How far can technology make an impact event travel and logistics? That’s the question Reed & Mackay Head of Partnerships Events – UK, DE and AU Mat Browne and Head of Event Travel Scott Blondel discussed when leading a session at meetings, events and hospitality technology provider Cvent’s recent annual flagship event, Cvent Connect Europe.
Corporate travel and events travel are inextricably linked. Travelling for conventions and conferences, seminars and training, is a trend leading the changing landscape of corporate travel. This statistic was revealed in the Global Business Travel Association’s (GBTA) 2024 Business Travel Index Outlook.
It’s clear in-person meetings and events are a hugely important factor for many organisations. Event planners want to drive both the best possible experience for attendees and see the greatest return on investment.
Where technology comes into play
“Consumer-focused technology has often paved the way for strides forward in business tech, as consumer expectations of how they interact with technology in their personal lives rapidly rises and informs a desire for similar experiences at work,” Blondel says.
“Using event technology to support our vision to connect people effortlessly is a great way to achieve that. And Cvent’s tech suite complements our service offering in many different ways.”
Technology plays a huge part at each stage of the event experience – pre, during and post event – Browne explains.
“Pre-event is where all the prep happens. That includes researching venues, group bookings, delegate management, compiling that data, building custom apps and registration sites,” he says. “During event would be management of the event itself, potentially with someone from our team on site. This would include the process of delegate registration and communication. And post event there’s comms and feedback loops for attendees. Plus reporting and analysis for the business to really understand what’s worked. This is then fed back into the start of the planning process for the next meeting or event.”
At the Cvent Connect Europe session, Browne and Blondel focused, in particular, on event travel and logistics that, for the most part, is taken care of in the pre-event stage.
Key pre-event technology touchpoints
- Make savings by booking group travel
- Block allocations
- Accuracy and compliance – adherence to policy but also ensuring the right travel elements are booked
- Reporting and risk – understanding where people are and reducing that risk element, and also being able to run straightforward reports on attendee compliance
- Attendee data – getting deeper insight into attendees, being able to use that to better understand their requirements and feed back into the process
- Optimise and manage to maximise utilisation
- Central co-ordination regardless of the approach – whether block booking or not
- Mandate questions through the tech to make sure all the information is provided in one go. This saves time and improves efficiency
- Attendee experience.
Tailor-made technology for each event
“We have a bespoke approach to technology – providing the right solution for each client’s specific requirements,” Blondel adds. “While there are common elements, every company is different and there may even be a need for different approaches with the same client, depending on the meeting or event in question.”
Blondel highlights a recent example of technology usage with a client in the legal sector, who secured group seats for a recent partner conference.
“By doing this they would achieve savings so wanted to ensure maximum utilisation,” Blondel says. “By uploading all group seats into their registration site, the attendees were encouraged to select the group flights that had been secured. We were able to manage and report on utilisation to the client who could then push the use of these flights within their organisation. Having the ability to load these seats into Cvent was integral to the success of this.”
Did you know…?
Reed & Mackay Events was named as 2024’s Cvent’s Excellence Partner of the Year and has recently extended its partnership with the technology provider across its European markets. Already working with Cvent in the UK and US, the partnership now reaches across Reed & Mackay in Germany, France, Spain, Sweden and Italy, providing local, in-language support.
Get in touch
Mail hello@reedmackay.com to discuss all of your corporate travel and event management needs.
