Engage

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the executive director and first-ever member of Senior Planners Industry Network (SPIN), an association of 2,700 meeting and event professionals across North America. We have a variety of online and in-person education and networking channels.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Engage?

My company’s Association Management System (AMS), which defined our website, was antiquated. Our employees had to learn workarounds; completing even a simple report was difficult. We hired Engage to redesign our website and AMS.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to simplify the user experience for both members and employees.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We looked at several providers and decided that Engage had most of the features we were looking for.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Engage examined all of our processes and realigned several of them. They transferred data and developed our database system. Our teams designed the website together, which we recently launched.

Currently, Engage is doing some data cleanup. They provide ongoing support.

What was the team composition?

During development, my team worked with a project manager, data manager, database administrator, and web designer from Engage. We also engaged with trainers and support personnel. Upper management checked in often. The Engage team changes depending on the focus of the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

My company recruits many sponsors from our events, a tedious process that has always been done manually with letters of agreement going back and forth over email. Engage automated this process without omitting the personal connection we’ve always had with our sponsors.

The redesigned website is much simpler; in just a few clicks, users can find anything quickly and easily.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

After two months, we realized the project would not be finished in the original timeframe. We extended development twice to ensure the data transfer was done correctly.

Engage used a great project management tool, and our teams processed tasks and data with Mavenlink. We had conference calls via Cisco Webex to discuss the process and receive system training from Engage’s team. Since the system launched, we use ZenDesk for support management.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Our association does a few things differently, and Engage determined how to make this work in a transparent, more user-friendly way for members. Their willingness to listen and provide solutions far exceeds the experience we had with a previous provider. The team at Engage has considerable brain power, and we used it to deliver a new and more flexible system that still feels familiar to our members.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We should have planned the transfer of data better, as this could have prevented the cleanup that is still going on. This process is similar to learning a new language and realizing that not everything translates the same.