Clutter. We are constantly trying to eradicate it from our lives. The way we operate, the systems we set up, the surroundings we live in; the one basic principle people live by universally is- more simplification, less complication. Riding on this theorem and with the aim to systemize the largely disorganized Indian events industry is tech driven solutions provider-
Cvent.
Posed as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company, Cvent is an event management platform that was set up in the year 1999 in Virginia, USA, by a man of Indian origin- Reggie Aggarwal. Originally founded to meet the needs of the more developed, metric driven countries of the world where people were few, time was short and labour was expensive, Cvent offered a web-based software for event registration, venue sourcing, event management, email marketing, fee collection, web surveys and a host of other services with the aim of improving the life expectancy of an event planner through simplified solutions. It quickly captured the interest of several large scale organizations with the likes of Rolls Royce, Walmart, Volvo, Johnson & Johnson, Cisco, Nokia etc. and currently employs over 1400 employees globally.
With the swift arrival of multinational companies into India over the last decade, more and more marketers have begun embracing experiential marketing techniques. Brands are beginning to realize the importance of engagement towards building their businesses. With this increased the frequency and scale of events within India and several small to large scale event management agencies cropped up in a short span of time.
Cvent now recognizes the meetings and events industry in India as a large, potential market that could clearly use some expert assistance; its disorganized structure serving as just the ideal consumer base for its product.
In a bid to break into the Indian market Cvent hosted a seminar for the benefit of event planners on
4 March at Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi, demonstrating the functions of what the company claims to be ‘an indispensable event planning tool’ and illustrating the scope of the software towards effective event planning.
Brian Ludwig, Senior VP- Sales, Cvent commented, “In India event organizers are still using time-intensive, traditional methods of sourcing event venues, registrations, maintaining inventories, individually serving hotel and travel needs, and after all the effort, still not being able to accurately compare data. Agreed labour may be readily available in the country but certain things can simply not be achieved manually. Our software ensures seamless event planning right from the get-go.”
While conducting the seminar
Senior Account Executive, Kevin Singh, stated, “Event planning cannot get any simpler once you’ve hooked up with Cvent. Through the Cvent Supplier Network, event planners can send request for proposals to multiple venue options who then compete with each other and quote the most competitive price in the market; almost impossible to achieve if done manually. Once the venue is selected, our professional email invitations feature allows attendees to register at the click of a button, registrants can view the agenda and choose the sessions they wish to attend. They can also schedule meetings with attendees they wish to meet at the event. The system allows payment to be instantly collected and the refund process is automated. Real-time reports and event metrics can be easily retrieved and analysed at the click of a button to help evaluate trends or manage big data. Besides our, award winning customer support team is always there to assist 24/7, 365 days a year”.
A unanimous issue faced by most event planners across the country is- justifying ROI to the sponsors. Afterall it is undeniably challenging to scope out an experience. In response to this
Kevin Singh stated, “Our mobile apps- CrowdTorch and CrowdCompass- engage users and improves attendee experience at consumer oriented events and business related events respectively. Besides it also delivers clear metrics that allows event planners to justify ROI to sponsors. Cvent provides over 100 standard reports and unlimited custom reports ranging from registration reports, travel reports, financial reports, contact reports, email reports, cross-event reports etc that help greatly in measuring event ROI and speaking to sponsors in the language they best understand”.
So the question remains, is this value for money in an Indian set-up? Can technology actually replace the comforting voice of another human being across the phone? Can automated solutions outshine the laborious methods of personalization? Will the Indian events industry embrace Cvent or reject it?
We await the throw of the dice.
