It can boggle the mind to gaze into the distant future and ponder some of the wild tech tools that might one day be handy for boosting meetings and events. But you know what? Some of the current offerings aren’t exactly chopped liver either.
We recently explored the meetings landscape for some burgeoning cutting-edge resources and facilities that will make attendees ooh and ahh, and hopefully make planners’ lives a little easier along the way.
Modern Minds
To catch up on some of the current state-of-the-art event offerings, we touched base with a pair of top meetings tech experts, beginning with one who recently spent some time at Vegas’ IMEX America—as a robot.
“Funny thing, most people didn’t want to engage with a talking robot on a Segway, even though I had a badge and official T-shirt,” quips Jim Spellos, president and founder of Meeting U., in reference to his half-hour stint on the IMEX show floor, courtesy of the EventMobi creation, which he actually operated while conducting an industry talk at the same time.
“It has all been happening so fast you can’t keep up,” he adds, mentioning some new 3-D printer technology that allows the on-site creation of customized chocolate treats and other food. It won’t be long before attendees are being presented with chocolate bars instantly bearing company icons, and/or an attendee name or even their likeness, a memorable piece of swag that would boost any brand.
Spellos also notes the expanded use of “augmented reality,” highlighting a recent 48-page print travel guide on Edmonton where each page interacts with smartphones to add dynamic bonus content.
“It’s a merging of the physical plane with the digital space,” Spellos explains. “Perfect for today’s planner, because they’re dealing with both Millennials and Boomers.”
The savvy techspert also touts the advance of voice-recognition technology, available through apps like Dragon Dictation, that he says are now about 99 percent accurate and will help make the keyboard all-but-obsolete by 2020. Spellos also raves about Crowd Mics, a mobile app allowing event attendees to easily turn their smart phones into looped-in microphones broadcasting via the event audio platform. Imagine the increased ease of large-session Q&As once the microphone is no longer needed.
Spellos additionally raves about the explosion of beacon technology, more specifically Apple’s iBeacon technology standard, which he says is a “huge, huge comer in 2015.”
PageBreak
Seasoned meetings tech pro Corbin Ball, head of Corbin Ball Associates in Bellingham, Wash., agrees that beacon technology is “really booming, there’s a lot happening out there.”
To the uninitiated, this technology essentially allows smartphones/apps to connect with on-site beacons on a highly local level (such as a conference center), providing key analytic feedback to event hosts and various GPS-style perks.
Ball sees such bonuses as venues being able to analyze crowd flow, and attendees able to avoid long lines and navigate convention centers with ease. Also taking off in terms of top event tech, he says, is the blossoming of aerial drones at large events, souped-up “real-time” translation tools and the increased availability of “tunable” lighting elements that allow adjustments for special themes and colors.
Space-Age Settings
Highly modern event spaces abound these days. We checked in with Jayna Cooke, CEO of Eventup, specializing in matching companies with exceptional venues, for her expert take on a few cutting-edge faves.
“Futuristic venues are popping up with increasing frequency as planners and their guests continue to seek out the new and unique,” she says, before specifically highlighting L.A.’s Vortex Dome and Elevate Lounge, and Chicago’s Venue One, as particularly compelling and cutting-edge.
On the hotel front, Marriott is on a forward-thinking foray with a new Travel Brilliantly campaign that purportedly aims to reimagine the future of travel via several initiatives, including a crowdsourcing campaign seeking breakthrough ideas. The new endeavor also includes elements like the Red Coat Direct app, allowing planners to make “on-the-fly” changes like turning up the speaker volume or ordering extra vegan meals.
Another pioneering lodging effort is represented at New York City’s Pod hotels, offering cozy rooms with tech touches and hip dining and gathering spaces. The pair of hotels, on 39th St. and 51st St., are aimed at younger travelers who want to spend time socializing.
Breakthrough Exhibit
Amid the array of dazzling display and exhibit tech now handy, one true standout has been an eye-catching creation for Visit South Walton (Fla.) designed by Nomadic Display and Synergy Design.
Simulating ultra-realistic waves within a large display box, the exhibit spurred a social media explosion at an annual BlogHer conference in Chicago. It was also hailed by Exhibitor Magazine as a top 2014 display.
