EDUCATE PLUS

BACKGROUND

Established in 1987, Educate Plus is a membership-based organisation catering to advancement professionals in marketing, communications, admissions, enrolments, fundraising, and alumni relations within schools and tertiary universities across Australia and New Zealand, and recently expanded to Asia. The organisation has recently introduced a focus on leadership and people & culture. With the help of their lean team of eight at their head office, and their over 120 volunteers, Educate Plus manages numerous events, including their flagship biennial international conference – the Empowering Success International Conference.

APPROACH

Sona Swindley, the Events Manager at Educate Plus, was already familiar with Cvent, having used their app in the past. Recognising the need for a more integrated setup to manage the increasing sophistication of their events, she decided to adopt Cvent’s comprehensive event management solution, which offered a unified approach to managing all aspects of the event. She needed a system that could handle complex registrations, while providing a superior user experience.

Their brand ambassador Sandra Herd envisioned a website and app that were both engaging and informative. Cvent made this vision a reality by enabling seamless updates, with content automatically syncing between the website and the app. This streamlined the entire process significantly. “I only had to put a speaker in once and they were on the website and they automatically went into the app as well,” says Sandra.

Enhanced Engagement

The high app engagement demonstrated that attendees were utilising it for information and interaction, enhancing their overall experience. The increased app adoption also led to a reduction in paper usage, which aligned with the organisation’s sustainability goals, marking a significant achievement in their strategic plan. Says Sandra, “We had an event guide, which in 2022 was 155 pages long. We brought it down to probably 40 pages. We were able to get rid of a lot of information that we previously printed in the guide – we now have all of that in the app instead. The app was really well received, with 96% of the respondents of our post-event survey being impressed with the app experience, which was fantastic!”

LOOKING FORWARD

Following the success of their recent international conference, Educate Plus is optimistic about their future events. They plan to continue leveraging Cvent’s comprehensive event management solutions to further enhance their events. With the knowledge and experience gained from this event, they anticipate even greater efficiency and attendee satisfaction in the future.

Sona encapsulated their experience by saying, “Cvent is a great solution that provides you with a seamless user experience. At the end of the day, it achieved all the objectives that we wanted it to achieve.”

PRODUCTS USED