I say in that Marcia Brady style voice I’ve used before. It’s everywhere (not Marsha, but event tech). It’s new. It’s old renewed. It’s amazing. It’s incredible.
With a myriad of different types of event tech software breaking the market over the last 5 years alone, how do you decide what’s right for your event?
It’s actually pretty easy and should start with this question. Does it add value? You can insert; to my exhibitors / visitors / event / my job or any other function after that question, depending on what the tech is being pitched for.
Value can be defined by the importance, worth, or usefulness of something or it could be considered to be beneficial too. So is the technology useful? Does it benefit my customers?
So what does value look like and how do you find out what it’s worth?
Every event will have a slightly different requirement and therefore will have different questions that need to be asked. I’ve offered below a few questions that should be considered when choosing the right tech for your event. I’m sure there are many many more – feel free to add them in the comments section below.
Value for your stakeholders
For the purpose of this blog, the term stakeholder covers your exhibitors, visitors, speakers & anyone else involved in your event.
- Does it enable visitors to be more prepared going into the show?
- Does it enable your visitors to take away something from the show? A digital briefcase for example.
- Does it let them know who else is going (peer network)?
What about your exhibitors?
A recent research study found the number one reason exhibitors exhibit, is to collect leads (about 72%). So, does the software enable your exhibitors to:
- Capture leads not only at show, but pre show too?
- What about post show leads? Yes – entirely possible!
- Does it enable them to exhibit more efficiently (easy H&S form filling / stand design / layout / keep track of all of their exhibiting costs)
- Does it enable them to connect with people they actually want to connect with?
- Does it enable them to interact with the event in real-time?
And what about your event?
This part is pretty easy too (noticing a theme?). But it only works if you’re honest about it. Sometimes, there is a tech trend that everyone jumps on and you feel you should too because “they’re doing it”. But that’s not really the right approach. Of course it’s not and you knew that already, but in the 10/15years of working in this industry I’ve seen a lot of this happen with alarming regularity & unbelievable costs associated to it. So here’s a few suggestions to think about:
- Will more people attend through using this tech?
- Will it help build the quality of my attendance?
- Will it help spread the reach of my event?
- Does it make networking easier?
- Does it increase sponsorship opportunities? But not just those that put a price tag on anything – does it add value to the sponsorship & the experience?
- Does it make my attendees have a better experience navigating the event?
- Does it make content more interactive and accessible to all?
And what about you?
As much as you want the latest app, or the latest social widget, have you considered how much time it takes to set up or manage? So you’ve got to think about yourself too.
- Will it integrate with existing systems you’ve already got in place?
- Can it enable you to spend more time on more pressing activity, like coming up with a new DM campaign?
- Does it reduce your cost of getting people to attend?
- Does it create invaluable insight into your event?
- Do you have control of it?
That last question is crucial. Do you have control of it?
With all of this technology, you should be looking at whether or not the platform is SaaS.
What is SaaS I hear you ask? For those not in the know, SaaS stands for Software as a Service. Essentially it’s a way of delivering applications over the web, as a service. So no need to install & maintain software internally, you simply access it all via the web, which frees yourself from complex software & hardware management. It enables you to take control of the function, without needing to know the first bit about coding (unless you’re using some coding SaaS tech of course).
What does that look like in the real world?
An easy example of SaaS and one that most of you use, is a bank. The bank protects the privacy of each of its customers whilst providing service that is reliable and secure. All of the banks customers use the same financial system and technology without worrying about anyone accessing their personal details without authorisation. Well, most of the time anyway.
What does SaaS look like for events?
Much like the N200|GES software, Visit (sorry, I don’t normally plug our own software, but it is a good example), all clients are on the same infrastructure & code base so we can innovate more quickly & save valuable development time previously spent on maintaining numerous versions of outdated or individually built software. It means there is a shared development cost, so that all clients can benefit from the latest advancements in technology. It doesn’t matter if you run a conference for 100 people or an event for 70,000 people – the experience is the same.
Another great use of SaaS means you typically don’t have to wait for someone from support to make all of the changes to the app/ website / registration. You can do it yourself. In some cases, the first set up has to occur, but thereafter you are in control of your destiny. There is enough tech out there to enable you to do this for the entirety of your event… you’ve just got to ask the right questions.
So what else do you look at when deploying tech on your events? Comments welcome below!