Top 7 Event Management & Scheduling Tools for Coworking Spaces

If you are running a coworking brand you are probably obsessed with the idea of nurturing an active community. A healthy community is the main attraction of a modern flexible workspace, so wise entrepreneurs invest lots of resources into building it.

The most actionable way to strengthen a communal vibe is by carrying out various fun events that bring members together. However, planning meetings and community events at a coworking space is a monstrous task especially when you need to do it regularly. You must think about everything — venue, agenda, sponsors, seats, meals, tickets, etc.

The whole process starting from preparation to analyzing results causes less headache if you are using good event management or scheduling platform. You can completely change the rules of the game to your favor if you pick out an awesome event management tool and integrate it with your main workspace management system or better yet, use the built-in functionality of your coworking software if it offers a relevant solution.

Modern event planning, scheduling, and management applications do everything or almost everything to free community manager's hands and please shared workspace members. They engage the attendees, digitally render floor plans, and lots of other things. 

There are plenty of events management and scheduling apps available out there. They offer different sets of features, however, all of them have one thing in common. They completely eliminate the amateur DIY approach to arranging events at your shared workspace, streamline the management process, and improve users' experience.

So, how to choose the best event management or scheduling tool from all this variety? Read on and you will get the answers. 

How to Choose a Great Event Scheduling App for Your Coworking Space

In fact, the decision-making process is simpler than it seems. A management or scheduling tool of your choice must meet your unique requirements. So, first of all, think about what goals you are looking to accomplish.

For instance, if you need a decent event scheduling tool to organize one-on-one or small group meetings, consider Calendly or relevant HubSpot/Salesforce CRM functionality.

Next, decide on the goal of the upcoming community event. Actually, all coworking space events fall under two categories — interior and exterior gatherings. Interior events are carried out to retain existing members (which means they are for residents only) and exterior events are organized to generate new leads, attract new members (which considerably enlarges their target audience and the number of prospective attendees).   

Depending on the scale/size/goal of events carried out at your workspace and your biggest pain points in planning and arranging them, you'll want to select different event management or scheduling software. The categorized lists below will help you make the right choice.

Best Event Scheduling Tools for Coworking Spaces

As I have already mentioned above, the featured tools will fit for scheduling individual and small group meetings.

1. Calendly

Calendly is a free and easy to set up tool to schedule your meetings. Just specify availability preferences and share your Calendly links with members/team or embed them on your website. Members will pick a time and the event will be added to your calendar.

• Calendly integrates with your Google Calendar, as well as Outlook, Office 365, or iCloud calendars. 
• Supports 1-on-1, round-robin, and collective availability meetings.
• The app is Time Zone Intelligent.

2. HubSpot Meetings

If you are one of the HubSpot CRM fans, you will probably like their free appointment & meeting scheduler as well. 

• HubSpot Meetings syncs to your Google Calendar, or Office 365 calendar, so prospective attendees can always see your most up-to-date availability.
• It allows group meeting links to schedule time with more than one person in your community. 
• As prospects schedule meetings with you, they’ll automatically be added to HubSpot CRM, so your database grows and stays organized.
• No coding is required to embed your calendar on your website.

Best Event Management Apps for Internal Events

Here I will highlight a couple of tools best for managing events aimed at coworking space members retention.

3. andcards

andcards is a coworking space software focused on members that provides a comprehensive set of solutions to manage a flexible workspace. You probably already know the technology as room scheduling software for its solutions for meeting rooms and conference rooms reservation, desk booking functionality, visitor management, and many more apps integrations. 

Today, when the pandemic is not defeated yet, coworking spaces prefer to arrange internal events aimed at the community building rather than risky big external gatherings with many strangers invited. So, andcards with its events management solution is a perfect option to keep your tight-knit community together. andcards will not only put all your events in front of members, it will save community managers bags of effort they usually spend on organizing fun events.

Here are a few benefits event management solution from andcards gives members and managers:

For members

• No need to upload any third-party software, the events list is available right in their main coworking space apps.
• Members can join the events they like in a few taps.
• Notifications about new events. When a member opens their mobile app to use room scheduling software (for example), they see that a new event has been added.
• A widget on the homepage of the mobile app will remind a member of the applied upcoming event.

For managers

• It’s easy to promote community events through an in-app events catalog and notifications. Managers can also use Stream newsfeed and communication tool to deliver the message to the community. 
• Administrators know exactly how many residents are coming to join the event, so they can prepare accordingly (order snacks and beverages, place enough seats, etc.) 
• Events performance can be analyzed with the help of an Analytics solution which will give a better understanding of members’ preferences and show the ways to improve the member experience in the future.
• You don't pay any extra money for events booking functionality and use it along with room/desk scheduling software and all other solutions. 
• You can make your events visible to general public for buying passes by anyone who logged into the app, even non-members.

Free demo and free trial are available.     

4. Facebook Events

A lot of coworking spaces use Facebook Events as a simple and affordable management solution. You just create an event on the Facebook page of your coworking space and invite community members. If they are interested, they join it. 

Please note that if a member is not in your group, you won’t be able to invite them, which is a serious drawback. Besides, I’d recommend using Facebook Events for additional promotion of your gatherings rather than as a main event management tool.

The problem with social media is that it has nothing to do with your coworking brand. Members check your event on Facebook and forget about it immediately after skipping to reading messages or browsing news feed. Too many distractions to rely on it solely.   

Best Event Management Tools for Exterior Events

This section brings into the spotlight a few tools to manage your big lead-generation events when many new people are welcome. 

5. Eventbrite

Eventbrite is a comprehensive solution to transform meetings and events you are going to host at your coworking space into something grand. It can help you with arranging music festivals and conventions, pop-up dinners, photography classes, and more

• The tool allows you to start by creating an event listing page with built-in payment processing, analytics, and support.
• You can extend your reach and find your audiences on partner sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Spotify. This is important for attracting new residents.

Eventbrite has a free version for free events.

6. Eventzilla

Eventzilla is a professional solution for operators and managers who are serious about community events at their coworking centers. This event management tool supports you all the way, from creating an event to analyzing the results.

• At first, you create an event website to deliver an easy to use registration experience to attendees.
• Then Eventzilla continues to assist you at every step of the event's life cycle (Before - landing page, invitations, registration, etc., During - check-in, attendee mobile app, name badges, etc., After - reporting, surveys, integrations.)

The app provides tailored solutions for all sorts of events, from tech conferences to fundraisers, training, and classes.

7. Bizzabo

Bizzabo is a holistic platform that provides your coworking space team with all the tools they need to create rewarding in-person, hybrid, and virtual events. Here's how the tool is different from other external event management tools:

• It lets you tailor-make event flows per persona. Customize all attendee-facing touch-points to showcase only the most relevant and converting content.
• Bizzabo provides you with an in-depth analysis of your targeted audience's main interests so you can design an informed marketing strategy that is in line with your expected business outcomes.

Conclusion

I hope my list of top event management and scheduling tools was useful and you are ready to automate one more process at your coworking space. As you see, the choice is not complicated at all. A perfect tool must provide a solution to the unique problem of your flexible workspace.

From my viewpoint, all your tools including events management, room scheduling software, visitor management system, access control, and other solutions should be integrated within a single space management platform. I believe this is the most convenient option for all users, both members, and managers. If you agree with me, schedule a demo call with us to know how andcards can unite all administration in one place.

That’s it, keep up the great job, never lose focus on members, carry out events, and stay informed about the latest workspace trends with our super-useful newsletter.