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This article is Part 3 of a four-part series designed to help you intentionally connect events and continuing education into one cohesive strategy.
Let technology do the heavy lifting instead of becoming your burden.
Technology should be your team’s main engine, but when teams don’t connect, they end up compensating with manual effort. They end up assembling reports by hand, just to get a complete view of what happened.
This third play is all about adopting an ecosystem mindset that connects events and education, so data can flow easily, and teams can operate from the same foundation. This will make it easier to scale, deliver a better member experience, and measure impact.
What this play unlocks:
- Less operational strain by reducing manual exports, re-entry, and reconciliation.
- Reliable data and reporting your teams can trust and use with confidence.
- A better overall member experience since content can move between event and education.
- More value from event content, by expanding its reach through content repurposing.
Ecosystem questions (use these every time):
- Where does data have gaps and require export, manipulation, or re-entry?
- Are we spending more time managing systems than delivering programs?
- Are we choosing complexity for “nice-to-have" features, or planning for reliability?
- If we had to scale attendance or content volume by 25%, would our ecosystem hold up?
These questions help reveal where gaps in data could be, weaknesses in your existing ecosystem, and areas of improvement.
Implementing Play 3 (in 30 Days)
Start with one workflow that span both events and education (session data, on-demand publishing, CME/CE credit workflows, reporting) and complete these actions.
1. Identify systems and handoffs across the content lifecycle: An ecosystem should account for how data moves across it from start to finish.
Example: Map the full lifecycle of one session:
- Speaker submits session details.
- Session is published to agenda.
- Slides/recording become on-demand content.
- Learners complete evaluations and earn CME/CE credit.
- Reporting is delivered to internal leadership and external stakeholders.
- Then, identify the handoffs where teams:
- Export data.
- Copy/paste content.
- Reconcile reports.
- Rebuild the same information in another system.
2. Reduce multiple sources of truth by aligning your data foundation: Multiple sources of truth create version confusion and slow execution.
Example: Choose one official location for core data such as:
- Session titles and abstracts.
- Speaker credentials.
- Learning objectives.
- CE/CME requirements.
- Final slide deck and recording links.
Establish a simple rule: If it isn’t updated in the source of truth, it isn’t updated anywhere else.
3. Prioritize flow over features (KISS principle): A single vendor won’t be able to do everything perfectly, but your most important workflows should be simple and sustainable.
Example: If a feature requires heavy manual work, created exceptions, or makes reporting precarious, treat it as a risk. Instead, prioritize:
- Reliable data flow.
- Fewer manual steps.
- Consistent user experience.
- Workflows that are easy to teach and sustain.
A useful mindset is the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Silly): Systems work best when they are intuitive and designed for usability over complexity.
4. Simplify reporting by eliminating manual assembly: When manual assembly is required, this could be a sign your ecosystem isn’t serving the full workflow.
Example: If your team currently:
- Runs reports in multiple systems.
- Stitches them together in spreadsheets.
- Spends hours explaining discrepancies.
Then choose one shared reporting approach where event and education data can be viewed together. Even small improvements can save significant time and increase trust in your results.
Cheat Sheet: Metrics to Track
Ecosystem health indicators:
- # of systems used to execute one end-to-end workflow.
- # of experts/re-uploads required per event cycle.
- #of manual reconciliations needed for reporting.
- % of reporting requiring spreadsheets.
Data trust indicators:
- # of version conflicts identified.
- # of discrepancies between systems (i.e., attendance, credits, completion).
- % of time spent validating versus using insights.
Scale indicators:
- Time required to publish on-demand content as volume increases.
- Time required to award CE/CME credit.
- $ of workflow steps that require specialized knowledge or workaround.
Common Pitfalls
Chasing bells and whistles instead of reliability.
- Fancy features are appealing, but if they aren’t used or increase complexity, they can gradually drain time and energy from your team.
- What to do instead: Prioritize usability and stability. Most end users can pick up features that are simple when filling in for someone else.
Adding vendors without planning for operational cost.
- Multiple vendors can work, but they introduce integration complexity that many teams make up for through manual work.
- What to do instead: Choose the features you can’t compromise on, then simplify the rest so your ecosystem can stay scalable.
Reporting becomes a manual project every cycle.
- If reporting requires manual support, it can become slow and error-prone, limiting your ability to use insights strategically.
- What to do instead: Design reporting as part of the ecosystem so spreadsheet stitching can be reduced and data can flow naturally into insights.
A strong ecosystem reduces friction and allows your technology to carry the brunt of the operational load. Once your ecosystem supports your team, you’re ready for Play 4. This is where we focus on using the right metrics to tell a meaningful impact story.
