Reading time: 3 minutes
How digitalized are American associations? We will clarify this question today with Jacy Ripperger. As a member of the Iowa State Association of Counties (ISAC) she is using event apps for several years for the Spring Conference.
Since their old event-app provider was very cumbersome to use, Jacy switched to LineUpr in 2019. Obviously, they are very happy with this decision, as preparation for the second conference with LineUpr is already in full swing. In this interview, Jacy tells us more about the reasons why she switched to LineUpr, how she loaded the app with content, and how the participants took the change. Have fun while reading. ?
LineUpr: Hello Jacy. Thank you for taking the time to do this interview. Please introduce yourself.
Jacy: My name is Jacy Ripperger and I am the Administrative Assitant at Iowa State Association of Counties.
LineUpr: You have used LineUpr fort he ISAC Spring Conference. Please tell us more about that event? Which target group did you want to address and what added value do you offer the participants?
Jacy: Our Spring Conference is an educational opportunity for members of our association and is also a yearly event where the ISAC budget is approved by the membership. This event gives our members the chance to network and attend educational programming within and outside their affiliate organization.
LineUpr: What strategies and tools do you use when addressing this target group? Do you attach particular importance to something special?
Jacy: We focus on email marketing to address our members and inform them of events and educational programming.
LineUpr: Do you also use printed products to market the event or distribute information on-site? If so, which and why?
Jacy: This app allowed us to offer an online version of our conference agenda and separate affiliate agendas. We also offer these in paper form to all of our members upon arrival at the conference. It is necessary to offer both an online and hard copy version, due to the age range of our membership.
We needed an app that was low cost and simple to use. We have used more complicated apps in the past that weren’t right for our membership.
LineUpr: How did you learn about LineUpr and what was the decisive argument for you to use an event app for this event?
Jacy: We needed an app that was low cost and simple to use. We have used more complicated apps in the past that weren’t right for our membership. Our app is mostly focused on providing conference agendas to our membership, so we appreciate the minimal features.
LineUpr: How long before the event do you start creating the event app? How much time do you invest in the app?
Jacy: I start adding content to the app about two months before the event. It takes me around ten hours, give or take, to finalize the app.
We heard from members that they liked the simplicity of the app.
LineUpr: When and how do you inform the participants of the event about the event app?
Jacy: We do this through our email marketing tools and on our website. We also send out a tutorial on how to save the app to your home screen.
LineUpr: What information and content do you communicate via the app?
Jacy: Our app is focused on showing our full conference agenda and separate affiliate agendas. This allows each attendee to customize their own schedule.
LineUpr: How did your visitors react to the app?
Jacy: We heard from members that they liked the simplicity of the app. We had a few attendees who didn’t like the way it was saved to their home screen rather than downloaded through the app store. We did not actively ask for feedback after the spring conference but plan to after our next event.
LineUpr: Which top three tips would you like to give to other organizers when using LineUpr?
Jacy: 1. Create a simple tutorial to send to your attendees to help them access the app.
2. Train staff to be able to help event attendees access/use the app if they are having trouble on site.
3. Keep it simple and user-friendly.
LineUpr: Thanks for the focused interview Jacy. It’s always exciting for us to find out how event organizers deal with our app. Every day we hear from our customers how much they appreciate the clear focus on the relevant functions.
You can find more information about the Iowa State Association of Counties here. We are already looking forward to this year’s congress in September with you.
