Getting to use the eventtech and ongoing mastering these skills is nowadays a must for any eventpof. I would say, it is one of the two things (the first is a foreign language skill) which are not an advantage anymore; at least not in that sense as used before. I would claim speaking a foreign language and being tech-savvy (in many ways) has become some kind of “natural advantage” – on one hand, it is still somehow a competitive advantage, but somehow already an expected element of any event manager profile/CV.
Anyway, for those of eventprofs who continuously seeking to improve their performance, the tech development in the events sector is something to watch on a regular basis. The field is developing very fast, and literally every day we see the emergence of another great solution that is aimed to assist in eventprofs everyday’s work and get the events quality (whatever the type of an event) to a new level.
We have already talked about some great tech companies shortlisted for the leading EventTechAwards – you can read it here and here. One of the most promising categories in my view is creating event apps and event management platforms. This solution I believe has great potential and is getting popular among the events agencies as it helps to tackle various important aspects:
- provide a platform for managing routine tasks and optimise event coordinator’s work with some extra functions
- provide an information point for an event attendee (all required info available in one click)
- provide natural way to increase participant engagement and interaction with various event stakeholders
- provide one more way to increase a company and/or event brand visibility as well as increasing visibility for partners
- provide great tool for research – in my view, this is just about the main function (which not every event app would have) which is just invaluable even if the amount of data it can help collect is quite limited.
Yep there are some challenges in using the event app. I think the primary issues are two:
- financial challenge. The event app/event management platform is not a cheap thing, and the better, the more expensive (as a rule). Not every eventprof or the event agency would easily decide to allocate the budget to that. But I presume that with futher development of this market, increase of offers and raising awareness that it is good investment, this challenge will be gradually overcome. And we already can see the event professionals are ready to go for this: according to EventManagerBlog research in 2015, 53% of eventprofs are going to use an event app in future.
- a challenge of getting event participants use an event app. And this is really crucial and complex issue. The organisers can have great app at hand and offer it for their participants but how they can make them download it and use? Usage by event participants is the core of any event app which actually makes it work as it has been designed to. It is something that eventually makes up better event experience. Well, this is still an open question..
Nonetheless, my gut feeling is that event management platforms are future for any eventprof and any event participant. There are already signs for this, not least of all is the fact there is a first-ever mobile app certificate programme for meeting industry professionals by QuickMobile (by the way, finalist of the EventTechAwards 2015 in two categories!)
And in conclusion, just a few examples of platforms which have already gained reputation and I believe are also a must-follow:
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