Top 4 trends in event technology to explore in 2018

Today, an event is all about creating an immersive experience for the visitors…leaving them with a WOW feeling. But, the public’s attention span is dwindling day-by-day and grabbing it and then going on to retain it can be a daunting task.
Here, we tell you how to deliver that very WOW experience to your attendees and leave them asking for more.

Let us break it down for you…
The year 2018 has been witnessing a drastic shift in the event attendees’ experience. As several business and technology event trends surface this year, when they blend, it will result in a novel experience for a lot of attendees. Some of the ways in which this could happen would be enhanced artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR) and other innovative experiential technologies.

1. Chatbots:
Talking of AI, a chatbot is one such example. It is simply a robot that chats with you; well, it is not as simple as it is easily put in words. A chatbot offers a way to automatically communicate with people in a personal and contextual way via instant messaging services. And as its popularity grows, coupled with its enhanced capabilities, 2018 will see a lot of events using chatbots to offer attendees an immersive experience. What’s more? Organisers can give a name to their chatbot – anything from Ava or Eliza to Bozo or Abby.
A chatbot can help in various ways, right from answering attendees’ questions to assisting them with venue maps, schedules and more. Moreover, a chatbot can be designed in sync with the tone of the event and the brand. Here are some reasons why a chatbot works wonders for your event:

a. Helps businesses save time, money and personnel

b. Serve as a convenient medium to enable customers to navigate information and transactions
c. Most importantly, organisers can gather real-time data on users through Q&As.
Chatbots are posing quite a threat to apps. Some technological gurus believe that while chatbots may not immediately turn apps into dinosaurs, but they will surely make them break a sweat.

2. Virtual Reality
A bad event is like a bad movie that keeps us shifting in our seat waiting for the intermission, which comes as a solace. As an event organiser, make sure that your attendees do not fall prey to a rotten event experience.
Talking of interactive event experiences, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are the front runners in creating one-of-a-kind experiences for attendees. And this is just the beginning – in the years to come, we will see VR and AR make a considerably larger impact on user experience.

Wondering how these blend with events? Let us start with VR…
VR is a three dimensional space that is fully computer-generated. Users need to wear a VR headset and may sometimes need compatible gloves or handsets to experience this world to the fullest. In a simple set-up of your event, you make the user wear a headset and teleport them to another world that is high on adrenaline and a visual treat that is unique to your event.

3. Augmented Reality
The other interactive event experience that goes a notch higher than VR is augmented reality, commonly called AR. This is a type of interactive experience that blends computer-generated elements with reality to create an augmented world. Here is the beauty of it…viewers get to interact with computer-created graphics as they move in the simple set-up of an event in the real world. Again, quite similar to VR, a few simple accessories can transport the user to a grand world that is interactive and immersive all at once.

4. All hail social media:
Last but surely not the least; do not forget the power of social media platforms. They have been around for a considerable time and are here to stay. Reach out to your target audience by opting for either the organic or paid mode of promotion. Opt for the latter if you wish to take the moolah-free way. The biggest advantage of this kind of marketing being there are no budget constraints – rather there is no budget – and this allows you to get more creative and strategic with your ideas. Interacting with viewers on a digital platform prior to the event is equally crucial. It is essential to create a buzz and keep them intrigued about what the event will offer. There is a lot to choose from: surveys, competitions, videos, engaging yet quirky posts and more.
But, with the power of organic reach lessening over time, paid promotions on platforms like Facebook are taking over strong and good. While organic posts reach only those following the page, a paid advert has the power to reach individuals who haven’t ‘Liked’ your event page but have similar interests and/or demographics.

To conclude, the event industry and its trends will continue to evolve with time. The key is to cleverly anticipate these evolving trends, embrace the changes and capitalise on them before the competition does. If you acquire the first-mover advantage, results can be wonderfully mind-blowing.