Cvent Event Management vs. Whova

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 think it works really well as a way to organize yourself while at a conference. As well, to network with said attendees I found it very valuable to remember names. Having an automatic rolodex with everyone I met and ensure I had their info to connect later

• 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.

• facilitated the sharing of research, perspectives, and resources on topics of interest
• enabled easier connection to new and existing relationships with conference delegates and speakers
• allowed me to catch up on content I missed due to time conflicts for concurrent sessions

• 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

• Literature and pictures uploaded but no easy way to download the collection.
• No easy way to access information after the period after the conference ended.
• No easy way to access the list of participants and contact information - could be pdf'd.
• There was a little connectivity issues but not much.
• Some of the meetings were scheduled while we slept.
• The cost of using Whova for small meetings.

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

We already registered with Whova for our 2024 event and we will continue to use Whova for the foreseeable future as long as the price doesn't rise too high. It was a bit of a shock to see the difference between last year's price and this year's price - nearly 2k increase! We were able to negotiate, thankfully, to lower the price.

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

Most of Whova's functions are intuitive and you can self-teach about 80% of it with ease. I really was impressive with the messaging, follow up meet-up capabilities and sharing of contact information. My only few concerns were about the lack of an archive or back up, [perhaps cloud-based?] of the meeting room and round-table's presentations

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

We had no availability issues!

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

We had no performance issues with our event delivery. We did have some meet-ups that had some glitches for some attendees, but I believe they were quickly resolved and were more on the part of user error than anything. Once they got the hang of it, their meet-ups went more smoothly.

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

I only had a single issue regarding a photograph that was handled immediately and a colleague somehow ended up with two profiles which was also handled right away. Those two instances are all I have to go by. Other than that it was smooth but I did have ample information regarding who to contact if I experienced an issue

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

I found Whova to be similar to many social media apps that I already use. It was easy to navigate. This was my second experience using Whova in my presenter role. I liked the icebreaker section to connect with other participants before the event started. I look forward to next year’s event.

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 selected Whova for price, and ease of use. We would have chosen GoToWebinar but they did not have as many options for sponsor recognition. We will most likely use Event Rebels in the future for our needs. Tracking time and sessions viewed is a must for our industry as attendees rely on us to earn CEs to renew their licensing.

I especially liked the ease of communication, the ability to ask hard questions easily, and afterward the ability to survey all participants to see what we (and/or Whova) could do better going forward.

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

Incentivized

Everyone on our team had their assigned tasks to complete in Whova on a weekly basis and did so with ease and confidence.

• 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

• Whova made our virtual and hybrid events possible! Our virtual attendees loved the ability to interact and engage with each other, the exhibitors, the speakers and organizers of the event. It also allowed our in-person attendees to do the same, and navigate the conference on-site.
• Whova made organizing the conference possible for our small staffed organization! We only have 1.25 FTEs and were able to pull off a hybrid conference in 2022. It wouldn’t have been possible without Whova!

Incentivized