Emap Limited is a private, British, multi-platform media company, with a diverse portfolio of respected, market-leading business-to-business brands spanning on- and off-line publications, conferences, awards, exhibitions, festivals, and data and intelligence services. Since 1947, Emap brands have informed, inspired and created connections for millions of people worldwide within the sectors they operate. Emap provides essential news, analysis and access to industry thought-leaders and organisations which those in the construction, retail, media, fashion, health, education, government and automotive sectors rely on to work smarter.
Within the publishing division of Emap, the Emap Awards not only bring together dedicated readers, they recognise extraordinary talents, achievements within and contributions towards the healthcare, retail, public, fashion, media and construction sectors, hosting about 39 highly respected and sought after awards, annually. Each award offers incredible opportunity for companies to promote themselves through sponsorship, support rising stars in their industry, network with dedicated professionals and differentiate from their competitors.
Charlotte Walsh and Lisa Walker manage the marketing of the entire portfolio of Emap Awards, supervising a team of four. Since 2009, they have relied on eventsforce as their event management software solution because of its simplicity to use, dedicated support, cost-efficient modularity and scalability. Charlotte claims that they just seemed to like everything eventsforce had to offer.
Managing, marketing and evolving with Eventsforce
Charlotte admits that they couldn’t plan so many events so successfully without event management software. “But, our previous system just wasn’t keeping up, so when we listened to Eventsforce describe their efficient, broad technology we were impressed,” she said. Their need for increased flexibility and breadth to accommodate the varied scale of events made eventsforce an obvious solution. With anywhere from 300-1600 registrations per event, depending on each Award’s popularity and the readership of associated publications, it was imperative that their team have a system that easily catered to changing scenarios.
The bespoke development of the Awards module to fit their demanding needs and impressive customer service sealed the deal. In fact, the Awards module was created alongside Emap to develop it to the highest standards. “Eventsforce helped integrate online payments for entries and table sales. It’s one platform, easy to use and has changed the way we judge awards – the majority is now done online, so no need for our judges to travel the country to meet up,” admits Lisa. “Online entries and table bookings have reduced in-house admin workload and simplified systems to maximize opportunities.”
And Charlotte says: “Eventsforce customer service is great, if ever we have a problem, which is rarely, we can call in and get things figured out.”
Scalable and dependable – the sky’s the limit
And as for the future, it’s hard to tell what to expect from day to day. But, Charlotte noted she isn’t at all apprehensive about taking on new business because of the flexibility and breadth of the Eventsforce system. “Because Eventsforce is so flexible, we can continue to grow without having to worry about purchasing anything additional or missing out on any steps. Eventsforce allows us to grow at our own pace so we can think about putting on great events, not administration.”
Lisa concludes: “Eventsforce has changed and improved the way we manage, market and judge our Awards for the better. We have worked closely with them to develop the product into what is now a fundamental part of our everyday working lives. Eventsforce are constantly updating their software to come up with more solutions to make our lives easier. We look forward to the next phase which involves integrating Social Media and SEO.”
