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SVG Bundes-Zentralgenossenschaft Straßenverkehr eG is one of the most famous associations in Germany. Anyone who regularly travels on German roads knows SVG’s succinct logo. However, very few people know how far SVG has already progressed in the digitalization of their organization.
Today, we have Marcel Frings, a member of the board at SVG. He will tell us more about the drive and goal of digitalizing their events. He will also tell you about the experience of realizing that we should replace most of the printed products at events with digital solutions. Very exciting. Have fun while reading. ?
LineUpr: Hello Marcel. Thank you for taking the time to do this interview. Please introduce yourself and the SVG.
Marcel: Marcel Frings, 42 years old, married, 2 children and, since 2018, a member of the board at SVG Bundes-Zentralgenossenschaft Straßenverkehr eG. SVG supports companies in the transport and logistics industry with versatile services. The product portfolio includes, among others, training and further education, occupational safety, subsidies consultation, Europe-wide toll billing, management consultancy as well as the brokerage of transport and personal insurance in co-operation with KRAVAG and R + V-Versicherung. Furthermore do they, SVG run, 30 fueling stations and Truck stops, on their own or in cooperation with partners, 22 driving schools, and employs 1,000 employees as well as more than 500 moderators and trainers.
SVG was founded as cooperative institution in 1948 by BGL associations and by entrepreneurs as a service provider for the transport industry. Today, around 8,000 transport and logistics companies are members of one of the 15 regional SVGs under the roof of the Federal SVG, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main.
Every year, the SVG network trains more than 50,000 professional drivers. Around 12,000 transport and logistics companies with more than 130,000 heavy trucks are already using the SVG toll service and are therefore calculating an annual toll volume of almost 900 million euros from SVG. Gas stations and fuel service cards are also part of our service offer.
LineUpr: You have now used LineUpr for the event series “Digital Change – Up-to-date in the Digital Future”. What is this event and what content do you present to the participants?
Marcel: The event is part of the joint event series on the topic complex “Corporate governance in the digital age” carried out by SVG and Telekom.
Today, it’s about more than just gaining specialist knowledge; it’s about mastering the topic of “Digital in the Now”. New digital tools enable entirely new and more efficient ways of collaborating with employees, customers, suppliers – with all market participants! To get accustomed to this, the goal of this event is to get an overview of current trends and opportunities to discover a digitalization path for your own company. Keynote speaker Ibrahim Evsan presents a roadmap of how attendees can master the digital transformation. He not only shows his listeners the digital map, but also wants to increase their digital motivation.
Thematic lectures on data theft, digital marketplaces, legal security in the logistics chain and many more round off the day.
Here it was important to us to have start-ups on site, in the sense of offline meets online.
LineUpr: That sounds like a great event format that many employees and other entrepreneurs would have liked to listen to.
Do you also use printed products to market the event or distribute information on-site? If so, which and why?
Marcel: Marketing is now exclusively digital. For this, we use various social media channels or our newsletter. For the information distribution on-site, there is still one or the other product flyers which the participants can take.
LineUpr: You have used LineUpr several times for different events. How did you learn about LineUpr and what was the decisive argument for you to use an event app?
Marcel: My colleagues from SVG Süd came across LineUpr first and used the event app. For me, the rock started to roll when, after the first event, I watched my colleague Susanne manually transfer the feedback from paper to Excel. That did not have much to do with the core of our digitalization event. We then decided to locate a tool that included a feedback feature. We then worked very quickly with LineUpr and chose to use this event app.
LineUpr: Have you used event apps in the past? If so, what are your experiences? If not, what has been against it so far?
Marcel: No, we did not use any event apps before. Nothing spoke against it but it was rather the ignorance about the existence of a smart and simple solution.
For me, the rock started to roll when I […] watched my colleague Susanne manually transfer the feedback from paper to Excel.
LineUpr: How do you use the app before, during and after the events?
Marcel: We used LineUpr in two other digitalization events. In doing so, we adapted the app to our design, inserted all the essential content such as speakers, schedule, locations, etc. as well as used the message function. We informed the participants about the app in advance and again at the beginning of the event. Our goal of manually exchanging digitalized feedback worked very well.
LineUpr: How did your visitors react to the app?
Marcel: The response from the participants was consistently positive. The event app rounded off the last corner of our digitalization series.
LineUpr: We want to grow daily and offer our customers a better experience, what features do you wish for the app and why?
Marcel: We pass the feedback from the participants directly to the speakers. That’s how we create transparency. In the reviews of the individual speakers, we would like to have a direct comment field in addition to the star rating. Additionally, what would help us, is if we could download the survey results as a presentation. Until now, we helped ourselves by creating a presentation from screenshots. This takes time and is a tedious job.
For companies to survive the digital revolution they need to rethink and reshape.
LineUpr: Keyword challenge. Obviously, digitalization plays a crucial role for SVG. How will the company change through digitalization?
Marcel: I think digitalization plays a crucial role in many companies both now and in the future. The rapid technological progress enables breakthroughs that were, not so long ago, seen as science fiction. But: Software and technology alone are not enough. For companies to survive the digital revolution, they need to rethink and reshape. These topics also keep us at the SVG busy.
LineUpr: You’re right. Digitalization can only work together with employees.
Which top three tips would you like to give other organizers for the use of LineUpr?
Marcel: First of all, to customize the design – so that the participants correctly perceive the organizer. Secondly, inform the participants early to get the highest usage. Lastly – just do it and try it out.
LineUpr: Thank you, Marcel, for this in-depth interview. You and SVG believe that digitalization is more than just the introduction of software. It’s also about including employees and changing processes. Unfortunately, one still often experiences, that even though digitalization is promoted, registering for an event is only possible via fax. ?
There is more information about the SVG also available on their homepage. Maybe you also want to reorient yourself professionally? In addition to the website, you will find many vacancies at the SVG on LinkedIn and XING. And whoever wants to be up to date with the latest news, we recommend the profiles on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
We look forward to continuing to accompany you during the digitalization of your events.
