Mastering Sessionboard with the CS Team: The Power of Portals

The Power of Portals: Webinar Recap

In our recent webinar, "The Power of Portals with Sessionboard's CS Team", we delved into the philosophy and functionality of Sessionboard’s portal feature.

Designed to enhance the user experience for speakers, our portals:

💪 Aggregate all necessary resources and tasks

💪 Facilitate seamless communication and onboarding

💪 Streamline the collection and management of content

The ultimate goal 🥅 of our portals functionality is to create a centralized hub where speakers can manage all pre-event and post-event tasks, ensuring a smooth and efficient process.

The purpose of our recent webinar was to expand the knowledge and understanding of portals both for our clients and those interested in learning about their capabilities. Our CS team provided valuable tips, tricks, and insights on how event organizers can maximize the use of our portal feature to streamline their events and provide their speakers with an unparalleled journey from submission to stage.

What We Covered in the Webinar

• Understanding Portals: Portals are user-friendly hubs where speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors can access all event-related tasks and resources in one place.
• Customization: Learn how to create custom portals using filters to group similar contacts and assign specific tasks and resources efficiently.
• Best Practices: Utilize tips such as creating sample portals, bulk editing custom fields, and linking resources to assist with task completion.
• 5 Key Portal Components: Explore the five key components of a portal: forms, file requests, tasks, wiki pages, and files.

Our Portals Masterclass provided a comprehensive overview of how to leverage these features to enhance event management and speaker engagement.

Some Of Our Favorite Insights...

☑ Organizers can save time by creating a template portal with all necessary tasks and resources. Once set up, you can easily duplicate the portal, including its filters, tasks, and resources. This allows you to quickly relabel and customize it for different groups, streamlining the process and ensuring consistency across all portals. [ 6:18]

☑ Each portal can have its own set of due dates for each deliverable, tailored to different types of speakers. For instance, main stage speakers can have earlier deadlines to ensure ample promotion time, while breakout session speakers can have more flexible timelines to accommodate the collaborative nature of their sessions. [ 26:42 ]

☑ Guide your speakers through completing tasks and tracking their progress to eliminate confusion and enhance their sense of accomplishment. Tasks in the portal can be customized to cater to specific needs [ 18:43 ] :

1. Custom Tasks for Unique Needs:
   • Create a task like "Register for the Event" with a direct link to an external website.
   • Use custom fields to provide unique promo codes for different speakers. This ensures each speaker sees only the code meant for them, making the process seamless and personalized.
2. Standard Tasks with Clear Instructions:
   • Develop a task with a uniform description for all contacts, including step-by-step instructions, bulleted lists, hyperlinks, and images.
   • Provide detailed directions for tasks like uploading content or presentations, ensuring speakers know exactly what to do and how to do it.
3. Track Your Speakers Progress via the Event Organizer Dashboard:
   • Event organizers can monitor each speaker's progress in real-time through the dashboard. This visibility allows them to quickly identify and address any incomplete tasks, ensuring that all speakers are on track and deadlines are met.
   • This streamlines communication and reduces the need for manual follow-ups, making it easier to manage speaker readiness and overall event preparation.

These strategies ensure that speakers feel guided and supported throughout the process, making it easy for them to complete tasks and stay on track.

☑ File requests via portals allow for easy management and organization of all necessary documents. Here’s how they can streamline your event planning [ 21:16 ] :

• Easy Uploads and Feedback: Upload multiple file types, including large files, directly into the system. Attached commenting allows for immediate feedback and collaboration, ensuring all documents meet your standards.
• Versatile Sharing: Share uploaded files with various teams, such as the A/V team on site or the event marketing team, ensuring everyone has access to the necessary resources.
• One-Stop Resource Hub: For example, you can upload pre-event speaker call recordings or external links, providing all essential resources in one centralized location.

☑ The versatility of housing Wiki Pages for your speakers within the portal can relieve any additional questions that your team would normally have to stop and spend time to answer, freeing up their focus so they can tend to building a more efficient and productive (profitable) event. [ 22:16 ]

Final Thoughts

Portals are a crucial component in the event organizer's toolbox, enabling them to efficiently build impactful events with the strongest speaker lineups. By eliminating the time wasted searching through inboxes and tracking tasks and files in disparate systems, organizers can save significant time. This saved time can be redirected towards creating more focused and successful events, ultimately producing higher ROI, better membership or event registration retention, and, for sales-focused events, a stronger pipeline.

This was a knowledge packed webinar that will equip your event management team to build the most user-friendly experience for your speakers and a streamlined event that will save time and boost ROI across the board.

And speaking of event ROI...

Join Our Next Webinar

Don't miss our next live episode of "Sessions" with our new Event Marketer in Residence, Bryan Funk, titled "How Event Content Drives Millions in Pipeline." Join us on Thursday, July 11th, from 12 pm - 12:45 pm EST to learn more about integrating events into your go-to-market strategy and driving significant revenue growth.

Register Now

About Sessionboard

Sessionboard’s deliberate and sole focus on continuous innovation of the speaker and content management process has created a best-in-class platform that saves organizers hundreds of hours per event, helps aggregate and optimize their speaker network, provides speakers with a streamlined and modern experience, and empowers marketing teams to optimize their content strategy year-round.

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