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Technology delivers, where humans fail. In some cases, it might be a vague statement, but in a broader context, the statement covers almost every aspect. Whether it be retail, manufacturing or financial institution, adoption of technology helps in improving efficiency, automating processes and lesser cost.

Talking about the event industry, the impact of technology can be seen largely. For instance, mobile event app has played a vital role in engaging attendees. From event registration to check-in and networking to live polling, event managers find it super easy to engage attendees from start to finish.

  • 68.2% of event organizers are aware of event apps with live interaction features but only 31.8% use them.
  • 91% of event planners say that adopting a mobile event app has provided a positive ROI. (Global Experience Specialists, 2015)

Look at the above statistics and see how technology is driving positive results. Adoption of new technologies will surely impact the way how events are held and managed. Don’t just limit the events to mobile apps, rather think of the ways how you can further enhance the experience of attendees. Think about deploying new technologies that have not gone mainstream as much as the mobile event apps, but will surely add value to the events.

Let’s have a look at a few of these technologies that can deliver something extraordinary.

1. Facial Recognition

Apple was the first one to announce facial recognition technology, but event managers are of the view that the innovation is going to make a huge impact in 2018 on their niche. Facial recognition will go mainstream in the future events, not only to make the check-in process easy but also to tighten the security.

In the future, technologists believe that facial recognition will be helpful in determining the mood of the attendees. What more an event manager could expect from a technology that leads to analyzing the audience and response.

2. Indoor Positioning System

Global Positioning System is not suitable in interior spaces due to the absence of visual contact with the GPS satellite. The technology is not depleting at all but will soon be replaced by other technologies that are more reliable and reachable. Indoor Positioning System is one of the alternatives that can be used by event managers to improve the accessibility within the given space and multiple events held under one roof.

The Google Indoor Maps is still under the development process, it already features numerous buildings. The buildings that have already been featured are displayed with diagrams with the help of an app. Moreover, Augmented Reality will also play a vital role on indoor positioning.

3. RFID

Radio Frequency Identification has been quite popular at top music festivals. Not only limited to music festivals, the RFID can also be utilized in events to engage and delight attendees. One of the biggest benefits of using RFID at events is that it can scan people at a faster pace, offering an easy access to various zones within an event.

Moreover, RFID can help event managers to gain insights on how the traffic flows through the event. The data can be utilized by event planners to learn the higher engagement areas and eliminate any bottlenecks at the event.

Paying for food and drinks can help attendees go cashless by adding their payment option to the RFID tag. Hence, it would result in eliminating the risks of theft and be more focused on the event.

4. Artificial Intelligence and Chatbots

Artificial Intelligence is dominating and has already disrupted myriad of industries including event industry. Artificial Intelligence can be a game changer for event managers to offer customized recommendations for exhibitors, sponsors, and attendees. AI matchmaking engine can extract data from the social media profiles of the attendees, helping them to collaborate with likeminded and people of similar interests.

On the other hand, AI Chatbots are benefiting event managers to enable smarter networking opportunities. AI chatbots are being adopted by various businesses in order to offer uninterrupted customer support. However, chatbot is not limited to offering only customer services, it is far beyond what one could imagine.

35% of consumers want to see more companies using chatbots.

The data gathered by chatbots from social media profiles can be used in the future to collaborate and invite them. Moreover, chatbots can help attendees to ask questions related to an event such as ongoing sessions, speakers, and recommendations about whom to connect with. The conversations can be analyzed by event managers in order to know about what problems they are facing and how to improve them.

5. Crowdshaping

Things are shaping up for the event industry gradually and the dominance of technology will surely bring positive results. Crowdshaping was first introduced back in the year 2014 and has proved to be the game changer. The technology has been widely discussed in the past, but 2018 will be the year of dominance.

Crowdshaping refers to the dependence on data, ensuring event customization in real time. For instance, an event manager can adjust the room temperature, change the background music or modify multimedia based on the audience’s mood. The technology is meant to increase the relevancy of what is being offered to attendees and get quick feedback during the event.

6. Language Translation through Voice Activated AI

Events are held worldwide all around the year. However, the biggest problem that event managers have to face time to time is language. For instance, if the event is being held in some Asian or European country, a very few might know the language being spoken. Most of them are only aware of their native language and none other.

However, voice-activated AI technology can help event managers to assist with language translation. Apart from event managers, vendors can also utilize this technology to attract more people in order to try their product or services.

Conclusion

Event technology is definitely going to make a difference, but the key to success lies in analyzing the right technology that would reap positive ROI. Deploying technology at events after thorough analysis would result in a competitive edge in the evolving event landscape.

Ray Parker

Ray Parker

Ray Parker is an entrepreneur and tech enthusiast who loves to incorporate new technologies to get more efficient outcomes. When he's not marketing his latest venture, he keeps himself busy in writing technical articles to educate peers and professionals.
Ray Parker

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