Events have been going on for a very long time, so long that they have completely eclipsed the software designed for them. This is why so many event planners and marketing departments as a whole continue to use an array of different tools to manage their events data.
Yet of all the tools out there, there’s still one which remains highly prevalent today, and that’s the trusty spreadsheet. Its versatility means it can be used for anything, but is it really the right option for managing your events data?
Siloed Data
From creating your budget through to calculating your ROI, across the whole events cycle the sheer amount of data involved with managing events is huge. So when you try and stuff all of this information into one massive spreadsheet, it’s only logical that problems are going to arise.
That’s because the more events data you add to your spreadsheet the more cumbersome it becomes, making it harder to use, and eventually, you reach the point where all of this information becomes siloed, or in other words, unused.
This creates problems at all levels. For the event planner who loses time trying to find the information that they’re looking for, up to the head of marketing who has no idea on ROI (which is usually very high). After all, what good is it if all of this data can’t be accessed?
Centralization and Collaboration
The problem with a spreadsheet is that it can only be centralized if it is shared directly with your team. So whilst all of your events data might be in a single place, as soon as your ‘master’ spreadsheet is shared with each stakeholder, you’re going to end up with multiple versions of the original spreadsheet.
This is because everyone involved has different needs and for this reason, they’re going to be using the spreadsheet in different ways. In cases like this, everyone is working separately towards their own objectives. So when you make any sort of change to the spreadsheet, the only person that knows about this is you, and the only way for others to know about these changes is for you to notify them via email or messaging them.
This creates a major headache for everyone working on the event. It slows down the pace at which everyone can work and hinders any form of collaboration. Having to juggle between spreadsheets to find the relevant data is never an effective use of resources, and this has a big impact on your bottom line.
Final Thoughts
The spreadsheet isn’t going anywhere soon but it’s important that we understand its uses and its limitations. If you want to get the most out of your events data and unlock its true potential then its time to start using a platform that was designed with these exact intentions. After all, technology should be helping us to make quality events, and not slowing us down in trying to reach this goal.
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