Cvent Event Management vs. SmartDraw

Cvent has been great for our large flagship conferences, roadshows, exec forums, and webinars. From registration and attendee management all the way to post-event engagement and everything in between. Its custom reporting has helped us present business cases when we needed to eliminate certain events and has also helped us navigate challenging recruitment times by calling out patterns and successes.

Incentivized

I believe SmartDraw is a great tool for small- to mid-sized organizations for simplifying the production and management of org charts. We've also had the PMO experiment with the use of some of their flow charts as well. If an organization has an HCM with the capability of producing (good!) org charts, that is likely the best option... but many that I have used in my 30-year HR career don't. So there is definitely a need for SmartDraw in the market!

Incentivized

• Event registration - manages different registration types for different programming.
• Audience Segmentation - from sessions to event emails to push notifications, Cvent's audience segmentation saves us so much time.
• Training - Cvent has a vast library of help articles and community questions and answers to help both new and seasoned users.

• Provides examples to work off of--these are helpful when you don't know exactly where to start.
• Provides a number of stylistic options without making things too complex, so you can be creative without getting overwhelmed.
• Provides a wide variety of templates, meets a wide variety of needs.

Incentivized

• Growth emphasis seems slanted towards trade shows and events vendor integrations (less so on educational/attendee features)
• Because of rapid incorporation of new functionality, documentation can lag behind the current platform
• Complexity is growing, so the platform requires a significant investment of time and coordination to fully leverage

Incentivized

• A month-to-month plan would be ideal for users that don't have a need to create many projects
• The sidebar navigation can be a little confusing with all of the tools listed.
• Offering customizable plans with only the feature you need would simplify navigation

Incentivized

We are very pleased with the features that Cvent gives us. The ease of use and the immediate support when something does stump us. Cvent provides us with everything that we need to run a successful event. The only reason I did not Rate Cvent as a 10 is the cost

Incentivized

Super simple to use once configured. The solutions guide you through the process and the training resources and community fill in anything you can't figure out. Technical and non-technical users alike will be able to figure out how to successfully use the system.

Incentivized

I rated 8 because its simple to use and easy to create network topologies quickly. I liked the drag and drop option which makes designing the network topology and flow chart easier. In general its does what it needs to.

Incentivized

There have been a few times when the system has gone down in the midst of registration. It can be frustrating but know that it does happen at times

Incentivized

When pulling reports and it can sometimes lag a bit and that can be frustrating when you are trying to get things done on a timeline

Incentivized

The company offers 24/7 customer support, including phone, email, and chat support, to ensure that we can get help when we need it. Additionally, the platform has a comprehensive help center and knowledge base, including user guides, tutorials, and FAQs, which help us troubleshoot issues on our own. Cvent also provides training and support resources, including onboarding assistance, live training sessions, and webinars, which help us get the most out of the platform. Overall, Cvent appears to be committed to providing excellent customer support and resources to its users, which can help ensure a positive user experience and successful events.

Incentivized

They are always very helpful, we get computers every two years and I have to call them to move the license from one computer to another and they do it with a smile in their voice!

Incentivized

Our on-site trainer was very knowledgeable in the product and gave us very important pointers on best practices and how to perform tasks in the simplest manner

Incentivized

It was all self-driven and I had to do a lot of searching around in the community to get answers.

Incentivized

It would have been nice during implementation if we had received more pointers on how to organize our parked report folders, libraries, etc. to avoid the mess we find ourselves in today. If we had known ahead of time the limitations we could have planned better.

Incentivized

There is no other tool that offers the same range of solutions as Cvent, all under one umbrella. With minimal reliance on APIs, client and associate data are more secure, making all stakeholders more comfortable with the software. All other solutions I looked at only solved one piece of the puzzle I was dealing with.

We have used Corel Draw and Adobe Acrobat. Both of those tools were good when they came out but the abilities of SmartDraw far outweigh both those tools. Corel Draw was also more complex to operate and do tasks, as was Adobe Acrobat in which some basic tasks took additional steps to complete.

Incentivized

I can see how this can help small AND large companies as they continue to grow

Incentivized

• Cvent Event Management has definitely provided great value with our exhibitors. It's a well organized system that they all trust and utilize each year now.
• Cvent Event Management has also provided positive ROI on the app front. Our clients rely on the app to share information and it's saved us a lot of money in paper printing costs!

Incentivized

• SmartDraw has provided good return for our internal purposes. Using it to understand an organization's structure and inner workings has been valuable. On the client side, creating steps and businesses processes has also been a big plus. It has helped decrease confusing reporting structures and has provided a detailed map for individuals to understand where they fit within their organization.
• Unfortunately, SmartDraw has been somewhat inefficient with some of the more complex projects on our plate and has really deterred certain employees from even wanting to use it.

Incentivized