After a year of writing this column, I’ve finally decided to simply write about apps designed to make it easier for tradeshow organizers and exhibitors to manage and track their shows or booths. You’re welcome.
ExhibitDay is nearing the end of the beta launch of its new software as a service (SaaS) web app. The app is designed to help tradeshow managers, coordinators and exhibitors track and manage their exhibits. While it is still in its public beta period, the company is offering a limited number of professional licenses for users who sign up by visiting www.ExhibitDay.com at $9.99/month if paid annually or $14.99/month if paid monthly.
ExhibitDay is set to be a simple tool for the smaller companies, like small- to medium-sized exhibitors and tradeshow teams. With it, users can track their events, keeping on top of dates and times, venue information, documents and booth set-up and dismantle schedules. Users can also keep track of booth reservation, size, number and all of the services that are required for the booth. Did you order that carpet and electricity? Check the app.
It will also allow you to manage your travel arrangements through the app, keeping track of travel, lodging and invoices for multiple booth staff. In addition, the team manager can set different access levels for different team members. Perhaps most importantly, users can manage their documents related to each event, by assigning and tagging invoices, travel reservation documents, exhibit rules, leads and more.
ExhibitDay is developing more features set to be released after public beta period ends, including Team Member To-Do Lists & Tasks, Advanced ROI Tracking and an Event Discovery Marketplace.
EventGeek offers many of the same services and more, including a dashboard that allows users to run a few or thousands of events at once. There are templates to customize the service to your needs. It is more complex but it offers tools to tame the complexity, such as checklists to help with everything from the planning months ahead to the accounting after the event is done.
It also offers calendar and address book integration, file sharing, staff surveys to break down what worked and what didn’t in order to help plan for future events and Inbox Magic, a system that allows easier and more fluid sharing between emails.
ExhibitForce is another enterprise resource planning system that can handle large companies dealing with multiple complex events. The cloud-based system boasts powerful analytics, separate dashboards suited for either exhibit houses or event managers and a set of collaboration tools. The system can be integrated with nearly any Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform. The system is scalable to organizations of nearly any size. The company offers a free trial and only discloses the price of its services to valid customers.
ShowGo is yet another tradeshow management software app. It’s a planning tool for tradeshow programs designed for coordinators, integrating key tradeshow management tasks into a single, centralized and easy to use solution. It includes most of the same tools offered by the other SaaS’s covered here, but it was created for tradeshow coordinators by tradeshow coordinators and the company touts that it is the easiest tradeshow software solution to learn and use. The system includes ShowGo Mobile, allowing users easy access to their vital tradeshow information on their phone and tablet. The cost is $25-$90/month, depending on the connectivity.
Apps are being designed and beta tested to improve and enhance your exhibition and event planning—so it’s time to get in on the ground floor.
F. Andrew Taylor is an award-winning journalist, artist, photographer, cartoonist and illustrator. He also works in film production, does historical research and has been an amateur stunt driver and rodeo participant. Contact him at fandrewt@exhibitcitynews.com.
This story originally appeared in the March/April issue of Exhibit City News, p. 16. For original layout, visit https://issuu.com/exhibitcitynews/docs/ecn_flipbook_marchapril2019?e=16962537/67925242
