Our account manager Ana García talks about new technological tools in events. As she declares: “the next thing will be our clients’ holograms on our very desk, and vice versa.”
Are technological events a growing business?
Indeed. We are, right now, immersed in a technological era, and every day more and more devices of the newest technology comes to our lives. We experience this phenomenon first hand when dealing with our clients. Essentially, video conferencing has replaced traditional contact methods. The next thing will be using holograms on each other’s meeting rooms.
Which tech tools are the most requested in events?
At event agencies, creatives are the professionals responsible for bringing in new, imaginative ideas. Luckily we have Moonflower Technologies team as tech experts… They are the best in this sphere.
Meetings and conventions, for example, have in common the QR technology for access control. This is the easiest way to register all attendees automatically in a data base. This will allow later to obtain different information such as total attendees, access hours, or other criteria will may indicate.
But technology is not exclusively used in event development and management, it is something that is present in the very early stages of any project, such as creative stage. Presentations, increasingly, are becoming a sort of parallel events where clients may, for instance, enjoy the final result of a stage design thanks to the Oculus technology and 3D printing, or visit an entire venue thanks to augmented reality or 360-degree tours.
What would you say are the major objectives to attain by using these technologies?
The main objectives are to amaze attendees and distinguish oneself from other events agencies. Being more creative and offering new ways to engage the audience, always pursuing that famous ‘wow effect’… All this will contribute to the sharing of the event through social media, doubling (at least) your target expectations.
As I mentioned before, other important goal is to facilitate the task of accounts working in the different event stages, especially during presentations, as this will allow the client to have an early insight to the final results.
Which typology of event fosters the use of technology best: galas, ceremonies, or corporate events?
In my opinion, there is not a specific typology more closely related to technology. Everything depends on a budget and the goals to be attained. Technology may be present from the beginning to the end of the event. Something that clearly illustrates this is the electronic invitations that are sent via email in the form of a QR to be scanned with the mobile phone. Usually once these invitations are scanned, a host or hostess in augmented reality invites the guest to register through the event website. Once the day of the event comes, invitations are scanned with a QR code reader so the end of register is as simple and fast as possible. Also, during the event, these devices allow us to conduct surveys just by using the mobile phone.
There are many technological events available and many more are on the way. Augmented reality, holograms, Kinect, Oculus and its thousands gadgets… The hydraulic systems that become rollercoasters or arrow bows just by the magic touch of technology. Our guests can travel in a second to the Amazonas forests, the outer space, or the highest peak of a mountain. This is why there is not type of event that uses more technology, but everything depends on the event focus and objectives.
What is the last technological event you have worked in and which goals were to be attained?
One of the last events of this kind was the M&I Forum held at Fibes, in Seville. In general terms it was not a pure technological event but indeed technology was present in a broad sense. At the venue, Moonflower Technologies had their own technological hub which displayed their last achievements and services. Our event division, on the other side, in charge of aspects such as the cultural and leisure activities for the attendees, designed several of them which involved technology. One of these activities was the iPad Riddle, consisting on an urban gymkhana for our guests to solve specific challenges and tests in order to complete their tour. An iPad guided them to the different destinations through a series of instructions, riddles and questions which allowed them to get to the following stop. A monitor was in charge of every group, who was besides controlled by GPS. The truth is that attendees have a lot of fun in this type of activities.
Fort the event I was working in now the client has requested the ‘Excalibur effect’ for the moment the winners are awarded. This means that the ward will be place at a specific point on the stage and only the rightful winner will be able to lift it. Clients have a lot of imagination and sometimes make the most peculiar requests.
And a last example: A couple of years ago we used a digital chroma background in the photocall and guests could choose different settings for their pictures, to personalize their event souvenir even more.
