credit card processing and built-in automated accounting doing the job the moment someone registers.

Reduce delegate changes

Delegate changes and cancellations are a necessary part of registration, creating many calls and email requests that interrupt you at your busiest time, right before the event! With an online system, delegates can go online and make their own changes and cancellations without ever having to bother you. You just get the email notification that it took place.

Reduce allocation management time

Managing allocations for events, breakout sessions and room blocks can be a time consuming and intensive task. A good registration system automatically manages allocations, waiting lists and automatically notifies your delegates when a place is not available.

An online event management system will not only save you time but will greatly reduce the errors and stress involved in organising a successful event.

Simon Young is an online event specialist MISSION event software Ltd, the leading European event management software company.

Simon.young@missioneventsoftware.eu

Web: http://event-master.com