Meeting technology expert, Corbin Ball has released his seven trends to watch for in 2017. We’ll recap them below.
1. Social media channels are targeting events with a focus on video and live streaming.
It seems like just yesterday we were comparing Periscope and Meerkat’s live streaming capabilities, but now almost every major social media channel has a video offering.
Corbin’s prediction: “We will see increased demands for live streaming events by attendees. The challenges for event planners will be increased Wi-Fi bandwidth demand. Also, the event host with deep pockets will be the likely target for copyright violation issues.”
2. Data analytics will enhance the attendee experience and will greatly improve events.
Systems like registration and attendee management platforms and mobile event apps are more mature and can integrate data more easily.
Corbin’s prediction: “We will see core sets of metrics evolve to measure event success and impact while giving valuable feedback for improving upcoming events. The ability to truly measure event ROI moves events front-and-center for corporate marketing and also to improve the value of association membership.”
3. Software integration tools may become the answer for beginning-to-end event planning software solution.
Tools like our CreativeEDGE® registration and attendee management technology feature Activities/Session Management, Robust Reporting, Hotel Management, Payment Options, Data and Attendee Security, and Airline Ticketing. While some companies are working on acquiring more tech products, we’ve been administering and updating our proprietary software to keep working hard for our clients.
Corbin’s prediction: “Data collection and sharing is made much easier and automated. Meeting planners will be able to achieve highly customized solutions using multiple technology products that will work together as one.”
4. Marketing automation finally incorporates events.
Marketers know that live events and experiential marketing are essential to their marketing mix. Allies and integrations between marketing automation tools and event tech will further enhance data collection and analytics.
Corbin’s prediction: “Finally, with advances in cloud-based computing and APIs, event technology companies have been able to integrate these companies to greatly improve marketing efficiency. We now have the technology to make data actionable.”
5. Engagement becomes an increasingly key component to events.
Here are some of the tools that have evolved to foster engagement:
- easy mobile surveys, polling and social Q&A
- smart flooring
- gamification activities
- number/percentage of attendees downloading information
- wearable beacons/smart badges
- social walls
- networking tools
- live streaming and photo sharing apps
- microphone apps for attendee access
- content sharing and management
- projection mapping, digital signage and other advanced AV products
Corbin’s prediction: Attendees will “learn and retain more. They are more interactive. They bring out more in others. They will rate the event higher and will be more likely to return in future years and encourage others to do so as well.”
6. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are starting to make headway at events.
Although still developing, we’ve seen the technology used in virtual site inspections, or site selection pitches, tradeshows and sporting events, like the Olympics.
Corbin’s prediction: “We are just scratching the surface in this area. The major hardware is yet to roll out and we will see significant advances in the next couple of years. It seems inevitable that we will see VR and AR tools proliferate at events and exhibitions.”
7. Facial recognition, biometrics and sentiment analysis will be used to measure attendees’ moods, engagement and demographics.
Event organizers can have the capabilities to understand real-time insights into what their audience is feeling to make adjustments on the fly.
Corbin’s prediction: “In the future, these measurements could be captured with mainstream activity bands such as Fitbit or Apple Watch if biometrics developments continue and attendees opt-in.”
For the full article from Corbin Ball, click here.
