The Council of Protocol Executives

The Council of Protocol Executives (COPE) needed a centralized solution to eliminate tiresome processes, hours of manual labor, and hundreds of spreadsheets from their annual conference planning. They wanted to keep their attendees informed and engaged in less time and with fewer headaches.

Struggling with Clunky Manual Planning Processes

When planning the organization's annual conference, the COPE team faced hours of manual labor, manipulating multiple spreadsheets in an effort to organize and track conference information. Jim Cronin, a COPE Board Member, described the time-consuming process that each event required. The team also designed, produced, and mailed traditional paper invitations, which was costly and often chaotic. Relying on traditional mail not only slowed the registration process, but also made attendee payment collection an arduous process.

COPE's conference website did little to build excitement around the event and effectively increase attendance. They needed a new way to show attendees what’s to come, and provide incentives to stay connected with the org.

"Before Cvent entered the picture, COPE cost-effectiveness was a huge challenge, as was the ability to attract enough registrants during a recession."

Jim Cronin, COPE Board Member

Event Management Tools Changed the Game

When the paper route was no longer feasible, COPE started to look for a better solution. "Cvent's excellent industry reputation attracted us to them," Jim notes in remembrance of the organization's search for a new tool. He adds, "The event management capabilities were an astounding addition for us." In particular, COPE finds Cvent's email marketing tools particularly helpful, allowing invitees to easily forward invitations to friends and colleagues during registration to attract additional registrants.

While improving the invitation and registration process, Cvent also helped streamlined COPE's payment collection process. In fact, the organization now receives conference fees months earlier than it did prior to using Cvent. The COPE team has saved so much time getting in contact with attendees that they’re able to better focus on other ways of spreading their message and expanding their network.

COPE found that they had a greater impact on prospects by taking advantage of digital marketing opportunities through their website. They used Cvent's Event Management solution to revamp their conference site by adding eye-catching images and features that make them stand out from other competitors. They incorporated driving directions, one-click calendar integration, and rich agenda details for easy integration into attendees’ calendars. Jim's team were pleasantly surprised at how easy and straightforward the build process was, and attendees appreciated the intuitive tools all in one place.

Creating Smooth Processes for Impactful Events

One huge improvement in COPE’s process was their new ability to track open and response rates for their digital campaigns and invitations. COPE attributes their 19% increase in attendance largely to Cvent's email marketing engine and strategic automated techniques. "The system is easy for us to use, as well as a pleasure for our prospective attendees. We are able to communicate effectively with our membership and also extend the organization's list of friends," Jim says. "Our conferences now sell out early as a direct result of the regularly-scheduled and attractive Cvent emails."

"The system is easy for us to use, as well as a pleasure for our prospective attendees...Our conferences now sell out early as a direct result of the regularly-scheduled and attractive Cvent emails."

Jim Cronin, COPE Board Member

Going forward, COPE continues to utilize Cvent’s streamlined event management platform to help companies put on exclusive events all around the world. They look forward to the continue partnership with Cvent and are eager to take advantage of upcoming features and innovative solutions in the future.