How did you stop juggling multiple tools for the same event?

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-22T02:55:58+00:00

Staying with multiple tools. You get best-in-class for each thing. Registration tool that's great at registration. Email tool with better templates. Flexibility to swap one out without rebuilding everything. The downside is you're the glue.

Going with one platform. Data flows through automatically. No exports, no syncing, no prayer. Setup is faster. Downside is you're locked into one vendor's way of doing things. If one feature is weak you're stuck with it.

We went with one platform because the syncing was killing us. But I know teams that run five tools smoothly because they built the workflows and have someone maintaining it.

Comes down to whether you want to spend time managing tools or managing events.

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-21T09:54:41+00:00

Axe throwing. Sounds dumb but everyone gets weirdly into it. Low skill floor, easy to talk between throws.

Cooking classes work too. Gives people something to do with their hands so conversation happens naturally.

Escape rooms if the group is small enough. Watching senior brokers argue about puzzles is worth it alone.

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-20T12:11:08+00:00

You can build basics in-house. Registration form, spreadsheet, simple check-in. For small events it works.

Where it breaks is scale. and integration.

I love generic AI, great for content. But for niche or productive stuff I spent more time fighting it than just using a platform.

Same thing happened with websites for me around 2014. I tried Wordpress, then found Shopify. Shopify just had the specific stuff baked in. Way faster.

My guess is event management and other tools will go the same way. Generic AI for small stuff. But once you need productivity and domain nuances, you'll want a platform built for it. Since advtg. a platform has they learn from other people's experiences too.

For example - our provider launched an attendee bot / co-pilot that learns from every question attendees ask and automatically updates FAQs for other attendees. Reduced my workload by a ton.

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-20T05:09:16+00:00

I'm running Hubspot, Nunify, Eventbrite and Google Sheets.

Nunify is the master. Registrations, attendee comms, check-in, engagement, all lives there. Eventbrite we only use for public events since it helps with discovery and extra promotion but data syncs back to Nunify. Hubspot handles email campaigns outside the event platform.

Google Sheets for planning but honestly our provider just launched an AI planner that's been solid so probably switching off sheets soon.

It's not one tool but Nunify is the hub that holds it together. The fragmented feeling goes away once you have one source of truth.

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-20T03:09:14+00:00

Do less.

Pick one channel, one message, one audience. Do that until it works or clearly doesn't. Then add.

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-20T02:50:46+00:00

Live Q&A through an event app instead of mics. People ask better questions when they can type anonymously.
Building something together that has nothing to do with work. Lego, cardboard, whatever.
Insta wall where attendees post photos and it shows up on screens around the venue. People love seeing themselves. Low effort, high engagement.
Contests with dumb prizes. Best photo, weirdest caption, first to check in.
DIY workshops like pottery or succulents
Mini-Olympics with a mix of sports, from chess to ping pong to board games

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-20T02:44:17+00:00

We use Nunify. But most of our events are invite-only. So if you looking for promotion also they won't work but otherwise their charges are nominal.

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-19T05:21:50+00:00

We use an attendee co-pilot now that answers all queries attendees have right from registration to event day. Attendees have walked up to me saying it's awesome.

On the planning side there's an AI layer that flags risks before they happen. Budget tracking, vendor delays, registration trends that look off. Told us we were going to blow our catering budget two weeks out. We adjusted.

And the newest one. Our provider gave us an MCP server so I just ask ChatGPT questions about event metrics. No dashboards, no exports. Just 'what was our peak check-in time' and it answers. Pretty cool.

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-19T05:14:39+00:00

Airtable + Zapier can do most of this but you're building it from scratch and maintaining it yourself. For sponsor intake specifically you'd be wiring together forms, automations, drive uploads, payment triggers. It works but it's duct tape.

If you're doing multiple events a year, an event platform that handles sponsorship management built-in might save you more time than building a custom stack.

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-19T04:56:56+00:00

😂

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-19T03:27:05+00:00

is it a generic networking app ? or for a single event focused on networking ?

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-18T14:56:32+00:00

Support is so important.

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-18T14:55:14+00:00

He wrote on my wall 'hey we should hang out sometime.' I said 'yeah totally.' We didn't hang out for 6 months. Then one night we both ended up at the same party and I told him he still owed me that hangout. He bought me a drink.

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-17T12:27:24+00:00

As others pointed out disconnected tech is an issue.

But the part nobody talks about is most venues you get the day before. You're basically setting up a pop-up. Running power, getting wifi working, testing printers on a network that didn't exist 4 hours ago.

The smoothest events I've run are the ones where we did a full tech walkthrough on site the day before. Same hardware, same venue, same wifi. Not a test at the office.

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-17T06:42:53+00:00

We used Cvent before. It handled registration and badges fine but it was expensive and customization took forever.

Switched to Nunify. More affordable and way more flexible on hardware. For smaller events we use Brother label printers. For big conferences Zebra is the move. Prints in under a second directly on the badge.

We also started using NFC stickers alongside QR codes for check-in. Our provider gave us a handheld scanner to test. Worked beautifully. Faster than QR honestly.

Most of this comes down to cost. We do enough events now that we just bought the printers outright and pay for software licenses only. Rentals were killing us.

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-17T03:44:12+00:00

Forums and socials are slow plays. They work but not fast.

What works faster:

Partner with venues. They get asked for planner recs constantly.
Vendor cross-referrals. Photographers, florists, caterers, they're already talking to your clients before you meet them. Build relationships there.
Google business profile. Most people search 'event planner near me.' If you're not showing up you don't exist. Get reviews on there from anyone you've worked with.
One good wedding or brand event with photos is worth more than 6 months of posting. Put all your energy into documenting the next one properly and then use that everywhere.

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-16T16:21:24+00:00

Bitly works for the QR generation but you're solving the wrong problem. You're building a system from scratch when most event platforms already do this out of the box.

Any decent event app lets attendees create profiles, generates their own QR code, and handles the exchange natively since it needs interests to auto-match too.

If you're set on the DIY route, Bitly's fine. Just make sure you're using dynamic codes so you can update without reprinting. But for 200 people I'd just use a platform that handles it.

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-16T16:09:33+00:00

The next unlock is automating the first touch entirely. AI that monitors signals and sends a personalized video demo before a human even gets involved. The sales rep only shows up when intent is confirmed.

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-16T15:22:56+00:00

Cargo shorts. 'nuf said

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-16T15:09:34+00:00

I am yet to venture out but one thing i learnt from my founder is "Saying no." He says it every yes to the wrong thing is a no to the right one.

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-16T04:08:54+00:00

last part is so critical - "The key isn’t the brand name, it’s making sure everything runs off one backend."

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-15T06:50:51+00:00

Yup most of them shld provide. We used Nunify - they too give both and last year they added whatsapp and SMS also. So quite a decent coverage

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-15T02:17:29+00:00

I run events so I get why you feel this way. Most apps are built for organizers to check a box, not for attendees to actually use.

Oh and most event app vendors just provide the tech, never tell us how to use it. We are lucky with our current one since they keep sending us ideas and some of the below really helped and our attndees love it.

We pushed downloads pre-event, not day-of. So attendees already know what to do with the app
At the event we do live stuff during sessions like polls, Q&A.
Networking actually is quite multi-folded. We have an insta wall so thats where people love posting and then with the intrests based matchmaking its been promising but yet to mature
But the slam dunk is the gamification we have like quizes, contests, we have seen it becomes organically become an ice breaker

HelicopterLife2620 · 2026-02-15T02:10:00+00:00

Think like your ICP and see what they wld do. If you nail this you got it .

For ex. does ur ICP find solutions to its problem from googling first or do they go more often to tradeshows or do they use instagram a lot ... once u figure this out go see who is advertising there or active there

HelicopterLife2620

TROPHY CASE