Event platform – preparing an event in an exceptional time

The exceptional worldwide situation has led professional congress organisers (PCOs) to make exceptional decisions. Many purposeful events had to be cancelled or transferred to hybrid/online reality. The circumstances have forced the event industry to present new solutions and tools.

Interview with Iwona Bajger representing meeting.net.pl platform, who talks about useful tools in the events industry, new formats in organising them and the phenomenon of hybrid quality.

How has the situation with COVID-19 affected the events industry from your perspective?

The events industry and – what I am most pleased about – the recipients of our events have opened up to hybrid formula. We are also happy to organise meeting in the hybrid way. We are starting to explore this new land. I can see more and more clearly how much we have learnt, experienced and developed recently. We have discovered new ways to access the hybrid recipient. We noticed that hybrid events create a new type of consumer quality. This quality is a very interesting phenomenon – now we need not only to observe and analyse it, but also to adjust new event tools to it. In difficult times we keep trying to make life easier for our customers – that is why we present our event platform meeting.net.pl, which helps our partners to organize events digitally.

 

Why did You focus on organisation optimalisation process, not on its transmission and presentation online?

In the broad discussion on the digitisation of the events industry, we lacked a certain thread. How to organize hybrid events at a time of epidemic danger? How to move colossal interpersonal work to safe online space? These were the questions we asked ourselves several months ago. We felt that we had to take care of the event organizers and the process of safe access to the event. Our answer to these feelings and needs was meeting.net.pl. We undertake multifaced projects – regardless of whether we will organise them in a hybrid way in the near future or we are moving the projects forward and we focus on meetings in real. The issue of logistics, event space projects, agenda, selection of attractions, fair reservations – must be worked out on ongoing basis.

 

How the platform can help to prepare real, hybrid and online events?

The event platform that we have created is an online tool that allows you to organise fairs, conferences, symposia and teambuilding projects. As an organiser, you can manage in a highly complex way your projects in the CMS program. The meeting.net.pl platform manages our guest’s bookings, examines their preferences, creates identifiers, designs interactive event maps. It connects everything in one place. It organizes the data. It is also a platform of cooperation and understanding between the organiser and the participant of the event. Thanks to this solution, we can develop the shape of the event many months before it starts.

 

Is managing the platform complicated?

Absolutely no. Management of meeting.net.pl is very simple – it has been designed as an intuitive event management tool. It is similar to other well-known CMS systems such as WordPress, Joomla or Drupal. Thanks to the fact that each event organiser can operate the platform on their own, we can reduce costs connected with logistics, preparing and conducting our events.

 

What are the most important functionalities of the platform from your point of view?

First of all, to each event organised through the platform, we assign a personalised website to operate our project – this is the basic function, our command base. On this website, guests can register, get acquainted with the agenda, the artistic programme / content of the event or news generated by organisers. The platform communicates with guests, but also involves them in the event. The guests will also be informed about upcoming event by meeting.net.pl platform, so there is no chance for them to miss it. Through the platform, guests can choose their favourite menu item for their lunchbox or sign up for attractions, workshops or discussion panels. The platform also allows us to make event purchases: to book and pay for the hotel room, to buy exhibition stands and other, additional services. The most important thig is that the platform has many other functions that we can be modify at the customer’s request. The code is flexible. We can generate QR codes encrypted with personal information for each participant on badges designed by the platform. An interactive map can be created for the event. Trade fair stands, attractions, stage, gastro zone – all this can be presented on a digital map along with the course of events in the zones and the possibility of recording for attractions or meetings.

Does the meeting.net.pl platform already support events?

Yes, the meeting.net.pl platform is ready and will be developed by us. Its demo version has already successfully handled events organised by Tarifa Corporate Events, such as Tourist Industry Networking which took place in Feb 2020, or our client’s international trade fairs which was attended by several thousands people. We are convinced that there is still lot of fruitful event cooperation ahead of us. Show must go on!

Iwona Bajger

Meeting.net.pl team member