Artificial Concierge

“Concierge, where is my room?”; “Concierge, when the next conference?”; “Concierge, where can I find the nearest restrooms?”. Imagine that as an attendee, you could be able to afford a private concierge that could help you and give you instantly all the answers you are looking for. And what if this service was for free…


According to Julius Solaris, Event MB founder and editor, the artificial concierge is one of the most interesting trends of 2017. Thanks to artificial intelligence, chatbots are revolutionizing the way to use event applications. Indeed, most of the events have an application that provides the attendee the information he needs: map, schedule, main events, side events, … But the attendee has to search for it in his application, so, attracted by quick targeted answer, he would prefer to ask rather than searching.
That is where the artificial concierge, that you probably already know under the name of Siri, Cortana or Alexa, takes a certain advantage. Instead of an apps giving information that you must seek through different screens that you should understand, you just have to ask, by messaging or talking, and wait for the answer.
Chatbots can instantly give a targeted and relevant information and with the easiest way possible.
In a service oriented industry, that innovation is going to change the event tech. That is why it is appealing venture capitalist and developers so much.


The company Concierge EventBot took the turn and is one of the most advanced Event Chatbot provider today. They convey a service with an “easy access and simple to use” thanks to an “engaging experience” and a “real time communication”.
With different options very useful, the Chatbot could take the application seat in the event industry for good.


We think that this innovation is going to live a massive increase during the following years and ease the attendees experience during the event. This is a very interesting solution for the event industry.

Maximilien Lefort & Brianna Williams 

• From “/10 Event Trends for 2017” – Report from Event MB 
• https://conciergeeventbot.com/ 
• https://blog.sciens.io/why-are-chatbots-and-ai-big-event-tech-trends-for-2017-a61ff04236af#.ldg5b5ofb

Near Field Communication – A Game Changer in Event Technology

Near Field Communication (NFC) is a growing technology that allows smartphones, tablets and similar gadgets to connect via a radio connection. Only few companies are using NFC today. But more and more are recognizing the huge potential of NFC and start investing in that technology. 

The main advantages could be:

Higher engagement level of attendees

With the help of NFC, event organizers can make their events much more interactive. Terminals with NFC readers could encourage attendees to take a picture and automatically share it on social networks, for example.

Easy entry management and access control

There are already some innovative ways, such as Apple’s Passbook, to offer ticket buyers an easy way to enter an event.

Check-ins

Attendees could easily check on screens or in a mobile event app, which keynote presentation or workshop still has available space. This would enhance the event experience significantly.

Mobile Payment

Event organizers can use mobile payment to make it extremely simple and convenient for attendees to buy food, merchandise or other products with a simple tap on an NFC reader.

Networking

Especially at business events, trade fairs and conferences, networking is a very important activity for attendees. A lot of business cards are being exchanged and some might get lost. With NFC technology, this whole process can be handled digitally.

Source

NFC technology can increase attendees’ enjoyment of events while making organizers’ jobs easier. NFC is quickly becoming the future of event hosting, expanding capabilities, driving interaction and capturing attendee data in a way that marketers and planners have only dreamed of in the past.

Here's an example of how NFC System could be used in events.

Sources:

http://www.genie-connect.com/blog/part-2

http://blog.amiando.com/2013-02-11/near-field-communication-a-game-changer-in-event-technology/

http://www.eventmanagerblog.com/near-field-communicationhttp://www.nfcworld.com/events/

The future trend on applying Google Glass in events

Google Glass will be released to the general public early next year, and arguably will revolutionize the way we interact with the world around us in much the same way that smart phones have.

The glasses will include a camera, display and microphone. Essentially, it will be able to do some of the things your phone can do but hands free – take a picture, start a Google hangout, record a video. Ultimately, this all feeds into our need for speed and instant gratification.

So, what the impact of this new technology is it Google Glass or their competitors might mean for the events world?

First, on the positive side…

- A really nifty feature is the ability for the system to simultaneously translate.
This is proper Star Trek imaginings and this kind of technology is getting better compared with previous decades, so the ability to be able to understand what's going on at once when you are visiting or organizing an event is very interesting.

- The potential to access a range of information hands-free.

 Attendee can view this dress detail information by Google Glass on time

From the news headlines, to a map to help you navigate your way somewhere, to the information on your flight departure gate and maybe to additional potential functions at events. For instance, transfer the instant-update messaging through event mobile apps to Google Glass to tell attendees a party is about to start or a speaker is appearing on stage.

- The ability to record in a more convenient way.

Record the scenery and share it.

Conversations, interviews, presentations etc could be really powerful for media looking to provide insights into an event for their readers, and for the organizers whose staff can suddenly collect a lot more content in an easier way, which could be used for post-event video creations or even live vox-pop style clips. This isn't really that different to what is already possible with an iphone, but the simplicity, accessibility opens up new possibilities.

But,on the flip side...

- Heavy burden on events networks
The device includes 12GB of user storage but syncs with your Google Drive in the cloud. While in the future, the increasing number of devices that visitors at events are going to create further pressures on venue WiFi networks.

- Potential legal problems
The stealth element of Google Glass (when you can't tell if the person talking to you is recording your conversation or not) creates a wealth of issues around copyright infringement across the entire event spectrum. Meetings, conferences, sports events, theatre and performance - a whole new code of conventions, legislation and permissions will have to be developed very quickly to overcome this.

- Negative influence on attendees' concentration 

It's even harder to catch their attention in every minute

We are already all guilty of multi-tasking. We listen to conference proceedings whilst tweeting, whilst checking our emails whilst checking the weather for tomorrow. In some ways, Glass just makes some of that easier and more accessible, but it removes the physicality which means you can’t tell if a wearer is listening to you or checking their emails which is surely a bit discomforting.

Anyway, Google Glass is still in development, it's currently being road-tested by a truck load of self-confessed geeks keen to participate in its future. It's therefore a little tricky to understand what APIs will be developed to make Glass do more than it currently can, but it will be really interesting to see what new innovations tech companies come up with for the event space.

Reference
http://events-guru.co.uk/event-technology-blog/google-glass
http://venturebeat.com/2013/02/15/google-glass-foundry-event-lucky-developers-get-their-hands-on-googles-awesome-ar-glasses/#vb-gallery:1:623295
http://blog.zagat.com/2013/03/photo-of-day-google-glass-is-new-it.html

Keywords
Google Glass, technology, events, trend,

By
BILLAUD Milena & LIU Chen

An application that simplifies

A high profile, numerous and complicated event is always a hassle for both attendees and the event planner. The amount of work going into the planning is overwhelming, things need to be double, triple checked, while at the same time answering to the millions of questions and requests coming from both the attendees and the suppliers. This is a glimpse into a planner's chaotic life,where everything is timed and coordinated, never with a minute to spare.

Now, this month, a company has finally decided to come up with a product that seems to be useful to both parties. A new application will be able, in the future, to satisfy the attendees need for information while giving support to the planner and the ability to multi task even more. OneClick, the mobile division of the Destination Media Group, along with Passkey, the industry's leading provider of online group reservation technology, have teamed up to create the first turnkey mobile application for event, destinations and planners. This invention should enable the planner to create a customised mobile site with valuable content that can be accessed by attendees, exhibitors and clients.

Imagine a conference where you would be able, just with a click of a button to see the agenda of the conference, or even better, find the a specific restaurant. Would save you a lot of time and paper.

The new platform is compatible with Apple's, Android's and BlackBerry's operating systems and EventSphere, a company specialised in housing and meetings fulfilment, will be the first to launch this "gadget" to the event industry.

The event industry is developing at a fast pace, always being in need technology to support it ,innovation being a vital component. So far, most of the innovations brought to the sector have been primarily focused on the attendee and less so on the planner itself. This little application will be, for starters environmentally friendly. Nowadays everyone from the 10 year old child to the 80 year old retired guy across the street, have in their possession a smartphone. This application would allow attendees to access information on their phones, and in doing so minimise the paper trail that such an event generates. This new application might represent the birth of the new green way to run a conference.

Another positive outcome of this application would be the planner's state of mind. It has been once said that the attendee, once present at a conference or meeting, regresses to the state of a child, seeing the planner as its "parent". Having all the information ready to access at any time, would mean that the planner would not be bother with such questions as "Do you know where I could get a hamburger?", minimising the stress level.

It seems that this application does not carry any negative aspects to it and will be more then beneficiary to the planner and the event industry. In case we have omitted something or disagree, feel free to comment.

MingleStick, friend or foe?

Information technology has improved the way conferences and meetings are held, conducted and presented; the Internet being probably the biggest contributor to it by far. Yet, when looking at the networking process of current conferences, it is recognizable that technology has not been adopted. In November of the previous year, during the TEDxMiami, a conference and fair hosted by the non-profit organization called TED, networking has gone through a developing stage.

In the article entitled “ TEDx Miami (TEDxMIA) Provided MingleStick Networking Solution to all Conference Attendees” it is stated how a new business card similar object has been introduced to the participants of the conference. This device, produced by Mingle360 enables attendees to “connect” with one click of a button and pull photos, e-mail address, phone number and even the website of the desired contact. This piece of technology should help the participants in the networking process.

Although this piece of equipment can come in handy, there are a few different aspects that need to be taken into consideration. It is these aspects that need further discussion before calling the MingleStick a useful tool for networking.

On the one side the business card like device can help the flow of information, making it easier for people to get acquainted and keep in touch. Among so many participants at such a gathering it becomes tedious to ask the same questions over and over. Not to mention the amount of business cards gathered, cards that can easily get lost, and in so loosing the much needed business connection with that person. For these cases, the MingleStick is possibly the invention of the century. It’s effective, saves time and you can be sure that you won’t even have to worry about a misplaced card anymore.

Yet on the other hand, this device interferes with basically the last human related aspect of the event industry. Video-conferencing, blow up screens, even holograms are standard items during such an event, yet over the years the human aspect has not been stripped away. With such a handy object, safely tucked away in your pocket, you won’t feel the need to through the conventional portals; you won’t be persuaded to have a simple conversation. The “Hello, my name is x” factor is taken out of the equation and the attendee might as well not even bother to spend that amount of money for a flight, accommodation and participation fee to actually be there.

So in the end the question we have to ask ourselves is, how much does this device help and how much does it cripple us in our networking attempts?