The PCO magazine from the International Association of Professional Congress Organizers (IAPCO) published a September issue, which also includes our article on theme Using modern technology to deal with sponsors and exhibitors in GUARANT International. The authors of the article are colleagues from the sponsorship department – Adéla Koudelková and Marie Březinová.

Do not replace humans, replace human work

Case study: Using modern technology to deal with sponsors and exhibitors in GUARANT International

Not only the crisis is an excellent period to rise up and use modern technology to save money and to bring effectiveness into the project and business management.

Since 1991 GI has been providing services related to congresses, conferences, social events, and other meetings. It organizes around 60 events a year, half of which are events that include sponsoring activities. Every year our Industry Liaisons Officers (ILO) have to deal with around 1,500 sponsors and exhibitors interested in various sponsorship opportunities and have to sign hundreds of contracts. Can you imagine doing it manually? To facilitate their work while simplifying the choice and buying experience for sponsors, GI in cooperation with a software company invented 2 online systems for sponsors and exhibitors. These systems enable us to benefit from the skills and business abilities of proficient managers who are able to deal and up-sell, instead of killing them with paperwork. Thanks to the new technology the number of ILOs hasn’t change even when the target has been doubled.

The online exhibition system contains an interactive floorplan with specified exhibition spaces. Companies can easily choose and book their preferred booth online. The most attractive spaces are blocked to be purchased and are dedicated to significant sponsors. It is only about setting.

The online prospectus serves as a shopping cart for sponsors where they can simply add items or purchase entire partnership packages.

Both systems automatically generate orders, confirmations to sponsors, and notify ILOs and Exhibition Coordinators by email.

The systems are being administrated by ILOs and allow many various features, settings, limitations, mandatory fields, and other specifications. Reports can be easily downloaded as excel sheets. The systems were developed using our long term experience, and they are being developed further based on sponsors‘ feedback and company requirements.

To read the full September issue of The PCO, use the attached link to the online magazine: https://issuu.com/iapco/docs/pco_sept_q3_2020_issuu_pages_final