How much do you value the Attendee Experience?

We’ve all heard of User Experience and Customer Experience, two terms that helped industries focus on what really counts. Today I want to talk about Attendee Experience, the term that shares a truth we can not ignore: all efforts of the event industry professionals should be focused on the attendees’ experience.

There are multiple interpretations of the “Attendee Experience” term, all equally important and explanatory. But to better understand it I would like for you to see it as the overall experience attendees walk out with. And this overall experience is influenced by every interaction they have. With organizers, sponsors, exhibitors, and other attendees. It’s also the sum of interactions they have with your event “as a thing”. The way you communicate, the apps that you use the venue your event takes place at, the chair they sit in, the food they taste.

In other words, it’s what they feel when they think of your event.

If we agree that Attendee Experience represents the sum of the interactions attendees have with your event (direct or indirect), then we can also agree that the experience starts before the event takes place. And it doesn’t end once your event is over. In order to make it easier for us to follow attendees through their whole journey, I will divide AX into two categories:

on-site: it refers strictly to the on-site experience and how you can improve the experience during your event 

off-site: the way you influence the attendee experience before and after your event takes place

As you will see, these two categories are well related.

Off-site attendee experience. Before and after the event 

before

The first interaction takes place the first time your future attendees hear about your event. It’s late 2019, so no matter how they hear about your event they will definitely search online for more information. This is why it is important that your website makes a good first impression. Otherwise, we may talk about the last impression. 

Registration is a crucial step. This should be a flawless process that encourages attendees to register, so use a smart tool that allows you to sell tickets directly on your website. Collect attendee data, but let them know why and how you are planning to use that information. And I would strongly recommend you to use this information in order to create a better experience. 

Don’t spam your future guest (even if they allow you to), but keep them informed. Notify them as soon as possible over any changes that may occur. Event apps are a great way to keep your attendees engaged. Integrate it with the registration software in order to make it easier for them to access the app and gain access to your pre-event content. 

after

Your relation with your visitors should not end once they walk out of the door. After all, your event should be just one piece of the bigger puzzle. “What puzzle” do you ask? Maybe you’re not but hey… I’m writing this. You know: multiple events, event community, happy people that change the world we live in, the things that made you become an event professional.

Post-event communication is a crucial key when building a community around your work. Personalized follow-up emails(and by this I don’t mean the classical “Hello, name of attendee” newsletter), access to registered sessions from the event, top of the notch recommendations for other study materials, things that will make people feel your interest towards them. Those are the fine touches that will boost the overall experience.

During the event

Why a job in the event management industry makes you feel like you ride a roller coaster on a daily basis? It’s because time has a different value in this line of business and thousands of hours of hard word resume to just a few days of implementation. The show must go on should be the motto, during the event you need to be able to fix things on the go. Fix them first, you will have time to check why you needed to fix them afterward.

What makes an event memorable? If it would be to choose just one thing I would definitely choose “Content” as my answer.

I was part of a few events during the last 2 or 3 years* and had the chance to see things for myself; good content is crucial, there’s no doubt here, so regardless of your event’s theme you will need to find someone that can curate it. But guess what: good content is nothing without a good presentation (packaging matters!) and you don’t need to take my word for it.

* I wasn’t kidding, last few years gave me the chance to attend quite a few events and better understand what AX is all about

But let’s focus on things that are 100 % up to you and your team. And on how Oveit can help you, of course. I won’t talk about all of our features, you can read more about them in some of our previous articles. The one feature that will totally change the attendee experience is the one that will allow attendees to stay focused on what really matters to them. Networking, useful content, discovering interesting exhibitors. That’s why we keep on talking about our NFC feature. It allows us to pair the ticket to an NFC wristband and attendees can use it for access, payment, engagement, gamification, and more.

It works like this:

Our e-tickets are more than just tickets, they are as powerful as digital accounts. They store all the access credentials. And one ticket can store an unlimited number of different access credentials. The extra benefits you want to include. They work as digital wallets if you choose to use a cashless payment solution. And also allow attendees to share their information if they choose to interact with exhibitors or to participate in treasure hunts or other forms of gamification.

When attendees first arrive the e-ticket is paired with an NFC wristband and all their interactions become simple taps. Tap and pay, tap and play, tap for access, tap and interact. No need to store tokens, multiple QR codes, no need for them to manually input their information in order to be contacted by exhibitors or sponsors. Just pair the ticket with our smart wristband and let technology do it’s magic! Won’t go into the tech details, but let us know if you want to know more about it.

foto presenting an NFC chip wristband branded with Oveit

Engage the Five Senses

Content is the King, technology is the Queen, but don’t forget that our 5 basic senses help us better understand our surroundings. They also play a key role in setting up our mood. Here is what you should remember:

Sight – we are attracted by the beauty, so an outstanding venue will set a good start for the day

Touch – texture, and temperature. Maybe there is nothing you could to do regarding the texture, although you could consider this when choosing the badges or the wristbands. But for an indoor event, you could make sure that the temperature is just perfect.

Smell – there is a reason why when a real estate agent shows you a new house it somehow smells like freshly baked cookies and roasted coffee. You could use the same technique to make guests feel comfortable.

Taste – food and beverages; should offer various choices and consider that some of your guests have dietary restrictions. Registration forms are a good way to collect this information.

Sound – the sound needs to be perfect during the presentations. Not to mention if you are organizing a concert. But you can also use sound to energize attendees and give them the vibe that you want.

There are many ingredients for creating a better attendee experience and although things will never be perfect we can genuinely do our best in order to create an unforgettable event. And any small thing that can be done better will assist us in reaching our ultimate goal: the sparkle in people’s eyes when they come and congratulate us for our outstanding work.

December 3, 2019 Event management, Event professionals No comments yet

IBTM 2019: What did we showcase in Barcelona ?

Last week Oveit attended IBTM 2019 in Barcelona as one of the leading Tech Watch Award shortlisted startups. IBTM is the largest business and travel meetings event in the world, where professionals meet to discuss the future trends of the event industry.

We’ve had a blast. It was an overwhelming event and the good people at Reed Exhibitions do a great job at running it and making it the global center of business and travel meetings.

Cashless payments for event professionals and the travel industry at IBTM 2019

In the past two years Oveit has been steadily evolving from events registration and access control to cashless payments, audience engagement and prepacked benefits. We’ve basically moved from an event registration tool to one which event planners can use to create an event economy. This is what we presented at IBTM 2019.

Cashless payments on mobile - Oveit

What we noticed was that a lot of the revenue and the experience around an event is outside of the planers’ traditionally accessible channels. For festivals, as an example, most of the revenue is generated not in ticket sales but in the economy developed around the festivals. Local vendors, bars, merchandising and more.

Our technology relies at heart on NFC contactless payment tokens (such as wristbands or cards) which visitors can top up and use to pay within the event venue. In the background, the event organizer manages the cashflow and distributes funds to vendors, usually retaining a certain management fee.

A new way to see the business of events and venues

With what is usually called “closed loop payments“, events and venues generate an extra stream of revenue but most important – they get access to relevant data.

With our technology event planners are able to plan their future events based on actual behavior data. They get an insight on what is popular and what is not, what is a key consumer driver and what are the most loyal visitors for their experiences.

This creates a virtuous cycle of better experiences, which generate more revenue and data and better options for the planner to improve on previous experiences.

Prepacked perks and benefits launched at IBTM 2019

At one point we’ve asked ourselves – what makes a ticket valuable? What do people care about when they’re buying a ticket. We asked the event visitors and the event planners. The answer is a bit of common sense: they are actually buying the experience that ticket entitles them to.

Cashless payments end user apps on mobile - Oveit

With this in mind we went on and developed our prepacked perks technology where one ticket can hold more than just the access to an event. It can hold access to specific sub-events, goods such as a t-shirt or a hamburger, services such as a cruise line or accommodations to the hotel.

With the prepacked perks, which can be stored on mobile devices, on RFID wristbands or even on biometric signatures, the experience can be vastly extended. Perks make the conventional limitations fade away for event planners and venues.

Facial biometrics access and payments

We’ve worked with some of the best experts in machine learning in computer vision to provide event planners a way to use biometrics in their event.

Facial biometrics for events and venues - Oveit
FacePay can hold digital balances and prepacked perks

By pairing facial features with access control rights, visitors can just
walk in, without a need to take out their ticket or unlock their smartphone. The scanning apps are loaded on smartphones, without a need to buy or rent hard to install equipment such as HD cameras or powerful computers.

At the same time they can use their face to pay for goods within the venue, just as they would when buying with a contactless card.

Edge Payments

Probably the most interesting technology we have presented at IBTM 2019 in Barcelona was edge payments .

Edge payments equipment. Edge computing for large events and venues.
Oveit’s Edge Payments box and interfaces.

So what are edge payments? For one – they are a hybrid between closed and open loop payments. A way for visitors to top up a digital balance in a closed loop economy and use it to pay for goods.

The second attribute and the most important one is that this technology allows operating payments even when the internet is down. This is usually due to massive numbers of visitors in one place, overloading the network or just plain old technology crashes. It’s great for large venues or conferences and especially festivals.

Oveit’s tech operates at the edge of the cloud, making sure that everything is operational even when all other systems have fallen.

It was a pleasure meeting all the people that stopped by our booth and the ones we visited at theirs, especially in the hospitality industry, where we see great opportunities for our technology to improve experiences.

Barcelona is an amazing city and IBTM fits right in, especially for event and
hospitality professionals. See y’all soon!


November 25, 2019 Event management, Event professionals, Event tech, Future No comments yet
images from multiple events and the text "2019 event trends"

2019 Event Trends. What to keep an eye out for

Based on my personal experience and the know-how of our event planning partners, I’ve put together a list on what we at Oveit expect to be the 2019 event trends.  This is far from being exhaustive, but I hope it will help you prepare for the year that lays ahead. Let’s have a meaningful and successful 2019.

Authenticity

In order to emotionally connect with attendees, authenticity needs to be one of the most important assets of your events. Line-ups, activities, brand activations and displays, everything will need to be in harmony with your stated values.

Event authenticity is mostly about being faithful to your stated values and loyal to your attendees. Trends will come and go, but your identity (based on your beliefs) cannot change from one year to another. Authenticity determines the trust in your brand, but it’s also the second most important factor for millennials to decide if they support a brand or not (the first being loyalty discounts).

authenticity as event trends for 2019. arrow showing that for 90% of millennials brand authenticity is important

Authenticity means being faithful to your stated values and loyal to your guests. It means that you are not afraid to show who you are and that you are not afraid to stand for what you believe in. Not everybody will be on the same page with you, but it is impossible to please everyone. And not everybody should be your guest, partner or sponsor – as your sets of values should apply to them as well.

For example: if you host your events outdoor and plead for ecology, having a company known for polluting the environment as a sponsor will make you look untrue (to be gentle).

Stay true to yourself and stay true to your attendees. In the long run, it will really make a difference.

Families with small children – one of the 2019 Event Trends

When it comes to events in general (and music festivals in particular), in the last 4 years families with small children saw the highest increase when it comes to attending rate. A study conducted by Starcom shows that more than 25% of the questioned young parents consider concert/festivals as a proper experience for children. And this should be of no surprise as millennials, members of the generation that chooses experiences over goods, have reached the parenthood age.

This change brings new challenges for the event organizers, but new opportunities as well. Child activities are becoming “a thing” at events, but are also a good way for brands to use them as new marketing channels. New sponsors can be interested in your events. You can now open new revenue streams by offering dedicated services for families with children.

Obviously, if your event is not child-friendly (for reasons that are beyond your power) you should mention it from the beginning. Don’t try to attract this category for events where kids will not feel welcome or where it is not safe for them. As I have mentioned before, it’s important that you create an authentic experience and this may mean that your event is not crafted for everyone.

Personalized experiences. Based on the relevant information

I’ve always been a huge fan of personalized experiences. I strongly believe that this is a great way of showing your guests they truly matter to you, that they are not just another sold ticket.

However – to offer personalized experiences you will first need to know what your attendees like. You will need to collect data about their favorite artist/speaker, along with their demographics, in order to create some cohort reports that will get you one step closer to creating a memorable experience.

This is why we have developed our NFC-based engagement features. We opted for NFC because it’s fast and secure. And believe me, attendees treasure their time. Nobody will be happy to repeat the same process over and over again each time they want to engage an exhibitor or join a gamification feature. The times when attendees were forced to manually enter all their information are over. Or so it should. Our software allows them to communicate with just a simple tap of the hand.

The same process is available to check their purchasing habits. Data is paired to your attendees’ information in order to use them for your current and future events.

Use a registration form to collect attendee data. Allow them to engage your exhibitors with a simple tap. GDPR compliant, of course.

photo showing 2 people and a device used for attendee engagement

Tablet and NFC reader used for attendee engagement. Source: Pioneers ’18

Connect attendee data to your cashless payment system information. See what attendees like and what they dislike. See which are the areas they like to spent their time in or which sessions/artist they find attractive.

Offer a customized experience without being too intrusive. Your attendees want a customized experience. But they don’t want to make an effort each time you need their data.

Contact us for more info on the “tap and engage” feature.

Social responsibility. More than a 2019 event trend

With generation Z reaching the “wow, I love events” age, social responsibility should get an important place on your agenda. Why? Because soon Gen Z and millennials will represent the most important age segment of your guests. And they take social responsibility extremely seriously.

Yes, by creating communities, events are changing the world, making it a better place. But this may not be enough.

Useful ideas:

  • Have Non-profits as exhibitors at your events; this way you will help them engage attendees and make their causes know.
  • Redirect a percentage from your tickets income to a social cause.
  • Support an existing cause by offering them exposure in your marketing campaigns.
  • If you host outdoor events you can re-energize an area with a damaged environment and host your event there.

But your efforts need to be for something you believe in. Don’t do it just for the publicity. People can tell.

As mentioned in a previous article, 80% of Gen Z feels that social responsibility is mandatory for brands. It’s not a trend, not just an option, it’s something that we all must support. It’s our duty.

Event marketing trends for 2019. Micro-influencers

Forbes recently published the  “11 trends that will shape marketing in 2019” article, pointing out 11 marketing trends that we all should focus on this year. But one really caught my attention: the growth of micro-influencers. I admit I have a personal affinity toward influencer marketing. I have written an article on how to use influencer marketing to promote your events, so I will not plead for it again. But I will mention one of the most important reasons for which influencer marketing is on the rise (besides banner blindness and the likes):

  • influencer marketing is closer to  word of mouth marketing than it is to traditional marketing

And this is BIG. We trust other humans’ feedback over a brand more than we trust its marketing messages. It’s reasonable. People follow social media influencers for the content they create, but also because they like them as humans. They trust them. This is why Influencer Marketing is so powerful.

Micro-influencers, a 2019 (event marketing) trend, are social influencers that have a smaller group of followers, but also the strongest engagement with their audience. Their connection is genuine. Their content is not created for everyone but suited for a niche. And that.

Would you rather work with a celebrity? That’s fine, but remember that 70% of the millennials prefer a brand that is endorsed by a non-celebrity influencer.

1 on 1 meetings

There’s nothing new here: conferences and business events are gold when it comes to meeting new people. If you are hosting such events I am sure you have noticed that the networking element is something your attendees really appreciate. In fact, this is so important that a google search for “networking at events” gives us over 350M results.  And this is why it made it to my 2019 event trends list.

print screen from google search of "networking tat events"

source: google.com

There are tons of articles that are trying to teach people how to become better and better are networking. And people are reading them. I’ve heard it from hundreds of attendees. The interest is real.

What can you do to help attendees network?

Start with a designated area. Pioneers ’18 had a designated area for one on one meetings and people loved it.

Have a 1:1 meeting feature in your event app.

Use a designated 1:1 meeting app: using our open API it’s easier than ever to send collected data (through registration forms) to third-party apps.

Help people connect and your event will quickly become the “go to” for professionals from multiple industries.

Although the year has just begun and surprises may occur, these are 6 of the 2019 event trends that I will keep an eye for. Hope my article helps you prepare for this great year that lays ahead.

January 30, 2019 Event management, Event professionals, Events No comments yet

The chip that helps you create better experiences

Although the title of the article refers to a small piece of plastic,  it really focuses on something much more important: the way in which technology can dramatically improve the experience you offer through events. It’s not the first time when we talk about how #eventtech allows us to create better experiences. It’s also not the first time when we talk about NFC technology and how it can be used within events. But today I want to retake together the customer journey and see how “a small piece of plastic” can make a BIG difference. For everyone involved: event planners, security team, sponsors, vendors, and most important…attendees.

Festival goer tapping NFC wristband to NFC reader

Festival-goers attend your events for the memories that will remain with them forever. They want to have fun and your ultimate goal is to make sure they will. But their fun means many sleepless nights for you and your team. It means speed, accuracy, well-crafted messages, information, and sweat.

Access control

Here is the journey attendees will take at your festival and here is how this small piece of plastic will lead their way.       

Let’s start with check-in, the first on-site interaction between you the attendee. Queueing is one of the biggest problem festival goers (and planners) face and that small piece of plastic can dramatically change things. How? If you pair the festival NFC wristband to the ticket and attendees receive them before they actually arrive on site (via mail or pre-registration parties) the check-in process will become much faster. And what a better way to welcome your attendees than a queueless view? It can also be used to access different areas on site will not just allow attendees to do this, but it will also capture their information.

Use cashless payments to create better experiences

Cashless payments are a real game-changer for events. Bar queues are, by far, the most annoying part of any big (or small) festival or concert. I will always remember that time when I missed half of Robbie Williams performance because I wanted to buy some beer water. Cashless payments dramatically reduce the waiting time for your attendees. A report conducted by American Express states that cashless payments are 63% faster than cash and 53% faster the standard card payments (but imagine having an internet problem…that would not be nice!). But speed is not the only benefit that cashless payments bring to the table. Cashless payments will also increase your revenue (reports state that incomes can go up to almost 30%) while decreasing fraud and loses. Here the main benefits of using a cashless payment solution:

  • Visitors tend to spend 15-30% more (Ex: By creating an entertainment micro-economy #coachella2017 managed to register a gross income of over $114 million)
  • Speeds up purchases & reduces queues
  • Minimize cash handling
  • Captures all sales
  • Control and transparency

Schedule a live demo to find out more about our cashless payment solution.

Attendee engagement

With the right tools, attendees are more likely to interact with your sponsors. And to make this process as easy as possible we have developed our integrated NFC technology so that it can be used to allow your partners to collect information from your attendees. With their explicit consent, of course.

Any attendee can express interest by simply tapping the wristband, allowing the exhibitor to collect data and follow up instantly. The flawless of this process encourages attendees to interact with the brands that they are interested in. They don’t need to spell their names or type in their email address, two of the most common reasons for which people tend to avoid sponsor interactions within festivals or concerts.

Picture of tablet and NFC reader and people in the background

There are many benefits of using NFC technology, but this article was just about 3 of them. Another important aspect is that having all that data in one place, you can use it to create better experiences within your future events.

July 16, 2018 Event management, Event professionals No comments yet

Event management world: small improvements to increase your revenue

                                                   –without increasing the ticket price-

As companies from every industry, event management companies to need to be profitable in order to survive. In my experience, money is not the main reason for which somebody starts a business in this industry, but even event planners have bills and salaries to pay. And unfortunately smiles, the best currency exchange in the industry, aren’t able to do it. Today’s article is based on a very simple principle (yet many times ignored) on how small changes can increase your revenue. The key is to look at the journey attendees have from the moment they first come into contact with your event until the moment your event is over (and even farther)pexels-photo-990818

From  prospects to buyers

When you first start marketing your event lots of people will see your message. But only a small percentage of them will convert into buyers. Assuming that 200.000 people hear your message and 2000 buy tickets to your event, this means you have a 1% conversion rate.

There are ways you can increase the conversion rate, and we have written multiple articles on this subject. You can write better marketing copy, use influential marketing or use the right social media tools for marketing. And later in this article, you will see why any small improvement can dramatically improve the overall financial result.

So, if your average ticket is 500 USD and you have 2000 paying attendees, your ticket revenue will be 1.000.000 USD. You have invested a considerable amount of money to convince people to come to your event, but let’s exaggerate and think that all of your attendees are the result of your marketing campaigns. A great experience will bring people back to your next event(s). And considering the fact that it’s 6-7 times more expensive to acquire a new client than to retain an existing one you should definitely make the most out of this opportunity.

good to know:

In average, event profs invest in marketing between 1 and 8 percent of what they expect the event to return. We can use a 4,5 average and consider that 45.000 USD brought you 2000 attendees (22,5 USD/attendee). A job done right gives you the opportunity to sell tickets to next year’s event for 4 USD to at least 15% of your current attendees. Of course, figures are not quite exact, but I am sure that you see where I am going.

On-site payments

But the revenue an attendee brings doesn’t limit to the ticket he pays for. If you are hosting a 2-day festival and attendees spend on average 100 USD per day, food and beverages will bring you 400.000 USD. But what if I tell you that Oveit can help you increase on-site revenues? Reports show that people tend to spend up to 30% more at events where a cashless payment system is in place. Using the right event management tool will definitely help you increase the revenue.

print screen with Oveit's digital wallet report

p.s. We know sponsorship is a crucial piece of the puzzle. And to help event planners offer a great experience for sponsors too, we have developed our NFC built-in technology so that it can be used to engage attendees and collect data. Read more here.

Increase your revenue: the practical example.

Scenario A:

So, the figures that we have until now are :

200.000 (prospects) X 1% (conversion rate) = 2000 (ticket buyers)

2000 (ticket buyers) X 500 USD(ticket price)= 1000000 USD (income)

+

2000 (attendees) X 200 USD (spent on-site)= 400.000 USD

total income: 1.400.000.

Assuming that you have a 20% profit rate you will make  280.000 USD profit

Scenario B:

Now, starting from this figures, let’s assume that you use our blog and technology and make just a few improvements. Maybe you refine your marketing strategy (better copy, better targeting etc.) and use an online ticketing system that allows you to sell tickets directly on your website. And buyers to use their mobile phones to place the order: your conversion rate goes from 1% to 1.5%.

200.000 (prospects) X 1.5% (conversion rate)= 3000 (ticket buyers)

3000 (ticket buyers) X 500 USD= 1.500.000

+

On-site, using Oveit’s cashless payments system, people spend 10% more, with an average of 220 USD.

3000 (attendees) X 220 USD= 660.000

Total income: 2.160.000

with the same 20% profit rate you will have 432.000 USD profit.

As you can see, just some small improvements can increase your revenue without increasing your ticket price. Having the right partners can be the difference between failure and success, so make sure that you choose a smart tool as your event management system. Read here another great example of how small changes can bring huge improvements.

June 18, 2018 Event management, Event professionals, Events 1 comment