by Ashwin | Mar 30, 2016 | Blog, event management, Technology
Flying drones, also known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are finding its way into the event industry apart from its use in defense. The impact that drones can make on event attendees is unimaginably high. There are innumerable ways through which event organizers can put these drones to use and display their creativity.
1. Register Attendees using Face Recognition
The burdensome manual registration process can be easily avoided with the use of drones. Several face recognition technologies and algorithms such as Principal Component Analysis, Neural Networks, etc., have evolved and these can be easily embedded in drones to detect and identify attendees by their faces. They need not stand in a queue to wait for their face to be detected. While they walk in to the event their faces can be detected and their social media pictures can be correlated, matched and hence their names, contacts etc., can be loaded into the database making the tedious registration process seem expedient.
2. Capture important moments
The entry of a celebrity, the speaker, enthusiastic attendees, exquisite decorations, unique and astounding structures; capture them all through the flying drones and link it directly to Social Media like Facebook, Twitter etc. Drones give the opportunity to click photographs from all possible angles giving your images a unique perspective. You can also record your full event including speaker insights, attendee reactions etc., using the drones.
3. Drone Delivery
Amazon has proposed a new style of delivery system that would transform the whole delivery process. The system that uses drones, called Prime Air, a future delivery system from Amazon designed to safely get packages to customers in 30 minutes or less using these small unmanned aerial vehicles.
Drones have a great potential to enhance the services provided in events to the attendees such as rapid parcel delivery that will also increase the overall safety and efficiency of the delivery system.
4. Serve Food using Drones
We have heard the phrase ‘Love in the Air’. Now, imagine ‘Food in the Air’. Let your attendees order the food over your event’s mobile app, send the data to the drones and let the drones pick up the parceled food from the table and deliver it to the corresponding attendees. When your attendees would be expecting a hotel server or waiter, you surprise them with the drones.
5. A Preview to the Event Venue! Make your event go Live!
The drones can take the attendees on a virtual tour around the venue of your event for those attendees who are participating over the web. https://karensingermd.com This is way better than simple pictures of the event. You can also provide a Live Streaming Access to those who aren’t able to make it physically to your event.
6. Double the Entertainment Factor
It is definitely going to be intriguing to see drones flying all over and performing during the event for the attendees. An aberration from the regular event conduction style is necessary to get the attendees stuck to their seats and not let boredom overtake their minds. These drones are definitely going to act as an amazing entertainment tool and will surely attract a large audience.
7. Advertisements and Sponsorships
Since drones are already a unique add on to the event, when ad banners, posters etc, are hung around the flying object it is bound to capture attendee attention. This is what the sponsors of your event are looking out for. This type of marketing would adjure the sponsors to invest more in your event, to make it all the more special. Overall, your event will leave the attendees spell bound.
The list of possibilities goes on and could be limited only by human imagination. The number of miracles that drones can do to your event is uncountable. Give your attendees a new and best experience so that they turn up at your upcoming events.
by Ashwin | Mar 12, 2016 | Blog, event management, Events
As an organizer if you feel you can surmise the needs and desires of the attendees of your event, you may be wrong to a great extent. Mistakes are bound to intervene your event. The process of understanding another person’s mind and thoughts, is really complex and might seem impossible because there may be infinite reasons behind the jubilance shown by a happy woman or the vexation displayed by an ornery old man. Assumptions and guesses will not help solve these issues. The best way to understand another mind is to talk it out with that person or simply to ask questions that would prompt the attendee to respond in a swift manner. These are some of the pertinent reasons why an organizer must employ feedbacks during and after the conduction of an event:
Discover attendee requirements
Each attendee might have his/ her own desire, needs and expectations from an event. If they do not find the event up to their expectations or in case they feel that there is a paucity of some entity that could bring a positive change when added, feedbacks would be the best way through which these issues would come to the notice of the organizers.
Know where you went wrong
Large websites, many software and computer programs undergo a process called testing wherein a Quality Assurance Engineer or Tester gives innumerable random inputs to check if the system is able to process and deliver a valid result. Analogous to this situation, every event and every organizer needs to undergo this testing process like the software to know where you are or have gone wrong. In order to analyze your mistakes you need an engineer and this role is played by your attendees who have experienced your event. They would have found out the bugs and issues that were present in your event and through the feedbacks and surveys they would report it you for your benefit.
Correction of your mistakes
The information that you have gathered through the feedbacks is going to be of immense advantage to you. After having identified the areas of improvement and the negative aspects or problems in your event you must hunt a method that would combat them. When you implement your next event bereft of the previous issues the new attendees will not be facing them and would have a memorable time at the event.
Respect for attendee opinions
Feedbacks aren’t just a way to improve your performance as an organizer or your event, it about making the attendees feel that their opinions actually matter. There is a sense of mild hidden pride for the attendees when they are asked for their suggestions. It temporarily makes them feel that they are the deciding authority. Having given due respect to the attendees you as an organizer can expect the same from the next event that you host and this token of gratitude may be in the form of repeat attendance, which is what every organizer desires.
An easy mode of mass communication
Feedbacks are easy to be put forward to the attendees in the form of simple surveys and multiple choice questions. They could be sent over the phone via text messages thereby reaching a huge crowd and making the complete process of information/ opinion gathering expedient. Simple online survey tools like ‘Google Forms’ always come in handy. Most importantly it isn’t time consuming and above all it is a free mode of communication that is going to ameliorate the event and your organizing skills.
Feedbacks are always a game changer to your event. Each person would have a different perspective to your event. Getting to know them all would enhance your understanding about the public opinion to which you could respond or bring about change in your forthcoming events. So why are you waiting? Avail the opportunity to receive feedbacks and get spectacular ideas to sculpt your event to success.
by Ashwin | Mar 9, 2016 | Blog, event management, Marketing
A large majority of events are dependent on repeat attendees so as to keep up reputation and augment the head count. To achieve this organizers need to deliver quality experience that will in turn entice them to the organizers other events.
The central idea that has been elicited by veterans of the industry ponders upon the fact that when a great experience is gifted to the audience, they are bound to return. This idea is further elaborated here.
Attend to the Attendees First! Quality Service!
A great experience is accompanied by and is the resultant of the laudable customer service. A sense of trust and value must be instilled in the attendees in order to make them feel special and happy about the event. A simple form of customer service that is followed all over the event industry includes Welcome notes and banners, which though considered as mandatory or default, has high chances to make the attendee feel good about his or her presence at the event. When copious preparedness and praiseworthy organization skills are made conspicuous to the attendees, it marks the inception of a quality service which would act as an impetus to discuss and share about the event and its inimitable standards to others, creating a potential customer base for your upcoming events.
Rewards and Gifts for Loyal Attendees
Incentives such as discount coupons and early entry rates are usually provided by most events to hold on to their loyal attendees. Another form of rewarding the repeat attendees may be through small gifts or a token of appreciation. It makes clear that as an organizer or as an event, you are valuing the customers for their long standing support.
A respect for loyalty and recognition for repeat attendees is needed to keep them coming regularly.
Avoid Self-Plagiarism
Repetition of the ideas, agenda, thoughts and theme of the events from the previous years is a threat to the success of any event. No one will be interested to attend events that are going to be a replica of the old ones. Right from the decorations, communications to the event keynote speakers the attendees are going to expect something new and experience or learn something unique. The organizer has to add value to the customer through creative methodologies to enhance customer interaction and interests.
To give fresh experience every time might seem an arduous task but with ample time for innovation one can achieve it expediently. Suggestions and ideas from the team members managing the event can be taken into consideration for obtaining different perspective to implement creativity.
Motivate and Enable Event Engagement
Discovering new and unique ways of increasing interaction between attendees is a must. The success of the event largely depends on the kind, quality and quantity of network that they make. If an attendee has established a good network through your event and feels that this network is valuable he/ she will show gratitude to your event and will make sure not to miss events that you host later on. When you have empowered your attendees with the ability to create a nexus between the audience through live response tools and other social media, your event will reach a greater number of quality customer base.
Learn through Feedbacks and Surveys
Probable assumptions on customer like, needs and desires can be fallacious at times. It is better to ask rather than forming assumptions. Making mistakes is fine, but to once you have understood the trends and customer desires, there will be lesser possibilities for you to commit mistakes. Short feedbacks with radio buttons, check boxes etc., will make the process easier and quicker. Through such polls an event organizer will be able to learn and grasp the wants of his attendees and can implement the necessary changes in his upcoming events so that the valuable customers visit again.
The inception of success is highlighted by the attendees who appear at your event again and again. It makes you feel good as an organizer and creates self-confidence in the events that you conduct. While you execute an event if you are able to create a feel of ownership for the customer by ensuring a great experience and ambience the door to success will take a step towards you.
