Conferences provide invaluable opportunities for networking, exchanging innovative concepts, and establishing gold standards. Conference technology can help take the conference experience to a new level by adding a layer of innovation and interactivity that benefits everyone involved. Below are three ways in which various conference technology tools can be used by anyone in the meeting industry to intensify the reach and impact of such events.
Conference Technology To Streamline Planning
Platform-as-service event technology is an invaluable tool for organisers. Everyone is familiar with the benefits of online event registration tools or beacon technology, but the features offered by dedicated apps are continually being expanded. Event apps and software with features like chatbots with live polling and Q&A functions, online surveys, virtual suggestion boxes, and analysis of content sharing and interaction patterns are set to become mainstream due to their wide-ranging functionality.
Related: 5 Technology Trends in the Meetings Industry
Data management functions are critical to conference planning, as shown by this study that revealed that more than 80 percent of organisers find data management a challenge. Conference tech can help with future conference planning through the data gathered before and during the event, which can be then used to analyse attendees’ behaviour, reactions, preferences, and expectations, all of which constitute feedback to improve subsequent conferences, to calculate ROI, and to measure the event’s success.
Moreover, conference tech can facilitate planning through marketing automation, which is a well-known strategy to promote conferences, save time, yield data-rich insights, determine the interests and expectations of attendees, and offer them personalised updates.
Ongoing Engagement With Audiovisual Technology
Another crucial advantage of event technology is that it lends itself to be used beyond the actual meeting. For instance, live streaming and real-time broadcasting tools facilitated via social media can be used to create time-lapse videos and to record keynotes that can be viewed at the audience’s discretion. Likewise, virtual or augmented reality technology can offer sneak-peek style venue tours, deliver remote speeches, or even to facilitate virtual attendance.
Audiovisual conference technology is the natural ally of immersive experiences that resonate with the needs of the audience by providing useful content, interaction, and engagement. It helps to amplify the possibilities for exchange while putting organisers at the forefront of the experience economy. The digital environment that surrounds us has a social focus primarily. The immediacy generated by audiovisual technologies facilitates sharing the entire process of planning and setting up an event in real time. In turn, this can create a powerful connection between the audience and generate excitement before the event begins.
Related: Embracing the Conference Experience: Engagement and Emotion
Lastly, audiovisual technology supports experiential conference design and fulfils the criteria for 21st-century rules of engagement: serendipity, reciprocity, adaptability, and empathy. The use of this technology also paves the way for memorable experiences that meet three key attendee expectations: meaningful, personal, and straightforward experiences that have value through time and space.
Event Apps: From Tools To Community-Building Spaces
Event apps are a practical tool for anyone involved in the meeting industry in an era where people resort to technology to find useful content that adds value to every experience. Modern event apps rely on the concept of software integration. This turns them into one-stop-shops where attendees can discover all the information they need about the event. From the conference’s agenda to online registration and check-in, networking and messaging features, practical information about accommodation and leisure options in the area. Participants can also use the app as a digital library for reference after the event.
These apps can become associated with the organiser’s name and mission and bring long-term rewards in the form of recognition, involvement, loyalty, and other qualitative metrics that can help organisations gauge the ROE of their event. The idea is that event apps are more than a tool: they are a space for community building, which makes sense given that conferences target communities brought together by a common interest.
Related: Building Relationships Online With Social Media Marketing
In summary, there are many good reasons to incorporate conference technology as an integral part of your next event. These tools are an excellent service that can facilitate planning and data management, generate ongoing engagement, and create a virtual space for experiential learning and participation. If the prospect of choosing and using dedicate event technology appears daunting, conference management professionals can assist so you can empower your audience and generate enthusiasm beyond the event through customised conference plans that leverage the power of technology.
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Congrex Switzerland is an internationally operating agency delivering customised solutions. This encompasses the overall organisation of conferences and meetings including the management of hotel rooms and the strategic consultancy. Annually Congrex Switzerland organises approximately 33 events with over 73’000 delegates. Amongst our clients are international associations, governmental organisations and corporations.
If you wish to receive additional information about Congrex Switzerland, please feel free to contact us.
