Plan a more sustainable and responsible event in 5 simple ways.

1)   Online Invites.

Try executing your entire invite process online instead of wasting paper on invitations that guest will throw away right after the event. Not only will you save paper and energy, but it will also be easier for attendees to sync the time, date, and location directly from their email to their iCalendar.

2)   Central Location.

Choose a location that is easily accessible by public transportation. Encourage attendees to walk, bike, take the bus, or carpool. Provide incentives like a bike valet or free parking for those who ride together.

3)   Donate + Compost Food.

Instead of throwing out full meals, try linking up with a local food bank and donating the food. You can also include a compost bin next to the trashcan where guests can toss their leftover scraps.

4)   Paperless Planning + Presenting. 

Share slides, PDFs and images via email instead of providing handouts during meetings. Encourage speakers to make PowerPoints and not waste paper on brochures.

5)   Paperless Networking.

Networking is key at many enterprise events, but that doesn’t mean you have to carry 50 business cards around in your pocket. Scan leads through event management software and encourage guests to exchange information electronically.

You can work hard, or you can work smart. The old adage doesn’t ring true for event managers. As busy professionals who need to use every hour of every day to get their jobs done, a successful event manager works hard and smart. Here are five productivity hacks we hope will make life a little easier for you as an event manager.

1. Brand the venue.

Make the event venue work for you by creating engaging, branded spaces.  For example, if your event is supporting ocean conservation, create a beach-y backdrop for photographs and stick your company logo on the umbrellas. Guests will line up to take pictures in your tropical photo booth, and they’ll be promoting your brand at the same time.

2. Cut it in half.

Feeding the crowd is important, but you don’t want to break the bank. Keep serving size in mind, and ask the catering company to cut sizeable items like sandwiches or brownies in half.

3. Use an event app.

Tired of running out of paper schedules? Your attendees are tired of carrying them around, too. Instead of passing out paper, ask your attendees to download the app for your event. Many event applications offer a menu of engaging features, including gamification, surveys and social integration.

4. Make budgeting a breeze.

You already have a ceiling to your spending but now you must decide how you will spend this budget. Try making a simple wish list in Excel of everything you’d like to incorporate in your event, regardless of budget. Then, price out each item. Now you can play around with the document, hiding different rows until you find a group that fits nicely in your budget. Remember to leave yourself some wiggle room for emergency spending!

5. Use Self-Service Check-In.

Nothing is worse than arriving to an event on time, and then standing in line for forty minutes while a Check-In team scrambles to find name tags and manually check everyone in. Make your attendees happy by skipping this step at your event. If you use Self-Service Check-In kiosks, your attendees do this step themselves which saves you manpower and time. They’ll also be impressed with your technology prowess.

 Whether you need an application to help you get more quality sleep, or one that will increase your productivity, you’ve come to the right place. Check out our picks for the best applications for event managers to download today.

Image source: 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23307937@N04/3929264721

What apps do you use to power your projects? Tell us in the comments below!

Make a list. Create your invitations. Clearly relay the time and address of your event.  Tempt guests with your giveaways.  Send attendees a reminder email as the event approaches.

Clarity and organization are sacrosanct to event managers.  It goes against instinct to be anything less.

The idea of using secrecy in events is not widely publicized as a marketing or events strategy, but secrecy is much more prevalent in society than we realize.  Some companies, such as Apple, use secrecy on a large scale to generate demand.  Before the release of a new iPhone, there are whole websites devoted to investigating the phone’s new features, all because they are kept secret.

Other companies use secrecy in different ways.  At the start of the food truck craze, many trucks would Tweet their location daily and their loyal customers would race through city streets to get their food fix before the truck changed locations again.

Even superstars use secrecy to boost sales.

Take Beyoncé.  Her most recent album was released as a complete surprise.  She recorded and produced 14 new tracks and 17 music videos in complete secrecy. Her fans went wild when they woke up one morning to a simple Instagram post from the singer reading “Surprise!” and linking to her new album.

If you want to try using secrecy in one of your events, it’s important to remember a few key things.

• First, you are probably not Beyoncé.  To pull off a stunt like hers, you need an extremely loyal following of customers.  Using secrecy in event planning can be very fun, but it’s necessary to maintain a balance and not go overboard.  Remember to add enough structure to keep your attendees comfortable, but enough secrecy to engage them. So start on a small scale.  Try incorporating surprise giveaways into your event, or invite a surprise guest speaker!

• Additionally, it’s best to let your audience in on the fact that there is a surprise coming.  If you want your attendees to have a positive reaction, tell your guests ahead of time that there will be a surprise element to the event.  Not only does it give them something to look forward to, but you also avoid blindsiding anyone.  A good way to do this is by engaging your audience in the secret during the planning and invitation process.  Carlsberg, the renowned Danish beer brewery, has an event called “Where’s the Party?”, in which they do just this. They reveal the famous DJs who will host their event to build hype, but then they keep the event’s exotic location a secret until the day before the party.  Every year, thousands of engaged fans show up excited and ready for showtime!  People love being in on the build up, and look forward to anticipated surprises. (Think birthday parties and anniversary gifts.)

• Secrecy can successfully be used at business events as well.  Dell hosts an annual event here in Austin, TX, called Dell Unconference.  When Unconference attendees arrive, there are no set schedules or speakers.  Instead, the attendees volunteer to lead sessions when they arrive and create the schedule as they go.  While Unconference may not be a textbook “secretive” event, its makers certainly engage their audiences in the surprise.  Business events can be just as surprising and engaging… it just takes a little creativity and the right technology to pull it off.

Secrecy can be a powerful weapon to keep in your event arsenal, and it certainly adds some spice to the event management routine.  Keep this tactic in mind the next time you’re looking to get creative with your next event.  Happy planning!

Whether you are a San Antonio Spurs fan or not, there is no denying that they play beautiful basketball. The reasons are many and there are timeless truths that saturate every facet of their game. The reasons that the Spurs are great are perfect examples for how greatness, for any team in any industry, is achieved.

1. Unique Players But A Team That Plays In Sync.

Every member of the Spurs team, both on and off the floor, is completely different. Just look at the players: they speak different languages, have different educational backgrounds, ethnicities, talents and positions.

For example, Kawhi Leonard is a 22-year old from San Diego State; Manu Ginobili is from Argentina; Tony Park is from France; Tim Duncan is one of the oldest NBA players in the league from the Virgin Islands; Patty Mills is from Australia; Cory Joseph is from Texas!

Despite their differences, these players still wear the same jersey. The black and silver uniforms unite them on the TV screen and their team basketball style makes them easily recognizable as the champs they are as a team.

2. Practice Basic Fundamentals.

The Spurs have clear goals, achieved through clear best practices. Every second the players are on the court, they keep their eyes on the goal and execute accordingly. Their goal is simple; they want to put baskets through the hoop more times than their opponents. That means excellent offense, high- percentage shots, passing and teamwork; that means relentless defense and a constant fight to achieve it.

3. Create Measurable Goals.

This may be obvious, but the Spurs have goals that are VERY measurable. They track everything… from rebounds, errors, goals scored, minutes played, fouls accrued to time left on the clock. It’s important for them to have people watching, tracking, measuring and monitoring for optimized play.

Imagine a game without a score board. Without the clock. Without the player statistics or the number of fouls counted. Imagine a game without someone counting every time the ball went through the hoop. What is the point of playing? To burn calories? That might afford you a greasy hamburger and milkshake after a hard game but it certainly won’t deliver the same results as with monitoring performance.

3. Little Things Make A Big Difference.

The Spurs: “Do the little things.” Which is what makes them play smart. It’s a fact. The Spurs…

Take open, high-percentage shots.
Give the ball to players with the best position (and give up their own chance of glory to do so).
Set picks and screens to set their team members up for success.
Listen to the plays called by Coach Popovich, clarify and execute.

4. “Everybody On The Spurs Can Pass.”

“Everybody can pass. It’s a requirement… and that’s just picture perfect.”

The Spurs are seamless. Despite obstacles, despite whether you’re a part of the ownership, the organization, the coach, the staff or the player, everyone is working together seamlessly to build the best team, and play the best game, to achieve the highest results. And it shows.

5. Set the Tone. Be Classy.

Tim Duncan has been accredited for this, as the team leader, according to Coach Popovich. He also said that one of the reasons they have this “classy” tone is because the Spurs players have “gotten over themselves.” It means that they hold themselves to a higher standard. “Win or lose – go home,” says Coach Pop. Whatever happens, each and every player does it with class. The Spurs organization has built it’s reputation around this fact.

“There are no egos. No clowns. And there is no one that doesn’t appreciate that.”

Things get STRESSFUL. Things get MESSED UP. There are HUGE stakes. There is a GIGANTIC audience watching live, both in person and on television. Mistakes HAPPEN. Buttons are PUSHED. And, despite that, the Spurs hold themselves to a higher standard that has earned them their reputation.

6. Play As A TEAM.

Perhaps this reason is superfluous… or perhaps all of the other reasons add up to this one. The reason that the Spurs are successful, the reason they play the most beautiful basketball anyone has ever seen, and the reason they are world champions, is because they play as a team.

It’s never about the individual player… whether their role is in ownership, the organization, coaching , playing or staffing, not one persona is more important than the other. Every moving part is working together, measuring EVERYTHING, collaborating, putting others ahead of themselves, sacrificing their own agendas and remaining extremely professional through the entire process.

If you haven’t already seen this video, it might bring tears to your eyes. Even if you’re not a basketball fan, a Spurs fan or a sports fan, there is still something to be learned from the way this group of people synergizes to achieve its goals. Watch:

So how does your team execute at an event? Is there a cohesive dynamic? Is there a clear goal? Is there a professional, selfless, sacrificing team? Is there someone measuring and monitoring EVERYTHING? Is the process by which you share, pass and communicate seamlessly?

At High Attendance, we think everyone on your team should be classy and work together. The next step is getting the tools in order to do that. Make your passes seamless. Get more clarity on your goals and better measurements on your execution. Start with the most seamless event management software: High Attendance / Captix.

References:

Selfie pic: http://www.sportsgrid.com/nba/why-the-spurs-are-truly-the-best-team-in-the-league-this-year/

Chris Boss and Heat comments: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2098332-chris-bosh-calls-2014-san-antonio-spurs-best-team-i-ever-saw

Positions: http://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/roster/SA/san-antonio-spurs

When hundreds of thousands of people attend a single conference, it only seems logical to create a mobile app for the event. South by Southwest launches a new app each year that includes everything from the schedule to features like beacon technology, which allows users to see what’s happening around them at any given moment.

While your app may not be alerting guests of Chelsea Clinton’s talk and Justin Bieber’s pop-up show, event apps are still very useful in informing and engaging attendees.

Here are five ways to increase your event app download rate:

1) Accessibility: Guests should know about the free app and its benefits before the actual event. Include a download link in the invitation and send reminders that encourage your guests to download the app.

2) Set Goals: Not all events need a mobile app. If you’re hosting a 20-person lunch and learn, you most likely won’t need an app. If you are hosting a 500-person conference twice a year, you may want an app for that. However, the app shouldn’t just be a place for guests to see the schedule — printing brochures is much cheaper than creating a mobile app. In other words, apps are expensive to build and your goals need to outline exactly why it’s a good investment. If each attendee is a current client then your goal should be to create an app that makes their experience as enjoyable and beneficial as possible.

3) Consistency: Much like your website, the event app should have consistent messaging and branding. If you are operating a software company whose brand is white and blue with very technical language, don’t create a trendy neon app.

4) Incentivize: If attendees can get all the information on your website then what’s the point of downloading the app on their phone? Incentivize downloads by offering special benefits to app users. For example, post key speakers on your site but tell guests to download the app to see the full lineup, host an in-app raffle, send special discounts, publish photos or show sneak peeks before the event.

5) Customer Support: Unless your event is at the Genius Bar, some of your guests may need assistance with downloading and navigating the app. Be sure to have an onboarding specialist on-hand to assist any attendees who have questions about the app.

Without incentives, there is no tangible reason for attendees to participate in your game; however, offering cash prizes and gift certificates isn’t always an option. Here are three free ways to increase engagement at your next event.

1) Leaderboard. 

Leaderboards integrate well with in-app games like trivia.The more questions the attendee answers correctly, the higher up the leader board they climb.

Pro Tip: Create an interactive leaderboard that integrates with Twitter so guests can encourage, or better yet, trash talk each other on social media – free publicity and attendee engagement.

2) Progress Bar.

Progress bars work well because most people don’t like completing tasks only 90% of the way. Much like the LinkedIn profile completion bar, reward them by boosting their position as they progress in the game. Reaching 100% may be enough for many guests to continue playing throughout the entire event. 

3) Badges.

Badges are one of the most simple and classic ways to increase participation. The Olympics use medals and the Oscars use funny-looking trophies – although both also come with fortune and fame, the gold badge is a very key component of winning.

Pro Tip: Offer an in-app virtual badge with each round of completion to encourage guests to keep playing.  (Think: progress bar + badge reward)

Learn more on how to gamify your next event with High Attendance.  

Like many jobs today, event management wouldn’t be as nearly as functional without technology. From emails, invites, and reminders to registration and payment transactions – our phones and computers have revolutionized events. However, like many other jobs, there’s room to make event management even more operative with new technology.

Enter the Apple Watch.

By now, you have likely heard about Apple’s first bonafide new product in years (since the iPad).

While there have been mixed reviews of the Watch on various news sites, there’s been no clear message as to who the new technology will benefit the most. Will it replace the Rolex on Wall Street? Will athletes use the Watch instead of a Fitbit? Or will it be an everyday watch for the average Joe? This seems least likely with the starting price at $349.

Let’s delve into the pros and cons of the Apple Watch for event managers.

Pros

Reminders:

You spend weeks, if not months, planning a major event. You have meetings, conference calls and send countless emails to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Unless you are Rain Man, you need reminders.

While your phone, computer and assistant can remind you of your next meeting, the Apple Watch may be the most subtle and simple reminder. Using Taptic technology, the Watch notifies you with specific kinds of vibrations. Instead of having your phone loudly vibrate on the table during dinner, the Watch sends a subtle reminder that only you can feel.

“As you learn the taps over time, you will begin to register some of them almost subconsciously: incoming phone calls and alarms feel throbbing and insistent, a text feels like a gentle massage from a friendly bumblebee, and a coming calendar appointment is like the persistent pluck of a harp. After a few days, I began to get snippets of information from the digital world without having to look at the screen — or, if I had to look, I glanced for a few seconds rather than minutes,” said Farhad Manjoo in his New York Times review.

Apple Pay:

Why pull your wallet out when you can swipe your phone over the terminal to purchase your coffee? Why pull your phone out when you can simply scan your Watch and be on your way?

Not only has Apple Pay simplified day-to-day errands for event managers but the contact-less payment technology is also being used at the actual events.

Instead of carrying around credit cards and cash, attendees can simply tap their Watch to purchase food, beverages or any merchandise that the event offers.

“Paying with the Watch is even faster than paying with an iPhone,” said Nilay Patel reviewing the watch in The Verge.

Cons

 Messaging:

The Watch isn’t going to be a tool you use to send text messages, let alone emails. In fact, it isn’t even possible to respond to an email on the Watch. While you can respond to texts, it would be much easier to just use your phone.

“You can reply to texts using canned replies, dictate a message with Siri or send emojis. The canned choices are supposed to be smart: the Watch reads your texts and tries to figure out appropriate replies automatically. Unfortunately, this only seems to work well if the people texting you write complete questions with the answers embedded…” said Patel in The Verge review.

And although Siri is a response option, everyone with an iPhone knows she isn’t always the most accurate when it comes to understanding you.

Lag Time:

You walk out of a meeting, check your email, hail an Uber and are on your way to the airport to manage the next event.

Like many of us, event managers are busy people and don’t have time to sit around while their phone displays the circling loading sign.

This may be the biggest problem with the Apple Watch. Not only are there major lag times with location apps like Uber, there are also delays when you simply want to check the time. Unlike other smart watches that have a screen lit up at all times, the Apple Watch saves battery life by using sensor technology. In other words, you can’t see the time until you move your wrist in a “checking my watch” motion. And that doesn’t even always work.

“Many times while using the watch, I had to swing my wrist in an exaggerated upward motion to bring the display to life. Think about the way people normally look at their watches, then make it twice as aggressive. As a normal watch-wearer, the idea that I might look down at my wrist and not see the time was annoying,” said Joshua Topolsky in his Bloomberg Business review.

Conclusion.

While the Apple Watch may be the only one of its kind, it isn’t yet considered game-changing and it definitely won’t replace your iPhone or computer.

As Topolsky puts it: “It’s not going to make you a better person, or change your life, or change how you look at the world. It’s a great accessory… and maybe that’s enough.”

South by Southwest is a different experience for everyone who attends. Follow these social media accounts, and you’ll be able to smoothly navigate the unpredictable seas of SXSW.

Instagram:

@SXSW – SXSW Official

@SWSWi – SXSW Interactive

@SXSWeco – SXSW Eco

Twitter:

@SXSW – SXSW Official

@SXSWPartyList – Your party navigation during SXSW

@FreeatSXSW – Guide to all things free at SXSW

@RSVPster – Helps you RSVP to SXSW events

@unofficialsxsw – Your guide to all unofficial SXSW events

@Rsvpforyourlife – Unofficial RSVP guide to SXSW

@SouthByFreeNOMS – Taking a bite out of Austin one party at a time! Your Unofficial guide to all the free food and drinks at SXSW

@CameronAtSX – News about unofficial parties, showcases, and SXSW rumors

@SXSWLineBuddies – Sharing RSVP’s and +1s to SXSW

@SXSWhoa – Reporting latest news, rumors, shortest lines,

@ChronSXSW –  Austin Chronicle’s take on SXSW Interactive, Film, Music

@Do512_free – Comprehensive list of FREE things for you to do in Austin

@360sxsw – Austin 360’s SXSW music headquarters

@360sxswi – Austin 360’s SXSW interactive updates

@360sxswmovies – Austin 360’s SXSW film updates

@sxswbaby – Unofficial Weblog and Discussion Forum for SXSW

@sxswmusic2016 – SXSW music lineup announcements

Facebook Pages:

SXSW – Official Festival Facebook Page

Unofficial SXSW Guide

Want us to feature your SXSW event or help you answer a question? Tell us in our Listening Forum!

The difference between a ‘girl’s weekend’ and a ‘guy’s weekend’ is that women drink champagne, talk about everything, go to the spa and watch romcoms while men often do not actually see each other in person. Instead, they will spend the whole weekend playing a video game, say the one called Destiny. This just proves that gaming can be very social – even from the comfort of your couch.

Playing Games to Socialize

Games are fun and most people don’t pause to consider why that is the case. One of the first to ask what drives people to play was Richard Bartle- the inventor of one of the first-ever multi-player video games called “multi-user dungeon” or MUD.

Throughout the process of building and maintaining MUD, Bartle developed a theory about the types of people who play games. He postulated that the most common type of player is the “Socializer”.  The Socializer who plays games because s/he enjoys interacting with other players and working with others to achieve common goals. According to Bartle, about 80% of people who play games are Socializers. This statistic is important because, in a very similar way, many people who attend events are there to network and socialize.

—

How Games Help Events

If people enjoy playing games as a means to socialize, and a majority of attendees come to events with the goal of networking and interacting with new people, then it follows that games can help better our events.  Let’s explore a few of the many ways gamification can improve your events and your event technology specifically.

1.  Gamification encourages attendees to interact with each other.  

One of our customers encouraged their attendees to meet each other by using an interactive leaderboard in its mobile application. Attendees received points for using the event hashtag on their social networks, and the competition quickly became fierce as attendees fought to get to the top of the leaderboard. Competitors could tap on the names in the leaderboard to find contact information and Twitter handles for other attendees, and before we knew it, everyone was interacting with each other!
 
 
2.  Gamification helps engage attendees who are easily distracted.  

Event organizers must wage a constant battle against the smart phone. It is challenging to compete for attendees’ attention when they have an easy mental escape right at their fingertips. One way to help keep your attendees focused is to bring the game to them. If you provide attendees with an engaging application that is relevant to your content, everyone wins!

Think your audience is too professional to fall into the Candy Crush trap? Chances are, you’ll actually be competing for their attention, too. In fact, game designer Jane McGonigal states in her book Reality is Broken, that 61% of CEOs, CFOs and other senior executives say they take daily game breaks at work. Additionally, she discovered that 1 out of 4 gamers is over the age of 50.

Aaron Price, the co-founder of Livecube, puts it well, stating “if you think about the reality of sitting in the audience at an event, you pick up your phone and the event organizer has about 10 seconds to capture your attention before you’re distracted by Candy Crush… Using game mechanics in the event app itself gives people incentives to stay focused, so people are adding valuable content instead of just occasionally tweeting, occasionally mentioning something, [and] probably misspelling a hashtag.”

3.  Gamification builds your event’s social media hype.  

In the leaderboard example above, we mentioned that gamification encourages attendees to interact with one another. When attendees begin tweeting at each other, it not only gets people who are actually at the event to start talking about it, but it also makes your event more visible to the outside world.

One way to encourage social media sharing of your event is to include Twitter integration with your event application. Then attendees can log in with their Twitter handles and tweet directly from the application. If an attendee is tweeting from the event application instead of the Twitter application itself, you can control his/her newsfeed, filtering it to include only tweets relevant to your event’s hashtag. Prevent hashtag misspellings by including the hashtag automatically for your guests. You keep your attendees focused, all while encouraging them to promote your event!

—

Gamification can be a powerful part of your next event. Dr. Stuart Brown, a scientist and psychiatrist who works for the National Institute for Play states that “play is not the opposite of work”.  If you still need inspiration on why game play is important, check out his Ted Talk here.

Are you wondering how High Attendance gamification can help your next event?

Tell me more about Captix!

—

Resources:

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/26-elements-of-a-gamification-marketing-strategy/

http://www.brainsins.com/en/blog/how-companies-use-gamification-to-amplify-social-media/3210

http://gamifyforthewin.com/2012/08/whats-the-big-deal-about-bartles-player-types/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_LPMud

http://www.bizbash.com/how-to-use-gamification-to-motivate-social-sharing-at-events/new-york/story/27713/#.VKsODYsglAI

http://www.theloyaltygames.com/gametizeblogpost/

http://www.quickmobile.com/mobile-event-strategy/gamification/what-is-gamification-and-how-can-you-use-it-in-your-next-event-app

http://www.eventmobi.com/blog/2011/12/06/using-gamification-to-better-engage-event-attendees/

http://www.eventmanagerblog.com/event-gamification#eykKl7sEwxSEDuMd.99

https://www.flickr.com/photos/all7lwa/9494705197/

What Is Gamification?

Broadly defined, gamification is the use of game-like thinking in non-game environments.

Think back to the days of 5^th grade history class. It may not have been especially exciting at the time, but if you were lucky, your teacher made the mundane textbook quizzes more memorable by adding one amazing incentive: candy.

Incentives and motivators are one way to gamify non-game environments.

Now think about your LinkedIn account and the “profile progress bar” that was once only 70% complete. Although this may not seem like a game, LinkedIn uses the game-like progress bar as an incentive to complete your profile.

From teachers to Fortune 500 companies, gamification continues to be one of the most successful ways to increase audience engagement.

Games At Work.

So maybe you don’t have the downtown office with beer on tap and 2pm ping-pong tournaments, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun at work. Games are a way to create a positive company culture while also increasing engagement in the workplace.

For example, instead of measuring employee progress on an spreadsheet and presenting the data during their annual review, create progress bars, badges, and fun weekly incentives.

According to Fast Company, “Spotify and LivingSocial have already replaced traditional reviews with mobile and gamified versions and reported that 90% of employees are voluntarily participating in the programs.”

The Numbers.

According to a recent Gallup report, only 13 percent of employees are engaged in their job, meaning that 87% of employees are either  “not engaged or indifferent—or even worse, actively disengaged and potentially hostile—to their organizations.”

Considering these statistics and the fact that 183 million Americans are active gamers, now may be the perfect time to insert games and incentives in the workplace.

Check out the event games High Attendance clients use to engage their audiences.

From virtual reality sales pitches to emotion-based heat maps, check out the three biggest event tech trends of 2015.

• Virtual Reality: Virtual reality has easily been one of the most exciting tools to use at events within the past few years, and the technology is only improving. VR headsets have been used to provide a wide range of experiences – from visualizing home improvement projects at Blackhat to experiencing a front row seat at fashion week. 

• Beacons: While beacons are not new to 2015 (Apple released the app-pairing technology in 2013), they have become one of the most popular tools to install at major events. The low-energy transmitters provide easier networking and navigation during events like South by Southwest. The Austin, Texas event paired beacons with their SXSW GO app to notify attendees as they moved throughout the festival this year. For example, instead of waiting in a long line, the app sent a QuickCode to attendees when they were in proximity of the registration area for a simple badge printing process. 

• Wearables: Wearables combine the tracking technology in beacons and the exciting experience that comes with virtual reality. During Wimbledon this year, Jaguar partnered with Mindshare to create wrist cuffs with sensor technology that tracked fans emotions. The GPS-enabled cuffs monitored atmospheric and biometric levels to create an interactive heat map of the tournament. Chris Cardew, Mindshare’s strategy head, explains the visualization in AdWeek.“When Andy Murray walks onto the court and everyone suddenly shoots up and moves around, that’s about pride and anticipation the match provides the moment in the story, and the data validates it.”

Las Vegas is seemingly always busy, but this week there is certainly a different kind of buzz as the world’s most renowned hackers and cybersecurity vendors descend on Sin City for Black Hat and DEFCON. Tens of thousands of people are streaming through the Mandalay Bay conference center as we speak, and our esteemed marketing colleagues in their booths on the show floor are eagerly getting ready to qualify some leads (most using the in-house lead retrieval). But the potential for great conversations and the need to collect info doesn’t stop when you leave the show floor.

Good marketing and sales folks know that, often times, the best conversations happen in the hall, in line to that sponsored party, or even sharing a cab back to the airport. The problem is, and sure you can blame the Vegas lifestyle, that card you grabbed either gets lost or the general gist of the conversation disappears with your lack of sleep. Companies are now realizing the event lead management is a 24/7 proposition and the onset of apps like Overpass allow your team to make that happen.

For everyone at Black Hat we wanted to provide four tips for extending lead retrieval beyond the show floor, and if you do need an app to manage these go grab Overpass and then let us know how it worked for you!

4 Tips for Extending Leads Off the Black Hat Show Floor

1) Stand in Line. Last night the line to the FireEye party wrapped around the casino floor at Mandalay…and honestly some of the best conversations were happening. We even saw one guy doing a product demo on his tablet. And parties aren’t the only place for good line-standing, just go check out the line for taxis around 6pm tonight.

2) Starbucks, Starbucks, Starbucks. The person who placed the Starbucks as you walk into the conference center was a genius, and it also provides an ideal location to not only run into strangers and old friends, but have a meeting away from the craziness of the show floor. But remember, there is another Starbucks under the escalators to Mandalay Place (the shops), and that actually provides some semi-private areas to have conversations.

3) Party Animal. It’s Vegas and there are marketers sponsoring, so of course there are parties. We’ve found from many years at Black Hat that the best ones are often in the biggest areas (House of Blues, etc) because there is more space to actually sit an talk to other people. But even in the smaller venues you can find nooks to talk folks up. Last night, the team at Lancope had their shindig at Minus5, which is smaller, but if you go to the non-frozen part of the bar in the back it’s ideal for meeting folks and drumming up business.

4) Non-Sales People, REPRESENT! The show floor doesn’t open until 10am and there are sessions throughout the morning. We always encourage companies at Black Hat to make sure they are not only sending actual delegates to the show, but that those people are equipped to gather lead info. These non-marketing/sales folks are actually really key since they will have the best conversations of the show during sessions. Just train them on how to get contact information and transfer that to your team (again, something like Overpass helps).

Enjoy the show!

She doesn’t go to the pool without packing three different types of sunscreen.

“I’m a Type A planner,” admits Cassandra (Cass) Grabowski.

Although it drives her crazy at times, Grabowski’s formulaic nature has contributed to her success as the Vice President of High Beam Events.

Tell me about the path that led you to event management.

I started in Destination Management Services (DMS) in Arizona. DMS provides assistance for corporations that are coming into town. We would arrange transportation to and from the airport, plan activities for the guests to do in between meetings, coordinate their dinner functions, and anything else they needed. And before that I worked for a team building company, also in Arizona, We would put on things like barbecue cook-offs, build a covered wagon events, and all these really fun but silly team building exercises for people to get to know their coworkers. And then following that I went to South Korea for a year to teach English and actually met my fiancé there. He lived in Austin at the time so I ended up moving here with him after our contracts were up. When I moved here I landed a job at High Beam as a seasonal employee. Every year we hire event contractors to help with our South by Southwest planning because that’s our biggest account — it’s really the bread and butter for our business. I was chosen as one of those people to come on for the season, and our company policy is that we don’t hire anyone until they’ve survived South by Southwest planning. From there I got a permanent job and have been working at High Beam for the past five years.

Tell me about the different services you offer and events you plan.

We can help coordinate all different types of events. We’ve done birthday parties to the Tribeza fashion show. We’ve planned non-profit events for Texas Advocacy Project and different schools in the area. And then we do destination management work — we’re looking to really expand that here in Austin with all the hotels that are being built. And then we do our South by Southwest experimental marketing.

What do you think makes High Beam different from other event planning companies?

I think our staff makes us different. We have a lot of people from different backgrounds and everyone contributes in an organic kind of way. The owner, Sam Staples, really allows us to have the creative freedom to continue to grow and work on the projects that we are passionate about. The company is unique and fun because we all love the environment that we are in and we get along so well. On top of that, we really just like creative challenges. We want people to approach us with a wide range of creative projects, even things we haven’t done before. And if it’s something that sounds interesting to us then we’ll take it on even if the budget is lower or higher than normal.

We are always learning and growing. We even do boot camps over the summer to better educate ourselves. Some of our planners right now are taking courses at ACC on design software. We’ve built a tent at a rental company together so that we understand and appreciate what goes into it and how it works. We go to lighting warehouses and do the same thing. We are always trying to educate ourselves and be exposed to the different elements. I think it’s a combination of all those aspects that makes us stand out.

Tell me about one of your highlight events.

A couple years ago we did a really unique activation for Nokia during South by Southwest. We flew in a huge projection dome where you could project from the inside and see in from the outside. It was talked about a lot because it was something that had never been done at the festival before. I think we have a competitive advantage because we helped build the South by Southwest party program so we know everything that’s been done and what works. It’s coming up with those really out of the box ideas that makes us stand out.

We also did the activation with Grumpy Cat and Mashable a couple years ago and that was the most Tweeted event that year.

Personally, I do the interactive opening party every year for the festival. It’s their official kickoff party.

So High Beam is the official South by Southwest event planner?

Yes, we hold the contract to produce all of their official events. We don’t produce all of them because there are just so many, but we do produce a lot of them. That kick off party has been very fun. It was my first party on my first day of South by Southwest. We had around 5,000 people that year but we’ve scaled down a bit since then because it was getting so big. This past year we had the event on the JW Marriot pool deck and that was a great turnout.

What’s your schedule like? What’s a normal week for you?

It definitely changes a lot. My role involves taking a lot of the inquiries and fielding those calls so I have a lot of meetings throughout the day, and I’m also managing our team. We kind of take multitasking to the extreme because we are usually working on 80 things at once — our schedule is really all over the place.

How many events do plan per year?

That’s a tough question because we do so much during South by Southwest. So we did somewhere between 200 to 250 events for this past South by Southwest. We are preparing all year for the festival and that amount of parties. And then the rest of the year is a bit more infrequent. So our planning season is basically August to April for South by Southwest.

What kind of technology do you use to plan and manage these events?

We use FileMaker to do our planning. During events we are always looking for new technology. That’s what we are doing now, during our offseason. We are researching companies all over the U.S. that are doing something interesting that we want to bring to Austin. We are always interested in projections and lighting. A lot of that comes from the High Beam owner who used to be a lighting designer. She’s instilled that into all of us so we are always searching for new and cool technology.

What makes an event successful for you?

Happy clients. I think the best part of an event is seeing the dream come to life and your client happy. It’s like showing them a picture and then creating that exact picture — that’s what I think makes an event successful. It’s the culmination of the entire process.

What’s the most frustrating part about event planning?

The part I hate the most is relying on other people when you build such high expectations on the service that you’re delivering. You have all of these vendors and people who are on board to help create and bring that vision to life, and then somebody drops the ball and doesn’t fulfill what they were supposed to. That’s the most stressful part for me because there’s only so much you can do when that happens. It’s like when a vendor only brings half the lighting you ordered and there’s no time to go back to the warehouse before the event so you just have to make it work. I hate that because so many people spent time creating this beautiful space and now there’s nothing you can do to fix it. I think that’s the most stressful and frustrating part of the job.

What’s the best part of your job?

As far as being at High Beam, it’s the clientele that we’re exposed to here in Austin. You can’t get that everywhere else, unless you’re in a major city. I am surprised all the time by all of the interesting and cool projects that I get to be a part of. I thought that I would have to live in New York or LA to get that same level of experience — it’s amazing that we can have that here. I never dreamed of working with MTV and here we are producing the Woodie Awards every year. The best part of my job is being able to work on those interesting projects with interesting people, and helping bring a vision to life and stand out.

CES 2015 is officially in the books. With over 170,000 attendees and 3,600 exhibitors we watched the hype unfold. For a week we heard all about everything from self driving cars, to 3D printers all the way to multi-tasking washing machines. We’ve combed through the impressive list of products and have compiled the best products for event managers!

Nabi Big Tab:
Imagine the possibilities of a 43, 55 or 65 inch tablet available at your booth. The products you showcase, the demos you’re able to perform. These tablets will let your attendees be hands on. No need for slide shows or presentations, let them dive in themselves.

Compute Stick:
What on earth is a compute stick you may ask? Oh you know, just a computer that fits in the palm of your hand! This Intel Compute Stick will come loaded with Windows 8.1 or Linux, so there is no longer a need to bring all of your big desktops to your booth. All you need is a screen and your stick and your good to go.

SuperStar BackFloat Speaker:
How could we not include a speaker designed by Shaq! He teamed up with Monster to create the SuperStar BackFloat, a wireless, waterproof, Bluetooth speaker. This may not be necessary at an average event, but for those outdoor soirees you’re throwing, this is a must-have!

Allie Camera from IC Real Tech:
This is a product just perfect for event managers. This camera has duel 360-degree cameras for full coverage viewing. It allows you to live-stream and control from your mobile device. The best part is the price point which make it a completely affordable option to record or live-stream your events so no one misses a beat.

Ring:
CES was buzzing with wearables this year and one of our favorites for event managers is the Ring. This product also happens to be a 2015 CES Innovation Award honoree, so don’t just take our word for it! All it takes to use is one gesture. Unlock the potential of customized gestures with this, still stylish, Ring wearable device.

OSVR:
Open Source Virtual Reality can not be missed! While it may not be the easiest to implement at your events, since it’s more targeted towards gamers, I think we’re going to see a lot of growth in this area over the next year. It will be interesting to see how this evolves, but certainly should not be overlooked. If you’re hosting any type of gaming event, this is a must have!

Drones with Spatial Awareness:
In 2014, we saw the rise of the drone. The technology is quickly improving and we predict drone usage will become much more mainstream in 2015. With the affordability and the ability for video and photos from such a unique perspective, drones at conferences should become commonplace. Intel debuted Real Sense, which actually gives the drones senses so that they avoid objects they may be approaching. This is a big first step in drone safety and we can expect to see more of this as drone usage evolves.

E Ink Prism Color Changing Walls:
We had to save the best for last, as this product is the perfect match for event managers. E Ink has developed Prism, a material that lets you change the colors and patterns of walls on the spot. Imagine the ability to have custom textured exhibits or animated walls. Every exhibit could be custom for every tradeshow or conference because designers have the ability to customize endless options of changeable colors and patterns.

While we’d all like the self-driving Mercedes-Benz, for the time being we may just have to settle on some of these new up-and-coming products to make our lives, as event managers, a little easier and a lot more innovative!

Sources:

http://www.androidheadlines.com/2015/01/fuhus-nabi-big-tabs-grow-massive-42-55-65-inch-models-ces-2015.html

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/compute-stick/intel-compute-stick.html

http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/06/shaquille-oneal-built-a-water-proof-floating-speaker-called-the-superstar-backfloat/

http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/04/allie/

http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/06/intel-realsense-asctec-firefly-drone-ping-pong/

http://techcrunch.com/2015/01/04/the-ring-is-real/

http://www.cnet.com/news/ces-2015-the-final-word/