Access asks two event production experts how technology is improving the live experience

Nick Dew

REALLY CREATIVE MEDIA

“Personalisation should be at the core of planning”
Technology has transformed what can be achieved out of events. No longer is a fashion show the preserve of the fashion magazine editor to make pages in print magazines three months later.Today we can live stream the catwalk content so that it’s immediately available to view online.The purpose of music and fashion events particularly is intertwined with a brand’s digital objective – with an experience for those opinion formers on site and a global reach through social streaming.Booths to inspire social media posting, live social media feeds across screens throughout the venue and creating Facebook Live experiences are at the top of our client’s shopping lists, rather than a nice side-effect of an event. Pre-planning is essential to achieve the platforms’ self-filmed ad hoc feel to its content.

The right technology infrastructure, connectivity and time for pre-production is required to match a brand’s digital profile to that of its content assets. Personalisation should be at the core of planning. Fans will only allow the brands that they trust, access to their accounts. Added value should continue post event once these brand advocates have been recruited.

The advances in how an event looks is also revolutionised with the merging of lighting and video to create a more immersive and visually exciting experience for fans. The reduction in cost of some of these technologies makes them more accessible and therefore expected by the fans that have seen visual spectaculars proliferate festivals, gigs and stadium tours.

 Robin Carlisle

 

MOBILE PROMOTIONS

“We must not be afraid to fall back on delivering services by hand”

 

When evaluating the use of the latest technology, app or software, we should always question whether technology is going to positively impact on the event experience for guests. We must not be afraid to fall back on delivering services by hand if that offers enhanced guest experiences that will stick in the mind long after they have left the pop-up, exhibition or brand activation.
A thirsty event attendee could easily grab a coffee from a machine, but does that beat the warmth, experience and expert knowledge dispensed by a barista?It’s easy to lose the human touch when we are head down in our mobiles and tablets. So for each event, we believe in personal engagement as well as digital. Specifically, we have embraced the use of digital and online interaction to build the ‘human’ connection and simplify some of the laborious administration processes for attendees and event managers. Our website registration service is designed to feel seamless, rather than invasive for delegates and enhance their experience rather than making them feel like an amplification tool for our event.
Our online H2O delegate management platform allows us to go the extra mile and put in place special friendly touches that facilitate the invitation process for delegates in one place so they don’t find themselves searching for endless emails the night before they head to their event.We have simplified the process of sending out personalised pre-event invites and created onsite apps to improve the experience. These advances are all designed to take guests through the event journey with ease – whilst providing clients with a greater knowledge of their audiences’ behaviours.