5 min read

The 10 Best Event Planning Tools to Save Time in 2024

Written by
Len Gauger
Published on
March 20, 2024

Event planning can not only be stressful due to dealing with numerous stakeholders, but also extremely time-consuming. As an event planner, you manage countless details, from the venue to vendors to promotions. Thankfully, there are helpful and intuitive event planning tools available today that will save you time and headaches. 

The Top Event Planning Tools

Planning a major conference or industry event typically takes over a year, which makes it challenging to stay on top of all the organization required. Online event planning tools help you stay organized, collaborate with your team, manage tasks and details, and track event analytics. According to Bizzaboo, event planning tools, whether for virtual, hybrid, or in-person events, play a pivotal role in engaging audiences. In fact, 62% of event marketers believe that an event application can successfully drive audience engagement, underscoring the importance of selecting the right tools.  With the rise of virtual events, it's noteworthy that in 2020, the average number of attendees for a virtual meeting was 1,356, as reported by Statista. This highlights the scalability that virtual platforms can offer.

Here are the 10 best event planning tools to use in 2024 for streamlining your workflow and saving precious time as you plan and execute successful events.

1. ClickUp 

ClickUp is an incredibly versatile project management platform that makes event planning easier from start to finish. As a robust all-in-one solution, you can assign tasks, set reminders and due dates, store event files and documents, track time on projects, and use templates to manage repeat events. 

With customizable workflows and views, ClickUp allows you to see your event plan the way you want—like a calendar to visualize deadlines. You can also create interactive guest lists to collect RSVPs and meal preferences. 

ClickUp's goals ensure important tasks don’t fall through the cracks. Whether planning a small local event or a major conference, ClickUp simplifies managing details and team collaboration.

2. Asana

Asana facilitates streamlined communication across your event team. You can comment on tasks, set reminders, create templates, and reuse plans from previous events. With Asana, you can map out detailed schedules for everything from pre-event preparation, like venue layouts, to post-event financial reconciliation. Breaking an event into manageable chunks makes an overwhelming task feel straight-forward. You can even create interactive checklists to ensure no detail gets missed.

Asana integrates with calendar apps, so you maintain a real-time overview of your event itinerary. Collaborating via Asana cuts down on lengthy email threads and confusing messages. Asana keeps everyone aligned for flawless execution. 

3. Monday.com 

Monday.com allows you to customize processes for each event. Easily create templates for repeating projects, like annual conferences or client parties, to replicate successes. Within Monday.com, you define procedures with columns, labels, groups, and automations. Everything related to your events can be stored neatly, with specialized sections for items like budgets, contracts, A/V estimates, guest information, and staff schedules.

Dependency settings allow you to create automated triggers as tasks are completed during event prep and execution, saving ample manual effort. You can literally watch your event come together seamlessly.

4. Trello

Trello's kanban-style boards cater perfectly to visual thinkers. Breaking down tasks into actionable items organized across customized workflows is a game-changer. Trello makes ticking off accomplished tasks delightful.

You can set up a board for each event with lists categorizing plans like venue selection, menu planning, guest lists, staffing, and pre-event setup. Breaking down an event makes big-picture planning less intimidating.

Trello facilitates excellent collaboration, allowing smooth discussion on card items. Integrations with apps like Slack and Calendly also streamline communications.

5. Basecamp 

Basecamp provides seamless task, milestone, and timeline management features, allowing you to schedule and execute all necessary event prep steps. Basecamp acts as a communications hub where event team members can chat, share files, discuss action items, and drive progress. To-do lists help delegate duties and ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

Basecamp also offers helpful post-event analysis, allowing you to gather data-driven insights to continually improve. By assessing cycle times, delays, and vendor performance, you can fine-tune your planning processes. Combining big-picture oversight with small-detail execution, Basecamp is a major ally for busy event teams.

6. Wrike

Wrike provides robust analytics and performance tracking, ensuring you have quantitative reporting on metrics like attendance, sales conversions, marketing metrics, guest satisfaction, and team productivity. Wrike gives authoritative insights on exactly which tactics and activities drive event success, so they can be amplified over time. 

For major annual conferences or repeat gatherings, having historical performance benchmarks allows savvy planners to ramp up year after year. Wrike provides confidence that you are executing the absolute best event possible, given available data.

7. Notion

Notion allows unprecedented customization with virtually unlimited flexibility. Beyond simple task boards, Notion enables connections across infinite relationships, creating a central knowledge hub for your team. Planning resources, historical information, billing and legal documents, RFP templates, and contact lists all remain associated. Powerful search functionality makes finding tasks or notes a breeze.

Notion facilitates easy duplication for repeat events like galas, so there is no need to reinvent the wheel every year. Create time-saving templates that evolve annually, driving continual optimization.

8. Accelevents

Accelevents provides robust tools to manage events of nearly any type or size. From symposiums to major multi-track conferences, Accelevents centralizes details and logistics planning on an intuitive yet powerful platform.

Customizable forms, such as for session submissions or award nominations, simplify sourcing great event content. Paperless schedule building and management ensure seamless agenda finalization.

Accelevents facilitates everything from dynamic event website creation to convenient online registration and ticketing options, complete with waiting lists and easy invoice reconciliation. 

During your event, Accelevents helps engage your guests with interactive conference mobile apps, including touchless features like QR code contact exchanging, all of which are increasingly essential. 

9. EventMobi

EventMobi lets you create branded event apps to connect with virtual and in-person attendees before, during, and after. Customizable apps facilitate interactive conference schedules, location mapping, live polling, Q&A, document sharing, and in-app messaging between attendees.

EventMobi also provides detailed analytics reporting into app engagement, session preferences based on popularity, sponsor ad performance, and overall event success metrics. Push notifications can encourage participation throughout your event, driving ongoing excitement.

EventMobi continues relationships post-conference with an option for your custom app to remain active, allowing you to share recorded session content. Continue conversations by releasing new documents, links, multimedia, and discussion channels, keeping your community engaged year-round.

10. Sweap

Bring your next conference or corporate event to the cutting edge of technology with Sweap event marketing and engagement tools. Sweap utilizes artificial intelligence to analyze thousands of trigger points around sales meetings, galas, summits, and beyond, translating data into actionable enhancements unique to your happening.

Integrations with leading platforms like Hubspot and Salesforce allow you to create guest experiences that are hyper-customized down to the individual level based on personal assessments and previous interactions. 

The Bottom Line

Today's event planning technology removes much tedium from coordination. Streamlined platforms provide oversight to turn previously overwhelming endeavors into smooth experiences. The right software ensures consistency through duplication, so your team can continually enhance operations. Choose one of these aligned platforms today, so you can focus on what matters most: curating memorable events in 2024 and beyond.

Book a demo with Connect Space to find out how to promote attendee networking with our matchmaking app.

Len Gauger

LinkedIn

Len Gauger is the innovative founder and CEO of Connect Space. Gauger has an impressive background, previously serving as an analyst at the U.S. Department of Defense. He showcases a unique blend of entrepreneurial spirit, strategic vision, and a knack for tech innovation. His diverse experiences have equipped him to effectively lead Connect Space, an events management platform company based in the bustling tech startup environment of Ann Arbor.