TBA Global, an event marketing agency, has created EventO, a customizable platform to manage registration, promotion, networking, scheduling, social media, and follow-up for events of any size. The product launched publicly in September, but it has been in development since January and has already been used by clients such as Google, Monster, and Chipotle.
By consolidating everything in one site—which can be scaled for use on desktop systems, tablets, or mobile devices—the product is intended to be used by attendees before, during, and after an event. “We call it 'event marketing 365;' an event is only one or two days out of the year, but whatever the message is, you'll be marketing it year-round,” said Shawn Busteed, vice president of technology and programming for TBA Global. “We have people come to us saying, 'We want an app,' and we’ll say, 'Do you know the kind of phones your attendees will have?' Because if they have Apple, Android, and Windows phones—now you're building three apps. We built this so you can have functionality without having a native app.”
An EventO site can provide registration services or be tied in to the client’s third-party registration system, such as Cvent or StarCite. It also offers social sharing with Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, plus email campaigns integrated with MailChimp. During an event, the EventO site displays agenda, maps (which can be static or interactive), and a Dropbox document library to house speaker notes or presentations. It can also be linked with Ustream and Livestream to provide live video from the event. The site’s blogging platform provides a simple, D.I.Y. system for planners to share updates with attendees during an event.
Post-event, the site has survey tools and analytics to measure, for example, how attendees use the site before, during, and after the event. The site can remain up year-round, providing ongoing access to information and videos. For clients that want users to be able to access the content without the need for a Wi-Fi connection, the company can turn the EventO site into a native app, which can provide additional features such as QR-code scavenger hunts.
The cost of an EventO site will vary based on complexity. “We’ve made it flexible enough so it can work for any budget. We can do something like a simple informational site for as low as a couple hundred dollars," Busteed said. "The higher-end ones, where we manage all the content and video, can run as high as $250,000."
