42
Case Study
TECH
THE RIGHT
BOXES
CN
The International Congress and
Convention Association (ICCA) is the
global community and knowledge hub for
the international association meetings
industry.
Since its establishment in 1963, ICCA
has represented the world’s top
destinations and most experienced
suppliers specialised in handling,
transporting and accommodating
international meetings and events, and
comprises of over 1,100-member
companies and organisations in almost
100 countries and territories worldwide.
In addition to its annual congress,
which usually welcomes approximately
1,000 guests, it runs various smaller
education and networking events
throughout the year.
What challenges do you face
in the day-to-day management
of your events?
Currently our biggest challenge is
adapting to the changing times, so it’s
speaks to Lisa Harrison,
marketing and communication
executive at ICCA, on how they
have made full use of technology
platform EventsAir ahead of their
first hybrid congress
important we have a platform which can
be used for virtual and hybrid events, and
OnAIR definitely has the potential.
Which features do make use of the
most?
We started using EventsAIR in March, so
we are still in the learning process when
it comes to some of the features.
So far, we have been using it for
registration, communication, reporting,
abstract submissions, attendee
certificates, event websites and the app.
We used OnAIR with all the features that
come with it: pre-recorded and
webinar-style sessions, Meeting Hub,
Virtual Exhibition, Live Polling and Q&A.
Reports can be set up so that they can
be shared via a link with all staff
members who need access to specific
info. There is no need to swap between
programmes when changes need to be
made to the event app or website. The
calendar in the communication tab is
very useful, as it shows what
communication is scheduled for when,
and the amount of info and
attachments that can be included in
the Merge Docs. We are still learning
but constantly see new things which
can make our life as event planners
easier.
Could you name a specific
outcome that’s improved from
how you used to it?
Everything is in one place, so a
separate programme doesn’t need to be
opened to work on the event app. The
presentation portal is also a great as it
helps manage and review submission for
some competitions we run each year and
almost anything can be personalized.
Do you offer any extra value features to
your clients, like gamification, or
anything along those lines?
The mobile app is great to reach out to
other participants and easy to use,
including those who wouldn’t describe
themselves as ‘tech savvy’. It is also a
great green solution as no printed
programmes are needed. Although we
don’t currently use gamification, it is an
area we’re looking at for the future.
Could you outline an interesting or
complex event that you’ve used
EventsAIR to manage?
Ask us again in November. Our most
complicated event is our upcoming
congress, with multiple registration
categories, different VAT requirements
for different participants, a more
complex website, multiple agendas as
each hub will have its own programme,
OnAIR which will be used for a business
workshop.
We have just launched
registration and support from the
EventsAIR team has been great, so we
are looking forward to our first ever
hybrid congress.
www.conference-news.co.uk