Becoming Retail-Ready with Event-Tech

I really enjoyed this podcast from the team at Jonas Event Technology and ASP showcasing JET's new embedded registration forms.

Sophie Myers and Jon Monk provide an honest insight into the challenges of registration forms sitting outside of the official event website:

Trust ✅ - Event attendees trust official event websites. That's where they want to register. If they're sent to a 3rd party registration page where the design differs, they may become suspicious, and that's when they'll abandon.

Load Times 🐌 - When someone clicks on "Register" their intent is at its highest. You cannot afford to delay that process through redirection load times. Milliseconds matter. Too long and they will abandon - it's proven.

Cookie Consent 🍪 - If an event attendee is sent to a 3rd party registration page, they'll be presented with another cookie consent request, creating friction and tracking challenges.

Analytics 📈- If you redirect to another domain, tracking capabilities are significantly reduced, meaning you'll start to lose visibility of which marketing activities do and don't work.

JET and ASP have done a great job, integrating registration forms into the event website via a simple line of code.

No longer are you redirected to a 3rd party URL. You register inside the official event website and all fonts/colours automatically match the rest of the event website. As an event owner, all you need to do is upload a simple line of code. Super easy - and no doubt will positively impact conversion.

Are Events Retail-Ready?

This podcast reminded me that event owners (among other things) are retailers, and therefore we need to all think that way - constantly comparing ourselves to the likes of Amazon and ebay who are innovating at speed.

Whilst we can argue registering for an event is different to buying a pack of batteries from Amazon, consumers don't view it that way. They don't understand the unique complexities of events, and nor should they. To them, registering for an event is like buying a pack of batteries from Amazon.

Our job as an event-tech community is to accept that challenge, and make it happen. No excuses 😜

But what are the current pain points that can sometimes make registering for an event painful. Here are some that i've found:

Long Registration Forms 📋

Making the registration flow simple and fast is critical.

Attendees don't want to answer 50 questions about who they are and what they're interested in. They don't want to opt in for this, out for that. They just want to register and get on with their day.

In 2025, the technology must be there to simplify the process. Given basic details, it must be possible to work out where a registrant works, what their role is, what their interests are and who they should be matched with. They shouldn't need to actively provide so much information. If the technology isn't there, surely there is a way to fill the gaps gradually through smart engagement running up to the event? there shouldn't be a need to barrage them with questions upfront.

Whilst we think asking more questions allows us to improve the attendees experience, arguably we're making it worse.

How often are registrants clicking any option just to complete the form, and in doing so getting themselves matched with completely the wrong people at the wrong companies. I know it's happened to me - my fault, but i'll still blame the event 😂

There has to be a better way, and i'm keen to learn what better looks like.

Hidden in the FAQs 🙋‍♀️

FAQs are frustrating. If something is frequently asked, maybe it should be easier to find in the first place.

I've seen bookable services buried solely in the FAQ section, and it's not because the event owner is lazy, it's because their event platform doesn't allow them to put it anywhere else - which can't be right 🤷‍♂️

Hotel Booking is Closed ⛔️

When event owners contract blocks, hotels (understandably) ask for any unsold rooms back ~2-4 weeks before the event. In that period, some event owners are unable to offer hotel booking to registrants - meaning money is being left on the table.

A recent paper from Maritz found that up to 40% of registrations take place in the 4 weeks running up to an event - so this is no small issue.

The good news is lots of event owners are finding HotelMap who fix that issue right away 😜