Moderated by Will Kataria, Cvent senior director and Asia general manager, the panel discussion brought industry thought leaders together to discuss data collection habits and best practices. Photo Credit: Natalie Chew
In the world of event planning, data collection has become crucial
for understanding attendee preferences and interests, avoiding the
“one-way traffic” that many have become, said Adam Piperdy, founder and
chief experience officer of Unearthed Productions.
Speaking at the panel discussion Uncover the Story of Your Meetings & Events Data: Insights, Benchmarks, and Best Practices from Experts
at the recent Cvent Accelerate, Piperdy emphasises the importance of
event curation and feedback: "We may not be responsible for how many
people show up, but if we have 400 people in the room, we are
responsible for finding out how they feel about the event segment to
help us create a better programme next year."
“There have been events where somebody goes up and makes a speech, or
you have a panel where there are no questions from the audience, and
everybody just leaves. And then you say you don’t understand why people
don’t show up the next year.” He said.
This lack of data and understanding can then lead to resources and
budget being channelled into the wrong avenues, such as increased
marketing or advertising campaigns that don’t address what audiences are
looking for – leading to undue frustration from planners.
We may not be responsible for how many people show up, but we are responsible to find out from them how they feel about the event segment, because then it helps us make a better programme for next year.
Adam Piperdy, founder and chief experience officer, Unearthed Productions
The power of informed data
Kenneth Leong, executive director of Marina Bay Sands, highlights
that audience data is vital for understanding customer satisfaction.
"It's the difference between the success of the event versus pure
numbers," he explains. “This data is important for us to work with the
planners and figure out how we should curate and improve the experience
we are offering.”
Sanjay Seth, managing director (Asia Pacific) of BCD Meetings &
Events, refers to this as a "feedback perspective”. He notes that
pre-event data helps in designing and creating the event, while
during-event data allows for real-time adjustments to keep content
relevant.
Innovative data collection methods
Traditional methods of data collection, such as offering free gifts
for survey participation, may not always yield accurate results. “We’ve
found that it’s not a very effective way of collecting information
because oftentimes this information isn’t accurate; people just do the
survey for the sake of the swag!” said Sandeep Pal, founder of FlexxCMO.
He suggests using technology for more reliable first-party data
collection and conducting polls during social engagements.
However, it’s also important to make sure all this tech works well
together to capture all data in one place to avoid redundancy and
improve efficiency. Nichlas Maratos, VP of commercial at Dusit Hotels,
points out a common issue: “We have the website, the registration page,
payment gateways all on separate platforms. And the worst part is that
when we do the post-event survey, it’s on another platform altogether!
“How do you know you’re not collecting the same data multiple times?
When we say we want to do better, it should really start by capturing
all this data in one place,” he adds.
We’ve found that [surveys] are not a very effective way of collecting information because oftentimes this information isn’t accurate; people just do the survey for the sake of the swag!
Sandeep Pal, founder of FlexxCMO
Ensuring data security
As data collection becomes more sophisticated, it’s also essential to ensure that this data is secure.
For event organisers looking to enhance their data security measures,
BCD Meetings & Events' Seth has three pointers: Train staff on
compliance and proper data handling; use only organisation-approved
platforms; and make sure suppliers comply with the same rules.
“We make sure our planners understand compliance and exactly how
they’re supposed to treat data in a way that is aligned with the
organisation,” he shared. “We also work with platforms, apps and
technology that have been pre-approved – so no WhatsApp or WeTransfer.
Lastly, this goes down the supply chain; we make sure that our suppliers
are also using the same technology that has been vetted by us.”