“With Certain, all aspects of the event experience are branded and attendees are engaged through multi-channel interaction designed to drive valuable relationships.”

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Peter Micciche serves as Certain’s President and CEO responsible for the Company’s vision, strategy, and global operations.

Certain, Inc.© is the leading provider of SaaS event management technology for the global meetings and events industry. Certain’s innovative solutions deliver streamlined processes, reduced expenses, greater return on investments, and improved overall business value to marketers and event professionals. The Certain, Inc. platform supports a full range of events – from small meetings and educational sessions, to large conferences and world events. Headquartered in San Francisco, Certain has operations and sales offices in North America, Europe and the Pacific Rim. Please visit www.certain.com.

MO: What are some of the advantages for event planners using Certain to plan, promote and track their events?

PM: Certain offers the most robust event management platform in the industry. Its flexible and extensible core platform automates event processes from the very simple to very complex, saving event professionals time and frustration. With Certain, all aspects of the event experience are branded and attendees engaged through multi-channel interactions designed to drive valuable relationships. Rich attendee profiles and event intelligence provide a deep understanding of attendee opinions, preferences and interests, and deliver real time event success metrics.

For the past six years, Certain has been awarded PCI Service Provider Level 1 Compliance, the highest level of security compliance for processing credit card payments over the internet, assuring event professionals that their attendees’ financial data is handled safely and securely.

With its best-in-class cloud infrastructure, years of industry knowledge, and focus on innovation, a partnership with Certain is the best solution for event organizers looking to exceed the expectations of all event stakeholders.

MO: How has Certain evolved since first launching back in 1994?

PM: Since its founding, Certain has offered industry leading event management solutions for professional meeting planners. We strive to make every event a great one for event planners and participants alike, and significantly improve the return on time, money and resources invested.

We now serve customers across three continents. Our customers include companies and institutions of all sizes and industries that focus on maximizing the value of their meetings and events: corporations, meeting management companies, professional conference organizers, event producers, higher education institutions, associations, governments and major sporting events.

We have dramatically broadened our solutions and now offer a SaaS-based event management platform that supports any level of event complexity or scale. In the last year, we added many new features and components to the SaaS platform including integrated mobile access and an industry-first appointment matching application, Match2Connect.

MO: Can you expand on why your Match2Connect solution is the professional accomplishment you’re most proud of so far?

PM: Match2Connect helps marketers and event professionals deliver unprecedented value at their meetings and events. In this metrics-driven business climate, it’s critical that event organizers and attendees are able to provide measurable value for the time and money spent at an event.

One-to-one appointments fuel event productivity with scheduled ‘face time.’ Instead of wandering the floor or standing in a booth waiting to meet the right solution provider, product expert, or qualified prospect, Match2Connect lets participants of all types state their meeting preferences, and then it automatically matches them with the right people. In most cases, these one-to-one meetings result in actionable follow-up, increased probability of closed business and demonstrable ROI.

MO: What are some ways that event planners can measure the success of their event? Any tips for improving attendance?

PM: Today, it’s more important than ever to measure event success, but not all events have the same goals. Some events are designed to improve brand awareness or have attendees ‘experience’ the brand. Other events are designed to convey important product or research information. User conferences are primarily designed to improve customer loyalty and enable sharing of information among participants. And many events are designed to generate leads, drive prospects through a sales pipeline, or even close sales on the show floor.

The metrics used to measure success need to be aligned closely with event goals. Metrics often used include: survey data for brand awareness or satisfaction; social media buzz, mentions, and sentiment to measure awareness and message delivery; new leads generated, existing lead touched and deals closed to measure revenue generation. Of course meeting planners measure new and returning attendees as well as sponsorship revenue growth. New technologies like social media, mobile apps, virtual communities run in parallel with live events, and one-to-one appointment scheduling provide event intelligence as well as rich attendee profiles that can be incorporated into CRM systems for future follow-up by event owners and sponsors.

In addition to event owners and sponsors, attendees are also challenged to prove that time spent away from the office and normal course of business to attend an event has paid off. One of the most effective ways to improve productivity at events and demonstrate their value is to attend events that offer one-to-one appointments. In our recent survey, 91 percent of respondents stated they preferred events with pre-scheduled, one-to-one appointments.

The Certain platform is built to integrate data from multiple sources to create rich attendee profiles and real-time event intelligence. Newer Match2Connect offers both event organizers and attendees a measurable increase in event productivity.

MO: Thank you so much for joining us today!