Technological developments in the events industry follow one another in rapid-fire succession these days. After our incredibly atmospheric LED lighting, the access points allowing a thousand guests to use the Internet at the same time, and fancy reservation systems, it is time for us to find the next big thing. As DeFabrique likes to stay ahead of the game, we went ahead and tested some of these new innovations for you!
1. Beacons
Welcome screens that automatically change based on whichever guest is arriving, or send out a survey to the participants of a particular sub session; with beacons, miniscule Bluetooth transmitters, all this and more becomes possible.
Guests have less time and more disposable income these days. As such, the desire for unique, personal experiences is growing. Beacons respond to that desire by sending personalised, relevant messages to any users who have signed up to receive such messages.
The beacons send out a signal that communicates with an event app. Developing a new app for each individual event is very expensive. As such, DeFabrique has instead developed a special app that manages multiple events using a single app.
This way, our beacons become available for everyone. ‘This allows us to provide a lot of added value for event managers and their guests,’ says commercial director Sybren Ophof.
2. Live streaming
Event managers are increasingly discovering the added value of live streaming for their events. Live streaming allows people to immediately watch or listen to an audio or video file being recorded live at the same time, using a particular network (such as the Internet), without having to download the file first.
You can turn the content you collect during an event into an after movie or a series of tutorials to inspire new employees or your supporters, or to recruit people for the next edition of your event. And don’t forget the fact that live streaming deals with the geographic boundaries of any event; people from all over the world can attend a live streaming event – if you want them to, that is.
Live streaming is a modern way to increase the added value and impact of an event. DeFabrique and Livestream.com have partnered up to offer any events organisers a full registration and live stream for 1000 euros!
3. Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality (VR) – the technology with endless opportunities that stimulates people’s imaginations to the max – is changing the world one step at a time. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says that ‘VR is going to drastically change the way we live, work, and communicate.’
More and more events will be incorporating VR technology in the near future. For example, a VR experience can replace the physical presence of a keynote speaker, and product presentations have been proven to be much more effective if they involve a compelling VR experience.
The potential applications of VR for events are endless. Events organisers will be continually challenged to offer new and exciting VR experiences to more technically savvy, younger generations. The good news is that VR is becoming much less expensive these days now that affordable headsets are being mass-produced for the general public.
PParticipants are not very keen on the idea of entirely virtual events due to the lack of interactive elements. However, the arrival of VR platforms may solve this issue. ‘VR allows people from all over the world to attend and experience an event, without having to be present in the flesh,’ says blogger Murray Newlands.
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