Five reasons to embrace technology at your events

That's why, in the event management process, you need to meet user expectations, get their investment with your business, and keep them returning to your next event, ultimately making the event worth memorable. You might have realised how far we have progressed in business, education, meetings, and so on with the established technology ... integrated digital platforms like mobile and apps.

Computers are the driving force behind today's business presentations. It is very obvious that today's economic meltdown has put too much pressure on event organisers to ensure the process runs smoothly. What do you think that can be a vendor-agnostic channel to run an event now, during and after? Undoubtedly, mobile event app! Event-based mobile app competitors are steaming up to change the way events are executed - and it's very different to what it was some 10 years back.

Take a look at the numbers

Being a marketer or organiser, you may be little doubtful on the credibility on what's been said. Don't ponder on mobile apps as to whether they really engage an event. If you are doubtful, let's see some numbers first. According to recent research, mobile has outrun many gadgets:

• 91% of American adults have a cell phone
• 56% of American adults have a smartphone
• 34% of American adults own a tablet

By these statistics, the view that mobile will overtake fixed Internet access by 2014 is becoming more realistic. These arenas attract a bigger audience, critical interaction and of course they are places where you won't miss anyone unless you want to.

No matter where you go, people are mostly busy on their smart phones; more evidently smart phones are pushing down cell phone ownership. Gone are the days when people attended events with their notepad, clipped with a marker, sticky notes and switched off cell phones hidden in their pockets. This is the digital era where even those larger screen laptops are being supplanted by mobile phones.

If you are less aware, it is high time you need to realise: attendees, speakers, delegates, arrive with their smart phones and carry on business activities simultaneously as the event proceeds.

We're witnessing a 'mobile revolution'

René Schuster, CEO, Telefónica Germany, said, "We are currently witnessing a mobile revolution. Smartphones and tablets are being used in more and more areas of our daily lives. They are essential work tools - freeing us from the boundaries of our offices and becoming our personal assistants. They are the fast emerging devices of choice for digital media consumption."

Still wondering why you need mobile platforms to enhance events? Okay, let's look at the core reasons why event organisers should use mobile apps.

Real-time event distribution

No more do you need you worry about getting an event's print material out, or go out of date. Booklets, brochures, paper prints go to waste if there is an update or a change in the event. Go Green must be an event organiser's strategy to drive future events! Event apps on phones can provide attendees with the latest updates, faster and easier. You can send notifications to the customers.

Speakers, exhibitors, delegates can interact with the attendees in real-time, in an easy-to-access manner. As attendees live with live updates, they can plan their time effectively, bringing about efficient networking. You need not spend extra time on making connections; rather check on the number of contacts arriving for the event.

The perfect branding partner

It won't take any longer; conferences without an app would fall into an outdated list. App mirrors the rating of business by receiving custom data during and even after the event. It functions as a perfect show guide for event branding.

Mobile apps are the future for business, as they offer speakers, visitors, delegates and exhibitors a 10-fold experience in an easy-to-understand manner. You can leverage them as a personal branding partner to support the event by monitoring statistics of the user-generated data, which helps them to distinguish which is popular and which is not!

Attendees become mobile

Sometimes you might become frustrated by hosting an event - and that's not surprising because it is a hectic job, if not assisted by a mobile event app. For your organisation to bypass the hassles involved in arranging a conference, such as when to begin, where to host, and more questions - try a mobile event app or a tailored conference app and see how it guides you through the event and after.

Naturally, tailored apps are integrated with social functions, and as an organiser, you can share details on attendees' profiles or on multiple social platforms, drawing more people to the event. Moreover, they get a broader picture of the event, days before its commencement. According to attendees' choice, they can easily customise sessions in which they need to participate.

Cut costs and boost revenue streams

ROI and equity are the building blocks for an event to achieve success, so you need to manage the event's ROI functions better. You need to cut unnecessary costs of print material and booklets. Then you can generate revenue by delivering sponsorships, enhanced listings, selling banner ads, collecting usage data and checking conversion rates with the number of downloads, etc.

With customised event apps on board, you can easily track ROI more tangibly, saying goodbye to frustrating conventional methods. Business groups with apps as business tools are looking for revenues from exhibitor sponsorships and not any direct investment from the event organiser.

Encourage surveys and polling

Paper survey or web-based surveys are tedious and moreover a time-consuming process. You need to wait for results and evaluate them with zero error to arrive at an accurate assessment of the event's success or failure. The audience being mobile and data being fresh, keypads turn out as the right support to monitor the event and conduct your survey. As web-based tools enter the mobile space, they encourage real-time polling, feedback to speakers via texting and questions.

This can be done via apps with web-based interactive response keypad tools. If you come across any issues during the survey, with instant access on the polling booths of the app, you can make corrections immediately. However, if you calculate the cost of polling apps separately, it is just a fraction of the rates of keypads or at times free, but if these polling tools are integrated to event apps, they ease the event organisers' load. Remember, session rating of an event is important; after all, do you not accept that the right apps can be beneficial in tracking the progress of the event?

The current time surveys substantiate the presence of event apps as a vendor to boost branding and extend the conference experience. Now the time has come for you to just sit down and relax on your mobile, without stressing and to make the most out of the event.