Forbes Middle East

BACKGROUND
GOALS
APPROACH
RESULTS
Products Used

13k+

Registrations Processed

Reduced wait times

at Check-in

BACKGROUND

Forbes Middle East is a licensed edition of Forbes for the Arab world. Forbes Middle East hosts various events, including prestigious award nights and summits, to celebrate influential and innovative leaders, entrepreneurs, and billionaires in the region. Pre-COVID, these events were held in a smaller and more manageable scale. However, as the events grew in scale post-COVID, so did the complexities involved in managing them and they began looking for a technology platform that could support their requirements.

GOALS

While looking for an event technology provider, the team at Forbes Middle East had the following goals in mind:

Centralise Event Management: Shift from using multiple disparate tools for registration, badge printing, check-in, and form filling to a single, integrated platform.
Improve Efficiency and Reduce Manual Errors: Eliminate the time-consuming process of manually entering data and managing different systems.
Enhance Attendee Experience: Ensure a seamless and quick check-in process to avoid long queues and improve overall attendee satisfaction.

APPROACH

After evaluating various solutions, Forbes Middle East selected Cvent for its comprehensive, all-in-one event management capabilities.

A dedicated Cvent support representative assisted with the initial setup and provided thorough training to the Forbes Middle East team. The team quickly became proficient in using the Cvent system and was able to manage all subsequent events independently.

To enhance operational efficiency, the team embedded the Cvent registration forms directly on their event website. This enabled easy data collection during the registration process, with information automatically syncing to Cvent's platform. They also utilised Cvent’s email marketing tool to handle all communication, replacing the free email tool they were previously using. Additionally, they integrated their corporate Stripe account with Cvent for seamless payment processing.

Finally, they streamlined processes by automating registration and check-in processes using Cvent’s OnArrival tool, and leveraging Cvent’s Attendee Hub app to provide event information to attendees.

RESULTS

The transition to Cvent yielded significant improvements in how Forbes Middle East managed their events. All event-related activities were managed from a single platform, drastically reducing the complexity and time spent on administrative tasks.

The automated registration and check-in processes eliminated manual errors and saved considerable time. For instance, during one of their events, around 500 attendees were checked in within 1-2 hours, with each attendee spending no more than 20-30 seconds at check-in. The seamless and quick check-in process eliminated long queues, enhancing the overall experience for attendees.

Having a centralised and integrated platform allowed Forbes Middle East to handle larger events with more complex requirements efficiently. The team could generate all necessary reports from Cvent without having to log into multiple systems, simplifying the monitoring and management of event data.

Overall, the adoption of Cvent has greatly streamlined Forbes Middle East’s event management processes, positioning them for continued success both now and in the future.