2023: An Event Planning Odyssey: How Generative AI and Workflow Management Tools Elevate Your Business

“What we spend our time on is probably the most important decision we make.”

— Ray Kurzweil

The potential for generative AI to transform our daily lives has sparked a sense of hope and optimism during the recent challenging times of the Covid pandemic, economic downturns, and rising prices. However, what does the future of work truly hold? This continues to be a topic of fascination. Some believe that we are entering an AI-powered golden age, a tableau vivant of flourished writing, art, music, software, and science.

Throughout history, humans have always looked for ways to make their work more efficient and to reduce the amount of manual labour required. One ancient example of this is the use of the abacus in ancient China. The abacus was a calculating tool that allowed people to perform complex calculations more quickly and accurately, and it was used as early as the 2nd century BC. In more recent times, the adoption of electronic data interchange (EDI) in the 1970s is another example of how technology has been used to streamline and automate work. EDI is a modern technology that allows businesses to exchange documents and other data electronically, which improves the efficiency and accuracy of business transactions, rather than relying on paper documents and manual data entry.

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in technological advancement and workflow automation. Generative AI is a highly buzz-worthy topic on social media now, with the advent of ChatGPT and DALL-E 2 generating intense discussions about the potential impact on people, careers, and industries. This technology has the potential to significantly impact businesses that involve content creation, such as event management.

As an event manager, you can benefit from the use of generative AI tools in several ways. These tools help you save time and reduce workload by automating tasks, such as design and content creation. With the help of these tools, you are able to quickly generate custom graphics and other visual materials for marketing and promotional purposes. For example, with Adobe Generative Design, you can get design options based on specific parameters and criteria, and with the help of DALL-E 2, you can generate realistic images from a text-based description.

For example, an event manager could use DALL-E 2 to generate a promotional poster for an upcoming event or a conference by providing a description, such as “Create a poster for an advertising conference. Display the conference's theme, ‘Innovate and Inspire’, in a bold, futuristic font. Make the poster have a dramatic look, similar to the poster for the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.”

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In addition, generative AI tools help you to generate personalised recommendations for your events. For example, if you are planning an event for a specific target audience, these tools could help you to generate customized content and suggestions based on the preferences and interests of your attendees. For instance, you could use Artomatix, which uses machine learning to automate the creation of 3D graphics and other visual content. Event managers can use this tool to generate custom graphics and other visual materials in a matter of seconds. This would help you to create a more engaging and meaningful experience for your attendees, which would lead to higher levels of satisfaction and renetion.

Another way, in which event managers benefit from generative AI tools, is by using virtual assistants, such as X.AI. These tools help you to handle a variety of tasks, such as managing your calendar, scheduling appointments, and responding to emails.

Generative AI is a useful addition to an event manager's toolkit, but it is important to note that it is not a replacement for workflow management tools, such as Meetingbox PWM, which offer features specifically tailored to meet the needs of event planners.

Workflow management tools typically offer features, such as task management, calendar integration, and collaboration tools, which can help event managers streamline their tasks and stay organised during the event planning process. These features are tailored to the specific needs of event planners and are especially useful when coordinating a large event with many moving parts. In contrast, generative AI assistants do not offer these types of specialised features and are primarily focused on generating options or recommendations. While they are helpful in some contexts, they do not provide the full range of capabilities offered by workflow management tools.

As an all-in-one event management platform for virtual, in-person & hybrid events, Meetingbox supports the complete lifecycle of your event and all aspects of an event planner’s job such as project workflow automation, creation of simple or sophisticated event registration websites, mobile event apps...

Here are some of the ways, in which Meetingbox PWM module is helpful to event managers:

Task management: Meetingbox allows event managers to assign tasks to team members, set deadlines, and track progress. This can help you ensure that all tasks are completed on time and that everyone is aware of their responsibilities.

Budget tracking: The budget management feature helps event managers keep track of costs and stay within the allocated budget. This is important for staying on top of financial details and avoiding overspending.

Vendor management: Meetingbox enables event managers to communicate with vendors, manage contracts, and track payments. This streamlines the process of working with external partners and ensures that all necessary details are taken care of.

Meeting Requests: With Meetingbox PWM (Project Workflow Management), event managers can create on-brand landing pages to collect meeting and event requests from customers.

CRM: Meetingbox utilizes a customer relationship management (CRM) feature, which allows event managers to easily manage leads, contacts, accounts, and related business information in one view. This helps you stay organized and in control of your pipeline.

Budgeting, Offers & Presentations: Meetingbox provides tools for creating estimated budgets and offers based on service and supplier databases. Event managers can also build high-quality presentations using templates with embedded images, service descriptions, and pricing information. This helps increase the likelihood of closing deals and provides a professional and seamless experience for clients.

Meetingbox is easily integrated into your existing workflow, and using it is a straightforward process. The transition to PWM is smooth and efficient, thanks to our detailed plan and the compatibility of Meetingbox with the software that you are already using. By following four simple steps, you can begin utilising Meetingbox to streamline your event management tasks and increase efficiency.

The process of implementing Meetingbox involves these four steps:

1. Analysis and Design: This step involves understanding the basics of the business and the current workflows being used, determining the scope of the implementation, and creating a prototype to give you a feel for how the system will work. A formal deliverable, the design sign-off, is signed by the customer.
2. Configure and Build: This step involves loading and checking data, configuring all parts of the system, creating specified templates and reports, and building interfaces and extensions, if necessary.
3. Test and Train: You will be able to test the system to ensure that it meets business requirements. You will be able to identify any missing points and receive training on the system and user manual/workflows.
4. Go Live: The system goes live, following a specific timing plan, which may involve a final data upload and coordination of project history data and interfaces. The implementation may be phased, with new capabilities being introduced in waves. A support structure through the Zendesk ticket system and Intercom chat support would be put in place.

By combining the benefits of both generative AI and workflow management tools, you will save time, reduce workloads, and create more engaging and meaningful experiences for your event attendees while remaining organised. If you want to learn more about how Meetingbox will help you work more efficiently, book a demo and we'll explain how to work smarter, not harder.

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