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Successful accounting firms today no longer rely on pen and paper, but on modern technologies to support their clients with valuable information for business development. An expert in this field is Danielle Ramsten. She is the marketing and technology manager at Hawkins and Co. Accounting.
But that’s not what it’s all about today. Because Danielle and her boss Allison Hawkins are engaged in their spare time at We Belong. This organization supports parents in the upbringing of their children. It is about providing information and accompanying the children during difficult stages of development. One offer is the WE Belong Mental Health and Wellness Conference. Here various topics are presented by experts. In order for the participants to ask questions anonymously, a LineUpr app was used.
In the interview, Danielle tells us more about We Belong, how she learned about LineUpr and for which information she used the app after the event. Have fun while reading. ?
LineUpr: Hello Danielle. Thank you for taking the time to do this interview. Please introduce yourself and Hawkins and Co. Accounting.
Danielle: My name is Danielle Ramsten and I’m the Marketing and Technology Manager at Hawkins and Co. Accounting. Hawkins and Co. Accounting is not your father’s accounting firm – we leverage technology to help our clients better understand their numbers and because of this they are able to focus on the bigger picture so they can work “on” their business not “in” their business.
LineUpr: You’ve used LineUpr for the Mental Health and Wellness Conference. Tell us more about this event. How is it that an accounting firm is involved in such an event?
Danielle: The WE Belong Mental Health and Wellness Conference was created out a vision that a local mom, Dilene Duarte, had for parents to support their children to be the best they can be through compassion and without judgement.
Whether your child is struggling in school, socially with peers, with their sexuality, body image, navigating life with social media we have a speaker for you. The idea is to provide information for parents so they can take what they need.
To bring this vision to life we formed a committee of inspiring women and mothers who all have unique ideas that have added to the breadth of the conference. And this committee is where Hawkins and Co. come in. Allison Hawkins, owner at Hawkins and Co. and myself were part of this committee.
As part of the event we wanted to provide a way for our guests to ask questions anonymously as some of the topics are very personal. This is when we found LineUpr as it provided the perfect way to ask questions live as our speakers presented.
LineUpr: Do you also use printed products to distribute information on-site? If so, which and why?
Danielle: The only item we printed was the QR code to be displayed on each table for people to assist in uploading to their phone if they hadn’t done so before arriving through the link we sent out before the event.
LineUpr: You’ve used LineUpr for the first time. How did you learn about LineUpr and what was the decisive argument for you to use an event app?
Danielle: We found LineUpr by researching online. We knew we were looking for an app that allowed us the ensure the privacy of our guests but also brought more functionality around engaging our audience with announcements during the event. We did test run a few and LineUpr was selected because of its ease of setup, use and privacy for our guests.
LineUpr: How long before the event do you start creating the event app? How much time do you invest in the app?
Danielle: We started with the app a few months before the event but that was only because we wanted to have it ready for when ticket sales began. It took about 2-3 hours getting everything the way we wanted it. And updating it as more sponsors came on or speakers provided more info it was a snap, literally seconds to change anything that we needed to update. I was actually able to do an update minutes before our doors opened as someone noticed a typo in an email address for one of our speakers. I was able to change it on the spot and we were good to go.
And updating it as more sponsors came on or speakers provided more info it was a snap, literally seconds to change anything that we needed to update.
LineUpr: When and how do you inform the participants of the event about the event app?
Danielle: We informed our guests in an email blast to remind them of any last minute details and we sent them the link to sign up before they arrived so they were ready to go. Also, as mentioned above, we had a print out of the QR code at each table and pulled it up on our presentation screens in case anyone arrived at the door so they could still take advantage of the app for the event.
LineUpr: Do you also use your app after the end of the event?
Danielle: We did post information after the event as some of our speakers had so many questions they weren’t able to answer right away.
Many had never been to an event that had an event app so they were impressed with the easy set up and quickness to which they could start engaging.
LineUpr: How did your visitors react to the app?
Danielle: Our guests really enjoyed using the app. Many had never been to an event that had an event app so they were impressed with the easy set up and quickness to which they could start engaging.
LineUpr: Thank you very much for the nice interview, Danielle. That sounds like a really great campaign. We think there should be many more such events.
More information about We Belong is available on their website and on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. And if you are looking for a modern accountant, then you should visit Hawkins & Co. Again, a visit to their Facebook and Twitter is worthwhile.
We are already looking forward to your next events and to how we can support them with LineUpr.
