Some things that came out of the 90s are just as relevant today; The Simpsons, TFI Friday, Take That, but there are other things that should stay firmly in that decade.

Times have changed and technology has revolutionised so many things, however event-goers will still see a surprising number of old fashioned processes at modern events.

Listed below are the top 10 outdated event habits that, if you’re still doing them, you really should drop in 2016. Not only will changing these ways improve the attendee experience, they’ll also make your job as an organiser far easier…

1. Paper planning documents

Back in the 90s, an event planner’s desk would be stacked with folders, ledgers, notebooks, planners and print outs, while their busy schedule would be organised in a FiloFax. If any other team member wanted information or to contribute to the documents it would mean manually sifting through and amending.

Although things are generally much more computerised now, there are still planners using old-fashioned processes, such as hard print outs and email, that don’t aid collaboration. By taking advantage of cloud technology, event planning teams can access, share and edit event plans, budgets, contacts and diaries and easily keep track of any changes.

Action item: Check out software like Google Docs, Dropbox, Trello and Slack to get your organisation into the modern era!

2. Printed registration forms and tickets

Amazingly it’s still not uncommon to see event organisers asking conference delegates to complete and submit printed registration forms – sometimes even by fax!

Then they mail out physical tickets that could easily get lost, damaged or stolen. Why?! Event ticketing platforms like Eventbrite make this whole process so much simpler. Allow delegates to register online or on mobile, take secure payment, and issue digital tickets with scannable barcodes. Job done!

Action item: Do yourself and your attendees a favour and stop using a manual registration and ticketing process.

Related: 7 Things only bad event planners say

3. ‘Top-down’ lectures

In the old days there was just one event format – a speaker on a stage talking down at an audience sat in theatre-style rows. In recent times, forward-thinking organisers have mixed up event design, ushering in far more engaging and interactive formats.

By utilising audience participation technology, experimenting with alternative session formats and allowing attendees to contribute to event content, you can make your events far more interesting and relevant.

Action item: Challenge yourself to make your events much more collaborative and engaging so the experience is more dynamic and rewarding for everyone.

4. PowerPoint Presentations

As the hot new technology that had replaced the overhead projector, PowerPoint was all the rage in the 90s. Despite years of innovation in presentation tech, trusty old PowerPoint is still the tool of choice for many keynote speakers.

Just because you’re familiar with it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try something else. There are many easy-to-learn presentation design tools on the market, such as Haiku Deck, Prezi and Projeqt, that can help you bring your keynotes to life with slick, multimedia-rich presentations.

Action item: Try something new when thinking about your presentation, and – if you do use PowerPower still – please drop the walls of text and create visually interesting slides!

Related: 5 Bad habits that can lead to unsuccessful events

5. Stodgy food

We know enough about food these days to understand that a big lunchtime serving of lasagne, chips and garlic bread isn’t the best preparation for an afternoon of learning or networking, yet we still see it all the time.

If organisers want delegates to be alert and properly fuelled, it’s time to cut down on the coffee break doughnuts and provide high quality ‘brain food’ that supports both satiety and learning.

Action item: Bring your catering up to date with a range of healthy and nutritious foods available to attendees.

Brain Food: 10 Super Foods to Keep Your Mind Active at Events

6. Smoking breaks

Generation Y might find it hard to believe, but in the 90s smoking was a big part of the working day. Workplaces had smoking rooms (in some offices you could even smoke at your desk) and smoking was even allowed on aeroplanes.

Event breaks were not just for nipping to the loo and grabbing a refreshment, they were also a vital chance for people to top up their nicotine levels. These days however, fewer and fewer people smoke, so innovative organisers are finding better ways to help delegates relax between sessions. Why not try a mini massage station, stretch and shake session or a CSR activity, such as building simple wooden toys for a local charity?

Action item: Use breaks as a chance to keep your attendees engaged and motivated with a range of activities.

7. Bags of bumf

In the past it was easy to identify people who’d been to a trade expo due to their lopsided posture – weighed down by a heavy tote bag of printed literature.

The truth is, this is stuff that people neither want nor need and 95% of it ends up in the bin. Does that stop exhibitors from handing it out? No. Despite the advent of memory sticks and even more efficient methods of file transferring, there are still many handing out hefty tomes. The sooner we all move to virtual file sharing the better (for our backs and the environment).

Action item: Find ways to reduce wastage and the environment impact of your event by looking at digital options.

Related: 14 Traits of highly effective event professionals

8. Show of hands polls

We live in an era of ‘big data’, where computers can offer more accurate and advanced analysis than ever before, yet there are still some organisers who rely on straw polls to gather information.

With nearly every event-goer owning some kind of internet enabled device and many audience participation apps available it’s easier than ever to seek opinions digitally and to derive meaning from the results. Don’t miss this opportunity.

Action item: Don’t let valuable data go to waste…use technology to capture the key interactions at your event and use it to develop even better experiences next time.

9. Phonebook-like event guides

Dragging around an event guide the size of War and Peace is not only inconvenient, it’s also not the most efficient way to relay information.

Every time delegates want to find out what’s on next, pinpoint where a particular stand is located or look up the coach transfer timetable they have to stop, fish it out their bag, plonk it down and leaf through.

A well-designed conference app, on the other hand, puts all the information at their fingertips and with many off-the-shelf options now available it can actually save money on printing costs.

Action item: Put your event into the hands of your attendees and give them a better experience by using a mobile app.

Related: 7 Things the most successful event planners do every day

10.  Paper feedback forms

While it might seem like the simplest way to gather feedback, using paper feedback forms can create a lot more work in the long run. To gather any real value from the process the responses will have to be entered into a computer for analysis, so why not do it digitally in the first place and save yourself the headache of manually typing up dozens of response?

If your concern is getting attendees to complete the survey before they leave the event, consider delivering the survey by SMS during the day or integrating it into a poll in the final session. Do keep it brief however – no more than five questions, with the opportunity for free text response at the end.

Action item: Cut out the middle man for your event feedback and utilise an app or digital solution to make your life much easier.

Conclusion

Resign these old-school 90s event habits to the bin, alongside jelly shoes, bad perms and The Spice Girls. Your attendees will thank you!