Five Things That Are Changing The Event Management Industry
Do you ever think about the first event ever organized? What strategies did the courts use when organising crowning, inaugurations and celebrating victories? For sure, these are the events that started modelling event organising as we know it today. Nowadays, the slow and steady progress of event management has taken a faster pace keeping up with the technology development becoming almost unrecognizable compared to earlier times.
Taking into consideration the diversity of fields, the needs for event organization and target groups, we'll talk about five things that make an overriding impact on event management industry.
The need for the visual aspect of the event
Just look around you. Everything is colourful, shiny, visually triggering and appealing in every sense. Advertising professionals are unnoticeably getting into your subconsciousness using visual tricks, bright colours, beautiful people, good cars, famous sportsmen, etc. but less and less words. From catchy slogans used just a few years ago, it has already came down to using only one imprinting adjective for the entire campaign.
As time passes, the more we turn visual; therefore the event industry is becoming and needs to become even more visual.
Turning this to conferences, seminars or other professional gatherings, and even weddings and baptisms, it is impossible to envision without visual display of some sort.
Power Point is a tool number one. There is now a myriad of software that do the same thing as Power Point with more features contributing to visualisation and making an impression which will stay in your mind long after the event.
Infographics are irreplaceable for presenting and illustrating. They keep attention, they are interesting, varied and memorable, and overall – they make a point without much text.
Events formerly: dull text on white paper and sleepy audience.
Events now: An abundance of visual content and interested and engaged audience – real life imagery replacing texts and book examples.
Audience engagement
Significant changes in event organization came from the need for people to be more strongly involved in everything that happens. Facebook, Twitter, online newspapers allow people to reach information in real time, which has led to over generalizing tendency for people to be actively involved in everything – even in the events they attend.
What managers need to do considering this?
They need to find a way to engage audience in every event. How? It depends on the event, but in any case they need “the thing”; something new, interesting which has the WOW factor.
Let’s take a conference for example: tough audience, well educated, came to find out concrete news and trends in the profession. What is the right “thing” for them? You can tell the speaker to announce a debate or a mock event play about the topic which will be about a problem, trick or innovation. People love to be involved and to reach conclusions by doing – not just by having it served in a plain talk given by your speaker. If the speaker has an innovative approach, he will guide them through tricks to secrets of the industry. The conference will be a success because it will most likely give everybody what they came for.
Mobile friendly event
New technology gives a completely new look to event organization. Once the peak was a video screen, and today it is an event attended online, through mobile applications, social network, and online clouds.
Mobile phones are now used as pocket personal computers; therefore it is very important to have a mobile friendly access to your event.
Depending on the type of the event and requirements, software companies can create an application for your event or optimize website of your event to be easily accessible and viewable on your smartphone. What you want is:
- Access to the event program
- Real time access to the news
- Feedback
- Attending the event from smartphone
Ticket selling
The story of technology development brings us to the next great thing that changes the event management industry - the ticket selling system. People like to be comfortable. They enjoy it and get accustomed to it quickly; and waiting in line to buy a ticket doesn’t fit this idea. Wasting time on futile and unnecessary activities is not only unforgivable in the event management, but in everyday life, both private and professional, including leisure time.
The need for standing in line and waiting for the ticket on one hand, and designing, printing and hiring a sales person and providing a box-office on the other, became obsolete.
Modern times and ticket selling system enable you to keep the money records unmistakably. Save on hiring the middle man and collecting information about the attendees. Using online ticket selling, everything is already done for you.
Branding up
In addition to quality work, you have to be recognizable at first glance. How? What is the first thing that people notice about your company? Well name, of course, logo and advertising campaign. Come up with something simple, avoid kitsch, but make it catchy. Gain attention by using conspicuous colours, out of the ordinary but easy readable fonts and replace witty slogan with one word descriptions of your product or service. Have aggressive and memorable marketing campaigns, however do not intimidate and bore people – the intention is not just to be noticed but remembered and widely known.
What will help you keep all the aces in this changing event management industry?
It is definitely keeping up the step with the new trends and changing yourself accordingly.