Apps
In the last two years there has been a huge drive towards social media adoption by event organisers. Not just at the event itself, but in terms of event promotion, attendee engagement in the run-up, and also seeking feedback post-event. Many are really beginning to see the potential of the channel as more than just a promotional medium.
Excelerated Apps takes the functionality that people are used to seeing on the websites they visit (share, like, tweet etc), and puts physical versions of those ’buttons’ into venues for attendees to interact with during an event.
For example, attendees could use their ID badge to tweet about product demonstrations they’ve seen, share on LinkedIn presentations they’ve just sat through, or simply check-in on Facebook all by simply touching their badge in at a Like Station that’s been installed at an event venue.
“Our core solutions use RFID or NFC (Near-Field Communication – on many new mobile devices) and QR codes for social sharing, and the adoption of these technologies is rising dramatically,” said Excelerated Apps’ Director Richard Smith. “We delivered an NFC-enabled social sharing solution for BlackBerry at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and the content shared specifically via NFC generated thousands of visits to BlackBerry properties. As the adoption of NFC rises, the simply ’touch to share’ functionality we can provide will give significant value to events that offer compelling content for their attendees,” he said.
“We’ve also started deploying B2B solutions based on RFID, allowing event organisers and exhibitors to get real-time information on the people their interacting with,” Smith added.
Frictionless sharing is Excelerated Apps’ prediction for future communication. “The concept of ’Frictionless sharing’ is not a new one to those of us working in social media, but our product roadmap is focussed on creating applications that allow event attendees to share positive experiences, and the associated content, as easily as possible without detracting from event itself.
Events should be focussed on inter-personal interactions, and the less time people have to spend creating content to share, the better,” said Smith.
Presentations
Metro’s Director Liz Rice charts the rise and fall of the presentation: “Using the right software is central to the delivery of a successful presentation. The two programmes most widely used for event and conference presentations are Microsoft’s PowerPoint and the Apple equivalent, Keynote.
Which is better when it comes to permance?
“Both have their pros and cons but the first consideration is whether or not everybody can use it after the event? PowerPoint is probably the programme people are most familiar with, and with a few exceptions most companies will have a copy. This makes it easy to share and collaborate due to the speed in which a PowerPoint can be edited onsite. And with more people migrating to PowerPoint on Mac it makes the presentation more accessible to the majority of delegates.
“A lot of people believe PowerPoint is straight forward to use and its effective visual and audio effects can be produced quickly. There are also those who feel PowerPoint is more of a text-based tool and animations, charts, audio and visual effects will look better in Keynote because it is more media based.
“One important thing both PowerPoint and Keynote users fail to realise is that what is perfectly legible on a computer can be a struggle to see from the back of the room on a large screen. As a rule of thumb the back row of the audience shouldn’t be further back than five times the width of the screen.
“I think it’s wrong to say either programme is a better piece of software. Both have their good and bad points and there is no black and white answer as to which is best.
The key element for a successful presentation, regardless of whether PowerPoint or Keynote is used, is to ensure that information is presented as cleanly as possible.”
Speakers
Demand for speakers at events in the current climate is dependent on a range of variables.
The Parliament Speaker Bureau says at this time of year its clients are starting to think about their kick-off meetings for 2013, sourcing business leaders and skillful motivators to speak at events.
“Across 2011/12 generally, we’ve sourced even more sports speakers from across the world than usual, and have sent our own Olympians abroad to spread the excitement and speak at events,” Parliament Speaker’s Steff Easom said.
A top comic at a Christmas party might be considered a luxury, yet a carefully selected and briefed speaker is an effective method of motivating staff and increasing revenue.
“As budgets are tighter, clients are selecting their speakers with scrupulous attention, seeking out those professionals who are most likely to stir their delegates to greater endeavours and occasionally passing over those that might fit a more entertainment orientated role,” Easom added.
Towards the middle of the year, Parliament Speakers says it notices an increase in clients seeking comedians, TV personalities and entertainment for their end of year awards ceremonies and gala dinners.
“There has also been an increase in the number of clients seeking out circus acts; an excellent lower budget alternative to a big celebrity entertainer,” said Easom.
Software
Kinetic Solutions, which provides software for the event management and hospitality industry; sectors including dedicated conference centres, unique venues, management centres, museums and historic buildings, says is it is constantly looking a ways in which software innovations and new features can support the business demands of the meetings industry.
“The industry is challenged by ever increasing competition and the differential between hotels and dedicated conference centres has narrowed considerably,” said Kinetic Solutions’ Patricia Walker.
“Venues must become opportunists when it comes to their business mix; there is a need to fully engage with social media as well as ensure their rate management is facilitated by technological advanced systems without eliminating the input of experienced people. The market is pushed in several directions and CRM, social media and effective analytic reporting are important elements to the success of the industry,” Walker added.
Kinetic says it is currently running focus groups to enhance its product with online proposals, innovative ways of trend reporting and business analysis being high priorities for our customers to effectively manage their businesses.
Venues
Lime Venue Portfolio (LVP), a collection of unique and unusual sporting and cultural venues throughout the UK and Ireland, says its mission is to make it easier for meetings and events buyers to access its venues by providing them with just one point of contact.
A spokesman for the collection said: “The growth of online shows no sign of abating. Mindful of the ways that meetings and event professionals use the internet, share content, procure meeting and event spaces and communicate through their smart phones and tablets, it is incredibly important that we provide the information they are looking for in a format that is clear and easy to access. This growth is demonstrated by our own statistics that show we have received 50 per cent increase in website traffic year on year for the past three years.”
The group says the use of the latest technology within venues is growing. “We are always looking at innovative cost-effective products so our venues can approach current and potential clients with something different and unique. A great example of this is the IWM North in Manchester which has combined its unusual internal spaces with lighting packages which allow event organisers to completely theme a room by creating bespoke branded wallpapers or event themes at a fraction of the cost of creating printed displays. More importantly of course, lighting displays can change and move,” the spokesman said.
LVP says its website is its biggest marketing tool. “We are improving it to make sure that its content and functionality meets and surpasses our target audience demands. Above and beyond the basics of giving them accurate and up to date information on the venues within the portfolio, we want to give our customer reasons to come back to our site, by offering fun competitions, recipe’s and videos. We are also working closely with a number of other suppliers to offer added value incentives such as discounts on their services,” the spokesman added.
In today’s evolving marketplace, LVP is looking at better ways to engage with its clients and the corporate world. “As planners time is limited for site visits, we believe merging the online environment with personal support will improve the service we offer,” the spokesman added.
AV
Blitz Communications’ Sales Director, Graham Pope, says AV companies have to regularly assess their offering to ensure they stay ahead of the game. Blitz has a £13m equipment inventory and specialises in technical disciplines including video, sound, lighting, graphics, digital and staging.
Pope said: “While the market remains challenging and lead times still remain short we have been extremely busy this year and have a very healthy forward order book. Whilst our forward order book demonstrates consistent growth we remain cautiously optimistic about the remainder of the year.”
The company has launched a mobile app for clients use this year and is also building on its electronic badging technology offering.
“We have explored and developed how RFID can be used to provide discreet tracking of attendees at events, be it a conference, exhibition or training environment. Powerful reporting can answer questions such as ‘who has attended?’, ‘which presentations were the most popular?’, ‘what type of individual attended this session?’ or even ‘how long was a delegate in a room?,” Pope added.
The addition of Blitz Digital Media, the company says, has further separated it from its competition.
This was first published in the July edition of CN. Any comments? Email conferencenews@mashmedia.net
