All those digital and hybrid events planners have been organizing over the course of the pandemic have resulted in a lot more data than planners are accustomed to gathering from in-person events. Forty-six percent of the 200 event professionals surveyed for a recent study said this was a top issue for them.

According to the study, “The Changing Role of Event Data — New Challenges and Opportunities,” conducted by event management software provider Eventsforce in May, a full 50% said they are finding that managing all that data is getting a lot more complicated. To compound the challenge, more than a third feel they don’t have the time or resources to do anything useful with all that data they’re collecting. Other top issues include having a hard time gaining insight from the data because it lives on different systems (40%), as well as worries about keeping attendee data secure (36%).

“Data management was always an issue for event planners. But it seems with virtual, it is more complicated.  And it is not something that will become any easier with hybrid either,” said George Sirius, CEO of Eventsforce. That’s because hybrid events combine two different experiences, which means organizers are going to end up dealing with a lot more engagement data than they would in a virtual or in-person only setting, he added. “And despite many saying they don’t have the resources to focus on data properly – hybrid models will force them to spend a lot more time collating, analyzing and reporting all the data they collect from events.”

Taking the Next Step

With three-quarters saying they are planning to hold hybrid events in the remainder of 2021 into 2022 — with the majority being held this fall — 94% said they now have data management at the top of their priority lists.

While they currently use data to measure success (74%); make improvements to future events (73%); create more-detailed post-event reports for sponsors and exhibitors (61%); and improve their understanding of online attendee behavior so they can apply what they learn to their future hybrid events (40%), they realize that there’s a lot more they can do once they have a better handle on the data.

Among the potential benefits respondents identified were making their events more engaging, which would result in happier attendees, sponsors and exhibitors — and make their event more competitive in today’s crowded digital event environment.

For the full results, download the full report here.