NYC event planners can’t be accused of living under a rock—quite the opposite. You’re the pro planning the blowouts that can’t be ignored, not even by people who do live under rocks.
So, as a New York event planner with your finger on the pulse of the city, you already know about this little thing called ChatGPT. You know that the fastest-growing consumer app in history has caused quite a stir. What you might not know, though, is how you can use ChatGPT for your event planning business.
What IS ChatGPT All About, Anyway?
ChatGPT is an informational AI chatbot that can generate human-like responses to requests and questions. The chatbot’s wickedly good writing skills come from its Large Language Learning Model, which basically means ChatGPT has been trained with a gazillion documents gleaned from the internet and other sources.
The result is that ChatGPT for event planners can help with a variety of event-specific tasks involving writing, research, and idea generation.
ChatGPT Limitations
ChatGPT does have some limitations, particularly if you use the free web version for your event planning business. Unless you pay for the Premium or Enterprise versions of the chatbot, ChatGPT will only have access to information on the internet before September 2021. Additionally, users of the free version may experience slow response times or be locked out of the site during busy times.
Paid Versions of ChatGPT
In addition to the free version, OpenAI (ChatGPT’s parent company) offers two paid versions of ChatGPT.
The first is ChatGPT Plus, which is $20 per month. With this subscription, users get priority service even during peak times. They also get access to new functionality as it rolls out. For instance, OpenAI recently introduced a feature that allows Plus subscribers to browse the internet with ChatGPT, opening up the internet in real-time.
The second paid subscription is Enterprise, which is primarily for larger organizations. It offers more security and privacy. For instance, ChatGPT will not use Enterprise subscribers' information to train the chatbot. Enterprise subscribers can also access more features that allow them to incorporate ChatGPT into their organizations seamlessly.
Additionally, ChatGPT has these other drawbacks:
- Susceptible to bias: Since ChatGPT came on the scene, scientists have had a heyday researching the chatbot’s responses. Several studies have uncovered biases about gender, race, culture, and politics.
- Prone to returning wrong information: ChatGPT does not distinguish between quality sources and sketchy information unless told to in the prompt. Additionally, ChatGPT sometimes makes things up. These “fabrications” are known as AI hallucinations.
- Not a substitute for the human touch: You’ll need to carefully edit any communications ChatGPT writes for your event planning business. The chatbot lacks the human creative touch and sometimes even refers to itself when writing.
- Collects your information: ChatGPT may use the information you provide to the app, which may be a concern for some of your event planning business clients.
- Learning curve to writing effective prompts: Finally, ChatGPT’s effectiveness depends on your ability to craft clear and detailed prompts.
13 Ways to Use ChatGPT for Your Event Planning Business
While the above drawbacks are reasons to proceed with caution, you should still use ChatGPT in your event planning business. A survey by ResumeBuilder.com found that half of businesses already use ChatGPT, with another 30% planning to. And 1 in 4 businesses are saving significant money by using ChatGPT.
In other words, ChatGPT isn’t going anywhere, and like other emerging tech for events, you’ll need to use it if you want to remain competitive. Below, we’ve listed 13 ways to use ChatGPT for event planners.
- Social Media Posts to Promote Your Events: ChatGPT has a special talent for crafting social media posts tailored for each platform. Whether posting to LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram, you can use ChatGPT to write a social media post that hits the right tone, making it a useful tool for event marketing.
- Website Copy, Blogs, and Press Releases: ChatGPT makes quick work of writing content for websites, blogs, and press releases.
- Event Marketing Emails: Sending emails is one of the most effective marketing strategies out there. You can send more of them when you use ChatGPT.
- Create Satisfaction Surveys for Event Attendees: ChatGPT can create post-event surveys with multiple-choice or open-ended questions.
- Generate Venue and Vendor Lists: Looking for NYC venues that can seat at least 500 people? ChatGPT can provide you with a quick list. Just remember that the information was pulled from the internet in 2021.
- Use ChatGPT for Idea Generation: Stuck on fresh ideas for 60th birthday party themes? Looking for some creative team-building exercises? ChatGPT can help you brainstorm ideas.
- Generate Detailed Itineraries for Your Events: Creating itineraries involves tracking and meshing many moving parts together. Let ChatGPT do the math by including relevant information and constraints in your prompt.
- Draft Summaries of Sessions, Workshops, and Webinars: These seminars and lectures come with accompanying summaries. Save time by letting ChatGPT write the materials.
- Draft Communications with Vendors: When you’re harried, your written communications may come off as abrupt or snippy. ChatGPT can polish your emails with professionalism and niceties.
- Use ChatGPT to Draft a List of Permits Your Event Might Need: Each event is unique and may require special permitting. You can use ChatGPT to draft a list of legal considerations around your event. Keep in mind that you’ll need to conduct further research and verify the information ChatGPT provides.
- Create Speaker Bios Based on LinkedIn Profiles: Speaker bios are part and parcel of planning a corporate conference. You can ask ChatGPT to write bios using information from the LinkedIn profile link you provide.
- Topic Ideas for Workshops and Sessions: Sometimes, you have to become a low-level expert in the industries your events cover. ChatGPT can help by providing topic ideas for sessions.
- Event-Related Research: In that same vein, you can use ChatGPT to provide essential information about your event. For example, you can ask for a list of common interests your target might share to facilitate networking.
Insights for Writing ChatGPT Prompts
Like so much in life, what you get out of ChatGPT depends on what you put into ChatGPT. We’re talking prompts. The prompts you feed ChatGPT have a direct bearing on how much time you can save with the chatbot.
Feed ChatGPT poorly worded prompts, and it’ll spit out basic pieces that require fact-checking and heavy editing. But feed it sublimely crafted directions, and you’ll have solid writing that needs only a bit of panache before going to press. Below are some tips for writing ChatGPT prompts.
Specify Information Source: You can specify where you want ChatGPT to pull its information. You can use a generic source, such as “news sites.” Or you can ask ChatGPT to pull information from a specific webpage, such as a LinkedIn profile.
“Redo that, but…”: You don’t have to rewrite the prompt when ChatGPT doesn’t quite nail it. Instead, you can home [MH1] in on your desired result by building on your previous attempts. Try starting a new prompt with something like “Redo that, but…”
Define Format: Specify how you want the finished result to look, from word count to bullet points to tables.
Use Long Prompts (When Necessary): Prompts can be as long as needed. You can use multiple paragraphs, parameters, and even bullet points to get your point across to ChatGPT.
Define the Tone: Tell ChatGPT what tone you want. You can tell the chatbot to be motivational, formal, or humorous.
Define the Audience: You can further refine the tone of the finished product by telling ChatGPT who the audience is, for example, “professionals in healthcare” or “recent college graduates.”
Provide Examples: You can improve your results by giving ChatGPT examples to work with. For example, you could say, “I’m giving you an example of a marketing email I like. Can you write a similar marketing email for the following event details?”
Additional ChatGPT Tips
- Like other event tech innovations, start small by using ChatGPT for one or two tasks.
- Be transparent with your clients that you are using ChatGPT, and give them the option to opt-out.
- Always carefully edit any communications or content ChatGPT writes.
- Use natural language when writing prompts.
- Always verify the information that ChatGPT provides.
- Create a written guide for yourself and your employees that details the acceptable use of ChatGPT for your event planning business.
- Be aware of copyright infringement concerns. A recent lawsuit from the New York Times alleges that ChatGPT sometimes returns responses that are verbatim to the original source.
- Keep your voice. Make sure that everything with your stamp is recognizable as yours with your voice and flair—including anything ChatGPT generates.
Save Time with ChatGPT
By now, even the Flintstones have heard of ChatGPT. The super-charged AI chatbot signals a new era of artificial intelligence. For those in the event planning business, ChatGPT is the latest in technological shake-ups that transform events.
By now, you’re well-acquainted with webinars and event apps. After all, you haven’t been living under a rock. ChatGPT is simply the latest tech to rock your world. Learn more about earth-shaking trends in event planning when you reserve your exhibitor booth at The Event Planner Expo 2024. It’s the premier event planning conference of 2024 and the best room to be in to discover emerging technologies and trends for your event planning business.
