Choosing conference planning software shouldn’t feel like a gamble. The right platform streamlines everything, from registration and speaker management to on‑site check‑in and post-event analytics. The wrong one adds friction, cost, and late-night fire drills. In this guide, we walk through a practical, vendor-agnostic process to help us pick software that fits our goals, our audience, and our tech stack, without blowing the budget or our sanity.
Clarify Objectives, Audience, And Scale
Define Event Goals And Success Metrics
Before we demo anything, we lock in why the event exists and how we’ll measure success. Are we driving revenue, leads, community, or thought leadership? Different goals point us toward different feature priorities.
Practical metrics to agree on:
- Revenue and profit targets (ticket tiers, sponsorship packages)
- Registration and attendance rates (registrations vs. check-ins)
- Sponsor ROI (lead capture volume, meetings booked, booth traffic)
- Attendee satisfaction (app ratings, session feedback, NPS)
- Content outcomes (session views, on-demand plays, CE credits issued)
When these are clear, it’s obvious which conference planning software aligns. For example, if sponsor ROI is critical, we’ll emphasize lead retrieval, appointment scheduling, and exhibitor analytics.
Map Attendee, Sponsor, And Speaker Journeys
We sketch the end-to-end journey for each audience:
- Attendees: discovery → registration → payment → agenda building → networking → on-site check-in → post-event content
- Sponsors/exhibitors: prospecting → contracting → asset submission → lead capture → reporting
- Speakers: CFP submission → reviews → contracting → AV needs → schedule changes → travel/logistics
Then we translate these into must-haves. If our attendees expect a premium mobile experience, the app quality, networking features, and push notifications become table stakes. If we run a complex call for speakers, we’ll need abstract management, multi-round reviews, and conflict resolution.
Assess Team Size, Roles, And Workflow Complexity
A boutique team running a 400-person event has different needs than a large association hosting 7,000+ attendees with dozens of tracks. We list roles (operations, marketing, registration, sponsorship, content, AV) and map who touches what. If we rely on cross-functional collaboration, we’ll want task management, approvals, and granular permissions. High complexity? We favor systems that model real workflows, otherwise we’ll be propping up the software with spreadsheets.
Core Features And Integrations To Prioritize
Planning And Operations: Timelines, Tasks, And Collaboration
We look for built-in project plans or templates, Kanban/Gantt views, dependencies, and reminders. Bonus points for approval flows (e.g., sponsor assets, session descriptions) and role-based permissions. Document storage with versioning keeps decks and floorplans under control.
Registration, Ticketing, And Payments
Must-haves: flexible ticket types, discount codes, group registrations, taxes/fees, and PCI-compliant payments. We also check refund/transfer rules, waitlists, and automated invoices. For global audiences, multi-currency and local tax handling matter. Don’t forget fraud prevention and chargeback workflows.
Agenda, Speakers, Exhibitors, And Sponsorships
We want a robust agenda builder with tracks, tags, capacity limits, and conflict detection. Speaker tools should cover CFPs, bios, headshots, content approvals, and AV requirements. Exhibitor and sponsor modules should manage packages, entitlements, asset collection, and deliverables, plus lead retrieval options and analytics.
Attendee App, Networking, And On-Site Check-In
A modern attendee app should support personalized agendas, push notifications, interactive maps, and session feedback. For networking, we value attendee directories with granular privacy controls, AI or rules-based matchmaking, meeting requests, and hosted buyer workflows if relevant. On-site, we need fast badge printing (kiosks and staff-assisted), QR/ NFC check-in, and offline modes for spotty Wi‑Fi.
Integrations: CRM/Marketing, Finance, And APIs
Conference planning software doesn’t live alone. We confirm native integrations with our CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics), marketing automation (Marketo, Pardot, HubSpot), webinars/streaming, and finance (NetSuite, QuickBooks). Strong REST APIs and webhooks are essential for custom workflows. We ask about bidirectional sync, field mapping, deduplication, and authentication (OAuth, SSO). If integrations are weak, our data will fragment, and our reporting suffers.
Budget And Total Cost Of Ownership
Pricing Models: Per-Event, Per-User, Or Subscription
Vendors price in different ways: per-event fees for occasional conferences, per-user for growing teams, or annual subscriptions for portfolios of events. We model our next 12–24 months to see which structure is cheapest, and most predictable. Don’t forget volume discounts if we run multiple events.
Add-Ons, Overages, And Hidden Fees
We watch for costs that sneak up:
- On-site hardware rental (printers, scanners, badges)
- SMS credits, push notifications, or premium app features
- Integration connectors, custom fields, or API call limits
- Payment processing markups and chargeback fees
- White-labeling, SSO, or advanced permissions
We ask vendors to quote a realistic all-in price based on our expected registrants, sessions, and integrations. Then we pressure-test best and worst cases.
Internal Costs: Training, Admin Time, And Change Management
Even great software has internal costs. We estimate admin time per event, content import/migration, and training for planners, volunteers, speakers, and exhibitors. If the platform’s learning curve is steep, we’ll pay in lost time, or adoption will lag. We budget for playbooks, templates, and a pilot event to smooth the transition.
Security, Compliance, And Reliability
Data Protection, Privacy, And Access Controls
We handle personal data, payment info, and sometimes health/dietary details. We require encryption in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest, robust RBAC, SSO/SAML, MFA, audit logs, and environment segregation (prod vs. sandbox). Data retention settings and the ability to delete/export attendee data are non-negotiable.
Compliance Standards And Contracts
Depending on where we operate, we look for GDPR readiness, CCPA/CPRA support, and, for certain verticals, HIPAA-adjacent safeguards if collecting sensitive data. A current SOC 2 Type II report is a strong signal. We also review DPAs, BAAs (if applicable), subprocessors, and data residency options (EU/US).
Uptime, Performance, And Backup/Recovery
Peak registration surges and on-site check-in stress systems. We want published uptime SLAs (99.9%+), transparent status pages, scalable infrastructure (CDN, auto-scaling), and DDoS protection. We confirm RPO/RTO, regular backups, and tested disaster recovery. If badge printing stalls because Wi‑Fi hiccups, offline fallback should kick in instantly.
Usability, Implementation, And Support
Ease Of Use For Planners, Speakers, And Attendees
We demo the day-to-day: creating tickets, editing agendas, updating speaker assets, and issuing refunds. If common tasks take too many clicks, the tool won’t get used. We also check the speaker and exhibitor portals, clean, intuitive interfaces reduce back-and-forth emails.
Onboarding, Templates, And Migration
Strong vendors bring templates for agendas, emails, landing pages, and sponsorship packages. We ask for guided onboarding, project plans, and help migrating historical data (contacts, past agendas, media). A sandbox lets us prototype before we commit real data.
Support Channels, SLAs, And Knowledge Resources
We verify support hours and channels (chat, email, phone), guaranteed response times, and emergency escalation. Comprehensive knowledge bases, webinars, and community forums speed problem-solving. For on-site days, we prioritize vendors offering live support or optional staffing, because that’s when issues must be fixed in minutes, not hours.
How To Compare Vendors And Decide
Create A Weighted Scorecard Aligned To Goals
We turn our goals into a scorecard. Example weights:
- Core features and workflows: 30%
- Integrations and data quality: 20%
- Usability and adoption: 15%
- Security and compliance: 15%
- TCO and pricing flexibility: 10%
- Support and vendor fit: 10%
We rate each vendor against the same criteria, using comments and evidence, not vibes.
Run Demos, Sandboxes, And Proofs Of Concept
We don’t just watch a polished demo. We ask vendors to configure a mini version of our event: 3 ticket types, 10 sessions, 5 speakers, 2 sponsor packages, and an on-site check-in flow. Then we drive. We measure setup time, data hygiene, and how the system behaves under load (e.g., mass email send, bulk import, 200 concurrent registrations).
Check References, Security Reviews, And Roadmaps
We talk to customers who run events like ours. We ask what broke, how fast support responded, and which features saved the day. We request a current SOC 2 report and a summary of pen tests. Finally, we review the product roadmap: is the vendor investing in features we’ll need next year, like improved matchmaking, better exhibitor analytics, or deeper CRM sync?
Conclusion
Conference planning software should reduce friction and amplify results. When we anchor the search in clear goals, realistic budgets, and non-negotiable security, the right choice emerges fast. Build a scorecard, test real workflows in a sandbox, and pressure-test support for on-site moments. Do that, and we’ll pick a platform that not only gets us through the event, but sets us up for the next one with cleaner data, happier sponsors, and attendees who can’t wait to come back.