Success Story - Orange County Business Council

Event planning and registration helps this customer be more efficient online

by The Marketing Team,  Constant Contact Customer Success Stories

Contacts: 5,014
Location: Irvine, Calif.
Customer Since:  January, 2004
Website: http://www.ocbc.org

The Orange County Business Council represents and promotes that area's business community by working with government organizations and academic institutions to enhance the county's economic development. Among the council's key priorities are improving the regional infrastructure, preparing tomorrow's workforce, and increasing the supply of workforce housing. To support its efforts, the council holds more than 20 paid events per year, which range from golf tournaments to an intimate breakfast with a top executive of a regional business, explains Matt Prince, director of communications for the council.


Matt says that, on average, he and the business council plan two large events (500-plus people) and five or six smaller events per quarter. To stay ahead of the game, the group starts to publicize its events about 10 months in advance - or earlier if the date and location are secured, he says. Electronic communications are used for saves-the-dates and invitations for all but two of the group's events each year. Social networking sites are also used to promote various events put on by the council.


Prior to turning to the Constant Contact Event Marketing tool, the Orange County Business Council managed all of its registration efforts by hand. RSVPs coming in by phone or email were entered manually into the group's tracking system. Using an online system has greatly streamlined the process. "'The return on investment has been nothing but positive," Matt says of his use of Event Marketing. "The staff has more free time to focus on other aspects of event management and it's now easier for our customers to register and stay involved with us."


Using an online registration system is also saving Matt and his team valuable time. "The ability to track registration and have all that information at our fingertips makes it easy to organize the events in half the time," he says. "And we love having people RSVP online so we don't have to field as many phone calls."


Matt picked Event Marketing because of its integration with his established email marketing plan. "The ability to have a one-stop-shop for our marketing, online communications, and events truly makes doing business much easier," Matt says.

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