Source: upace
Fort Lauderdale, FL—Managing and navigating professional conferences is a challenge, so when a tool simplifies the process, it is a most welcome advantage. Organizers and attendees of Florida State University’s Evolve Fitness Symposium and Indiana State University’s Midwest Fit Fest are getting just that. Each event now has its own customized app, designed and donated by upace (Evolve launches today; Midwest launched on 3/16). The apps streamline enrollments, facilitate communication and provide essential information to parties on both sides of the event equation.
“We’re excited to provide EVOLVE Fitness Symposium attendees with the upace app. Now they can have information about our many educational sessions, fitness activities and more right at their fingertips,” said FSU Campus Recreation Director of Fitness Lynn Grasso. “And, the ability to instantly communicate any schedule changes or conference announcements is a tremendous asset for our conference planning team.”
Both the Evolve App and the Midwest Fit Fest App empower organizers with enrollment numbers and attendee interactions. Staff can monitor the popularity of different courses and sessions, make adjustments as needed, and create alerts and push notifications to help keep attendees engaged and on track. Plus, should the need arise for a last-minute change, they can reach attendees directly and immediately.
“We wanted to give Midwest Fit Fest attendees a way to effortlessly register for conference offerings and manage their individual schedules, and upace has made that possible,” said Kimberly Monte, ISU Associate Director, Fitness/Aquatics & Special Events. “We’re so grateful to them for donating their technical know-how to design this app for us.”
The apps—which are free via the App Store and Google Play—allow attendees to set their conference schedules in advance, helping to ensure they get to do everything they want, and then easily view and manage those schedules. In-app feedback options let them submit questions and provide comments, which are automatically fed to the appropriate event staff. Links to the conference websites, sponsors, dining services and other information are available at their fingertips. As evidence of its favorable reception, more than half of the registered Midwest Fit Fest attendees set their schedules in the first four hours of the app going live.
“We’re all about convenience—empowering fitness, recreation and community center managers with a tool that streamlines operations while helping them engage their audience,” upace Founder Rachel Koretsky said. “So, when a colleague shared the hurdles she’d faced running a fitness conference, it clicked: We could tweak our existing platform to give organizers and attendees a far better experience. This has underscored just how adaptable our app is in the first place, and it’s been our pleasure to help Evolve and Midwest Fit Fest.”
Upace is the first customizable, two-sided mobile platform that offers real-time data and student or member interactions that boost usage, retention, and operational efficiency. Recreation and fitness center managers can remotely and instantly access analytics, communicate directly with their users, and update the app within minutes. Via the app, students and members can view center occupancy, reserve equipment, and sign up for classes.
