1. How important is support when it comes to conference software?
Good technical support is often the deciding factor in a conference's success. If organizing the conference is only one part of your actual job, you cannot afford to wait two days for an answer to an urgent question. Especially when time is tight and IT skills are limited, you need a support team that is reliable and quick to respond.
👀Some conference software providers are run by only one or two people. In such cases, service is often very limited. Competent contacts can be hard to reach during illness, vacations, or peak conference season.
You can recognize good conference support by these signs:
- Instant help: Highly trained(!) AI chatbots help with initial questions directly within the software, with no wait times. If they can't help, human support staff are quickly accessible.
- Availability: Emails aren't left unanswered for a week, and in emergencies, someone is reachable by phone.
- Competence: Support staff know the software inside out and can provide quick answers.
- Response time: Issues are resolved promptly—there are fixed response times that you can agree upon in advance.
- Dedicated contacts: There are specific people who are well-versed in your conference and are there to assist you.
- Multilingualism: If you work with an international team, support can also assist in English.
- Proactive help: Tips and advice for working successfully with the software are provided right from the start.
2. Why should the conference software know all the data about your event?
If you distribute data regarding people, abstracts, and the program across multiple systems, you create extra work for yourself. You end up with one piece of software for participant registration, another for managing scientific submissions, a third for mailings, and Excel for planning the program. But in reality, organizing the conference is only one part of your daily work.
You will regret the decision to use multiple systems. Why? Whether it's authors, participants, or reviewers: at the end of the day, your work always revolves around the same people.
❌Most authors and reviewers are also conference participants. If you use 4 different systems for the various areas of the conference, you have to update the same personal data 4 times(!).
Eventually, a question will arise like: "Which speakers haven't paid their registration fee yet?" With centralized conference software, you can answer that question quickly. With four different systems, it takes much longer.
3. What are your requirements for the conference software?
Create a list of everything that is important for your conference. What is unique about your event? Where might software struggle?
- Do you have complex cancellation policies?
- Are there many different offers and ticket options?
- Do you have offers for different groups of people (members, students, university staff)?
- Is the abstract review process somewhat complex?
✒️Try to define your requirements as early as possible. Then, ask the conference software providers directly: Can the software do this? Are there any limitations?
By doing this, you and your team will identify open questions early on. The list of requirements will also help you find suitable software for your conference faster and allow you to test it in advance.
4. Why is an initial consultation useful?
Check the software providers on your list. Ask the team your questions in a brief initial consultation. 15–30 minutes is usually enough. By the end, you should be able to address these three points:
- What experience does the provider have with similar conferences?
- How do they address your specific needs and requirements?
- Does the provider come across as professional and reliable?
⚠️ Also important: Is the software actually designed for conferences? Event software covers a broad spectrum. Some systems are better suited for seminars, training sessions, and small workshops. While perfect for that niche, they might not be the optimal solution for scientific conferences.
5. How does conference software handle data protection?
Data is either stored on your own servers or with the provider. Storing data in your own data center is generally secure, but it creates a significant workload for your internal IT team. Especially for a one-off conference, self-hosting is rarely worth the effort.
External hosting via the provider (SaaS) has therefore become the standard.
💡What is SaaS? Many providers now rely on Software-as-a-Service. This means the conference software does not run locally on your computer; instead, it is provided online. You can find a detailed explanation of SaaS here.
Using a SaaS solution for conference software is not without its challenges. The software often stores your conference data—especially personal data—outside the EU. In such cases, you have no control over who exactly accesses that information.
GDPR-compliant providers are the safe choice. They meet strict data protection regulations and ensure that your conference data is processed and stored securely.
💡The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the legal framework within the EU. You can find the full text of the legislation here.
Check whether your organization's data protection policies align with those of the software provider:
- Where exactly is the data stored?
- Are there backups?
- Who does the provider share your conference data with? Can you influence this?
- Is participant data transmitted in an encrypted format?
- Does the provider sign a data processing agreement with you?
⚠️Be careful with registration fees! Some software providers manage conference registration fees in a trust account. Due to legal requirements, this is no longer permitted. The basis for this is the Anti-Money Laundering Act (GwG). Software providers require either a banking license or a specialized service provider in the background to handle this. Anything else is illegal and therefore risky.
6. Does the conference software have interfaces?
Do you already use other systems to manage contact information? Or is there a specific system your accounting department uses?
Integrating these systems with conference software is not always possible.
Ask the provider: What interfaces are available?
🤔Without an interface, you face expensive workarounds and manual, redundant tasks. This wastes many hours that you would rather spend on research and teaching.
7. How many conferences do you need the software for?
Are you planning a one-off conference? Or do you organize multiple congresses and conferences per year? Providers often charge per event or per registered participant.
💵For those who organize conferences regularly, license models are more cost-effective. You pay a monthly subscription fee, for example, which allows you to use the software for an unlimited number of conferences.
Framework agreements for an unlimited number of events offer another advantage. Once your team is familiar with the software, setting up new conferences becomes much faster. Otherwise, everyone has to familiarize themselves with new software for every single conference, which often wastes a lot of time.
8. Does the software also work for digital conferences?
Digital conferences have become an essential part of the landscape, especially since 2020. It is no longer unusual for scientific conferences to offer hybrid formats today. Participants can choose whether they want to attend in person or join digitally.
Hybrid formats not only offer more flexibility, but according to a study, they also promote inclusion and sustainability.
Hybrid conferences and fully digital meetings include people who cannot or do not want to travel, and contrary to popular belief, they do not involve astronomical costs to implement.
Use an online platform for hybrid conferences. This is where you can broadcast streams and videos and where participants can interact.
↕️Important: The software must be able to transfer participant data to the online platform without complicated technical workarounds. Manual updates take up too much time.
9. How important is the price of the conference software?
Costs are a criterion, but not the most important one. Good service cannot be free. A slightly higher registration fee covers the additional costs of the software. This is easier for both you and your participants to accept than the poor impression caused by glitches, delays, or unprofessional communication.
👉Poor software or a lack of support causes more damage than a slightly increased registration fee.
Conclusion: What matters in conference software
- Reliable support is worth its weight in gold.
- All conference data belongs in a central system.
- Define your requirements early on.
- Evaluate providers in a brief conversation.
- Clarify questions regarding data protection & billing.
- Look for interfaces with your existing systems.
- Choose the right license model.
- Consider hybrid formats and digital participation options.
- Quality is more important than price.
💡What are the next steps?
We would be happy to assist you personally and determine whether Converia is the right conference software for your event.
🚀Converia always takes a holistic view of the entire conference, allowing organizers to map the complete workflow. You can test all features in advance with our free demo version.
