Category: Event Planner Resource

EventNook empowers Google For Indonesia 2022 with onsite registration management

Posted on by eventnook

Google for Indonesia is back in its seventh edition on 7th December 2022, and this year it is held as an in-person event and through online streaming. The event brought industry leaders, educators, and several ministers in Indonesia on how to innovate together and take advantage of the best technology from Google to support Indonesians everywhere through various programs and initiatives.

EventNook was tasked with helping to streamline the onsite registration process for more than 3,000 attendees. The event required onsite registration and badge printing for all attendees, which had the potential to create long lines and delays. EventNook Kiosk Smart check-in with QR Code, instant badge printing, and comprehensive onsite administration tools make the registration process fast, smooth, and seamless.

Watch a quick snapshot of an Onsite Registration Process

Challenges:

  • A fast, smooth, and well-organized registration process is critical for Google to reflect its top global brand image and the first impression for an entire event experience.
  • Onsite registration and badge printing for 3,000 attendees could be time-consuming and create long lines. All guests must be efficiently checked in within 45 to 60 minutes before the opening speech.
  • The registration process needed to be efficient and seamless to provide a positive experience for attendees
  • The event organizers needed a reliable and user-friendly system to manage onsite registration and badge printing.

Solution:

We supported our client WeAreMCI – MCI Group in implementing an onsite event registration and instant badge printing system. The system included tablets for attendees to self-register and print their badges on demand. The tablets were equipped with QR Scan to verify the guest and validate identity. Attendees simply scanned their tickets and ID, and their badges were printed immediately.

We provided the badge with a tear-resistant, stylish, and environmentally friendly badge. It saves the requirement of having a plastic badge holder and an extra 1 minute per guest for inserting the badge into the plastic holder.

Our eventnook team with the event team to take the lead on setting up the registration counters and coordinating with the event team for the event day registration flow and planning.

Results:

  • The onsite event registration and instant badge printing system was a success, with 95% of attendees completing the registration process in under 2 minutes without waiting time.
  • The system was user-friendly and efficient, with minimal delays or issues.
  • Attendees reported a positive experience with the registration process, with many noting the convenience and speed of the system.
  • The event organizers smoothly managed onsite registration and badge printing, with minimal staff required to assist attendees.

Conclusion:

By implementing an onsite event registration and instant badge printing system, the event was able to streamline the registration process and provide a smooth and seamless experience for attendees. The system was efficient and user-friendly and significantly improved the registration process.

About EventNook

EventNook is based in Singapore, and we are one of the leading event technology companies in Asia. Our mission is to continue to build a scalable event management platform by simplifying and, in many ways, redefining the old event management process. We take into account every event we have assisted in managing, and using this insight, we have optimized our use of the latest innovations in cloud and mobile technologies. We have empowered event organizers and planners to create a successful series of events.

If you are looking for an event technology and registration solution partner to organize your next major event, drop us a note. Our event success team will be glad to assist your school events successfully. Learning more about EventNook – https://www.eventnook.sg

Best Practices for Protecting cUSTOMER DATA FOR Event Team

Posted on by eventnook

Your team security is as strong as your weakest link.

The security and safety of customer data will be of utmost importance for building a trusted relationship with your customer and audience.

An organization committed to the safety of its customer data starts with a simple good habit and regular check-ups. It must be an intentional discipline to achieve it, similar to customer satisfaction and high standard in the team.

The checklist that requires habit for an event team

#PracticeCompliance Requirement
1Use a strong password to access the company tools and services avoid using simple passwords such as password123100%
2Use a strong password to access the company tools and services. Avoid using simple passwords such as password123100%
3Never leave the computer or devices open ( without locking the screen) when you are away from your desk. This especially happens a lot with onsite at the event venue.100%
4Device Lost – if you lost the device that has access to the company data, immediately inform the company to lock the device, remove the key from the device, and change the Password immediately.100%
5Avoid Saving Passwords for sites that have sensitive customer data.100%
6Be Careful installing 3rd party plugins that track or steal your credential (such as username/password) and customer data. E.g., Gmail plugin, Chrome plugin, etc., especially the plugins that are not legitimate and collect data secretly.100%
7Regular Cleanup – safely remove the temporarily downloaded customer data (excel / CSV) in your local devices/laptop for technical and customer support. It’s usually downloaded to the Download folder / a drive on your devices100%
8Use 2FA Authentication wherever available100%
9Use a Secure and legitimate VPN service. If you need to use the VPN, be careful using some free VPN services that may collect your data.100%
10Avoid sending or transferring the customer data via Chat services such as WhatsApp / Telegram, etc.For the data transfer for work purposes, strictly use the company email provided by the companyAvoid using the personal email for all company matters100%
11Avoid sending the excel sheet without password protection (For data such as the customer’s registration data that requires PDPA compliance and avoid breaching)100%
12Avoid sending the customer data to a non-authorized person from the customer team and without verification. When the data is sent, the company email must be used to transfer the data.100%
13Avoid sharing the username and Password when you need to share the username and password login access. Instead, send the username and Password in a separate communication.100%
14Keep up-to-date software updates for your devices with the latest security update and patches100%

Work Collaboration and Document

#PracticeCompliance Requirement
1Use Google Drive for all work documents.
When the file is shared, try not to share it as public unless it has no important data. Share it to only people who are involved. 		100%
2If the cloud PC is provided for work, all work must be done in the cloud PC.100%
3If the mobile device is provided for work, all work activities and apps such as Gmail, Chat, etc must be done on the company device. 
If you have to use personal device, ask approval from the company for accessing the company works from your personal devices.		100%

Onsite Event Support – Best Practices

#PracticeCompliance Requirement
1the items above – 100%
2Shred the paper that has all personal data information such as guest list after the event is over100%
3Log out from all websites, apps, and tools after the event.

The rental laptop and mobile devices must clear all the cache in the browser and log out of all the event apps and administrative websites properly.		100%
4Change the Password – if you have given your Password to external temp staff/event team members100%
5Never give your admin password that has access to all other customer data for support to external temp staff100%
6Suppose you signed an NDA confidentiality agreement with the customer. In that case, you must get the temp staff or external contractors to sign the NDA for event support or brief them on the requirement of data confidentiality.100%

About EventNook

EventNook is based in Singapore, and we are one of the leading event technology companies in Asia. Our mission is to continue to build a scalable event management platform by simplifying and, in many ways, redefining the old event management process. We take into account every event we have assisted in managing, and using this insight, we have optimized our use of the latest innovations in cloud and mobile technologies. We have empowered event organizers and planners to create a successful series of events.

If you are looking for an innovative event platform to organize your school activities, drop us a note, and our event success team will be glad to assist your school events successfully. Learning more about EventNook – https://www.eventnook.sg

How school open house events are using EventNook registration platform to increase attendance

Posted on by eventnookteam

Choosing the right school is often seen as a major milestone for students and their parents. Asides from the academic achievements, many students are placing more emphasis on how the schools can aid and guide them in their holistic development. 

Open houses play an important role for the schools to attract and recruit a new batch of students every year. It is often seen as the first impression of the school to impress and welcome aspiring students. The students, with their parents, can get to understand more about the programs and experience the schools offer through opportunities to meet with the senior students and teachers before making their decisions.

EventNook is proud to have empowered several local and international schools based in Singapore by digitalizing the registration and check-in processes for the open houses and various activities. 

With various activities such as guided tours, the Principal’s address, and sharing sessions by the faculty, there is a need to ensure that the crowd control is being well managed. We have received numerous feedback that managing the registration and crowd manually proved to be very time-consuming and taxing. With space limitations as one of the major constraints, most schools face the same problems when receiving a high registration rate from aspiring students and their parents.

As the world and technologies have evolved, manual registration, like in the old day, is not acceptable anymore. Schools have to do engagement and promotion of the upcoming activities on social media channels timely.

As the world evolves, technologies become readily available to help ease the slow, manual processes of the good old days. Digitalization and engaging the students through social media channels become inevitable for most schools.

The ease of the registration process and the timeliness of marketing with email reminders play a critical role in a successful turnout rate, even for schools that do not have any problems with garnering the interest of students. When the registration process is too deemed to be too troublesome, it will have an increased frustration which will have a huge impact on the registration and turnout rate.

Registration by timeslot and capacity control example

EventNook has helped several schools and their administration teams run their events efficiently and effectively. With innovative ways of managing the event registration process, engagements have increased significantly, and the team can focus more on creating a better experience for the students. 

The school team can easily manage the entire event with a simple and user-friendly administrative portal. 

EventNook’s simple and powerful event registration management platform

With EventNook, schools can professionally create and manage their open house event in minutes and create and launch Event Websites, Ticket Sales, and Registration in minutes. Here are some of our main features that can be utilized in managing your Open House event:

  1. Launch event site in minutes
  2. The automated end-to-end registration process
  3. Managing booking and timeslot with capacity control
  4. Automated emails, such as Confirmation emails, Reminder Emails, etc.
  5. Monitor attendance status in real-time
  6. Smart Check-in with QR Scan and onsite registration process

Here is how EventNook check-in manages guest registration at the event

We also provide onboarding assistance, such as product training to onsite training, so you are in good hands to run a big school event. EventNook has cooperated with a number of schools in order to manage their open house event greatly. We are glad that the schools trust our services. We look forward to participating in more educational communities for years to come.

EventNook is based in Singapore, and we are one of the leading event technology companies in Asia. Our mission is to continue to build a scalable event management platform by simplifying and, in many ways, redefining the old event management process. We take into account every event we have assisted in managing, and using this insight, we have optimized our use of the latest innovations in cloud and mobile technologies. We have empowered event organizers and planners to create a truly successful series of events.

If you are looking for an innovative event platform to organize your school activities, drop us a note, and our event success team will be glad to assist your school events successfully. Learning more about EventNook – https://www.eventnook.sg

[News] Updated Safety Management Measures (SMM) of Singapore for MICE events effective from 15-Mar-2022

Posted on by eventnookteam

We are happy to share the recent updates of SMM MICE events in Singapore and we would like to share the summary of notes from SACEOS and STB for event planners and event professionals who are planning for physical MICE events in Singapore.

SACEOS and STB have made the summary of SMM for MICE events to understand easily and we would like to share their updates from the newsletter as below with the event industry.

SMMs for MICE events from 15 March 2022

1) Safe distancing is encouraged but not required between individuals or groups in all mask-on settings.

2) Safe distancing of at least 1 meter between groups of up to 5 participants is required for all mask-off settings e.g. during meals, unmasked speakers. 

3) No limit on the maximum number of participants provided the event venue can accommodate

4) No zoning requirements

5) No distinction between seated events (e.g. conferences) and roaming events (e.g. trade shows)

6) Live performances, where incidental, will be permitted.

Event Capacity Limits

1) Events with ≤1,000 participants at a time: no capacity limit. 

2) Events with >1,000 participants at a time: capacity is limited to 50% of the maximum number of individuals specified in the most recent approval under section 55 of the Fire Safety Act 1993, or 50% of the fixed seating for the Event Venue, whichever is the higher. Participants must, as far as is reasonably practicable, be evenly spread out when present in the event venue. 

3) The total operating capacity at any point in time will include all participants of the event, including exhibitors, media attending the event, speakers, participants’ liaison officers, etc.

4) EO staff who are also participating in the event (e.g. as speakers, audience members, etc.) are included in the total operating capacity. All other EO staff and external service providers are excluded.

Up to 50 participants^ at a time

More than 50 participants at a time

Safe distancing of at least 1 metre between groups of up to 5 participants where masks are not worn.

[From 15 March 2022] Capacity limit of 50%[3] for events with >1,000 participants at a time. No zoning requirements

Safe distancing of at least 1 metre between groups of up to 5 participants where masks are not worn.

Adhere to Safe Management Measures (SMMs) at the Workplace by the Ministry of Manpower here.

MICE event application is not required.

^includes Event Organisers but excludes premises staff at third party venues

Both the Event Organiser and Event Venue (collectively, EOs) must submit an application for STB’s assessment and for the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) to approve the EO carrying out the event.

An individual must be:

a) fully vaccinated*, or

b) within the 180-day exemption period after recovery from COVID-19.

Application Process

1) Apply at https://go.gov.sg/submit-wre-mice

2) The following information and documents are required to complete the application:

a)  Event itinerary including floorplan (PDF, max 10 MB) and

b)  Applicant’s details e.g. UEN details of event organizers and venues

3) Each MICE event and its related marketing efforts may be carried out only after receiving written approval from MTI. Please note that MTI has the right to impose stricter/additional SMMs or vary some SMMs.

4) EOs must submit their application at least 1 month prior to each MICE event. STB and MTI will take up to 14 business days to assess each application.

For any inquiries on the application process, please contact businessevents@stb.gov.sg

Useful Links

STB: Safe Management Measures for MICE Events

STB: Checklist on Safe Management Measures for MICE events

STB: MICE Events – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

MOM: Requirements for Safe Management Measures at the workplace

MOM: Checklist of Workplace Safe Management Measures

MOM: FAQs on Safe Management Measures at the workplace

We are looking forward to welcoming more physical events ahead. Do not hesitate to contact us at hello@eventnook.com.

How do you run the successful fundraising Walk or Run for a cause during the pandemic

Posted on by eventnook

If you can’t bring everyone together at a single place to run for a cause, you can bring everyone from anywhere to join any time.

We have been helping out the fundraising activities such as Virtual Run and Walk for charity causes during the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the virtual run had started prior to the pandemic but it has become the trend (or rather the only choice) during the pandemic. It will definitely continue beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

There are some pro factors with the virtual runs. First off, the participants can run at their own flexible timing at their preferred places. Secondly, the participants can be from anywhere across the border and anyone from anywhere can participate for a cause they want to support. Thirdly, it doesn’t have major logistics issues in terms of requiring a large public space, emergency medical team, applying the permit to allow the road blocking, etc. during the race. More importantly, anyone or a small team can initiate it for a greater cause that can have an impact as big as a large scale physical event!

Of course, there are also a lot of great points with the physical run and the great experience and inspiration we can get from the physical events cannot be replaced.

silhouette of person standing near trees
Running in the country side (credit: unsplash)

So, how do you kick start the virtual run? And what tools do you need to run the event?

We would like to share how you can successfully run a virtual run or walk from the experience we have learned from helping our organizers.

We will be sharing the following 6 steps that are essentials.

  1. Start with the goal
  2. An Engaging Event Title, Tagline and #Hashtag
  3. Poster Design
  4. Recognition
  5. Event Website and Registration
  6. Payment Collection

1. Start with the Goal

Start with the goal – what is the objective? Is it for fundraising? Or raising awareness for a cause?

The clarity of the goal gives your team to create an effective marketing campaign and strategy to reach out to the demographic of the participants who will be interested to join your cause.

Here is an example of the goal from one of our clients – Kidney Dialysis Foundation, Singapore which has run the well engaged Virtual Walk successfully.

‘Got To Walk’ is a virtual walkathon that was first initiated in 2020, with the aim of creating awareness for the importance of kidney health, and to raise funds to sustain KDF’s efforts to provide subsidised dialysis for the poor. The event saw more than 1,200 sign-ups and raised a total of $100,000 over a span of two weeks.

2. Have an Engaging Title, Tagline, #HashTag

An engaging title, tagline and design really matters to attract the people to sign up and motivate them to join your cause for a purpose!

We are the #HashTag social media generation and it’s where everyone’s eyeballs are.

3. Poster Design

You can easily create a great poster design by using the simple and easy tools like

If you require some images to be used in the design, you can also get the loyalty free images from online website like unsplash. [To know more about searching free images, read here]

4. Recognition

Recognition for participant is super important. For a lot of people, it may be the first-time participation in the run or walk event. They would definitely like to collect something for memories of good deed.

Everyone likes to be proud of completing the run. You can consider a couple of things below for the recognition of their participation in your cause.

  1. Finisher medal
  2. Finisher Teeshirt
  3. Certificate or e-Certificate [EventNook registration platform can help you to design the personalized e-certificate and sending e-certificate to all participants via mass email]
Finisher - 42/52 | Medals awaiting to be handed out to finis… | Flickr
Sample of medal
Philadelphia Marathon Finisher Certificate | Rahim Rahman | Flickr
Sample of e-certificate

5. Event Website and Registration

The online registration will be a critical component to manage the participants with series of activities throughout the event during pre-event, on the event days and post-event.

And it’s also the easiest task as there are comprehensive online event registration software like us – EventNook that can provide you to easily create the event registration and website within minutes if you already have the event information ready to publish.

For registration form, you will need to consider a few things below:

  1. What details of the participant do you require to collect? Name, Email, etc?
  2. Do you need to collect the shipping address? – Yes, if you are sending a Finisher Medal to the participants who completed the run.
  3. Do you need to collect additional information for event planning such as How do they know about your event?

6. Payment Collection

If you need to collect payment for accepting donation or participation fee, EventNook online event registration platform has integrated online payment which you can easily plugin. EventNook payment integration with major payment gateways such as Stripe and PayPal offers a variety of payment options such as Visa, Master, Amex, JCB, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Grab Pay, AliPay, etc. The payment will directly proceed to your payment gateway account in real-time.

If you are planning to host a virtual or physical run, our EventNook team will be happy to share more on how to make your event registration management seamless for the whole end-to-end process and provide a free consultation to kick start your event registration.

Just drop us an email to hello@eventnook.com.

about eventnook

EventNook is based in sunny Singapore and we have empowered events from 21 countries and counting. We have been supporting a range of events from various organizations – small non-profit organisations to top brands such as Google, IBM, EY, Deloitte, etc.

If you are planning to organize events and looking for the right event registration management solution, please contact us [EventNook – Contact Us] for a free trial and consultation.

SG SafeEvents Certification

Posted on by Kaung Set
STB’s annual Tourism Industry Conference on April 7, 2021

Singapore introduced a new certification program called SG SafeEvents Certification for large scale events to be conducted with hygiene benchmarks and safe-distancing best practices.

During this challenging pandemic period, the Singapore government and associations have been formulating and imposing necessary standards and new regulations for each respective industry to minimize the risk of COVID-19 infection and to restart the MICE industry, and SG SafeEVents Certification will play a vital role for the event organizing to reborn again.   

Let’s go further in-depth about SG SafeEvents Certification by discussing the following topics.

  • What is SG SafeEvents Certification?
  • Why would we need SG SafeEvents Certification?
  • How can we get certified?
Antigen Rapid Test at STB’s annual Tourism Industry Conference on April 7, 2021

What is SG SafeEvents Certification?

The SG SafeEvents Certification program launched at the Tourism Industry Conference by the Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organizers and Suppliers (SACEOS) is aimed at event organizers, venue owners, and suppliers’ competitive edge, a mark of assurance in a COVID-19 safe marketplace. The SG SafeEvents Standard is to be used in conjunction with WHO Guidelines and all other prevailing Singapore national standards, such as SG Clean, to ensure you can organize and execute your event in a safe, sustainable and responsible manner. 

The certification program is based on the Technical Reference (TR) 84 “Safe event management for the events industry”, developed by the Singapore Standards Council (SSC) and overseen by Enterprise Singapore (ESG). TR 84 is a paid guide that lists recommended best practices in hygiene and sanitization, safe distancing and emergency management for business events beyond the government-mandated Safe Management Measures (SMM). It also referenced the Events Industry Resilience Roadmap (IRR) released by SACEOS in October 2020, which guides organizing safe business events, solutions for hybrid events and new capabilities needed to transform the industry.

Why would we need SG SafeEvents Certification?

The Straits Times stated that the program, announced at STB’s annual Tourism Industry Conference, will run for three years, after which there may be plans to use the experience gained to turn the SG SafeEvents Certification into a full-fledged Singapore standard. Moreover, under the best practices of Event Industry Resilience Road Map Guideline (IRR), it also urged the MICE players to attain SG SafeEvent certifications and work only with certified SG SafeEvent Venues and SG SafeEvent Suppliers. Therefore, it would be no doubt that it can become a nationwide standard certificate every event industry player should have to display or assure that they meet Singapore government standards, ensuring conference attendees and their partners. 

How can we get certified?

Generally, the following aspects would be covered to get SG SafeEvents certified.

  • Event organizers must have risk management plans, documentation of identified hazards and necessary control measures to be implemented before, during and post the events 
  • Venue Operators must develop routine and periodic cleaning and disinfection plans 
  • Organizers and venue operators are encouraged to use contactless technology where feasible.
  • Protocols are needed to put in place to contain and manage emergencies.

Moreover, according to Event Industry Resilience Road Map Guideline (IRR), technology adoption in registration management becomes viable and best practices for event organizers in event planning and management. In IRR best practices, it is also recommended to do contactless registration, health screening by asking health assessment questions and perform with clear signages, thermal cameras and temperature checks at all entry points. 

In those aspects, you need to consider using technology advancements such as QR codes, RFID Badge or facial recognition for contactless registration and event check-in. And if touchless registration is not practicable, you need to control the access in advance – start from pre-event registration of stakeholders to ensure the number of people onsite and distribute tickets, badges ahead of time to reduce touch points upon entry. But that manual process can delay the working process and make it challenging to manage the registration in huge events unless using event registration management software like EventNook.

Zone assignment

EventNook can help your attendees to have the unique QR code when they registered and scan it on their own on EventNook mobile self check-in kiosks. And attendees can even print the personalised badge with name, zone and table number assigned at the onsite independently with no waiting time by reducing the touch points and avoiding the crowded situation as you see in the video below.

Moreover, it should be considered for health and screening safety measures to use an AI temperature scanner, constant temperature monitoring token, disinfection mist tunnel, and anti-microbial coating of common surface areas. 

Suppose you wish to be certified under the provisional standard or learn more about the certification process. In that case, you can register for the industry briefing next month by emailing SACEOS secretariat@saceos.org.sg.

I hope you find this article helpful, and if you have any feedback on the article, please feel free to drop us at hello@eventnook.com, and we would love to hear your thoughts!

EventNook is based in sunny Singapore, and we have empowered events from 21 countries and counting. We have supported a range of events from the various organizations – a small non-profit organization to top brands such as Google, IBM, EY, Deloitte, etc. If you are keen to know more about EventNook services for your upcoming events, we will be glad to assist, and please feel free to contact us.

References:

New standards for Mice sector launched as S’pore prepares to hold larger events, welcome visitors, Consumer News & Top Stories – The Straits Times

Certification programme launched to ensure safe resumption of Mice events in Singapore, SME – THE BUSINESS TIMES

New certification standard for large Mice events, Consumer News & Top Stories – The Straits Times

Tourism Industry Conference 2021 – YouTube

https://www.saceos.org.sg

QR codes for various use cases in events

Posted on by Kaung Set

Do you see a QR code everywhere in almost every event you attend, and have you ever wondered how do QR codes work or how they can be beneficial in the event industry? If you are beginning to understand QR code possible use cases in events, this article will help you one step ahead towards event market domination. The following are the contents we would cover.

  1. What is a QR code?
  2. How to use the QR code?
  3. Where to use the QR code in Events?
  4. How to create the QR code?

1. What is a QR code?

Before we jump to the possible use cases, we must first learn the QR code’s basic concepts.

QR code stands for Quick Response code, a two-dimensional version barcode capable of storing lots of data almost instantly by scanning with the mobile device. Nowadays, QR codes can be seen everywhere and anywhere widely used for marketing, advertising, events, healthcare, education, and payment.

There are two types of QR codes: Static & Dynamic. The Static QR code is fixed and permanent, and its data cannot be edited after completion. It could help link email addresses, social media, URLs, wifi passwords, etc. On the other hand, dynamic QR codes can store more data and can be edited and even after you have printed it on paper.

2.How to use the QR code?

QR code can be decoded in two ways:

  • Third-party QR code reader app that converts the image to usable information
  • The device camera functions as a built-in QR code scanner in a mobile device, such as new smartphone versions: iPhone, Bixby vision for Samsung, etc.

3.Where to use the QR code in Events?

QR codes for Event Marketing

You can use QR code to amplify your event marketing efforts in boosting more attendees. By offering additional information in the QR code, users can simply scan the code and view all the event details: location, time, and link to the event ticketing platforms to purchase the event ticket with a tap.

It is also perfect for advertising on paper-based printing materials such as leaflets. The space needed to spend on the ads page can be minimized and promotes advanced technology excitement through scanning. You can easily print those printed ads and do leaflets printingonline at Gogoprint, and they will deliver your orders to your doorstep. You can create large-scale marketing campaigns on prints such as billboards, advertising posts, even bus stops, and even in digital worlds by integrating the use of QR codes.

As an additional benefit, you can track and optimize your QR code campaigns in digital and print. In that report, you can view the real-time metrics such as location, time scanned, types of devices used, total scans, etc.

QR codes for Business Cards

Business cards are mandatory, especially in networking and business events. Instead of writing out your business emails, website, address, and some other details on your business card, you could easily create a QR code and print it on a business card without occupying too much space on it. QR codes on a business card are essential to communicate with your potential business partners, customers, and investors. They can be stored with your basic information and your company or product information to build your company’s credentials to the business community.

You may want to find out how Gogoprint can help you with Business card printing online.

QR codes for Onsite Registration at an event

When an event accepts walk-in customers and customers need to do onsite registration or onsite ticket purchase, it could be redundant in the registration process if you collect the attendee’s information with the manual registration process.

In that case, you can create a QR code for the URL of the registration site or event ticket platform and print it somewhere in the event registration area so that people can quickly scan the QR code to register or purchase the tickets in a short time on their own. And you can assign one or two staff at the onsite registration counter to help with it if there are any issues.

QR codes for Event Check-in

Check-in with a QR code can speed up the process and will help to avoid the long queue at the entrance. It can also track people’s attendance at an event. To create a QR code for event check-in, you can use an event registration software like EventNook.

With EventNook, once registrants purchase the ticket or register the Event, they will automatically receive the e-ticket embedded with an instantly generated and unique QR code. Then, on the event day, the event organizer can use a free EventNook mobile check-in kiosk to let people check in by scanning each registrant’s unique QR code. All you need is iPhone or iPad device.

In that way, QR codes can track the attendee’s check-in, absence data, and solve the long queue problems in event registration and make your events look stunning and professional with advanced technology excitement. Check out the below video on how smart check-in with QR code works.

QR code for Event Badges

Adding QR codes on custom event badges can improve the event entry process and provide networking and additional marketing opportunities.

For instance, there may involve a large group of attendees attending the same event in networking or business events, and it can put more pressure on the event management team to make both admission and re-entry faster. In that case, using digital methods can help with this. You can use registration software like EventNook, which can not only track the attendees but can provide onsite event badge printing services by showing the unique QR code to scan on the EventNook smart mobile check-in kiosk.

As you see in video above, within 2 seconds, you can print onsite custom event badges. You can also include QR code on the name badge that enables participants to network as digital business cards to streamline the networking efforts. Below is another sample video of how EventNook can scan the QR code inserted badge and track exhibitor leads.

4.How to create the QR code?

There are many free online QR code generators. You should still consider credibility, clarity, and brand reputation, such as if they got trusted by big names and brands in choosing the best QR code generators. Most QR code generators allow free static QR code, but you cannot change the information behind your QR code once generated in the QR code generator. But with the subscription, you can create the dynamic one, which allows you to edit the data behind the QR code even after printing. The followings are recommended free QR code generators.

  • QR codes for Event Check-in, Onsite Badge Printing- EventNook

I hope you find it helpful. If you have any feedback on the article, please feel free to drop us hello@eventnook.com, and we would love to hear your thoughts!

If you are keen to know more about EventNook services for your upcoming events, we will be glad to assist, and please feel free to contact us.

How to host an Online Virtual Conference

Posted on by celineaung
Image credit: Wikipedia

As fear over COVID-19 escalates and in-person gatherings are discouraged, many event organisers are facing a dilemma between postponing the physical conference VS hosting it digitally through live-streaming platforms.

Are you considering moving your conference online but are a bit daunted at the process?

Though we do not expect online conferences to displace all physical conferences, nor to replace networking of meeting in person, they are definitely a great alternative to be socially responsible and control the spread of global pandemic in 2020. Hosting an online conference can provide alternative benefits, starting with being a cost-effective alternative (cost savings from not having to rent event spaces, hiring staff, and costs associated to travel, food, hotels, and entertainment), increased efficiency (short break-out session instead of lasting an entire day or two), greater audience reach (distance no longer is an obstacle in connecting to more attendees across the globe). That being said, it is also important to recognise that virtual event, just like a physical event, require preparation, planning and preproduction.

In this article, we will take a closer look at how you can host a virtual conference – from the technology required to key steps in putting an actual conference together, as well as, other considerations to be made.

Online Infrastructure

Video Conferencing & Interactivity Tools

Procuring a reliable real-time technical support is essential to a successful online event. You will need to recruit a technical vendor to help you host your virtual event. Depending on whether you would like it to be live or pre-recorded, size of your audience and nature of your conference, your suitable choice of vendor will differ. 

Consider researching and reading up on different options from these providers:

I would recommend doing a features and cost comparison between different vendors. It’s important to look closely on features available, capability on simultaneously connecting all of your attendees, as well as, additional controls like muting. Cost is another factor that should be taken account so you can align your budget accordingly.

To encourage interaction in virtual environment, you might consider integrating interactive Live Q&A tools to your virtual conference – here are some options:

By asking relevant, provocative questions, these platforms help to spark really good exchanges with you audience and promote discussion among your audience.

Registration Site

A website is required for your attendees to register for the virtual conference. It acts as a central repository for all information related to your event. At Eventnook, we can help you build an online registration site, where you can post information on your event with your own branding, collect information from attendees using our forms, access to a secure payment platform (where payment is required), automate email communications with robust confirmation and reminder emails, as well as, secure storage and transmission of your data. 

We are also launching UserRoll to help small to empower medium size online events, courses and webinars with registration and audience management. It also includes features like payment collection if you are selling your events or courses.

Physical infrastructure – Quality gear

You can buy or rent the A/V gear, or seek out an AV production company to assist you. Ensure you have the right hardware to give your virtual conference a professional feel. If you regularly host online events, the former may be cost-effective, otherwise, the latter would be the way to go.

Book a virtual studio or professional green screen studio to record or film the event. Here, you will be able to find sound, lighting, camera, video recording and experienced operators. In Singapore, studio space day rate usually range around SGD400. If you require video camera and operator, the price ranges from SGD300 to 650. Sound recording will set you back at least SGD300.

TEST, TEST & TEST…

I am certain all event organisers can agree that testing is a very important aspect of any event. This too applies for a virtual conference, to ensure that the event is not derailed by technical problems, as far as a controllable situation is concerned. Where possible, plan for a backup software, as well as, any crucial A/V components.

Testing checklist:

  1. Ensure that your event audience can easily log in, view and hear what is happening without lip sync, glitches or interruptions.
  2. Brief presenters or panel on the software and where possible, invite them to be physically present at the recording studio. If some of presenters are joining virtually, do remind them to do several tests on their end.
  3. Check quality of the video and sound and try out the set-up in detail

Challenges of a digital conference

With virtual events, some challenges exist in contrast to a physical event.

  1. Low Audience Retention

Unlike traditional physical events, there would be challenges to maintain engagement with your audience. You are likely to experience an audience with a shorter attention span and lower level of engagement. This makes it so important to plan in a way to stay connected and engaged. Closely planning the virtual event agenda and monitoring the flow of presentation, as well as, volume and tone of presentation would be crucial to retain your audience’s attention. With virtual events, your audience on the other end could be easily distracted, switch to another task, log-off or get away from their laptops.

2. Limited Target Audience

Your target audience outreach would be limited to tech-savvy individuals or people who have easy access to a laptop or internet.

3. Lack of control

With virtual events, you are operating or working with a video streaming platform, whom you are mainly relying on for seamless virtual event streaming with no interruptions or technical issues. There could also be connectivity issues in voice and video lag.

PROMOTION

After all the preparation and considerations, you now have your hardware, software, key speakers, a clear conference programme, and a website (or event page) to guide people to. From now on, your main focus is promoting the conference via all available channels.

For an online conference, you have numerous ways for promotion on a relatively small budget:

  • Social media sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter – all depending on your audience)
  • Relevant forums where potential attendees might hang out (e.g. a community for tourism professionals where you can promote your tourism conference)
  • Email database, own blogs and press releases

For promotion on social channels, consider a catchy #hashtag you can use whenever you post about the upcoming conference. Word of mouth is a great promotional method so do encourage your speakers to promote the conference to their audience on their own channels. They have a vested interest to do so and able to garner more buzz and interest from their followers.

CONCLUSION

Based on our experience, virtual conferences are definitely less time-intensive and risky as compared to a physical event, but that doesn’t mean they don’t require planning and consume time. A tip from us would be to “Start well in advance!”

Stay safe and take care!

How To Legally Use Free Images From The Internet

Posted on by veratanevnk

You will come across many situations when you will need a beautiful and relevant picture but cannot find one. These are just a few of the many situations:

  • Marketing- When you are promoting a product, service or event
  • Design- Websites and apps
  • Social Media Sharing- When you just want your posts to look nice for your followers

Myth: If it’s on online, it’s free.

DEBUNKED! Many people think that anything that can be found on online is free for use. There are so many images available from a simple search on Google, however, many of them are actually protected by copyright. Infringement of copyright can have both civil or criminal penalties, therefore, it is important to know how to filter the images and look for images that are free to use commercially or non-commercially, so you do not face the risk of copyright infringement.

There are 2 main channels you can use to source for your images, legally:

  1. Google Advanced Search
  2. Licensed websites

google advanced search

Yes, this is the same old Google we all know. However, many do not know Google actually has a way to filter images by usage rights.

Now that you know Google has this function and how to filter your results, make sure you adjust the filter every time you search for an image!

licensed websites

For event planners and marketers, if you have an event and you do not have aesthetically appealing photos to promote your event, you may use these licensed websites to help you find the perfect image. To show you an example, the photos below are the results that turn up when I search for the keyword ‘Awards’ on each website.

Creative Commons (CC)

Result when I search ‘Awards’ on CC Search

“_TXT9911”by Official GDC is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Images from CC are freely available for legal use, sharing, repurposing, and remixing. You won’t have to worry about not being able to find a suitable photo on CC, as they have millions sharing their photos on the platform for all to use!

However, there is one condition of all CC licenses, which is source attribution. You may use the images freely, for any purpose, but do remember that you have to give credit to the people who provided you those pictures.

What is the best practice for source attribution? Here is an example given by CC of an ideal attribution.

“Creative Commons 10th Birthday Celebration San Francisco” by tvol is licensed under CC BY 2.0

  • Title? “Creative Commons 10th Birthday Celebration San Francisco”
  • Author? “tvol” – add link to his profile page
  • Source? “Creative Commons 10th Birthday Celebration San Francisco” – add to original page
  • License? “CC BY 2.0” – add link to license deed

You are able to copy a HTML to embed the attribution with license icons in your web page.

Unsplash

Result when I search ‘Awards’ on Unsplash

Unsplash is a a go-to website if you need artsy pictures to use for your blogs and digital projects. You can search the inventory on the website as well as subscribe to receive 10 new images every 10 days, delivered straight to your inbox. All photos published on Unsplash can be used for free. You can use them for commercial and noncommercial purposes without needing to provide credit to the photographer or Unsplash, although it is appreciated when possible.

More precisely, Unsplash grants you an irrevocable, nonexclusive, worldwide copyright license to download, copy, modify, distribute, perform, and use photos from Unsplash for free, including for commercial purposes, without permission from or attributing the photographer or Unsplash. However, this license does not include the right to compile photos from Unsplash to replicate a similar or competing service.

Even though attribution isn’t required, it would be appreciated if you could credit the Unsplash photographers as it provides exposure to their work and encourages them to continue sharing.

Crediting the photographer can be as simple as this:

Photo by [Name with a profile link] on Unsplash

Pexel

Result when I search ‘Awards’ on Pexel

Pexel is very similar to Unsplash. All photos are free to use and modify without attribution. In fact, the Pexels team hand-picks all of the images from other free image sources, including previously mentioned Unsplash. 

However, there are some restrictions that is stated explicitly on the Pexel website:

✕ Identifiable people may not appear in a bad light or in a way that is offensive.

✕ Don’t sell unaltered copies of a photo, e.g. don’t sell it as a stock photo, poster, print or on a physical product without adding any value.

✕ Don’t imply endorsement of your product by people or brands on the image.

✕ Don’t redistribute or sell the photos on other stock photo or wallpaper platforms.

These restrictions are in place to ensure due respect is given to the hard work of their contributors.

You may have noticed that the websites have very different images that come up for the same keyword search. Thus, to find the perfect image for your next event, be it a conference, festival or seminar, you can consider using a combination of these websites to find the perfect image!

Check out the sites below to find free images which can be used for both commercial and non-commercial purposes and check out their licenses too.

The Dawn of the Future: Appraising Facial Recognition as an Event Technology

Posted on by carinazhang9

Facial recognition is a biometric technology that mathematically stores an individual’s facial features. This allows the technology to identify a person in live video or digital images without any other information. With this, your facial features become your digital fingerprint. 

Our clients never fail to ask us this question: “How do you ensure that our data is privately secured?” Being event organisers, they not only value the efficiency and convenience of technology, but also realise the threats it poses to the privacy and freedom of its users.

Our company currently uses the QR code check-in system which enables automated and instant self check-in. In the meantime, we are also actively hunting for a diverse range of check-in methods, including facial recognition.

The use of facial recognition has been gaining momentum in the last few years. Some common examples include tagging a friend on Facebook, unlocking your phone with Face ID and airport customs inspections. The biggest advantage of Face ID would be the speed of the check-in process. However, at the heart of the debate, some concerns regarding the consensus among users and algorithmic biases are raised.

Facial data as sensitive data, whose responsibility is it?

EU’s data protection regulation has defined sensitive data to be “Data about an individual’s race and ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, health information as well as genetic and biometric data”. Thus, facial data of all people is sensitive data, which calls for an even higher level of protection. This requires all companies to be aware of their responsibilities when producing, disseminating and applying users’ data, and to pay attention to the following aspects: How can they obtain users’ consent in a transparent way? Is the facial recognition software inevitably accompanied by the issue of algorithmic bias?

Consent

Usually, event companies will ask the users to upload their headshot in order to later identify them at the check-in point. Once they upload their headshots, it is considered that they have yielded their consent. However, the decision power of consenting is not on them all the time. Some events provide guests with the option to check-in using other methods, such as QR code or manual registration, and attendees can choose to upload their headshots or not. However, for some events, face identification is the only check-in method, which makes it mandatory for any guest to consent to sending out their biometric info. In such a case, it cannot be said for sure that consent was given out of the individual’s free will for the use of their personal data.

algorithmic Biases

“We have entered the age of automation. Over confident, yet under prepared.” – Joy Buolamwini. 

Part of her research examines how accurate facial recognition software are when examining people with different skin colour and gender. Microsoft has the highest accuracy of 94%. However, all softwares have algorithmic bias that better recognises certain types. For example, lighter males on average have a much better accuracy than that of darker females.

While the biggest advantage of facial recognition in event check-in is its efficiency, some delegates may be stopped at the entrance because the software fails to recognise females and people of colour. This “future technology” then not only loses its advancement but also its credibility of fairness.

Going from here

The future of technology is mostly in our hands. We need to decide for ourselves how we should incorporate it into our daily lives. The event industry primarily works with people, so it should not be a test lab for any technology that is not ready. However, we are confident that AI researchers and developers are doing their best to make the algorithm just and transparent, so we can expect a better future with the facial recognition technology.

Till then, the most efficient and secure method of checking-in would be through QR-code scanning. At EventNook, we make event registration easy with our fast and seamless QR code check-in.

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