How Attendees Use Technology to Interact at Events
June 8, 2015 by Brianna Lawson 0 Comments
Brianna Lawson, Naylor Association Solutions
As an event organizer or planner, your main goal is to keep attendees informed and engaged
throughout the show. The use of technology at events has grown tremendously and varies greatly
for different industries because each may have certain technology requirements. For example,
banking requires secure software, and vendors would have demos of the technology they offer.
Another example is the demonstration of underwater technology for commercial divers. The type of
technology event attendees are comfortable using ultimately depends on the tech tools they use in
their professional lives.
Wearable technology enables you to capture valuable attendee data at your events.
Attendees’ tech-based interaction at events will be based on their individual personalities.
“Wearables” allow us to take our focus off technology and on to the main reason for attending live
events—connecting with other people.
Whether your association’s focus is on banking, diving or another industry, your attendees’ techbased interaction will also depend on their individual personalities. Therefore, how individuals use
technology both personally and professionally will determine how they interact throughout the course
of your event. So, how are event organizers and attendees using technology to interact with others?
Through the use of social media, live video streaming, mobile apps and wearables.
Event attendees are using wearables at events
Event speakers continue to battle with tablet and smartphone screens for attendees’ attention.
According to Beth Ziesenis, author and founder of Your Nerdy Best Friend, “When you look at event
technology, one of the challenges that a wearable will help with is eliminating time.” Today, many
people spend too much time digging for our smartphones seeking information we require
immediately. With wearables, you have the ability to connect and access information quickly and
efficiently, and all from the device that’s easy to locate.
An article by Meetings & Conventions also discussed the use of wearables and how they may soon
eliminate the need for a smartphone by allowing us to take our focus off technology and back on to
what events are all about—connecting with people in our industry and others who share our
interests.
Wearables such as fitness wristbands that track steps, heart rate, and distances walked/ran are becoming popular
tools for increasing event engagement.
With the help of fitness wearables like FitBit and Jawbone, attendees can also be motivated to
become more physically active during events and conferences. This is where event organizers have
the opportunity to use fitness wearables to their advantage by allowing attendees to become more
engaged.
“I’ve seen numerous step and exercise challenges. The people who have the most steps get the
most points. You have the ability to turn this into a competition and get people more active,” Ziesenis
added.
What about Google Glass? Ziesenis echoed others’ opinions that it is officially dead, but it was a
good step in terms of breaking into a more consumer audience with an augmented reality tool.
However, augmented reality and virtual reality are not a main part of our lives … yet.
How event organizers are able to measure attendee interaction
One of the largest benefits of using technology at events is the ability to capture mobility and
interaction data. In an example from eMarketer, businesses are using customer information collected
from wearables, such as the Apple Watch, to improve the customer experience.
“This method of connecting with your association’s members can help you discover how to improve
your event experience for years to come,” said Naylor Vice President of Association
Relations Charles Popper. “Wearables open up the opportunity to collect data and insights from
another device, allowing you to discover what your members want directly from their actions, just as
you are able to see what information is important to them when evaluating the analytics of your
website, email, mobile app and more.”
Ziesenis stated, “There are a whole series of tools called iBeacons and Bluetooth Low Energies
(BLEs), or location-based tools, that measure the activity of event attendees.” Although Apple
introduced them, you don’t need Apple products to use iBeacons.
And you can still measure attendee interaction over WiFi. “This gives valuable data to groups about
what’s happening at their event,” said Ziesenis. New event apps take advantage of this type of
technology, allowing individuals to locate their meetings, relevant booths, prospects and more.
Attendee mobility and interaction data collected from wearables are changing the way event
planners and organizers are arranging their events, to both improve the attendee’s experience and
their business goals.
Live video streaming is booming
Meerkat made its debut a few months ago. Shortly after, Periscope became just as well-known. Both of
these live video streaming platforms are making their way into live events.
For event speakers, this is both an opportunity and challenge. Attendees now have the ability to
broadcast events to a wider audience—spreading the buzz of a great event. They can share these
sessions with their Twitter followers, which will then bring more attention to your session at the event
and perhaps encourage more engagement and participation in the future. However, the challenge is
that it’s a leak event organizers can’t control. For example, the recent boxing match between Floyd
Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao cost fans $100 to view. People bought it, set up the live video
stream and allowed many more viewers to be able to see the fight without paying.
Although you cannot fully control how your event’s attendees use live video streaming, you can
encourage live streaming to interact with others in your industry, which will in turn promote the
excitement of your event to potential and future attendees. For example, by encouraging attendees
to live stream a session or an exercise challenge, they are advertising how much they are enjoying
your event to others in your industry at no cost to you. This can motivate individuals to think about
attending your association’s next event or perhaps becoming a member. On the flip side, at home
viewers may be dissuaded from attending your event next year if they know it will be live streamed.
Social media continues to be the biggest trend during events
Within event apps, social media integration is becoming a standard way of connecting with
individuals during an event, trade show or conference.
Most event apps offer the ability to share and connect directly through the app, as well as
communicate through the event app’s news feed. Therefore, it’s important to integrate the social
media platforms that are most popular with your members and attendees in your association’s event
app. This will encourage and increase interaction among attendees and your event as a whole.
Conclusion
As you plan your next annual conference or trade show, stay up-to-date about how individuals are
using technology to interact with their surroundings. Event technology has the potential to be an
important source of information that helps associations understand how attendees are using
technology to navigate their event experience, and how their events should adapt to that behavior.