Leverage Technology to Enhance Your Events and Meetings

The days of shuffling papers and handouts at your meeting may be coming to an end. If you’re in the tech industry or wish to be seen as cutting-edge, this especially applies to you. Get new technology working for you at your next event, and make a great—and modern—impression on your attendees.

Event Planning Apps and Software

As you’re beginning to plan your schedule and organize your event, try using an event app. Not only do these apps help you keep track of attendees, keep your materials in one place (like the ever-changing schedule and speaker lineup), but they also offer attendee-facing functionality. Your guests can access the most up-to-date schedule, see presentation decks, and even arrange private networking meetings with fellow attendees. Try Pathable, Whova, or EventsXD for help.

Seating Charts & Floor Plans

Many of the above services will do these for you, but it’s worth calling out that you can ditch the post-its and whiteboard maps you’ve been using to plan your seating or floor plan. This can be one of the most daunting parts of event planning, so check out Social Tables or other sites that will help you stop dreading the map.

Create Your Own Event App

There are several available options for creating your own app for your event. It’s a chance to provide attendees with everything they’ll need before, during, and after the event, while making sure their materials are up-to-date, shareable, and paperless. Plus, many services will turn your event app into a webpage as well.

Social Media

Prep for your event by leveraging Social Media on as many platforms as you can. Create a hashtag for the event and begin running social posts and social ads that lead to your event page. #AmazingConference2017

Internet Access

Your presenters and your attendees will expect wi-fi service that is fast and secure. We recommend using the network at River’s Edge Convention Center to avoid any problems.

Take Advantage of Mobile Devices in the Audience

In the past, guests have been asked to turn off mobile devices during presentations. But it’s important to remember that there may be benefits to guests taking photos, videos, posting to social media (using your hashtag of course), live streaming, and more. Don’t be afraid to encourage guests to post, tweet, and even text key take-aways out to colleagues.

Ask Your Audience

One fantastic way to make use of all those devices is through real-time audience engagement. Although you may still want to hear from audience members and answer their questions while looking in their eye, there may be moments when an audience poll or vote could add another dimension to your presentation. Audience Response Systems (ARS) like Turning Technologies, Join Speaker, or mQlicker can help keep your guests interested and involved right from their seats.

PowerPoint Alternatives

We hate to say it, but it’s time to look beyond PowerPoint for your presentations. Make a more modern impression, and share your impressive presentation with your audience. Here are a few suggestion lists of PowerPoint alternatives.


We look forward to helping you plan your next St. Cloud event at the River’s Edge Convention Center. Whether you’ve got paper handouts or the latest custom app, we’ll help make your event shine.