« The Future of Event technology” by Murray Newlands, INC Magazine?
Technological advances are affecting all sectors, but more particularly the event industry. This
trend is impacting all stages of event creation, that’s why we observe recently a boom of tech
events all around the world. It’s a big challenge for organizers who must constantly adapt to
these evolutions and both a real opportunity to facilitate organization, communication and
create a real experience for consumers.
How event’s organizers take advantages of this and gain in efficiency by integrate these new
tools for event marketing, management and administration?
The evolution of these technologies positively impact through different elements and
considerably change the experience of event for organizers and participants.
Concerning the organization, one of the first and more important element is the big data, it
serves considerably in different fields of the event. To design ideas specially to focus on trends,
campaigns that influence the most by using google analytics for example. It also helps location,
to guide the participants in big events and to be able to follow them. Acquiring data provides
also a better understanding of consumer’s needs and permit to offer more customized event,
for example with Double Dutch a platform allow to analyze data in real time to know what
participants are more interested in during an event.
Evolution in digital technology also change the vision and complexity of the organization,
sensor integration and wearable technology permit now to integrate cashless payment,
registration, connection to social media in one unique bracelet.
For the marketing and the planning, social media are a key actor for event, to promote an event
and gain in visibility by sharing content with hashtags or attractive contest but also to follow up
the event and take advantage of a post event communication on social media.
To live a real experience, technologies play an important role.
First to improve the engagement of participants, they permit to interact with attendees, give
them the possibility to be active and take part in the event. They can use different platform to
exchange with organizers and other participants, before, during and after the event. It helps to
link all actors of the event, Speecheo and Evolero are some examples of existing tools.
Other technologies such as virtual reality, robots or 3D printing create amazing experiences
for participants. Virtual Reality permit to test product by living experience, to participate to an
event without being present. Robots allow to interact directly with the technology, they are
used as booth attendant, for entrainment or mobile telepresence for people that can’t be there.
3D printing is more use for decor and entertainment to create a specific atmosphere. All these
technologies help organizers to create experience value for customers.
Amélie Roux, Eloise Camélio
Friday 31 March 2017
Website of DMO: getting simple and complex at the same time
Website design, DMOs, navigation optimization
Since the tourism bureau started to build visitxxx.com, the view and content of the website were getting more and more appealing. There you can find massive information about the destination which are thrown to you desperately. However, the trend of the DMO’s website is changing rapidly due to the growth of mobile devices. When you use an iPhone or tablet to visit the website, the size of the screen limits the words you can provide in one page. And the websites are forced to struggle about how to cut all the complexity and offer your clients the easiest solution for their request.
With the simplification of the frontage, lots more efforts are made to build the user-friendly navigation and attract the light of sights. Other than the evolution in the format, tourism bureau are changing the way they try to attract the tourists from static displaying to more storytelling websites. Pictures are the main role of the first impression and they have devote much design to the selection of the story-telling pictures. The best sites are adopting a similar full-width modular design, flat architecture, and streamlined navigation structure due to the demand for speed and efficiency on mobile (Greg Oates, 2016).
The one who sets standard for this new trend of storytelling portals is visit California as shown above. Instead of implant the google maps once and for all, VisitCarlifornia built their own customized and mobile-friendly map for tourists. More subdivided types of customers are used by DMO to track the specific segmentation of the visitors. After downloading the data-free map, you can search for the nightlifes in Cal or the hot shopping malls in a few clicks.
Local people are helping their DMO to promote their hometown with their own videos or pictures. They are valuable assets as the vivid stories of themselves are so touching for the people who are curious about the local life. One excellent example is the traveloregen.com who build the destination’s character by showing the real local people’s words and thoughts. We could get to know the place by their words:’ Oregon is a very special place. And we’re glad you like it. But it’s just a place with a bunch of mountains and lakes and trees and beaches and those kinds of things’. Bundling with the super funning video below, may you will find Oregen is the next destination for the summer vacation.
Websites of destination marketing organizations are working out the best way to exhibit the real local life with more authentic contents and attractive navigation. The easier you explore the website, the more contribution they have made in the way you cannot see.
Cui ZHANG, Xiaoqing YU
Greg O. (2016). The 25 Best Tourism Websites in the World in 2016. [online] Available at: https://skift.com/2016/07/13/the-25-best-tourism-websites-in-the-world-in-2016/#1 [Accessed 26 Mar. 2017].
Cui ZHANG, Xiaoqing YU
Greg O. (2016). The 25 Best Tourism Websites in the World in 2016. [online] Available at: https://skift.com/2016/07/13/the-25-best-tourism-websites-in-the-world-in-2016/#1 [Accessed 26 Mar. 2017].
Thursday 30 March 2017
New start-ups helping hotels and event industry
In the 21st century, almost everyone is
connected to the smartphones. Technologies take a crucial part in our lives.
Forgetting your smartphone at home can totally destabilize your day, this is
who we are now, people depended on technologies.
Trendi Travel Mate was created in October 2015 by
Zugar International. It is a digital platform that helps people to stay
connected while travelling. Due to the collaboration with hotels, who will
supply its guests with new smartphones for their stay, Trendi can provide guests
with free 3G, local calls and SMS, thus solving a problem of huge bills for
roaming. It is a good opportunity for hotels, Trendi Travel Mate proposes the
best local offers and allows to get a lot of information about the guests,
their requests, interests and habits. Thus, the hotels can create personalized
advertisements in the scope of guests’ interests. There is no need anymore to
use a phone of the room when such platform as Trendi Travel Mate exists. Guests
can be contacted not only when they are present in the room but anywhere they
go. Trendi has positive effects not only on the hotels communication and performance
but also allows clients to feel like a local. Guests receive all the local
offers and news. They also don’t need to worry because they are connected all
the time.
How does it work? Trendi Travel Mate phones are just
connected to the hotels’ IP PBX (Private Branch Exchange), simply calling a
business phone system.
It is simple, efficient and looks like it will have a
success in the future. However, it should “move faster”, claims Sean O'Neill,
the tech editor for Skift travel platform. Apparently, Handy company which was founded in
2012 in Hong-Kong and which is so similar to the Trendi, is already present in
many markets all around the world. Moreover, Handy company proposes unlimited international
phone calls, personalized interface for each hotel and the phones are also used
instead of key card for entering the room.
Laetitia Vié & Yana Ussenko
Sean O'Neill, (2017,
March 06), “5 New Asian Travel Startups Incubated by Amadeus”.
Handy company.
Retrieved from: https://www.handy.travel/fr/products/t1
Trendi Travel Mate
company.
Retrieved from: http://www.trendi.co/
Going live is the next standard
The importance of Going live for Events and
Tourism destinations
Instagram
stories, Messenger, Snapchat, live tweets or youtube live are some of the
examples which prove live sharing is a well-implemented way to advertise and
entertain viewers and potential customers.
But how the
tourism sector could gain from it and how to use it properly?
- Live content is changing the mindset for organizations. It is a real opportunity to gain in popularity, exposure and even discipline.
- It can humanize your brand by letting people feel and see what’s happening in the heart of your product. It allows a greater interaction as people tend to react directly at the live event. A brand that has nothing to hide is a trustful brand that encourages the human over the customer.
- More and more people is willing to watch live videos instead of pre-recorded ones. There’s a need to shift this increasing number (10x more important than pre-recorded videos).
- It is a way to show the Behind-the-scenes of an organization, which offers new possibilities to reach customer’s attention and sympathy.
- Youtube and Facebook algorithms are treating live videos differently, and tend to place it in top priority news feeds. Organic reach is therefore widely increased.
Many
opportunities can be used to experiment live sharing content such as :
- Behind the scenes: allows the customers to understand the work and the commitment of the company’s workers.
- A special event: An opening night, a dance contest or whatever could catch the eye.
- Unexpected event: A risky choice but which could rapidly go viral if well executed.
- An interview: Some influencers or experts can generate a lot of interest if the subject is well explained.
But in
order to propose quality live content video a tourism company should process
with precaution:
- As there are a lot of ways to stream live, each channel has its pros and cons. The best way to use them all, is to attribute a task to each. This will allow customers to get familiar with it, to spread your visibility upon different sectors (Snapchat for youngsters, Facebook for family, etc.).
- Planned videos are sometimes better. For two main reasons, the uncertainty of a live broadcast situation and the ability to alert everyone in your office or work location.
- Boundaries: know when you need to cut, and when it is relevant to continue filming.
- Be prepared to react to the unexpected. Always get assistance from others if you’re not sure of how things will turn on.
- Use the different live videos to propose mash-ups or compilation which could be interested for further exploitations.
These new
tools are also a great way to do metrics, to understand how many people visited
your website, how long did the event has been looked at by customers, calculate
the bounce rate. So it might be a risky step but in the end it will multiply
the engagement and surely improve the modern image of a company.
Why social media is important to Events
Social media, as the popular tool used by a large number of people today, is not only popular with Y generation but also a new favorite of business.
In 1997, the birth of social media, it started to change the world when the first social media site called ‘Six Degrees’ was born and the world moved into a new era which was filled with blogs and instant messages. ‘Six Degrees’, as a beginner of social media, it ignited the worldwide fire in the world, which followed by ‘My Space’ (to build up a profile and make friends) in 2003. In 2004 and 2006, Facebook and Twitter celebrated their 10-year birthday. Nowadays, the number of Twitter users worldwide from 1st quarter 2010 to 4th quarter 2016 has already increased to 319million people. As for Facebook, the worldwide users have reached to 1,860million, which means the market for social media has increased and there are more functions and opportunities. In fact, 65.8% companies use Twitter for marketing purposes in the US. Therefore, social media is playing an important role for business and companies.
Event managers and organizations can also benefit from this trend by using social media.
There are some vital reasons for the event relevant people to use it.
1. Thank to the worldwide internet, social media can create a networking chance for attendees and organizers wherever you are. As a result of social media like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, these tools allow attendees to talk about the event whenever they want.
2. Attracting attendance can increase attendees and expand event business when the event organizers can utilize social media effectively. For example, if one attendee registers an event, it will spread out in her/his friends' circle and drive more potential attendees.
3. As we know, social media provide a place to people to share their interests, show their favorite videos, chat with friends, so it means that event managers can follow some potential groups and people in order to figure out their interests and some new trends, which is similar to target customers and spread business.
4. When event managers become active users of social media, it also helps them to build their reputation and shape it. It is more useful and effective than spending the budget on advertising.
Therefore, learning how to use social media is also important. 2 tips can be used.
1. Create an online chat platform for attendees.
When I took part in EMEC2017 in Spain, it was easy to talk to other attendees and share opinions because there were groups on the social media like Facebook, twitterand EMEC2017 App.
2. Make it easy for them to engage
Choose a platform and try to leverage different ways to let attendees to engage and it can also get more awareness for their events.
Estelle & YuQi
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