In recent years, events have evolved rapidly. Gone are the days of checking in with pen and paper, hauling around printed manuals, and manually compiling metrics. Planners now have the ability to drastically revolutionise the individual experience of event attendees. They also have a wealth of information available to them, and can analyse data with the click of a button. What is the driving factor behind this, you might wonder? The answer is simple: technology!
The world has swiftly transitioned into the technological era, and the event industry jumped on board. New technologies and tools are emerging left, right, and centre, and have the potential to add some extra flair to your events.
Here are five tech trends that are currently revolutionising the industry.
Virtual Reality
Virtual reality has the ability to unite the in-person and virtual experience, not to mention the extra “cool factor” it adds to your event. Once attendees have put on their virtual reality headsets, they have the opportunity to completely immerse themselves in another environment. Not sure how to bring virtual reality to your next event? Read all about it here.
Facebook has recently announced that they are investing into VR technology for attendees who want to show up to their virtual meetings or conferences as avatars. The program called Horizon Workrooms allows for the perfect opportunity to meet up with people across a virtual table while they are quite literally from across the world.
How this trend affects event planners
Virtual reality opens the door for event planners to engage with attendees on more platforms than ever before. Although virtual reality headsets aren’t household items yet, it is sure to become much more common in the future. For now, you can add a VR component as an add on to your event, or as a special offering to VIP attendees who aren’t able to attend your event physically.
Event-Specific Apps
It’s time to say goodbye to cumbersome paper event guides once and for all. Give your attendees the opportunity to access various agendas, speaker information, sponsors, and other relevant information on their smartphones. Our customisable mobile app has over 30 integrated features which allows attendees to access all the information about an event in one place.
How this trend affects event planners
You can guarantee that every event delegate has a smart phone, and so an event app is a convenient way to ensure they also have all event information (constantly updated) at their fingertips.
Flock’s customisable mobile apps come with many handy features including:
- Mobile event management via Flock’s customisable mobile app allows you to upload speaker presentations, exhibitor brochures, delegate packs, training manuals, and more.
- Our mobile event app replaces traditional & slow-moving microphones with instant Q&A during sessions.
- Attendees can take part in live polls, enter chat rooms and ask speakers questions using the app.
- Our easy-to-use platform allows you to live stream videos and connect your event to your audience via the mobile event app.
Event planners should conduct research to find the most cost effective platforms. They also need to create ways for the app to continue adding value to the user after the event has ended.
Showcase Products Digitally
Highlight your latest innovations digitally to your online attendees. Many event platforms now support this feature. Virtual attendees will be able to view products that are showcased at a hybrid event in a digital mannar. They will also be given all the necessary information about these products. Not only does this improve the engagement rate of your online attendees, but purchases are likely to follow from digital showcases too.
How this trend affects event planners
Event planners can track which products are drawing the most attention, and ultimately determine which products are being purchased most frequently. It helps them to anticipate what is attractive to certain types of buyers. Showcasing products digitally will also give the exhibitors the peace of mind that they will receive a strong ROI.
Live Translation
Virtual events have brought us many opportunities to expand events and reach wider audiences. However, the language barrier was still a factor that had to be overcome. While English is probably the most widely used language in the event industry, it is incredibly valuable to express certain concepts in your attendees’ native language. It is even more important to slot live translation into your event if you want to connect with attendees who would otherwise miss out on the experience completely.
How this trend affects event planners
This opens the door for event planners to invite non-English speaking attendees to their event. Ultimately, providing them with the ideal opportunity to reach attendees from multiple regions across the world.
QR Codes
QR codes might not be a new technology trend, but it has made a comeback worth mentioning. The reason for their resurgence being that they no longer require a third party app to scan them. You can now snap QR codes with nearly any smartphone on the market. People have quickly become reacquainted with these nifty little codes. Hooray for the event industry! QR codes can provide attendees with venue maps, contactless check-in solutions, brand experiences and many more.
How this trend affects event planners
QR codes provide a seamless way to arrange registrations. Event planners can implement QR codes as marketing elements on flyers, business cards, and postcards for event leads. These codes will pull through to landing pages, persuading attendees to purchase their tickets there and then.
QR codes can also provide attendees with venue maps, contactless check-in solutions, brand experiences and additional product information on exhibition floors, to name a few use cases.
Flock can Help
Advancements in the event industry are happening at a faster rate now more than ever before. To stay ahead of the curve, event planners need to understand the latest tech trends, and understand how to implement them. Sign up to our newsletter to stay at the forefront of the event industry.