Selecting event technology can be a daunting experience, after all, there is a lot to consider and you want to make sure you get it right in order to maximise the success of your event. The wrong decisions could cause headaches and delays during the event planning stage as well as on the day of your event.
There are a wide range of technologies available for event organisers to improve the efficiency and productivity as well as improving the experience for attendees. Some of the most common technologies include:
- Live Streaming – this involves filming the event live and streaming it to various platforms, such as your social media accounts, YouTube or your website.
- Event booking apps – these apps allow people to purchase their tickets as well as making booking management and registration easier for event organisers.
- VR and AR – these are both similar technologies that create immersive experiences for attendees. You can find out more about AR and VR here.
Below are our top tips for ensuring you choose the best technology for your event…
Know your goals
Before you begin researching different event technologies, you should make sure you and your team are clear on how you want to implement technology into your event or conference and what you are trying to achieve.
Some common reasons that event organisers choose to implement event technologies include:
- To streamline registration processes
- To increase efficiencies
- To merge event marketing with attendee registration
- To collect and distribute content
- To engage more easily with attendees
- To generate more leads
You need to decide what you are trying to achieve for your event so that you can make the best possible decision over which technologies to choose.
Understand your event requirements
This may seem like a really obvious point, but when you are researching technology vendors, it’s really important that you understand what your event needs and what you’re trying to achieve. Keeping this in mind will help you choose the right technology for you and save you wasting money on something that doesn’t bring value to your event.
Make sure you ask any vendors plenty of questions to ensure the technology can deliver on your requirements!
Set a budget
It’s absolutely vital that you don’t blow your entire event planning budget on technology. Set your budget early on in the event planning process and stick to it! Once you’ve got your budget, do plenty of research into technologies that work within the amount you’d like to spend.
Be flexible
Our final tip is to be flexible with the technology that you are willing to use. While you may have an end goal in mind, there are a number of different technologies available to help you get there. So, try to be open to technologies that you may not have considered before as they may actually be a better fit for your event and suit your budget!
