Reinvigorate your next live event by incorporating mobile technology. With the right engagement strategy, you can say goodbye to the days of paper agendas, one-way communication and “death by PowerPoint.” Today’s attendees want mobile solutions that make the content interactive and simplifies the event experience. Whether you want it or not, they already have their mobile device in hand. So leverage mobile to your event’s advantage.
Trade show and conference apps are fast becoming the heart of a great event experience. With event tech, you can:
1. Build anticipation leading up to the event
- Once attendees have connected with your event app, begin to build anticipation around the event by pushing quick teasers. Preview some of the exciting things to come. Include information about the destination. If applicable, enable them to use the app to personalize their profile and agenda – or register for specific break-out sessions of interest to them. Include maps, hotel, airport shuttle and dining information to take the worry out of traveling.
2. Improve communication during the event
- Event apps free your attendees from paper and the burden of your planning materials. Once attendees have arrived, staying informed and connected to the happenings of each day (and other team members) is a snap. And if last minute changes happen, push notifications or instant messaging informs attendees right away of the change. You can quickly and easily update information, and rest assured no one is being left behind.
3. Encourage discussion, participation and networking
- Getting face-to-face time with people is a challenge so make use of the physical time together. Gamification creates fun opportunities to participate, network and cultivate relationships with other attendees and team members. Badges can be earned in scavenger hunts or icebreaker challenges. Use beacon technology to encourage and reward check-ins at various content or learning stations. Event games like these make the event fun, the learning interactive – and the activities competitive!
4. Improve the quality of feedback, idea-sharing and Q&A time
- It’s intimidating to speak up about an issue or stand in front of a microphone. By using the event app to submit comments, you prevent stage fright or fear of judgement as being a deterrent to participation. You can also crowdsource feedback by opening up a survey or live poll. Or enable questions to be submitted via the app during Q&A sessions. The app makes the most of the time everyone has together by improving the quality and quantity of information exchanged.
5. Measure results of your event investment
- Use the event app to take pre- and post-event surveys. You can easily benchmark knowledge before the event, then test content retention and application of learnings afterward. Use the results to make improvements or keep attendee favorites the following year.
For a recent client event, we used beacon technology and gamification to increase attendee engagement. Challenges were established to encourage event participation and networking while demonstrating to attendees how social platforms can be used for brand awareness. The app provided a centralized location to uncover tasks and win badges to move up a leaderboard for social recognition (and a little competitive entertainment).
Beacon Image: Courtesy of Estimote
After using an app, you will learn a great deal about the success of your event and the level of engagement attendees felt through the app’s analytics. By integrating mobile technology into your live event experience, you increase attendee engagement and your ability to measure results year over year.