Autumn 2012
MEETINGS AND EVENTS TECHNOLOGIES FIT FOR
“GENERATION Y” SPECIAL EDITION FOR
Visit Us at the Future Events Experience area Stand O200
ISBN 978-1-105-17118-5
9 781105 171185
INSIDE THIS ISSUE 4
THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN EVENTS
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COME IN POSTER WALLS – YOUR TIME IS UP
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HOW THE NEXT GENERATION OF EVENTS MANAGERS IS USING TECHNOLOGY
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EIBTM 25 SET TO DELIVER ENHANCED FUTURE EVENTS EXPERIENCE AREA
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THE 2ND LONDON MEETINGS INNOVATOR SUMMIT
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EIBTM 25 INNOVATION AREA SPONSOR: NEWTONSTRAND INNOVATIONS
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TO HYBRID OR NOT TO HYBRID YOUR EVENT
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EIBTM 25 INNOVATION AREA SPONSOR: EVENTSKILLS
HOW CAN WE USE GAMIFICATION TO 16 INCREASE GEN Y ENGAGEMENT AT OUR EVENTS?
A WORD FROM THE EDITOR
The “Millennial” Generation is defined as a demographic cohort, set to be born between 1983 to about 1997, which mean that this is the last generation to experience the transition from the
“Analogue” world to the “Digital” world. This generation is today’s 20 year old and those in their
early 30’s, and they are becoming the majority of our industry clients as well as our workforce,
gradually taking major decision and leadership positions and reshaping the way conferences,
meetings and events will take place.
As the “Baby Boomer” generation is now entering retirement and “Generation X” is occupying
more senior positions, the main decisions and expectation settings about how meetings, events
and conferences will be conducted are in the hands of that generation Y professionals, that do not understand
how could people communicate without mobile phones and why people still use fax machines if you have Emails. Organisations that which to continue and conduct business in our industry need to be very aware of what
generation Y common expectations are.
Gone are the days where you could say things like, “I’m not into social media”, or “I’m not that technologically
knowledgeable”, you need to wake up and answer your instant message, and get yourself a smart phone while
you at it, instead of that brick with digits you call phone.
If you cannot understand that today’s meetings and events require free Wi-Fi connection as default from any
venue, and that your attendees require a free charging station for their tablets and Smartphones, so they can
communicate and comment on your event using social media you will not be in business for long. To help you cope with that I recommend that you read this Autumn issue and perhaps come and visit us in the “future events
experience” (Booth O-200) at EIBTM this November. Adi Ben Nesher
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TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN EVENTS By Chiara Lainati
The research project I developed at the conclusion of a master in conference and events management focuses on technologies in events. Specifically, it is the analysis of the use of new technologies to facilitate and enhance the audience experience at events, from the point of view of professionals. Now more than ever it is fundamental to do research in the events industry and develop a substantial knowledge and awareness of this fast-developing world. Events are a relatively new area to be studied, and it is in constant evolution and innovation, also thanks to
to carry on the research, exploring much more about events and their evolution and keeping pace with the latest innovations able to reshape the whole events experiences. Further research in the industry can benefit events organisers who desire to find ways to save time and money, as well as improve productivity and make the whole work more effective, satisfying the audience and improving experiences. Then, the industry is strongly affected by the presence of Generation Y in events, another reason why further research is required. The presence of this fast-growing
technology, that nowadays has a key role. Clearly, technology is changing and improving many aspects of events: this is a main reason
workforce in events is influencing the industry, and the need to adjust events to this new generation of attendees is strong. This
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audience is particularly demanding, and since technology has been all around them for years and they have been using it constantly, they expect a wider use of technology and appreciate the latest cutting-edge tools. In order to gather information about the current vision and use of technology in events, diverse professionals in the industry were interviewed for the project. This group included professionals based in the UK, USA and France. The group includes an international meetings technology speaker and consultant, an events and project planner and social media manager, a technology expert and consultant for meeting planners, an event manager specifically involved in cultural/arts festivals, a meetings and conferences organiser, an events organiser and sponsorship manager and two corporate events organisers. Despite their differences, they all recognised and agreed that each phase of an event requires specific technological tools, also according to the purpose and target of people to reach. Events organisers can make full use of several tools to save time and money, improve their productivity, manage their team more efficiently and approach the audience more effectively. The pre-event phase is essential to get to know the audience, build relationships and market the event, steps than can be mainly done, according to the interviewees, using e-mails and social media. E-mails allow events organisers to send information and invitations, but also exchange enquiries and ideas. The same is possible with social media, with Twitter seen as the most effective to spread news, keep in touch with customers and deal with their requests. In general, all the popular social
media seem to play a leading role in the industry. Their use gives a great opportunity of visibility for events, the development of the preevent built-up and the marketing of the event, but also the chance of a larger engagement of the audience in all the phases. Moreover, another tool that emerged as something that events organisers cannot work without is the on-line registration systems, which nowadays represents one of the easiest way to effectively manage audiences and facilitate the whole process of registration. During events the range of technologies available to use is massive, with literally thousands of tools for any needs. Here attendees come to benefit from the whole experience, desiring a great learning experience, while networking and being involved. Some examples can be audio visual equipment, clearly one of the basic elements to include in events, while more particular ideas, such as 3D projection mapping, augmented reality or digital graffiti walls can be fully entertaining but are less used, according to the interviewees. On site, attendees can be helped and guided by using digital signage, but they can also make use of the greener e-posters. Voting pads systems are often used especially in conferences and meetings, even though now more often events organisers are replacing them with mobile apps, cheaper options with the same functionality. As regards the post-event phase, the evaluation of the event with the purpose of improving the future ones is essential, so that coming events can be strategically planned, making content choices and improving the overall experience. Gather feedbacks and
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TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH opinions from the attendees improves that evaluation. Technology can facilitate this
process, even though some professionals still integrate paper forms. The interviewees’ preference goes to on-line survey systems, as the most effective method to collect feedbacks, followed by mobile apps and emails to keep in touch with attendees. These are just some examples to explain their wide utility in the events’ environment, but despite the key roles of new technologies in the industry, not all events organisers seem to be keen to increase their events value using technology. Those events organisers who are still more reluctant in the use of technology should start making a more extensive use of technological tools and invest more, even though the current economic situation certainly slows down the development. Technologies can be very expensive tools; however, they 6
should be carefully considered and integrated, given the increased value of the actual events and the long-term effects of their use. In this environment of fast-paced evolution of the whole concept of events, professionals need to shape an in-depth knowledge of technology, getting an extensive awareness of what tools are available, and need to keep constantly up-to-date. This can help for the correct use of those tools in the proper contexts and their success. If used properly, the real value of technology can be perceived and it can either facilitate or enhance the audience experience greatly. By using the right tools, events organisers can add a true value to their events and can also be prepared in the eyes of their customers, suggesting them the best solutions. Events organisers can build their knowledge in various ways and in different environments, like attending trade shows and association
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meetings, networking with experts in technology and consulting tech-specialists. Moreover, they can use social media, but also subscribe industry newsletters, read specialised websites, blogs and trade magazines articles. As regards events organisers’ teams, training sessions would give them the chance to improve their knowledge about technology for events and apply it in their work environment. In this way, an aware and stimulated staff would certainly work more efficiently and events organisers could manage the team more effectively for better results. As emerged, a percentage of attendees still seem not to be familiar with technologies or keen to learn about them, due to the elder age or the field of work that in certain cases does not involve the use of technology. Given this lack of knowledge and interest, attendees
should be trained so that they can be introduced to the world of new technologies: in this way it would be easier for them to learn and appreciate the qualities of those tools and understand how they shape and improve all the events industry.
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TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH Digital Natives:
HOW THE NEXT GENERATION OF EVENTS MANAGERS IS USING TECHNOLOGY
By Peter Vlachos
Peter Vlachos is Principal Lecturer at the University of Greenwich
Business School, where he is head of the London Centre for Events Management
It was the start of academic term a few weeks ago. As is customary, I asked a group of my students how their summer had been. Many had been busy working in the Olympic Games in London in a variety of capacities, with hundreds involved in paid work experience via several innovative partnerships we had arranged with Olympic suppliers. I asked this group of final year events management students whether we could we have delivered the Olympics if computers had not been around? The lecture hall
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Peter Vlachos, Director,
London Centre for Events Management
immediately fell silent in curious disbelief. Was this some kind of trick question, or a start of term joke? Clearly, if I read correctly the body language of the students, my question was
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bordering on the ludicrous. Well, I continued, think about it. The Olympics have been around longer than computers, how do you think they were organised back then? After a few moments a hand went up at the very back of the room and a young lady in the class offered: “I guess they just got on with it, didn’t they?”
“This new digitally equipped generation will not wait long for a response from a supplier, it is far too easy just to go online and find another”
Indeed, even in the modern era Olympics, the majority of Olympics Games have been organised, schedules maintained, stadia built and so on, all long before the advent and widespread use of computers. In fact, it was
the Montréal Olympics of 1976 that were the first Games to benefit from computerization on the wider scale. A hugely successful Games, though given the legacy of debt left behind
THE MEETINGS INNOVATOR
we might wonder whether their accounting department had received their computers yet! As the student at the back of the lecture hall had correctly grasped, computers and digital technology are tools to an end, not a replacement for management skills. I am fond of telling my students that if you can’t work out a budget, an event layout plan, or a marketing mix with a pencil and a blank piece of paper then you really don’t know what you’re talking about. This said, however, there is no denying that digital technology, computers, social media, hand-held devices and the like are incredibly powerful tools that events managers have at their disposal which allow them potentially to work more efficiently and effectively. So how is the new generation of events
managers soon to be emerging out of our university using digital technology, and what does it mean for the events industry? My first observation is that this coming - AUTUMN ISSUE 2012 9
TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH generation of events managers, like those to follow, are ‘digital natives’. By this I mean that for them, as well as their counterpart clients and suppliers, digital technology, social media, WI-FI and cloud computing are a natural part of their living and working environment. Digital technology for them is just “there” and always has been “there”. They do not really worry or care about how it works and why it works, they simply take digital technology as a given. In the same way as people of my generation took the telephone as a given whilst for our
grandparents it seemed like a near-miraculous device of baffling complexity, so too does the current generation take digital technology as a given. The speed and ubiquitous nature of digital media means that the new generation will enjoy a speed of communications with colleagues, clients and suppliers hitherto unprecedented. This new digitally equipped generation will not wait long for a response 10
from a supplier, it is far too easy just to go online and find another. There is of course a downside to the “always on” nature of digital technology, namely the constant intrusion of work life into private life. However these categories, too, are changing. I am currently conducting research into the life patterns of creative industry workers. The blurring of personal/private life has long been the norm in the arts and entertainment sectors. Digital technology now means that workers across all industries will experience this ‘blurring’ as well, often by choice, but perhaps not always so. Speaking of being ubiquitous, I did an informal poll in one my post-graduate events management classes recently. The class contains a mix of students quite literally from around the world. It turned out 100% of the students used Facebook on a regular basis and around 40% were on LinkedIN. These kinds of statistics show not only how incredibly wide-spread social media have become globally in the younger generation, but also how digital media are no longer the exclusive domain of the West. Along with being globally connected comes the business imperative of being globally aware. To this end we offer both to our undergraduate and post-graduate events management students courses on cross-
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cultural communications and international business skills e.g. leadership, negotiation, time management. How the new generation of events managers
“the future challenge becomes how to retain relationships, especially with clients, in an era where with a couple of clicks the electronic link can be severed”
are using digital technology is also of interest. I see two trends. On the one hand, the technology is being used in a very individualistic way. By this I mean for example that young people have their personal ids on Facebook etc and ‘attach’ themselves to whatever pages, sites etc are of interest to them. As we know from the marketing perspective, such attachments are easy to make but just as easy to break. Thus the future challenge becomes how to retain relationships, especially with clients, in an era where with a couple of clicks the electronic link can be severed. Concurrently, young people are using social media to create project communications hubs. However whilst these hubs clearly facilitate quick, two-way communications, they seem to do a less effective job in supporting the exchange of more detailed information and documentation. Some students do use ‘cloud’ computing and I
expect this will become increasingly prevalent, however at the moment it seems email continues to be the fallback mode of detailed information exchange. The media communications theorist Marshal McLuhan in the 1960s popularised the phrase ‘the medium is the message’. By this he meant that the media we use define and control how we understand the world. Nowhere can we see this more clearly than in the spread of digital technology. The means for exchanging information has become nearly inexhaustible. The real challenge is the search for creative content. Speaking of creativity, the issues of licensing and copyright are increasingly difficult to explain to the younger generation. Digital technology through ease of downloading, file sharing, sampling and self-publishing have transformed the business model for creative
“the new generation will enjoy a speed of communications with colleagues, clients and suppliers hitherto unprecedented”
content. There is a danger however that oversupply of content may be damaging true originality. The benefits of digital technology are clear and the younger generation of events managers are keen to use the technology and will continue to push its boundaries.
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EVENT REVIEW
The 2nd London Meetings Innovator Summit By Corina Ghioca
The second Meetings Innovator summit in London took place at The London Centre for Events Management, University of Greenwich on the 22nd of October. Peter Vlachos, Paul Cook and Shuli Golovinski were the three key speakers at the event. Peter talked about “Technologies fit for Generation Y, as a delegates and new professional workforce in the meetings and
devises that have Internet. Interestingly enough students though said that they would use more technologies in the way they do business at the same time they said that still prefer face-to-face meetings. The role and benefits of hybrid events have started being acknowledged more lately and therefore, more hybrid events have started being organised. Paul Cook who is the CEO of Planet Planit but also an evangelist of hybrid events shared his experience about the subject. Being previously involved as face-to-face participant, remote participant, speaker and remote speaker at various hybrid events, Paul emphasised the importance of having a brilliant moderator that would involve remote participants and make them feel part of the event, developing a relevant content for both remote and face-toface participants and making sure there is sufficient space for the A/V set up. The third key speaker, Shuli Golovinski Peter Vlachos, Director, talked about “How to improve your London Centre for Events Management event bottom line and gain new business utilising meetings and Events events industry “. As principal lecturer and technologies“. CEO of Newtonstrand and head of the London Centre for Events author of the book “Event 3.0 – How Management, Peter shared his vast Generation Y and Z re-shaping the events experience about generation Y and its industry“, Shuli is an innovator promoting expectations as future event specialists and alternatives that make use of different delegates regarding technology used in technologies for the meetings and events meetings and events. The results of a study industry. Therefore using ePosters instead of conducted by the University of Greenwich banners or asking delegates' opinions during having event students as subjects showed an an event by only having them scan a barcode increased interest in the number of owned and showing them the results in a matter of 12
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seconds on the screens can come as more unconventional, innovative and sustainable methods in comparison to traditional and less efficient methods. These types of methods were also linked to a high return on investment for companies. Delegates had the chance to participate to group discussions on key industry topics facilitated by experts where they could share their knowledge and get ideas from their colleagues in the industry. The subjects were related to: Mobile applications for Event planners, Social media usage for meetings and events, new innovative events and meetings technology, Gamification and mobile event gaming, Hybrid and virtual events and online event marketing. Moreover, delegates had the chance to pre-schedule one-to-one meetings through the structured
EVENT REVIEW
Shuli Golovinski, CEO
Newtonstrand innovations
Chance2Meet networking system making sure that they could meet with people they most wanted to talk to during the event and provide them with genuine future business connections. The event was organized by the Meetings Innovator in partnership with The London Centre for Events Management, University of Greenwich having as purpose helping industry professionals to better understand the industry's needs in regards to present and future technologies.
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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW To Hybrid or Not To Hybrid Your Event by Paul Cook
Paul is the Managing director of Planet Planit, and was instru-
mental in the experimentation event, Event Camp Europe in 2011, and an evangelist of hybrid events. He has been involved as a
remote participant, a face to face participant, a speaker and a remote speaker at various hybrid events
Whether you decide to hold a hybrid or a nonhybrid event is always going to come down to reviewing your event objectives. I remember some years ago that I was questioned on the objectives of the event I was due to run. At the time the question stopped me in my tracks as to be honest I hadn’t completely considered all the objectives. But, today I am so grateful for that invaluable advice and it is something that I always refer back to. It is pretty much a guiding principle for event planners everywhere. So when new technology and new style events come along I know from experience that there can be a tendency to get caught up in all the excitement and forget (inadvertently) the key basic principle of remembering just what the event objectives are. A hybrid event in bringing together both face to face and remote participants for a shared experience in real time creates a lot of energy, planning, challenges and moments of brilliance for event planners. And for many event planners, hybrid events can appear to be the latest craze. They can also appear to be more time consuming and more expensive (general perceptions – I have found). My view is that hybrid events have their place 14
Paul Cook ,
Managing director. Planet Planit
in the event industry landscape alongside traditional face to face events and virtual events. They are certainly not going to replace these other event types but just add to the mix. So rather than hold a hybrid event because you think you should I would urge you to go back to the basic rule of what is your event all about, what are the event objectives? As much as new technology and ideas come along and sweep people away I believe that negative perception works just as swiftly in dismissing ideas before they are tried.
“Hybrid events are here to stay and they already have an impact on the events landscape “
In a similar way to social media being accepted as more than a passing fad, I see event professionals in all sectors; whether as venue suppliers, event suppliers or planners will need to understand the impact and opportunity that is provided via extending the reach of an audience through hybrid events. If you are an event professional are you going
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to wait until hybrid events are accepted as being ‘the norm’ or are you going to put yourself ahead of your competition by seeking out the new skills/processes that are required in running a truly successful hybrid event? Not all events have to be hybrid and that is something that will come as a relief to some event professionals but for those that want to develop their skills and become even more valuable to their clients then the opportunity and challenge of hybrid events is calling you. Hybrid events are here to stay and they already have an impact on the events landscape and that is set to become only stronger given the key issues facing all sorts of organizations on the need for keep costs as low as possible, maximizing return on investment and of course not developing a carbon footprint the size of the Sahara.
Reviewing your event objectives will soon make it clear as to how a hybrid event will help or hinder your objectives. In fact it is only by knowing what the objectives are that you will be able to brief all suppliers and staff correctly and the only way you will be able to ensure that the description of your event is not ambiguous as you market your event to potential delegates. Yes the latest desire may be for you to hold a hybrid event to keep up with fellow competitors but make sure you understand what the benefits and challenges will be and see how they fit with your event objectives. If it works then great but if a hybrid event doesn’t then that’s ok as well. Just make sure you know the answer to “what are your event objectives?” and you will know for sure what type of event format you need.
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TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
How can we use Gamification to increase Gen Y engagement at our events?
By Tobi Beresford
Toby is a startup founder based in Google Campus, London, UK. He
is a founder of Leaderboarded which you can use to create your own dynamic leaderboard. In the past he developed social games
on Facebook for big brands, community software for small groups and enterprise web apps for massive corporations.
Gen Y is anyone born after 1980 and grew up with video games and the internet. They’ve never known a world without modern technology. A recent MTV workplace survey found that Gen Y expected their jobs to reflect their social, fun lifestyle. They treasured autonomy and flexibility. At our events we all too often see the mismatch between expectation and reality. Gen Y’ers who expect a social, fun experience will quickly tune out and turn to digital devices to tune in to what’s happening with their friends online. This ‘digital distraction’ isn’t just confined to Gen Y’ers. Many who should know better, find themselves down a rabbit warren of interesting twitter posts and people before they know where they are. For event organisers, Gen Y expectations present both a problem and an opportunity. A content program designed for previous generations, a speaker at the front and a couple of coffee breaks, might not resonate, but that gives the chance to do something new. What are the options for a self respecting event organiser? Some have turned to gamification, the art of applying game mechanics and thinking to real world problems.
Harsha McArdell at MediaTel playground, an event for the media barons of the advertising industry, found one solution in the form of an 16
Toby Beresford,
Founder , Leaderboarded.com
event leaderboard. With the help of Leaderboarded.com, she created a leaderboard that tracked twitter activity on the event hashtag #mediatel. The leaderboard captured the interest of Gen Y’ers at the event (photo above), who behaved exactly as she hoped – tweeting more, sharing photos of themselves on the leaderboard with their online social networks. The question for us to ask is, why did it work? And then, how can we use similar gamification techniques at our own events? The answer, explains Gabe Zichermann, author of ‘Gamification by Design’ and the world’s leading ‘Gamification Guru’, comes down to “Fun, Feedback and Friends”
Gen Y’ers are looking for something Fun that engages their attention. They expect constant and frequent Feedback. Finally, they want experiences which helps them engage with their Friends. In video games, feedback is most often seen through accumulation of ‘points’: as I do an activity, I see my points increase, and so I know I am doing the right thing.
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TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
Imagine the travails of a Gen Y’er accustomed to instant feedback on every action, dumped into a stuffy corporate environment, where the only real feedback they get is a one hour annual performance review! That’s why companies like Work.com and Yammer have added ‘badge’ giving to their software so that managers and peers can regularly praise colleagues by awarding them a virtual badge. This mutual, frequent, back slapping may seem facile but it is no different in Gen Y’s mind from a ‘well done’ or ‘thank you’. Something that is easy to say when we’re all in the same place, but often gets left out in increasingly digital workplaces. So points, badges and leaderboards – the building blocks of gamified experiences – are
much to work well. Gamification designers think in terms of SAPS – Status Access Power Stuff.
Status is about being singled out, over and above our peers. At an event that might mean putting their name in lights on the big screen. The Oscars aren’t much more than the opinion of other film execs, they don’t bring the winner much more than an enamelled statue, but they are venerated by millions worldwide.
Access is summed up by the VIP room at a nightclub. Yes, it’s just a cordoned off area, but we’d like to get in there nonetheless. For your event that might be giving the top tweeters on the leaderboard access to the media coffee area.
Power is generally thought of as ‘power over others’ – customer support software provider Lithium gives frequent contributors the ability to edit the contributions of others. Stuff is, to some extent, our last resort. The iPad or £25 book token for winning the day. But these incentives do work.
Gen Y’ers take photos of themselves on the Leaderboard at a recent event and then share on Facebook.
now available to be used at events. But how should we use them? This is where a good understanding of gamification is required. Points without reward are meaningless. Badges without scarcity aren’t worth having. And a leaderboard that is easy to game (cheat at) will quickly turn everyone off. Successful gamification starts with an understanding of your audience – who are they, how do they like to behave, how can we facilitate and encourage them? Rewards are going to be important to your gamified event but they don’t need to cost
A gamified audience might necessitate an entirely different structure. Take the hackathon for example. A hackathon is a game-like conference designed to appeal to talented programmers frustrated at the lack of creative opportunity in their day job. Participants must use the sponsoring organisation’s software to create an innovative solution to the problem set. The eventual winner gets a ‘badge’ and bragging rights over their peers. “Speed networking” sessions alternatively appeal to newbies who arrive an event without a list of existing contacts they plan to catch up with. The points in this case are simply the number of business cards they can accumulate in a short space of time. Gamification then isn’t a one size fits all formula, it’s a set of techniques that you can apply to delight your own audience.
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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW COME IN POSTER WALLS – YOUR TIME IS UP By Chris Goodman
You can often tell how on track an organisation is with its sustainability agenda. Simply raise the topic during conversation with a responsible party, watch the body language, and make what you will of either the brag-list or the pre-rehearsed diatribe. An even more interesting angle is to raise the subject with a service partner to that organisation or industry, particularly if their future business opportunities are
To be fair, I don’t blame him. As the events industry increases its corporate social responsibility awareness there are a number of key long-term target areas of concern, however it’s where the short-term differences can be applied that will kick start these initiatives.
Take the tried and trusted poster walls, for example. In sectors such as science, biomed & medical they are omnipresent and seen by many a frequent attendee as part of the day. However, if you scratch beneath the surface and look at just what goes in to facilitating these areas, it strikes a negative on the ticksheet. From a sustainability perspective there are the printing costs for the posters themselves and also those of the attendees printing off summaries. Traditional poster hall in a medical conference Also factor in the cost perspective of hiring the large space required and setting the area up.
likely to be adversely affected by it. Take a conversation I had with a contact of mine who works in printing and has for many years produced thousands of posters for conferences and trade shows. His response was to speak about his company’s strategy for new business penetration in to other sectors, moving swiftly on to football! He dodged the question, basically. 18
Sustainability and innovation are two hot topics that have the ability to complement each other well on a number of levels. Take the standards required of the events industry under the much discussed BS8901 legislation. It’s here, and it requires us all to think and act more with regards to minimising the negative social, economic and environmental effects pertaining from our activities as a whole. We do not need to spend to save, nor do we need to channel more time and logistics towards alternatives. It’s all about establishing best practice both internally and externally, not to mention quantitative and qualitative benchmarking opportunities that will enable us to establish and implement the right strategy.
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TECHNOLOGY REVIEW No more was this highlighted during March’s CONFEX exhibition at Excel in which a number of us spend an insightful afternoon in the company of the MPI. On the agenda were a series of intriguing presentations on a variety of sustainability topics attended by professionals from across the industry. It brought home how seriously the subject is being addressed and during an individual table discussion we shared ideas as to how it can be achieved both locally and globally. Technology was discussed, but did not seem to be so universally understood. Returning back to the posters themselves, what of the producers? Currently they will produce and submit artwork and will sometimes have a staff member on site to attempt to draw attention to the poster, as if they were exhibiting. At the end of the event they can only base their experience on the responses they generate thereafter and even if they are meeting people during the day, they can only estimate their success rate at best. Providing an electronic solution such as E-Posters in which they can be told accurately how many views they have received and how many enquiries it has generated can only be good, right? If it was my event I would be using that information to cement my relationships with these organisations and where appropriate to up-sell the more successful to exhibiting or sponsorship tiers for the next one. On the subject of sponsors, I feel an increasing trend amongst them is to encourage innovation and to have their brands associated with it, which opens up doors of its own thus making the implementation of electronic alternatives a no-brainier. Having their brand seen to be encouraging such initiatives within their target event spaces will to some degree assist them with their own, providing the opportunity for you to increase existing and/or build commercial relationships with new solution providers and sponsors. In May of this year I attended IMEX over in
Frankfurt and spent the best part of three days meeting a variety of professionals across the industry. I was also given the opportunity to host a campfire session in which a group of us discussed the need for technology to make deeper industry in-roads and I was impressed with just how switched on more people are becoming to the concept as a whole. It’s also no accident that the “technology area” at the back of the event was busy all three days, arguably one of the successful areas of the exhibition considering its location. The E-Posters themselves don’t just look really good, they also considerably reduce the
E-Poster solution in use space required, the LED screens energy consumption is low (as are the accompanying production costs) and they offer an easy to use facility to browse through. As innovation and sustainability continue to walk hand in hand we will all surely watch with interest as the industry evolves further towards it.
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WHAT TO SEE AT EIBTM 2012 BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND -
EIBTM 25 SET TO DELIVER ENHANCED FUTURE EVENTS EXPERIENCE AREA As a direct result of last year’s success, EIBTM 25 will deliver an enhanced Future Events Experience with new elements and additional contributors to the area. The innovative feature area on the show floor will provide a dedicated space where exhibitors and buyers can experience and interact with the latest in cutting-edge technology and events services available in the market.
the Future Events Experience can be found at www.eibtm.com/future
Graeme Barnett, Exhibition Director of EIBTM commented, “There is no doubt that technology within the meetings industry and in fact across all industries is progressing at an exponential rate. As the world’s leading event for the meetings and events industry, it is of
The “Chance2Speak stage”
Full educational schedule between 27th to 29th from 10:30 AM to 16:30 PM
In partnership with Newtonstrand and Eventskills, the Future Events Experience will incorporate innovative speaker presentations, a live demonstration area showcasing pioneering technology and a number of networking and education opportunities for all attendees. A full list of events taking place in 20 THE MEETINGS INNOVATOR
primary importance that we not only ensure we are offering the latest in technological innovations for our own show but also that we are helping all of our attendees learn about the latest products and trends so that they can utilise these when driving their own businesses forward.”
- AUTUMN ISSUE 2012
WHAT TO SEE AT EIBTM 2012
Be sure to attend the “Experts Panel” moderated by Corbin Ball The future events experience area on Wednesday the 28th at 10:30 AM
“The Future Events Experience is designed to provide a platform which will directly allow visitors to interact and experience different technology and innovative services that they can use for their next event, conference or meeting.” concluded Barnett. The Future Events Experience will incorporate the ‘Experts Clinic’ this year. The new drop in clinic will provide a platform for all attendees to meet with experts in meetings and events technology. The experts will be available to consult attendees on all event technology related subjects. Attendees can also benefit from the ‘Ask the Experts’ panel, which will take place on Wednesday 28th November, 10:30-11:30, facilitated by Corbin Ball, CEO of Corbin Ball Associates. Attendees will have the opportunity to speak with leading events and meeting technology experts about the latest innovation and trends as well as how to utilise it best in future conferences, meetings or events.
Newtonstrand’s Chance2Speak platform will also return for the EIBTM Future Events Experience. This innovative platform provides delegates with the opportunity to become a speaker at EIBTM with a 20-30-minute time slot to share their views on a topic of their choice. To apply for a Chance2Speak slot, visit www.eibtm.com/chance2speak
THE MEETINGS INNOVATOR - AUTUMN ISSUE 2012
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WHAT TO SEE AT EIBTM 2012
Partnering with EIBTM to run the Future Events Chance2Speak: For attendee generated Experience area for the second time, content at your event - allow your event Newtonstrand Innovations Limited continue to delegates to stand up and have their say… showcase their revolutionary ideas and used extensively at EIBTM at the Future Events solutions for the ever-changing meetings Experience area Newtonstrand provide innovative technology Chance2Vote: Increase your speakersolutions to help you create the most powerful audience interactivity. Let them influence… and interactive meeting “experience” for Chance2Ask: Increase the speaker-audience your delegates. Solutions include digital interaction by allowing audience members poster displays, LiVESTUDiO event to ask questions to the speaker without INVITE broadcasting, structured interfering with the rest of the listeners TO networking with Chance2Meet, providing a more productive flow NETWORK post-event virtual solutions, E-Posters: An interactive, on-line, interactive voting and collaborative platform for EIBTM STAND O200 speaker-audience event participants, TH NOVEMBER AT 16:30 27 technology as well offering opportunities Newtonstrand Innovations Limited invites the “Meetings as Chance2Speak to share knowledge Innovator” readers to attend the “welcome networking allowing and interact prior to, reception” at the Future events experience area , delegates to have and during the actual Meet and network with other professionals their say during your event and have a chance to meet new next event. Get your LiVESTUDiO: Turn your event professional contacts and delegates involved at your floor to a full live broadcasting friends next event and ensure its TV station! success! E-Exhibition Extend the life of Newtonstrand Product range exhibitions and conferences through post-event on-demand virtual engagement includes: E-Event Continually generates revenue from Chance2Meet: Turn your next event into a vibrant business networking platform for your your conference and extends your marketing delegates using structured networking. Allow reach even months after the actual event your delegates to make genuine business HTTP://WWW.NEWTONSTRAND.COM connections for the future. THE MEETINGS INNOVATOR - AUTUMN ISSUE 2012
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WHAT TO SEE AT EIBTM 2012 Come and attend 1/2 hour training sessions running 3 times a day at the
“FUTURE EVENT EXPERIENCE” Stand O200
Events & Technologies , Simplified
For the second year Event Skills (formally part of SyncPartners), have partnered with Reed Exhibitions to produce the “future events experience” area. This year the area educational aspect will be enhanced by the sponsored “expert clinic” section where industry top companies and experts will deliver half an hour training and product demonstration sessions in a very open and friendly atmosphere. Event skills are a global training company specialising in technology training for meetings, conferences and event professionals.
Event skills have set their aims to: • Provide meeting and event professionals with knowledge and understanding of how to utilise different relevant technologies • Provide tools and hands-on experience in event and meeting technologies • Enable event and meeting professionals have better engagements with event technology suppliers and provide better value for their delegates using technology • Lead attendees in the journey to discover the advantages of incorporating technology into events, as well as taking away the working knowledge and skills required to find the best technologies available 24
Event skills have designed their courses according to the accelerated learning discipline in order to create the best learning experience for the delegates. The courses are very hands-on and interactive to ensure learners get a heightened learning experience versus a traditional seminar/classroom style structure. There are some “traditional” learning parts of the programme but in general they promise an increased level of group activity where learners can interact with and experience technologies for their project needs. This means that all modules are designed and developed specifically for professionals and meeting planners in the events industry ensuring that no training is too general. All content delivered will be relevant, important and essential for the success and ROI of future events. In addition Classes are kept at 15-20 delegates provide an enhanced learning environment and experience outcome. So each learner will have the opportunity to learn and use different technologies to feel confident when discussing and negotiating technologies with suppliers and sponsors; and bringing them to their next event.
THE MEETINGS INNOVATOR - AUTUMN ISSUE 2012
CŽŶŶĞĐƟŶŐ ƚŚĞ ŽƚƐ ŽŶŶĞĐƟŶŐ ƚŚĞ ŽƚƐ Technology echnology echno h logyy, ^ŝŵƉůŝĮĞĚ͘ FORMED, UP TTO O SPEED AND C OM F ORTABLE FINALLLY GET IN FINALLY INFORMED, COMFORTABLE WITH THE TE CHNOLOGIES SHAPING TODAY’S TODAY’S EVENTS. EVENT S. TECHNOLOGIES dŽĚĂLJ ͛Ɛ ĞǀĞŶƚ ĂƩĞŶĚĞĞƐ ƌĞƋƵŝƌĞ ƚŚĞ ůĂƚĞƐƚ͙Ğ ǀĞƌLJƚŚŝŶŐ͘ ŶĚ LJŽƵƌ ƐƚĞĞƌŝŶŐ ĐŽŵŵŝƩĞĞƐ ĚĞŵĂŶĚ ƚŚĞ ŵŽƐƚ ƵƉͲƚŽͲĚĂƚĞ ƚĞĐŚŶŽůŽŐLJ ƚŽ ŵĂŬĞ ƚŚĞŝƌ ĞǀĞŶƚ ĞǀĞŶ ďĞƩĞƌ ƚŚĂŶ ƚŚĞ ůĂƐƚ͘ /Ŷ ƚŚŝƐ ƚǁŽͲĚĂLJ ƐĞƐƐŝŽŶ͕ LJŽƵ͛ůů ƌĞĐĞŝǀĞ ƉƌĂĐƟĐĂů ƚƌĂŝŶŝŶŐ ĞŵƉŽǁĞƌŝŶŐ ĐŽŶĨĞƌĞŶĐĞ ĂŶĚ ŵĞĞƟŶŐ ƉůĂŶŶĞƌƐ ǁŝƚŚ ƚŚĞ ĐŽŶĮĚĞŶĐĞ ƚŚĂƚ ĐŽŵĞƐ ǁŝƚŚ ƚƌƵĞ ƵŶĚĞƌƐƚĂŶĚŝŶŐ͘ &ƌŽŵ ^ K ƚŽ ^ŽĐŝĂů DĞĚŝĂ DĂƌŬĞƟŶŐ͕ EĞƚǁŽƌŬŝŶŐ ƚŽ sŽƟŶŐ ƚŽ ĞWŽƐƚĞƌƐ͙ LJŽƵ͛ůů ďĞ ŽŶ ƚŽƉ ŽĨ LJŽƵƌ ŐĂŵĞ ǁŝƚŚ Ă ǁŚŽůĞ ŶĞǁ ůĞǀĞů ŽĨ ƵŶĚĞƌƐƚĂŶĚŝŶŐ͘
NEXT SESSIONS WILL BE H HEELLD D I INN L O N D O N , PARIS, BRUSSELS AND AMSTERDAM For exact dates and venues please contact our sales team at sales@eventskills.com or at - +44 (0) 20 3150 0779
www.eventskills.com SPECIAL RATES FOR PCO’S SENDING MORE THAN 3 PARTICIPANTS
CONTACT US
WE HAVE MOVED TO OUR NEW OFFICES
Our new Address is: 58 South Molton Street, London, W1K 5SL Phone: +44(0)2081232391 E-Mail: Info@themeetingsinnovator.com
WE ARE LOOKING FOR CONTENT CONTRIBUTORS AND SPEAKERS
The Meetings Innovator is an industry source of knowledge and education regarding innovation and technology for events via a quarterly publication and regular city events (summits). Essential for meeting planners, the Meetings Innovator keeps the industry up-todate about how the format of events is changing and what technologies are contributing to those changes. We are keen to involve all industry experts to allow them to “take the stage� and share their knowledge about relevant technologies and significant industry changes to the summit participants. The events will take place in the local language, so we are looking for both English and non-English speakers (eg Spanish, German, French, Italian, Dutch etc). In return, we will provide you with exposure at our summits and in our quarterly magazine (sent to 25,000 industry professionals), as well as providing you with a platform to promote your ideas, interests and opinions. If you are interested in taking part and speaking at one of the summits to share your expert knowledge with the industry, please contact us on info@themeetingsinnovator.com
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THE MEETINGS INNOVATOR - AUTUMN ISSUE 2012
A
at place
AVERY HILL
. GREENWICH . MEDWAY
to study Our Business School offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in: ● Events management ● Marketing ● Public relations ● Tourism
The School’s London Centre for Events Management provides research and consultancy to the events industry.
E-mail business-enquiries@gre.ac.uk or visit www.gre.ac.uk/business
CELEBRATING
One global event, unlimited opportunities The Global Meetings & Events Exhibition 27 – 29 November, 2012 Fira Gran Via, Barcelona, Spain
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