What about Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and iBeacon in the event industry ?

audienceview.com

The event industry, and especially the Meetings & Conference industry, is always using more technology to better embrace its objectives. Nevertheless indoor spaces often block cell signals, making it nearly impossible to use GPS to locate devices. A new solution is Beacon. What is Beacon ? How does it work ? What would it bring to the event industry ? Those are questions we are going to answer in this paper.

               

Beacons, according to the Business Insider (BI), are low-cost pieces of hardware that use battery-friendly, low-energy Bluetooth connections to transmit messages or prompt directly to a smartphone or tablet. It is also commonly called Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) or iBeacon, for Apple devices.

Since now, we have mainly heard of those devices in the retail sector, as stores are starting to use them to share offers, send alerts, advertisings, etc... let's say to better communicate with their customers. The first studies done on consumer attitudes towards this new technology show that they seem receptive, and enjoy it as a way to enhance their in-store shopping experience. This is an encouraging sign to start implementing it in conferences and exhibitions.

According to Corbin Ball, Beacons holds great promises and a wealth of new options for meetings planners and participants. For instance it can provide:

-Location information, thus enabling navigation assistance, local area information & deals, location-based alert notifications

-Social media networking and information exchange

-Automated demonstrations

-Measurements, such as attendee action metrics, Continuing Education Units (CEU), and also exhibit booth dwell time measurement

pinterest.com

ABI estimates that by 2019, BLE shipments that have location/proximity capabilities will amount to 60 million.

Obviously Beacon must be used in such a way that participants see a significant value added, without feeling invaded in their privacy. All the privacy issues raised by this new technology could be dealt with in another paper.

SOURCES

Perez, S. (2014). In Five Years, iBeacon/Bluetooth Low Energy Device Market To Reach 60 Million Devices, Retrieved from http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/08/in-five-years-ibeaconbluetooth-low-energy-device-market-to-reach-60-million-devices/

Danova, T., (2014). BEACONS: What They Are, How They Work, And Why Apple's iBeacon Technology Is Ahead Of The Pack, Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/beacons-and-ibeacons-create-a-new-market-2013-12?IR=T

Ball, C. (2015). Ten Transformative Meetings Technology Trends for 2015, Retrieved from http://www.corbinball.com/articles_future/index.cfm?fuseaction=cor_av&artID=9207