Top Event Technology Trends for 2015

After providing the official social photo sharing solution for CES 2015 last month, we began to think about what trends in the consumer technology market will transfer over to the events industry for the New Year. Technology has drastically transformed the way event managers and attendees
communicate over the past few years, so what do they have to look forward to? Read on to find out.

Digital Experiences. Event attendees, especially millennials, crave well-rounded experiences at trade shows. Uninteresting educational sessions and irrelevant speakers won’t hold their attention for long, so why not leverage the number one distractor? Digital devices such as smart phones and tablets provide another outlet for event organizers to connect with their attendees. Online polling platforms, live social media chats, and interactive photo contests are all powerful activities that will contribute to a memorable show experience.

Integrated Platforms. As of 2013, custom apps are almost a requirement for any show trying to compete on a global level, but how can your event stand out? Show apps should be the sole resource for attendees to ask questions, look up booth information, schedule meetings & sessions, and network. Attendees should not have to download multiple apps or open more than one webpage to answer every question they have throughout your event. Integration is the answer to the modern attendee’s desire for simplification and convenience when attending an event.

365 Event Connection. With social networking apps like Facebook and Twitter connecting us to our friends, brands, and celebrities 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, why shouldn’t event organizers reach out to their potential attendees all year-long as well? Event organizers can now leverage one app that becomes an umbrella for all of your association’s or industry’s needs. Also attendees can have access to year-round updates via newsletters, blogs, social media posts, press releases, and more.

Five Creative Ways to “Socialize” Your Events

Guest blog post by Michelle Bruno, Bruno Group Signature Events

The ground rules of most gatherings have changed. Because of the increasingly mobile and social world in which we live, guests desire and even expect to share their live experiences with online friends. Here are five ways that event organizers can facilitate a fun and social experience for their participants.

Social Photo Booth. The 2014 Reunion of University of Notre Dame Alumni was a prime example of what’s possible when you put former classmates who haven’t seen each other in years in front of a social photo booth with Kelly green wigs and foam numbers (for the years they graduated). Guests at this year’s event “seized the day” with the digital photos created and posted online by the Pixe Social Photo Booth app.

Trivia Contest. Notre Dame’s reunion team deployed another secret social weapon to broadcast their guests’ antics online. The school hired a comedian to capture alumni responses to the first-ever Notre Dame Trivia Contest on video. Top performers vied for tickets to the Notre Dame/Stanford football game this fall and the video footage was edited and placed on YouTube where it has received over 2,400 views.

Social Media for Good. The recent #ALS Ice Bucket Challenge in which individuals shared videos of themselves dumping buckets of ice water over their heads to raise awareness about the life-altering disease demonstrates how well social good and social media go together. Live gatherings are perfect opportunities to enlist participants in activities that bond them together in thought-provoking ways that they can also share online.

Selfie Scavenger Hunt. A scavenger hunt is an excellent way to promote team building and bring out the competitive spirit. And, when it involves social media, the whole world can follow along. Organizers of the Notre Dame Alumni reunion instructed their guests to look for specific campus landmarks—using vague photos as clues—and take selfies at the locations. The first persons to arrive and tweet their photos out on Twitter received prizes.

Social Vending Machines. Most people know how to use a “regular” vending machine: users put coins in the slot, push some buttons, and grab what comes out. But, some companies have added a social media component to the exercise. Rather than putting money into the machine, participants post to Twitter or Facebook to trigger a response. Social vending machines transform even mundane tasks into exciting social experiences.

With some creativity, almost any experience can be socialized. What have you done to give your guests their allotted fifteen minutes of fame online?

View the Pixe Social Case Study with Notre Dame Alumni Association here.

The Introverts' Guide to Successful Networking at Tradeshows

Guest blog post by Nicholas Weeks, Operations and Assets Coordinator

The Pixe team joined our friends at a2z, Inc. in a week-long series of team building activities designed to foster cross-functional team work and communication. At the start of the week, every team member completed a Myers-Briggs Personality Assessment. This test analyzes and reveals how an individual prefers to use his/her perception and judgment. Under the system, a unique letter represents each of the four main communication characteristics to signify which communication style we prefer in both professional and personal relationships.

The first, and usually most telling, category is either an “I” to represent Introversion or an “E” to represent Extroversion. Introverts are not necessarily shy, they just prefer to process ideas and concepts internally in large social settings. Extroverts, on the other hand, thrive in large groups and can quickly process and verbalize their opinions. So how do executives with “I” personality type survive in the hullabaloo at a trade show or conference, and successfully interact with event attendees in their booth before and during an event?

Pre-Event
This is the most important stage for any team, especially when you have any “I” team members. For me personally, being a very strong “I”, it’s best to have my pitch down a couple weeks beforehand and have 2-3 small talking points in case I need to approach someone. Perfecting the pitch helps you more in the long-run to develop confidence and the ability to talk to anyone, cutting down on inevitable pre-event anxiety. Your talking points encourage natural conversation rather than an awkward silence followed by meaningless chatter that provides no real value.

During the Event
From past experiences, I’ve realized there are two types of successful conversations while exhibiting at an event.

• The Booth: Anyone who approaches your booth is there for a reason; they are curious or interested in learning more. This cuts down on pressure because the conversation will have a predetermined path. With any booth demonstration, I rely heavily on the pre-event planning. With all of the practice and preparation one has put into the introductory pitch, one already the key support system in place to break the ice.
• Show Floor: Instead of starting off with your pitch, all you have to do is introduce yourself followed by a brief description of the company, and now the ball is in their court. To me, this is the easier of the two conversations. As an introvert, I tend to be more of a listener and keep my thoughts to myself to analyze while others talk.

To help all the Introverts out there, here are some simple steps for survival in an Extrovert world:

• Wind down time:  When you ask any introvert they will say that they need their own space to get focused, reorganized, and time for reflection. Usually the hour after an event ends is the time that is most critical.
• Take breaks:  During the event, it’s useful to clear your mind every couple hours or so. If the floor gets slow, take advantage of this time to walk and clear your head.
• Don’t worry:  It’s okay to make mistakes and they are going to happen anyways. So what if the last pitch you gave wasn’t the best? That’s the best part about tradeshows, there are usually hundreds of people that you will talk to next, by the end of the day one fumbled line will be the last thing on your mind.
• Have Fun: The most important part of the tradeshow for me is the experience in itself. I have found that the more you relax and try to have fun, the better the results you will have. People love fun and when you product incorporates fun naturally, it’s easier to relax.

Related Links:

• Pixe and a2z Team Members Participate in Pixe Snap Scavenger Hunt
• An a2zWeek Full of Fun, Learning and Team-building Exercises  
• Booth Sales THEN and NOW! (Video) – Part 1

Pixe Shortlisted for Three Event Technology Awards

We are excited to announce that Pixe has been shortlisted in three categories for the Event Technology Awards:

• Best Technology for Marketing an Event / Building Event Attendance
• Best Use of Social Media
• Best Use of Technology For Audience Participation

The above listed nominations recognize Pixe’s successful partnership with MCM London Comic Con.
At the 2013 October show, the 920 photos posted by attendees from the MCM Pixe Social solution reached a total of 1.8 million fans and created 4.4 million Impressions on Facebook.

Started in March 2013, the Event Technology Awards (ETA) hosts event industry professionals in London to recognize the technology contributions made to the meetings and events industry. The inaugural 2013 awards attracted brands including Adidas, EE, Ticketmaster and Vodafone. The award ceremony will be held in conjunction with Event Tech Live, Europe’s only event dedicated to event technology that is open to the public. The 2014 awards will take place 13 November 2014 in London, UK.

Providing the Best Event Entertainment Trends in One Comprehensive Package

As the 2014 summer event season gets under way, event planners are finally seeing their months of brainstorming and organizing come to life. With the spring season filled with engagement and graduation parties slowing,  planners are focused on outdoor celebrations with summer-themed bashes. Now that invitations are sent, venues are booked, and the decorations are ready to be placed, have you considered how you can tap into trending technologies to make your event memorable for your community?

The hottest trend for this season’s events, be it weddings, outdoor celebrations or business meetings, is live social media interaction. Social photo booths, gamification and personalized guest experiences are the top favorites of event planners today. But as many of us already know and recognize, the trendiest add-ons often cost a bundle and have very short shelf lives. Enter Pixe. Pixe can provide a wide range of technology services that check all the boxes, without maxing out your budget or requiring hours of manual work from your team members.

• Live Social Media Interaction: Pixe automatically brands each photo taken with our tablet-based software with the brand’s logo and hashtags, and instantly shares these to pre-selected digital locations including the brand’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Opted in Pixe Photo Booth users receive branded email with a link to share their photo with their social friends. In addition, to keep the guests engaged, Pixe offers a large HD photo wall that streams a live slideshow of all photos taken at the venue.

•  Mobile Photo Booth: Gone are the constraints imposed by small venue spaces or limited budgets. Pixe supplies an excellent, branded photo booth experience, all in the hands of your fans and followers. By combining high resolution selfies with digital captions in a mobile solution, Pixe saves guests from squeezing into tiny spaces or attempting to fit a large group in one shot, friendly support person can easily mingle with your guests to capture every exciting moment at the event venue.

• Features Richness and Flexibility: Say goodbye to the cookie cutter event photos that traditional photo booths provide. Pixe offers a host of options that will distinguish your events from the rest. Choose from a large array of customized banner displays and stylish digital photo frames, display the sponsor’s logo alongside your own, and even provide a green screen background with themed backdrop options to give your guests an unforgettable event experience.