This past year I was given the task of finding an event app for the 2015 National Rural ITS (NRITS) conference. The ideal app would increase our attendee’s engagement and offer new networking experiences and opportunities…all while staying within a small budget. Thus I began the search for an app that would meet our conference’s needs.
If you have ever googled “event app” the results are never ending. But if that wasn’t overwhelming enough, most the app companies don’t publish their pricing. After filtering through a handful of them, I found several products that looked promising – that is until looking into the price structure and realizing they were way out of our budget. I had just about given up on finding an app when I received a soliciting ad from Whova. What is Whova? It is a conference app, which by their definition, will allow your event to go mobile and supercharge your attendee engagement and networking experience – just what we were looking for!
After some research and discussion, we decided we would go ahead and demo the Whova app for the 2015 National Rural ITS conference. However, I will be honest. I was a little hesitant if Whova would really offer the extra attendee engagement and networking opportunities we wanted.
With that being said, the Whova app came in handy more than once. Over half of the attendees downloaded the app. I used it to make announcements and could even choose whether it sent the announcement to all the attendees or to a select few; make quick updates to the agenda; post event activity pictures; and search the attendee list/profile pictures to put a name and face together. The Whova team was very prompt, attentive, and helpful.
Attendees were excited that they could easily reach out to their new contacts via Whova and not have to worry about writing down or exchanging contact information. They shared pictures of different activities they participated in. Vendors were able to share pictures of their booths and occasionally would have me make an announcement.
All in all, I think it was a success. I heard the statement “that Whova app is better than I thought it was going to be” several times. Next year, sponsors can choose to sponsor the “event app” for NRITS 2016. SCORE!
About the author:
Autumn Gilleard, was born and raised in Western Montana Autumn lives on a ranch with her husband, two daughters, and son. She enjoys spending time in the outdoors with her family 4-wheeling, fishing, rafting, and hiking. When not out on a adventure with her family, you can find her at the Missoula Taekwondo Center. Where she trains as a black belt and part of a competition team. (She is Worth the Fight……Hahahahah)
