Right now folks in nearly every industry are grappling with this question, "Is AI going to help my business or put me out of business?". It's a very legitimate question, with popular tools like Chat GPT sprouting up each day.

The age of AI (artificial intelligence) has been prophesied by many science fiction and dystopian writers as the inevitable successor to humanity. We now find ourselves in the early and novel stage of this new relationship between man and machine. It's fun, it's exciting, and it's incredibly helpful for business owners in nearly every industry who are looking for efficiency and improvement.

So are we destined to build an artificially intelligent society that flourishes or doomed to destroy ourselves via something resembling Skynet (Terminator), VIKI (iRobot), HAAL (2001: A Space Odyssey), Agent Smith (The Matrix), or any one of the other villains from our beloved cautionary tales?

Only time will tell… but in the meantime, let’s take this technology out for a spin!

The Test

So with AI dominating every headline, from acing the LSAT to taking over the world, we thought it was only right that we put our platform to the test.

In an effort to ensure we are maximizing on our promise to save conference organizers time, we decided to ask our robotic buddy Chat GPT the following question: 

“What are the most time consuming tasks when producing a conference?”

Here is a screenshot of our interaction.

Now let’s see just how accurately Sessionboard is tackling these time-consuming tasks.

Speaker Management

‍Recruiting and managing speakers is another time-consuming task in conference production. This includes identifying potential speakers, reviewing their proposals, negotiating contracts, coordinating travel and lodging arrangements, and communicating with them regularly leading up to the conference.

How do we stack up?

Well, speaker management is our origin story. 

So much of the conference pre-planning process is rooted in finding the right speaking talent, grading and approving their session submissions, and all of the communication and on-boarding that is involved in speaker management. With Sessionboard you are able to run your call for speakers, evaluations, contracts, travel & lodging arrangements, session scheduling, and all of the communication required within those processes entirely through the Sessionboard platform and dedicated speaker portals.

The right speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors can move the needle massively on the attendee registration front. Thankfully, you can manage the on-boarding and communication for all of your constituents via the Sessionboard platform.    

Marketing and Promotion

Promoting a conference is a vital part of its success, and it can be a time-consuming task. This involves creating a marketing plan, designing promotional materials, setting up email campaigns, creating social media posts, and working with media partners to promote the event.

How do we stack up?

All marketing and promotion starts with content, and content management is our bread and butter. But, it can be super challenging to try and manually collect, track, and manage the content from your speakers as you plan & promote your show. that should be right at your fingertips. 

We make it super easy to collect your speaker’s content, from bio’s and headshots to posters, slide decks, and video files. The entire process is streamlined through a dedicated portal for each individual speaker, and it can easily be accessed by your marketing team to enact in a marketing campaign.

Ultimately your speakers (and sponsors) online network can be a huge audience to tap into. Be it their professional circle or followers, leveraging your speakers and their content to fuel your marketing campaign should be a no-brainer. 

Our partner Snöball can help your marketing team maximize this effort.     

Technology and Audio-Visual

‍Technology plays a crucial role in modern conferences, and setting up audio-visual equipment, internet connectivity, and other tech infrastructure can take a lot of time. Technical staff need to be hired, equipment needs to be tested, and contingency plans must be in place in case of any issues.

How do we stack up?

‍This is a two part answer. 

First off, your A/V team needs easy access to your speaker’s content in order for your sessions to run smoothly. As we highlighted earlier, Sessionboard makes collecting and managing this session content extremely easy for your team. 

Secondly, we have an incredible partnership with Freeman who can handle all of your technology and audio-visual needs. From Presentation Management, Speaker Ready Rooms, Reporting & On-Site Ops, A/V Support, and Equipment & Service, a combination of Freeman and Sessionboard can get you from start to finish.

On-Site Management

‍Once the conference begins, the focus shifts to on-site management. This includes managing attendees, coordinating speaker presentations, ensuring that audio-visual equipment is functioning correctly, managing vendors, and dealing with any issues that arise during the conference.

How do we stack up?

‍As mentioned above, our partnership with Freeman can power you and your team through any on-site management challenges. 

An area Sessionboard can specifically help with is speaker scheduling and presentations, especially any last minute changes. The need to tweak your agenda is inevitable, and it always happens at the last minute. 

That’s why Sessionboard provides a drag & drop agenda builder that clearly displays your sessions by room and track on a user-friendly calendar. Any changes will trigger automated communications to your team involved with that session, so everyone is on the same page.

Conclusion?

We may not be able to fully predict our future as AI becomes increasingly intertwined in our everyday lives, but at least we can utilize it to identify the problems we face organizing and managing events. 

And when it comes to overcoming those problems, Sessionboard has got you covered. 

About Sessionboard

Sessionboard is a next generation speaker & content management platforms that simplifies the complex workflows and disjointed communications that exist around speaker and content management. From call for papers, abstract evaluation, awards, applications, agenda building, speaker onboarding and communication, Sessionboard helps event organizers work smarter, move faster, and improve their ROI.

The results? A faster-growing event, more productive staff, seamless collaboration with speakers and more time back to do what you do best—building epic experiences.

Sessionboard integrates with platforms like: ExpoPlatform, SwapCard, Gleanin, Snoball, Fuzion and many others.

Want to learn more? Book a Demo Today.

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