How evolving technology is changing the events industry?

Key words: IT, Events, Online registrations

It is no surprise that the event industry is rapidly evolving. Event attendees have new and higher expectations and wish to interact differently with other delegates and the event organiser. In fact, the importance of social media, apps and the use of mobile during events show that IT has become a crucial part of events. This enables the event planner to better understand the needs and expectations of the delegates, hence being able to respond more efficiently and faster. Furthermore, the development of tailored websites and more specifically the online registration has eased the life of delegates, who can enjoy the event more peacefully.

The article, “How evolving technology is changing the events industry?” written by Richard Harper, is divided in four sections. The first one, “The industry is moving!” rightly states that consumers are evolving and expect a relationship with the suppliers that is more personal and interactive. In fact, event attendees want to get something out of their presence at an event, instead of merely just being present. The new technologies need to be embedded into events in order to benefit from their full advantage. Furthermore, the event planner will have no choice but to work with these new technologies as expectations of event attendees will increase. In the second section of the article, “How this has affected the event lifecycle?”, the author points out that with the use of new technologies, event planners can communicate in ways  they have never done before. In fact, they can now communicate before, during and after the event using various ways, such as social media and mobile apps. This has allowed event planners to better evaluate the needs of their attendees, thus being able to respond more appropriately. In the third section, “So what’s next?”, Richard Harper details the importance of communicating effectively with the event attendees, paying particular attention to the use of online registration as a time saving instrument for both the event organiser and the delegates. The article concludes with the section “What does the future hold?”, illustrating that the “future is mobile”.

As it can be assumed, this article is very relevant to today’s event industry as it demonstrates the need for event planners to adapt and adopt new technologies in order to increase the delegates’ experience. However, it shows only the positive side of these new technologies. The article forgets to mention that the event planner has to be trained to optimise the use of such new tools.

In order for events to be successful, new modes of communication have to be used to enable delegates to communicate among themselves and directly with the event planner. It is vital for the event planner to embrace this new trend in order for the event to be successful. It can be said that this article is easy to read, thus getting the point across to readers.

The article can be found on: http://www.b2bmarketing.net/blog/posts/2013/01/23/how-evolving-technology-changing-events-industry

Written by: Hélène Roudeix and Laura Rulens