Inconnection provide industry-leading online event registration tools that are intuitive, easy to use, and most importantly provide excellent value for money. They are proven to boost your event attendance and engagement.

Here are 8 ways that online event registration will make your event a success. These are all benefits our online event registration systems that will revolutionise your registration process and impress your attendees.

1: Bin the paper

It’s a common misconception that high-tech registration websites will alienate your target audience. We say don’t worry as you’ll be surprised how quickly even the biggest technophobes will adapt to online registration.

We’ve found that removing paper registration altogether leads to higher attendance, happier attendees and fewer complications at the live event.

Plus by binning that paper and using Inconnection’s online event registration systems you can have a visually appealing event website that will act as your biggest promotional tool.

2: Groups are good

Group registration is becoming more a part of the event registration process. Research shows that more than 30% of attendees now register as a group, and not only that, attending an event as part of a group can greatly enhance the event experience.

Yet many fail to integrate group registration as part of the registration process. Even more worryingly most registration systems fail to even automate group registration, leading to frustrated group leaders and lost opportunities.

Inconnection’s online event registration tools offer group registration a standard so you don’t have to worry about frustrated attendees.

3: Give your attendees control

One small miscommunication can ruin an attendee’s experience at an event. Surely you don’t want to rely on manual processes to manage thing such as room bookings, meal preferences, and every attendee preference like 80% of event organisers do you?

Put them in the driving seat and allow your attendees to select their own preferences when they register and make their own changes to those preferences before the event. This gives your attendees control and makes it easy for them, not to mention saving you a potential headache later.

Inconnection’s online event registration tools allow attendees to easily select their own preferences that can be shared with hotels and caterers (and you) in real time ensuring all preferences are up to date and accurate at all times, leading to happier attendees and smoother events.

4: Save your registrants time

Filling out a registration form that takes an age can be frustrating for anyone. Yet you’ll often find that many registrants are previous attendees or customers of the host organisation. So there should be no need for registrants to re-submit every piece of personal information.

Every good online registration system should use auto-recall that will re-populate personal and business information whenever possible. This significantly reduces time spent registering and more importantly, reduces the number of abandoned registrations.

Inconnection’s online event registration systems come with auto-recall as standard that improves the attendee experience and reduces errors, ensuring you always have accurate information for follow ups and promotions.

5: Eliminate no-shows

No-one likes a no-show at their event. Seeing a stack of unused name badges at the end of the event is frustrating. But its not the attendee that is at fault, it’s the failure to recognise no-shows before the event has even begun.

There is a quick way to identify no-shows before your event but oddly its one of the least used features in event registration. Click-to-confirm reminders trigger a series of email reminders leading up to your event, asking attendees to confirm that they will be attending.

Inconnection’s online event registration tools allow you to weed out those that have changed their minds opening spaces up for sold out events. Plus this initiative action reminds your attendees about your event and reaffirms their commitment to it.

6: Make networking easier

Events are becoming increasingly dependent on good networking opportunities to make them stand out due to social networking becoming much more important to attendees pre and post event. These opportunities should start at the registration process.

Adding a quick link to a directory of event attendees during your registration process and in your confirmation email will immediately engage your attendees with your event.

Inconnection’s online event registration systems provide this small but significant functionality that allows attendees to reach out to colleagues and peers or to set up meetings at the event.

7: An event badge is more than a badge

Event badges aren’t strictly part of online event registration systems but event badges play a crucial role in the registration process, something not all event organisers realise.

The most sophisticated event registration systems allow you to enhance your badges with group information, colour coding, agendas and attendees preferences made at the time of registration to remind them of their selections when they arrive at your event. Your badges should also be branded to match your registration website, and the same goes for other collateral such as signage and agendas.

Inconnection provide a competitively priced event badge printing service as part of our Communication and Design Service which ties in with our online event registration systems. Your event badges can be as simple or as complex as you desire.

8: Questions should be relevant

It goes without saying that if you confuse your attendees you will lose them. Long registration forms with irrelevant information to them will only cause frustration. Conditional logic is an effective way to avoid this pitfall.

Conditional logic is based on statements which use triggers within the registration form to dynamically display appropriate information. To put it simply they will only see what is relevant to the choices they make.

Conditional logic is a key feature in Inconnection’s online event registration tools that dramatically streamline the registration process. This technology greatly reduces headaches for attendees and makes registration a much simpler process than before by showing them only what they need to say.

Download our online registration e-book to learn more about the benefits of using our online registration systems and why they are effective event management tools.

Step 1: Identify qualified Leads and Contacts

To begin a marketing campaign for your event, you need an audience to reach out to.

It is important to create a contact list that focuses on your key demographic otherwise your event marketing will fall down before it’s even begun.

If your event theme or topic doesn’t apply to a portion if your customers, don’t bother sending them invitations. They simply won’t respond and it will harm your success rate not to mention your reputation for delivering valuable information.

Segment your list of customers or contacts to those that would be interested in your event and build a qualified leads list.

Think about who has previously attended your events and remember to invite them. Not only are they advocates but it will also create more networking opportunities with a mix of familiar and new faces.

Step 2: Determine your promotion activities

Promoting your event can be done in a variety of forms and you need to determine what suits your needs and your budget. This can include email campaigns, phone calls, social media, online ads, and event websites.

In the digital age, online marketing and social media campaigns are much more effective that traditional marketing such as direct mail and much more cost effective.

Not only are online and social media tools more affordable and in some cases free, they are trackable. Inconnection’s online event registration platforms offer tracking tools that measure the success of your marketing activities, from reports on open and click-through rates to the number of ‘Likes’ or ‘Tweets’ to measure the social buzz of your event, not to mention your overall return on investment.

These real-time promotional tools are incredibly efficient and helpful providing more insight into your customers than ever before.

Step 3: Leverage your event website

Your event website is your biggest promotional tool. And the most important aspect of your event website is the site registration.

Inconnection’s online event registration tools are fast and easy for you and your attendees, exactly how they should be. The ability to offer group registration and early bird discounts can greatly increase your number of registrants.

Integrating such things as event agenda’s, sponsors, session highlights and contact information will also enhance the registration experience, all of which come as standard with Inconnection’s online event registration tools.

Overall your event registration website needs to be visually appealing and easy to navigate.

Another great way to enhance your event registration website is to include photos and video’s if you’ve hosted the event previously. Or include anything that will entice and motivate your customers to register.

Step 4: Offer your attendees something irresistible

Make your event irresistible! There are many ways to do that such as free swag (everyone loves a freebie!) such as coffee mugs, water bottles, or reusable bags with your company logo or event name are always appreciated.

You can even offer discounted goodies to further promote your event’s sponsors or speakers. Give away advanced copies of a book penned by one of your key note speakers.

It’s not just free merchandise that goes down well. Offering free ‘social products’ such as food and cocktails can increase attendance. Plus it’s another excuse for networking in a relaxed and fun environment.

Another way to make your event irresistible is to feature high-profile event speakers or reveal brand new products. Your attendees will absolutely love being in-the-know-in their industry.

Step 5: Extend the life of your event

So your event is over, that means it’s finished, right? No, not quite. Extend the life of your event beyond the actual live event by sharing the content from your event such as presentations by your key note speakers. This allows your content to be shared in the digital space through Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Facebook and will help continue conversations and learning from your event. Plus if you have some great presentations from your event, upload them to SlideShare.

You should distribute post-event surveys to your attendees to find out what worked and what didn’t. This reminds your attendees that their opinions matter to you and you can use the feedback to your benefit to improve the experience of your next event.

Inconnection’s online event registration tools will allow you to analyze and compare metrics from your post-event surveys to help you improve future events.

Finally don’t forget to send a personalised thank you note. Your attendees will appreciate the thought, adding to their overall event experience. The more satisfied your attendees are, the more likely they are to return next time and recommend your event to their peers.

And finally…

With the right approach and working with the right people, you can easily market your event to make it a huge success.

Inconnection provide you with the tools that are necessary to not only increase your event exposure, but will boost your event registration and increase revenue providing you with the maximum return on your investment.

Speak to our team on 0161 482 8222 or email one of our key contacts to find out how we can boost your event with our online event registration tools and make your event marketing a success.

Finding the ultimate corporate entertainment at Christmas that not only provides high-profile networking opportunities for your business but also allows you to round of the year with a smile with your key people isn’t easy to find. Thankfully we have the perfect corporate entertainment solution for your business this Christmas!

The 2012 Christmas Comedy Lunch is taking place at the HAC in London on Friday 7th December. One of the UK’s most highly acclaimed comedians will be providing the best entertainment on offer this Christmas… the one and only Sean Lock.

The Christmas Comedy Lunch is sure to tick all the boxes and provide your business with the perfect corporate entertainment solution this Christmas.

The benefits of attending the 2012 Christmas Comedy Lunch at the HAC:

• This is a great way to thank your key people for a job well done in 2012
• Network in a relaxed and informal environment with clients and other businesses
• Entertain with superb corporate hospitality within a stunning venue
• Enjoy a fabulous afternoon of entertainment with Sean Lock

If you’re looking to do one of the above or maybe all then the 2012 Christmas Comedy Lunch is the perfect solution for your needs. We have a number of package options to suit all budgets but tables are selling fast so you’ll need to hurry to book your table at the ultimate corporate entertainment solution this Christmas.

To book your table go to our dedicated booking page or contact us on 0161 482 8222.

Sponsor the 2012 Christmas Comedy Lunch

P.S. We still have unique sponsorship opportunities available for the Christmas Comedy Lunch. You can find out more information here or you can call us on 0161 482 8222 to discuss your requirements.

Our online registration tools are proven to boost your event attendance and engagement. Here are some key benefits to using our intuitive online registration tools.

Looking to use an online registration website to boost your next event? Download our online registration e-book to learn more about the benefits of using our online registration systems and why they are effective event management tools.

Telecommuting can pose great challenges in employee engagement and motivation when your employees must meet virtually and not at a central location face-to-face. Telecommuting is a rapidly growing global trend and according to a 2010 survey, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that 43% of HR professionals believe in the next five years, a large proportion of their workforce will be telecommuting.

How do you overcome the challenges of telecommuting in order to effectively engage and motivate your remote employees whilst also overcoming time and geographical constraints? Here are five top tips for virtual motivation.

1. Create interactive ways for teams to communicate
   Employees that interact and engage across long distances will have a greater sense of belonging and higher career satisfaction. You shouldn’t just use email to engage, use your corporate intranet (or develop one) that allows your employees to share accomplishments, share ideas and ask questions in an interactive environment. You can also utilize web conferencing tools for more real-time conversations.
2. Invest time in relationships
   Using distance is an easy excuse to not form relationships with your remote employees, however getting to know them is critical. It’s vital to take the time to learn about your employee’s strengths, career aspirations and development style even when face-to-face time is limited.
3. Schedule periodic face-to-face interaction
   Why not start your financial year with a face-to-face kick off meeting? These types of periodic meetings provide staff an additional opportunity to develop a personal connection with their fellow employees through team building exercises whilst also setting out targets for the forthcoming year. If regular live meetings are not practical or infrequent then host virtual meetings and incorporate team building activities into them.
4. Recognise accomplishments
   Workplace recognition is one of the most powerful employee motivation tools that will keep your employees engaged with their work. Social recognition systems are a unique (and low cost) way to add huge value to your business as they allow your employees to recognise the achievements of their fellow employees in a social, virtual and interactive environment across your corporate intranet.
5. Schedule development sessions
   Regular video or web conferences provide opportunities to present new assignments that align with your employee’s strengths and interests. These sessions should also be used to gather feedback from your employees as listening to them not only shows you value them but provides the opportunity to learn more about your remote employees and how their personal work experience can be improved.

Motivation equals success

Motivating your employees is an integral part of any successful business no matter how close or distant they work from your headquarters. As your company expands globally telecommuting will become a much more common work arrangement for your employees. It is vital however to keep your distant workers in the loop even if distance seems like a convenient excuse to ignore them.

Inconnection can provide you with the tools to successfully motivate your key people. To see how we do it contact one of the management team or give us a call on +44 (0)161 482 8222.

Life in the workplace is struggling to flourish right now. A recent study by Towers Watson (A Global Workforce Study July 2012) found that 63% of US workers “are not fully engaged with their work and are struggling to cope with work situations that don’t provide sufficient support.” This is a startling statistic and it highlights the fact that it’s more important than ever for employers to conduct their own internal investigations for signs of life in their workforce.

Are Your Employees Plugged In?

Flexible working has become the norm in the modern day workplace. Employees appreciate the flexibility of being able to leave early to pick up their kids from school, either making the time up by starting early or working from home during nights and the weekends. UK workers will even go the extra mile and clear their mailboxes before the official start of the working day. In fact a third of UK workers do this at 7:17am to be precise.

However, flexible working is being misinterpreted as an expectation to remain ‘plugged in’ at all times leading to burned out employees.

It is important to remember that your employees are demonstrating their commitment to your business and the love of their job by checking emails outside of work hours, however, employees that consistently work long hours and take less time off will become frustrated quickly. This can lead to less productive work and a lifeless workplace.

You need to make sure that your employees know that you appreciate their time outside of work and that it should be valued. You should support your employee’s decision to take a well-deserved break or to shut off their work phone when they leave the office for the day to wind down.

Moaning is Good!

It may seem strange but it’s a good thing when your employees complain about things like office procedures, benefits, colleagues etc. Why? Because they care. They want your company to succeed and they believe in your company’s culture and values. It is highly likely that your employee’s dissatisfaction will stem from them feeling that your company isn’t fulfilling its true potential.

You need to listen to what your employees are trying to tell you. That may be difficult to hear but even a few minor changes in your workplace can help your employees regain their engagement and interest in your company. Their ideas can help your company become more innovative and a more stimulating place to work which will increase productivity throughout your company.

What should you do? Ask questions, form discussion groups, gather feedback from surveys, and get two-way dialogue going. Small changes can make a world of difference to improve the levels of engagement with your company and rediscover life in your workplace.

Following the fantastic success of Inconnection’s first Christmas Comedy Lunch in 2011 we are delighted to announce that once again the Christmas Comedy Lunch with be taking place at the HAC in London on 7th December 2012.

To mark Inconnection’s first Christmas Comedy Lunch in 2011 an incredible line up of comedians were chosen including our very special headline act Jimmy Carr. Our comedians were a huge success with the audience and it was certainly a memorable event for all involved.

Firstly for our guests as we provided them with a high profile festive event affording them fantastic networking opportunities in a unique setting within the Artillery Garden at the HAC in London. Secondly we raised over £5,500 for our chosen charity The Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity which celebrated its 25th Anniversary in 2011. And finally the whole Inconnection team had an amazing time working on this event and it was a great way to round off the year with a hugely successful event. You can read about the 2011 Christmas Comedy Lunch here.

The 2011 Christmas Comedy Lunch sold out and looks set to do the same again this year.

The 2012 Christmas Comedy Lunch

Inconnection’s 2012 Christmas Comedy Lunch looks set to be better than last year. It will be taking place once again in the stunning Artillery Gardens at the HAC in London and promises to be a fabulous afternoon of entertainment, where you and your guests will receive a real festive treat of fine dining, drinks and A-list comedy.

At the moment we are keeping tight lipped on the full line up of comedians but we can ensure that our chosen comedians will add to the overall event and once again make the Christmas Comedy Lunch a huge success for all involved. We will also announce which charity we will be supporting in due course.

There’s no other Christmas Comedy Lunch like this in London this year so don’t miss out on our festive feast with fine wine and wonderful yuletide surrounding!

For further details download the Christmas Comedy Lunch brochure. To book your place click the button below for the booking form or call +44 (0)161 482 8222.

Sales teams are often viewed as individual contributors to your company who require less motivation than your other ‘typical’ employees. This misguided thinking is one of the main reasons why organisations like yours are unable to retain their best inside sales people after a relativity short period of time. Your inside sales team need more than just financial motivation to maximise motivation and engagement within your company.

Your inside sales people are interested in being involved in other non-sales areas of your business just as much as your other employees in different departments. Yes financial motivation is a huge motivating factor that will drive positive behaviour, especially for employees that work in sales, but you shouldn’t just see that as the only way to motivate your inside sales team.

Involving your sales people in other areas of your business and allowing them to do something exciting for your company instead of receiving something can have a positive impact on motivation. Having a team of inside sales people that are motivated to do more for your company instead of just closing sales can be very impactful. Surely there’s nothing more rewarding than having a fully motivated inside sales team? You could also try something a little different to maximise motivation and increase sales from your inside sales team.

Eliminate commission

Now you may be thinking that its commission that motivates sales people. However this isn’t necessarily the case. If your goal is to increase sales from your inside sales team you can achieve this by eliminating commission. An issue that can arise with commission schemes is whereby your salespeople start to ‘game’ your commission system and are more focused on their commission as opposed to delivering great products and great service to your customers.

Daniel Pink (the author of Drive) discusses the idea of eliminating commission for salespeople in his Flip Manifesto. He provides an example of a software company doing just that. The software company in question found that its sales people were more focused on commission which resulted in underselling one month to show a bigger gain the following month. This wasn’t because the sales people were unethical it “was because they were rational humans responding logically to a particular incentive structure“, as Daniel Pink put’s it in his Flip Manifesto.

The software company eliminated its commission system and replaced it with a healthy fat salary and a slice of the profits at the end of the year. The results were increased sales and only a total of two sales people left the company out of a 150 strong sales force. So not only did no commission actually lead to an increase in sales and better performance, according Pink’s flip Manifesto the commission system wasn’t the favoured arrangement with the sales team.

Another advantage that resulted from eliminating a commission based system was an increase in collaboration within the sales team and increased commitment to the company.

“Why help ‘Mary’ close the deal when she’ll get the gains from the sale? The compensation plan divides people – Maury Weinstein founder of System Source

Think outside the box

We certainly aren’t suggesting you should eliminate your commission system for your inside sales team. We are merely highlighting that financial motivation isn’t the only motivating factor for your sales people and that you shouldn’t see it as the only way to motivate your inside sales team.

To find out more on how Social Recognition Systems can benefit your business read our social recognition works article or contact us on +44 (0)161 482 8222.

Firstly, rarely have two words been so misunderstood and misused as ‘corporate hospitality’, which can mean anything from a great opportunity to network and build relationships, to an all out jolly with no thought for business whatsoever.

A well planned and professionally thought through corporate hospitality programme is a very powerful business tool according to Nick Hamilton, Managing Director at Inconnection.

“We are always keen to stress the business return when talking to clients about any event or programme aimed at motivating, rewarding or incentivising key people who matter to their business.

“During the current economic climate there is an even greater emphasis on ensuring that every pound spent on business development provides the best return on your investment possible. It’s equally important in difficult trading times to make sure that the people essential to your continued business success feel motivated,” says Nick Hamilton.

Achieving your objectives

With this in mind corporate hospitality can offer an affordable solution to cementing those all important business relationships and gain valuable face to face time with your key people. When used effectively corporate hospitality is an extremely powerful tool to help you achieve your business objectives.

“We see huge value in creating annual corporate hospitality plans that map out your corporate strategy for the year ahead, as do our clients,” says Nick Hamilton. “Strategically planned and managed corporate hospitality events will provide a greater return on your investment as you are able to define your objectives and then you can set out to achieve those objectives.

“By avoiding last minute bookings you are able to plot the events you want to attend and invite the correct guests to ensure you achieve your business objectives. The added bonus of advanced planning is enabling that you secure the right corporate hospitality package that fits into your budget and what you are trying to achieve. Failure to do so could result in you not achieving your objectives resulting in a less than desirable return on your investment.”

Key events to attend

If you are looking for ideas as to what corporate hospitality events you should consider to form part of your strategic corporate hospitality plan then you’ve come to the right place. We recently published our top 5 corporate hospitality events for the forthcoming year. To see the full details view the article on our blog.

Strategic corporate hospitality plans

As part of our Corporate Hospitality Concierge Service we create annual corporate hospitality plans that are effective in achieving objectives and providing a return on your investment. For further details give us a call on +44 (0)161 482 8222 or hit the button create my corporate hospitality plan button below.