Welcome to another week and here we are back in the swing of things after what seemed like a very long break over Christmas and the New Year.
We are now in and more or less settled in our new offices and our sparkling new website is almost ready to be unveiled but we thought this was a perfect time to offer some predictions about the year ahead in events and the trends to watch for...
Social Seating: Although
the concept of seating guests based on their social connections is not a new
concept, it's likely that 2014 will see more events using and event
professionals using some of the new apps to make seating a social experience.
Using the wonders of social graph we can now seat next to our friends and
colleagues and based on our networking requirements. Airlines and Ticket Sellers
are starting to adopt the tactic of social seating so uncomfortable and awkward
seating moments will be a thing of the past.
We do know however, we will still get
calls when it comes to seating at awards ceremonies along the lines of
"don't sit us with so and so company as I used to work there and it will
be awkward" - and hey, we will do our best!
Collaborative Event Planning is also a new trend emerging and although all of the individuals not in the industry who run their own weddings, concerts or parties help to drive suppliers, venues and the local economy, this is a growing trend. Technology that shares event planning and tools that help friends plan an event through social networks will continue to grow and grow.
Employing professional services to help with some
aspects of the process will also be easier using the sourcing and funding tools
all emerging which will ultimately be beneficial for both professionals or
those simply with a passion for events.
Collaborative Content is also a key feature of the year ahead. Not content with simply appointing a photographer to capture the tone of the event, its also now vital to encourage your attendees to share not just their experiences, but their images and photographs as part of the event. Live social media streams are nothing new to the event sector, but its becoming vital to also have a moderator in place to monitor live video streams, photographs and the entire content of the event to ensure what is happening lice is reflected online.
Wearable Tech is also starting to be more widely
used, so instead of trying to work out if you can put a screen in a place where
all of your delegates can see it, it will no longer matter as they will all be
issued with glasses that don't take them to the screen, they become the
screen.
Although still an expensive option,it wont be long until all
events employ this sort of technology so AV companies must surely be looking
ahead to see what they can do to make sure they are still delivering user friendly
experiences in the future.
Wearable
glasses might be on thing, but in Hong Kong,
Katia Vega has had a rather remarkable idea in which she has merged
micro-technology into fashion and emerged with a new career in "Beauty
Technology". Building wearable computers into basic accessories, like
fingernails, eyelashes and makeup.
While wearing the accessories, people can accomplish everyday actions like opening doors or flipping through TV channels by blinking their eyes or snapping their fingers. The projects are still largely in their prototype phases. But, Vega says, she's hoping to build a support group of sponsors and soon bring the devices to the mainstream market. She's focusing on two main branches of the project, so far: fingernails and conductive makeup.
The fingernails are rigged with individual radio frequency identification (RFID) tags. They can be applied the same way as any other artificial nail. The tags, pictured left, are hidden beneath polish, glitter and plastic decorations — whatever the wearer prefers. The RFID readers recognise tags within two centimetres, and can be synced to a variety of tasks you'd normally perform with a card. If, for example, the door to your office building is activated via card scanner, you can program one of the RFID nails to open the door instead. The program recognises actions, too, so if you'd prefer to add a little flare — say, a finger snap — you can.
The makeup works in a similar way, using conductive material in the form of eyeliner and fake eyelashes, turning basic eye and facial movements into programmable actions — like Google Glass, without the Glass. The lashes are chemically metallised to mimic a natural, black colour. "This works, again, as a substitute to wearing an electronic device on your face," Vega says. "The eyelashes and eyeliners work as switches. When the user blinks, a microcontroller can activate things like lights, TV channels and even drones." Vega's recently taken the experiments a step further. Last month, she presented the "AquaDJing" project at the Women 2.0 Conference in Las Vegas, alongside DJ Congo Sanchez from the band Thievery Corporation.
For the project, Sanchez used Vega's tech nails to perform and mix more than 25 tracks through a layer of water. The RFID readers recognise tags through different materials, such as water, glass and wood. A "DJ Controller" pad at the bottom of a water container was able to pick up on Sanchez's hand movements. The effect, then, is one of controlling and mixing sound effects by "touching" the water up top.
Overall, the project is just getting started. Vega plans to continue experimenting with different uses of the nails and makeup — and finish her Ph.D., at the same time. She'd eventually like to turn the idea into a company and make her products available for sale. For now, though, she's tweaking the existing products and actively looking for sponsorships. One step — err, blink — at a time.
We're not sure some of our delegates would be up for the full finger or eyelash treatment, but hey, who knows!
Have a great week and we'll see you soon - and please don't forget we have moved...
Cloud 9 Event Management Ltd, Rosewood House, 84a Main Road, Radcliffe on Trent, Nottingham NG12 2BQ, Telephone: 0115 9333811
10. Faster Check-in
The
Vitruvian Attendee likes to get into events fast.
Any piece of technology that speeds up on site registration will be
hot in 2014. As attendees are starting to make the show floor busy again
after a few years of global economic crisis, event professionals need
to use all tech available to speed up the check-in process.
The listed services offer a tablet based tool to check-in guests at
events. This is not a particularly new technology but it is gaining
speed and capturing the attention of investors.
9. Seat Them Socially
While the concept of seating guests based on their social connection
is not anything new, 2014 will be the year where more event
professionals will use such services for their event.
Leaving seating to chance is so 1999. There is a new breed of apps
that make seating a social experience. Thanks to the wonders of social
graph we can now seat next to our friends and colleagues.
This also means seating serendipity based on our networking requirements.
As airlines and ticket resellers are adopting social seat selection,
event professionals and startups are quickly adapting. Awkward seating
moments will be a thing of the past.
8. Live Slidesharing
This trend refers to sharing the slides on attendees smartphone or
tablet live. Once again this is not a particularly new technology and
ARS has been around forever, but 2014 will be the year of your mobile as
a second screen for slides.
This particular technology has seen a surge in offer with dozens of startups offering live slidesharing solutions.
While at conferences, attendees look at their tablets or smartphones.
Pushing slides to their device helps to keep the focus on content and
enhance the education experience. Quite impressive.
7. Collaborative Event Planning
There is a thought, specially in the Meetings industry, that events
are just conferences and trade shows. I believe that one of the
strongest drivers of this industry is the long tail of passionate
amateur planners who run their own weddings, concerts or parties.
This passion fuels local economies of suppliers and venues. That is
why any technology that shares event planning among a group of people
will be a hit on 2014.
Tools that help a group of friends to plan an event will be pushed by
the backing of social networks adoption. Users in fact will want more
structured solutions to plan events than the current basic offering.
6. Plan by App
Event management dashboards used to be very complex spreadsheets that
cost incredible amounts. Last year we highlighted how the technology
was becoming more accessible.
As we move into a more mobile environment, startups are recognising
the opportunity to offer complete event management tools that can be
operated via apps.
The convenience of having your event vitals with you at all times in one platform is immense.
5. Collective Media
Hiring a photographer may still be the case for most events but
leveraging the media created by your attendees is another story.
Last year we stressed the importance of curating content, but as we
move toward a more visual internet, the importance of collecting
pictures and videos created by attendees becomes paramount.
Making good use of visuals will define next year.
4. Do Something Good
I believe we all agree that sometimes technology can be stupid.
Utterly useless. Or some other times it just does not solve anyone’s
problem.
There is a new breed of services that is providing event
professionals with a solution to their challenges while stimulating
adoption via means of charity.
This trend is particularly relevant for all those working with no
profits, where doing something good is inherent to the event concept.
3. One Page Websites
We recently published
an infographic about effective event websites.
One page websites are not just a trend, they are thought
to convey a better storytelling and to decrease bounce rates while impacting on conversions.
If you combine all of that with a cheaper alternative to costly
custom developed solutions, you got yourself a successful trend for
2014.
2. Solve The Hotel Nightmare
One of the outcomes of the research we made for the Good Event
Registration Guide is that only 27% of registration providers offered
live accommodation options upon ticket purchase.
However, we also discovered that hotel options are amongst the top 10
most requested features by event planners. Hence why those startups who
offer such service will be extremely popular in 2014.
Once again some of these guys have been around since 2008, but we are
now getting to a DIY, global market offering that will surely encounter
the attention of several event professionals.
1. Incredibly Real Time Analytics
Events happen quickly and pressure is usually incredible. Safety,
happiness, business success are pressing thoughts that every smart
professional has.
Those startups that offer live analytics such as heat maps,
preferences and check-in based analytics will make an impact in 2014.
Live data will dictate the ‘what happens next’ rather than pre-agreed concepts
Read more at
http://www.eventmanagerblog.com/10-event-trends-2014#FpLgWj7c5q6Bbogr.99
As well as these amazing registration gifts, they also
received a luxury goodie bag from Fortnum & Mason which included luxury Tea Bags, Jam, Biscuits, Chocolate etc. On top of all of this, the team also came back with more business cards, brochures and gifts from exhibitors than they knew what to do with! 
For conferences and meetings, it's a really wonderful property and with a walkaway access to Heathrow T5, incredibly useful so if anyone has any international events looming we would recommend it without a doubt.
