I know the scene. I have been standing there myself. On the last day of the event, you want to get that conference follow-up done and out to all of your attendees, but you just can’t get back to the show office to throw open your computer and get that last paragraph written about the conference close.
Damn, and now it looks like you won’t get back there for a couple of more hours, and by the time you get that stupid thing out, the moment will be gone. The attendees will be packing or gone, and you will lose that good ju-ju that the closing speaker was spreading across the room…..
If only it could be done from your iPad. Damn thing. Replaced my event binder, does my dishes, makes me coffee, and let’s me chat with my kid from the room at night… if only its magic powers would let me finish that email piece and get it sent.
What? It can?
Oh yes it can Mr or Ms event planner marketer type person… as long as you use MailChimp.
To be fair, other services may have an iPad app, but who cares? MailChimp is one of only four services Plannerwire recommends for meeting and event email marketing. They offer a stellar product, and now they have a full-bore, sure-as-shit, real-deal iPad app. Bang. Get it done. Get that thing sent.
Here are some of the highlights of the app from the MailChimp announcement:
- Easy drag-and-drop editing
- Offline editing
- Collaboration
- Watch changes as they happen
The quote of the day comes from Aaron Walter, User Experience Design lead of MailChimp:
Mobile devices aren’t a trend in our lives; they’re our new reality. We’re all quickly becoming multi-device users, starting tasks in one place and picking them up on another, reaching for the right device for the situation. There’s a new continuum in our workflows, and the software we’re designing for our new world needs to be aware of context. It needs to adapt to let you work on various devices.
Aaron is not part of the event and meeting planning world, but he has hit on something that I am always preaching. If a product or service does not let you put down your mouse and pick it up on your iPad, phone, or other device… is it worth having? MailChimp seems to get this, and it is high time everyone else has the chance to experience their work like this.
If you use another email marketing service or God forbid don’t use one at all, give MailChimp a try, their pricing model is stupid cheap and starts as freemium so it will cost you nothing to check it out. Learn what it means to be truly cross-platform, and then maybe you can start using other services that will allow you to get shit done wherever you are at the moment.
On a plane, on a train, or at your desk…. nothing should stop an event pro from getting it done.
