AAXO NEWS

Technology – the panacea to shoestring budget woes?

Event technology has become an expected commodity, and through its rapid evolution and development, it has become far more accessible.

By Devi PaulsenAbbott, vice chair, AAXO.

Making do with less resources, has become a familiar catch-phrase for the events industry. Particularly as we ramp-up and reboot our sector in South Africa.

If used smartly and correctly, technology may assist in realising significant cost-savings and efficiencies, whilst improving the overall experience before, during and after an event.

Networking, interaction, feedback and engagement tools worth investigating include: • Mobile apps: The cost of mobile apps have reduced considerably. Most virtual event platforms provide an app option or there are thousands of white-label options to choose from.

A worthy event app delivers unique value, providing an integrated and interactive interface.

With capabilities for self-service registration and digital badges; audience polling; speaker information, programmes and promotional content.

• Digital translation/interpretation: Offering multi-lingual content provides a wider audience reach, particularly in virtual and hybrid environments. Translation features are now available on many virtual event platforms, reliable enough to offer an acceptable level of translation to bridge communication gaps.

• Marketing automation: While it may be an initial investment, marketing automation software has the ability to save time and money in the long run and increase engagement and efficacy of any campaign.

• Social media: The benefits go beyond the staple traditional marketing opportunity. There are many platforms available that provide gamification and experiential elements, i.e. live streaming, audience and message monitoring through geo-tagging and focused press boards, to name a few. For little cost, social platforms allow for engagement and interaction pre-/ during/post-event.

• Streaming technology: A live streaming element (for traditional live-only events) provides

value and engages audiences. A number of very cost-effective off-the-shelf production tools are now available to create professional live streams very seamlessly.

• AI-powered personalisation: AI has the power to streamline the event experience and to engage your customers. Some common examples include: – Event chatbots – Customised promotions – Event registration – Closed captioning and voice translation

• Second screen technology: Allows your attendees to use their devices to participate more actively at an event. Second screen technology is a dynamic, smart two-way solution, allowing for content, such as slides, polling, video, notes, social media links to be sent to any device in real-time and for the audience to use their devices to ask questions, participate in polls and post to the event specific social channels.

While some solutions may require an initial investment, the return is worth it. If you are managing an event on a shoe-string budget, combining the proper amount of technology and creativity is able to make the overall event better, be it live, digital or hybrid.