How do I choose between the top event platforms?

What’s the top event platform to host a conference? Since the start of the pandemic, the market for event tech has exploded with an overwhelming amount of choices! While it's easy to get caught up in the latest and greatest tools and technologies, the reality is that there's no one platform that's perfect for every event. Instead, organizers need to focus on what really matters: creating quality content that resonates with their audience.

With the right content, even the simplest tools can be used to pull off an amazing event. In today’s episode, we'll explore why content is king and why choosing the right platform depends on the unique needs of your event and your audience.

Timestamps

00:00 Intro

01:21 Today's FAQ and what clients are actually trying to find out with this question. 

04:49 Shiny Object Syndrome and selling the box instead of the product. 

12:50 How do we solve this decision paralysis problem? 

18:20 Recap!

Key takeaways

• There is no one platform to rule them all.  (We wish there was.)

• The audience cares way more about the quality of your content than what platform you’re hosting it on. 

• You can pull off an amazing event with the simplest tools imaginable, developing quality content is where the gold is!

• Every event is different, the right platform for you depends on the needs of your audience and the content you’re presenting.

Next episode: How do I organize a conference?

Transcript

[00:00:00] Isaac Watson: How do you as a leader of a growing community, Truly make a conference or event that has impact, a gathering with purpose and an attendee experience that knocks their socks off. An event that leaves your audience in awe and wondering where you've been their whole life, Make It Kickass is the podcast that explores these questions by uncovering the strategies, tactics and tools that we use every day to bring our clients' conferences to life. I'm Isaac Watson, executive producer of Kickass Conferences, and we are here to help you make it kick ass.

[00:00:51] Isaac Watson: Welcome back everybody. I'm Isaac Watson, executive producer at Kickass conferences, and of course I have with me none other than Nessa Jimenez Say hi, Nessa.

[00:01:01] Nessa Jimenez: Hi everyone.

[00:01:02] Isaac Watson: Nessa is our operations manager and we are excited to dig into another episode with you. This season, in case you're catching up with us, we are talking about some of those questions that we get all the time from people we talk to about events and thinking a little bit about like, where do these questions come from?

[00:01:20] Isaac Watson: What do they actually mean? Where how can we tease out what the real underlying problems are behind these questions and how we can find solutions for. Today one of the questions that we get asked all the time, especially in the last two and a half years with the panini slash pandemic slash whatever you wanna call it is what event platform should I host my event on?

[00:01:43] Isaac Watson: And that I cannot tell you how many times we have heard this question. It is. It's constant. Barraged with it, and I get it. There's a lot out there. It's a big question. But before we dive into kind of what we think some of the issues are with asking that question what do we actually think people mean by that, Nessa.

[00:02:04] Nessa Jimenez: Yes. So when people come to us with that question on their mind what they're actually asking us is, what's the best platform? What's the best tech? What is the brand name? The Ferrari of event platforms, right? And behind that is: what platform has the most bells and whistles, has the most like features that I can, like impress people with and get all flashy with it?

[00:02:30] Nessa Jimenez: Like from that, it's because, especially like you mentioned the last three years with the pandemic It just seems like it, they should be using an event platform. They should be investing in an event platform because there has just been this explosion of marketing in the event platform like sector and so many platforms coming out all of a sudden that they ask because they think that they should, right?

[00:02:58] Isaac Watson: Or that their audience expects there to be some sort of app, or platform or technology or underlying whizbang solution. Yeah. I it is the explosion of event tech has been mind numbing to see, because there's been so much, and then you have, because it's the startup world, you have all these mergers and acquisitions and so about this other thing, and

[00:03:20] Nessa Jimenez: Yes.

[00:03:21] Isaac Watson: It just, yes. It boggles the mind. And I get it, like there's a lot out there. And of course, because of the pivot to virtual that so many people did there's these quote unquote new markets, even though virtual event tech has been around for a long time. And it can be overwhelming and there's a lot of money going into selling these things.

[00:03:42] Isaac Watson: And so that's. That's just a question on top of everybody's minds. Because they feel like they need to impress people, that people expect it. They want to know what the best thing is because of course, everybody wants to do the best thing.

[00:03:56] Nessa Jimenez: And they they want the best that can do everything perfectly. Like the one to rule them all. It does all the things and it's incredible at the things. And we'll talk about that a little later. But yeah they wanna know what platform is the answer, which one is it? And please tell me so I can go get it.

[00:04:14] Isaac Watson: Yeah. So let's dig into some of the actual problems that are underlying this question. The issues that people are having that are bringing this up. And I think the big one what we were just talking about is that the marketing out there has just been. Bonkers with money and pizzazz and every, And let me tell you, just even as a producer, like the amount of sales emails, right? Like the second you demo something Oh, you just get it. They never, And they're like, Yeah, let's sign a contract. Yeah, let's get you in for 12 months. We're gonna, Oh, we have community now. Like we've talked about this a little bit last season, right? But. It just the inundation of event platform marketing is very overwhelming.

[00:04:59] Isaac Watson: And as the market rebalances as we come out of or through the pandemic back into a world where we do have hybrid and only in person and only virtual. It'll be interesting to see how it shakes out. So just that inundation of marketing, I think is some, is enough to give organizers a lot of anxiety or pause or confusion around figuring out what to choose.

[00:05:25] Nessa Jimenez: Yeah. Thanks to the pandemic, like millions and millions of dollars have been invested in marketing these things. And a lot of event platforms were born during the pandemic and have already died during the pandemic. , because it's just it's been wild. The absolute amount of Gimmicks and like some platforms do one thing really well, but then there are mess in other things.

[00:05:49] Nessa Jimenez: And then like in the past six months, we've seen so many mergers and acquisitions and just recently I saw something about like 600 people got laid off from one of these big platforms and it, yeah, I'm not surprised This has suddenly become such a big question because Yeah. Marketing, right?

[00:06:06] Nessa Jimenez: It's on everybody's minds. I'd also say that shiny object syndrome, right? Like part of that marketing is they're putting like these cool little features in your face. And you're like, Oh yeah, that does seem cool. I I wanna play with that. Like I, being the one, as the ops manager, I always end up doing like the testing and the playing around with platforms before we actually like, use any for the events. And yeah, there's all kinds of like little gimicky things that are cute and are fun . But I can see how someone. Doesn't really know about production could fall into that trap of this seems cool, I think we should use it. Yeah.

[00:06:44] Isaac Watson: Exactly. And it's really easy to get swept away by the shiny objects and to feel like, Oh yeah I don't just want that, I need that. My people need, like this is a core, core feature. And I get into this too. I think what the kind of underlying issue with all of this is that when you take that approach, when you're focused on the platform so heavily as this like 'if it is not the solution, then my event fails' kind of thing.

[00:07:12] Isaac Watson: The real issue underlying that is that you're depending on what we call the box and not the product itself. The product itself is the event. It's not the platform that you choose to host the event or to facilitate the event. The platform has influence on what that experience is, but if you don't actually know what the product is that you're delivering and honing that first, then there's no way you can find a platform solution that's going to serve those needs.

[00:07:42] Nessa Jimenez: Yeah, and the marketing has done a really good job of convincing people that the platform is the event. And the platform is not the event. The platform is the platform. It's like saying you picked a great venue and that's it. You did the job, you had to do cuz you got a great venue for the event and yeah, like whatever. You didn't really worry about the actual event that's supposed to happen inside the venue.

[00:08:05] Isaac Watson: Yep. Yeah. That, and any meeting planner will tell you, or event planner will tell you that first you need to figure out what it is you're doing and then you go find a venue that will fit that. And the same is true of a virtual event or a hybrid event, is you need to figure out the what and the why. And then you can start to work on the how and the when and all that kind of stuff. And that's where the tech platform comes in.

[00:08:32] Nessa Jimenez: Yeah. And I don't blame people for falling for marketing. Cuz first of all, like I mentioned, a lot of money has gone into marketing. But at this core there is a marketing strategy. That is true. It just doesn't apply to events. So like in product based businesses, The packaging of the product is a very big deal, and a lot of money goes into designing the packaging and making it look great so that when people walk into a store right, they see the item on the shelf and the packaging is so pretty that, they buy, like they're willing to spend a couple more dollars for the same product because the box is so nice.

[00:09:10] Nessa Jimenez: I've done this, I've, I love packaging and I find that fascinating cuz it's true. Like the first thing that you see of a product is the box, right? Not really the actual thing. So trying to apply that kind of concept to an event. Like I can see where the marketers are going with that, but it doesn't work because like with an event, I sold you the ticket and now you're there. And now what? Like now what happens?

[00:09:39] Isaac Watson: Yeah and I think, in the difference for me is that when you have, when you're talking about like a retail product, the packaging has to reflect the product inside, right? They are, It's part of the brand experience and stuff. You don't see someone marketing an event and leaning into, 'oh and we're going to do this event on HopIn or on Swapcard' or you don't- you're not marketing-

[00:10:06] Nessa Jimenez: well, they they shouldn't. Yeah.

[00:10:07] Nessa Jimenez: Yeah, Because let's be honest, there are people that have done that. They shouldn't, but-

[00:10:10] Isaac Watson: Sure. But that doesn't- the difference for me is that product packaging is, Essentially a brand element, right? It has a function in that it needs to protect the item from damage in shipping and it needs to convey some information about the product, but an event platform doesn't serve that same purpose. It is, it's function is a facilitation tool, right? so that's not what you need to be leading with. You lead with the program and the content and the reason why the event exists in the first place, and then you source a platform that will smoothly integrate and facilitate all of that based on what your different components and needs are.

[00:10:53] Nessa Jimenez: Yeah. And a good event platform disappears, right?

[00:10:57] Isaac Watson: Yeah.

[00:10:57] Nessa Jimenez: It's not the center of attention. It allows things to happen.

[00:11:02] Isaac Watson: Yes. Yes. Okay. So let's talk about some of this, the solutions that we can offer to help tease out these problems and this overarching question that, that help set people up from the get go to be more intelligent about choosing a platform.

[00:11:16] Nessa Jimenez: Right. The first one, talking about the box versus the product in the box. The first question is, what programming are you offering? What is the event actually going to be? Is this educational, Is this like a festival? Is this a market? What are you actually doing at the event?

[00:11:33] Isaac Watson: Yeah. If you don't have, If there's no there, like why ? Yeah. Why even bother finding a platform? Because you've gotta have something to. Out to the audience. And that's why it's important to think about speaker lineup. That's why it's important to think about your schedule and your actual content.

[00:11:49] Isaac Watson: What kind of topics are you covering? What how can you craft a schedule and a program that that delivers on your goals and on your a's goals? And that's the other piece is. You need to know what your audience's goals are. And that's gonna be different depending on the format of your event.

[00:12:06] Isaac Watson: If you are in person only the goals for coming to an in person experience, from an audience's standpoint are a little different. They're like, there's a social interaction component that can also take form is networking. You have this kind of social Social contract of surrendering surrendering yourself as you go into a venue.

[00:12:27] Isaac Watson: And just letting the program happen to you, and then being able to respond to that. Things are a little different with an online only event. There are limited social interaction. , you don't get face to face time in the same way as you would in person. It you, there's no.

[00:12:44] Isaac Watson: Large room for you all to gather in the same way. And so the goals shift and change. And so thinking about what format you're taking and what programming you're offering will inform understanding the goals of your audience.

[00:12:58] Nessa Jimenez: And how best can that audience participate in that event? First of all, not all events need a lot of audience participation, right? There are events where it's best for the audience to just sit back and absorb the information, right? Absorb the content. But there are other events where the audience needs to participate a lot, because the point is networking, right? If it's a networking event, the audience needs to be able to interact and they need to be able to interact.

[00:13:24] Nessa Jimenez: With a tool that allows that to happen easily. , and organically and without having to. Sit there for an hour and teach them how to use the thing. So how can they best participate to reach their goals, but then also how can they best participate? If it's an audience that's not very tech savvy, what are you doing? Putting them on a platform that requires prior knowledge.

[00:13:48] Isaac Watson: . . . Yeah, the learning curve is huge.

[00:13:50] Isaac Watson: For those who aren't accustomed to it, even though we're all used to zoom at this stage, theoretically

[00:13:54] Nessa Jimenez: should be, we should be,

[00:13:55] Isaac Watson: The, how is your platform gonna differ from that and what kind of technical knowhow or people are gonna be required to use it.

[00:14:02] Isaac Watson: And thinking about like the, so maybe one of their goals is networking. What kind of networking? Do you need to be suggesting people for them to meet? Do they have opportunities in the program to meet people in small groups and to make connections on their own? There are whole feature sets that are dedicated to networking that differ from structure, to matchmaking, to things like that.

[00:14:25] Isaac Watson: It is really about understanding how your audience is going to engage and what their goals are and how you can fit that. The other piece I was thinking about was educational content, right? , you're teaching your audience something through any part of your program, you need to be able to give them a way to ask questions or to.

[00:14:44] Isaac Watson: Vet what they're learning or to demonstrate the outcomes of a workshop or a webinar or things like that. So all of those goals have different aspects that feed into an event platform. And if you're, if you are thinking about that in advance and you know what those goals are, that's going to inform your evaluation of the different platform.

[00:15:09] Nessa Jimenez: Yeah. And these are conversations that we have very early on with our clients, programming and the audience, right? And we do a lot of research. Like I sit down and I go through their website, I go through their social media. Because the point is I need to understand like, who are these people? How do they interact? How do they engage with the client, right? Because that really helps us. Content decisions that will then later on help us make platform decisions.

[00:15:37] Isaac Watson: Yeah, exactly. All right. Let's recap a little bit. So the core question that we keep getting asked by folks is, Which platform should I host my event on? But we don't think that's the real question. The underlying meaning behind that is wanting to know what the best event tech. Is feeling like they need to impress their audience with bells and whistles that their audience expects an app or a platform or something to participate in the event and feeling the need to or the obligation to invest in an app or a platform of some kind.

[00:16:13] Isaac Watson: Those are like the real questions underlying it. And then the problems that kind of drum up those questions are really around depending on the box and not developing the product. And that's like ultimately, like that's the big thing is like if you don't have confidence in what you're creating and you're jumping forward to picking a platform without identifying that first, you've put the cart before the horse, so to speak.

[00:16:38] Isaac Watson: So through. The work that we do with our clients and that kind of initial planning process, what you really need to be asking is what kind of programming are you offering? What are your audiences' goals and how do they expect to, and how can they best participate in your event? And if you know that, then you're gonna know what features.

[00:17:02] Isaac Watson: In an event platform you're looking for, you're gonna know better how to evaluate the different options against those goals and those methods of participation, and where you can identify opportunities to surprise and delight or to exceed expectations in a way that's much more informed by who your audience is and what your event goals are than just bowing to the whim of the marketing dollars that are just being thrown left and right at us.

[00:17:37] Nessa Jimenez: Thanks for listening to the Make It Kickass podcast, and if you've ever been overwhelmed by all the event tech options out there, we hope today's episode made it easier to drown out that noise and make decisions for your audience. If you visit geteventlab.com, you'll get a free copy of a tool we use with our clients to help them build out their programming strategy and how to choose the best platform for the events and more. That's geteventlab.com. Thanks for listening, and I'll see you in the next episode.