Why use RFID and NFC technology within an event?

 Because it is simple, new and fun.

Weather you are a marketing agency or an event organizer you will always try your best in order to succeed organizing “the perfect event”.

EXHIBITION(1)

How do you ensure high-octane experiences within your participants and the overall experience?

No matter what kind of event you are hosting, technology is playing an essential role in order to maximize your consumer’s engagement.

The Near Field Communication (NFC) ushered in a new age of technology. This particular innovation, brings an added value to the traditional concept of events, representing the key solution in creating wired experiences.

NFC technology can be used via smartphones and other enabled badges and devices, with amazing benefits for both event hosts and attendees. Basically, it’s a small chip that allows 2 devices to talk to each other when they’re in close proximity.

What does NFC actually do?

Imagine you are attending an event. You booked your ticket online, registered and linked your social media profile to your registration.

When reaching the event you will be handed out a NFC wristband which will offer you instant access, connections, memories and chances to win sweepstakes.

Ticket, wallet and, why not, phone free!

The NFC wristband is uniquely programmed to you and allows you to tap on special designed locations in order to:

  • Purchase drinks and food
  • Check-in and shoot photos that can be automatically posted on your social media page
  • Participate in challenges and win prises
  • Rate  your favorite products or shows
  • Save playlists
  • Check your Geo-location and your friends’

At the end of the event you can access your own memory bank where all your journey is stored. From photos, music playlists, food you’ve liked and many others.

Benefits for Event Planners

  • Faster check in
  • Less Staff needed – diminished costs
  • Reduces queuing time
  • Eliminates ticket fraud incidents
  • Enhance Security
  • Managing permission to specific access areas and lockers
  • Collect information about attendees
  • Consumption
  • Track time spent in different points
  • Ratings of products
  • Inventory of gifts – reducing loses
  • Tailored content – send specific information to particular attendees
  • Gamification features (treasure hunt)
  • Instant survey submission at the end of the event
  • Data and statistics are gathered and shared with the organizers and sponsors for continued interaction with attendees as a tool for future campaigns

Benefits for Attendees

  • Faster check-in (less time spent in line)
  • Cashless wallet: tap & pay
  • Social Media Posting (Photos, Check-ins, Songs)from different interactions
  • Access digital content and information from own smartphones (maps, slides, planning of the event)
  • Vote and rate favorite products
  • Win sweepstakes
  • Interactive challenges to keep the customer engaged
  • Customized wristbands
  • Geo-location (self and friends)

Wristband properties

  • Cost effective
  • Creates interaction
  • High quality print
  • Water resistant and durable
  • Tamper evident closure for maximum security

Integrating  RFID and NFC technology within events is a simple process when using Oveit’s cashless payments solution and can have a significant impact. Knowing who your attendees are and what kind of interaction they are seeking is the most important thing that an event planner has to know. Once you know that, the rest is done by Oveit !

May 3, 2017 Concerts, Event management, Events, Festivals, Oveit Features 1 comment

3 ideas to improve your pre-event cash flow

The two superpowers that i’ve always craved for are avoiding the unavoidable and  expecting the unexpected. And even though the first still seems to be unachievable, experience brought me closer to the second. Or, to say the least, taught me that no matter how much I prepare myself things can still go wrong (what can i say…the world is independent of my will).

aranxa-esteve-130752_mini

And planning an event makes no exception when talking about things that can go wrong. Although you want to make sure that your marketing strategy helps you sell all the tickets (Fully Booked sounds great, i know) it’s crucial to have a strong financial plan. Assuming that you are not the happy owner of a Platinum Business Credit Card and that, like the rest of us, you too have to work for a positive cash flow, here are some ideas you can use:

An event’s main income sources are:   

Sponsorships and Advertising Revenue

Registration Fees and Ticket Sales

Merchandise Sales (T-Shirts, Mugs, etc.)

Audiovisual Material Sales (CDs, DVDs, etc.),

so let’s see how we can use these revenue streams to better our pre-event cash flow

Sponsorship and Advertising Revenue

This is the category that, by tradition, helps you start. But you have to choose wisely. Don’t waste your time by not researching first; make sure that you approach the right company or person. Research will help you see which companies are omnipresent sponsors, what companies are willing to associate with your event’s theme (ex: if your topic is “Sustainable Energy” you may try approaching someone from the Energy field) or who is interested in your audience’s demographics.

Registration Fees and Ticket Sales

Remember the days when you had to wait until after the event for your money? Those days are over! Today’s technology offers you the possibility to have instant access to your ticket sales income. So, if you start selling tickets 6 months before the event (using an event registration software), your event cash flow will start 6 months in advance (and you can therefore balance your budget better). A quick example is that you can use the early bird strategy for a limited number of seats. This way you can make sure you have cash to pay some suppliers.

Merchandise Sales and Audiovisual Material Sales 

This is the real fun part when it comes to pre-event income. Today you can have instant access to not only ticket sales cash but also merchandise sale. You can set a special ticket category where event entrance is bundled with a T-shirt, a mug or a DVD. You can use Oveit’s addons and benefits to make this happen.

Cash flow seems to be one of the main reasons for which startups or events fail.”A recent study showed that as many as 82 percent of startups fail due to poor cash flow management”, sir Richard Branson has said. So, when planning the killer event don’t forget to make a solid financial plan and to use these tips if you need the extra cash.

May 2, 2017 Event management 1 comment

Our event registration user-friendly interface receives recognition

We are both grateful and excited that, in less than a year since our international launch, Oveit has managed to reach Top 10 in Capterra’s Top 20 Most User-Friendly Event Management Software infographic. “The rankings are determined by an algorithm that awards points for usability, customer service and reviews” , said Rachel Wille, Senior Product Research Analyst at Capterra. When developing the event registration software we always had our users in mind so this recognition confirms that we are on the right path.

Our app helps you sell tickets (and create separate ticketing for you attendees), create registration forms and personalize registration e-mails. You receive payments instantly by connecting your payment processor account and, furthermore, Oveit helps you issue invoices automatically after payments are processed.

It has a been a short yet awesome ride for us till now. Our focus is to always keep improving and innovate within this dynamic and challenging industry. Oveit is making surpassing progress in event tech. We made it our mission to deliver increasingly user friendly Event Management tools while offering the latest technology such as RFID and NFC wearables.

April 28, 2017 Events No comments yet

Millennials value experiences over things.

Each step of millennials’ life is getting upgraded to a ubiquitous experience.  Either if it is about dining, traveling or the way they are shopping, the overall experience is becoming more and more important in order to create a sense of identity in their life.

Harris group found that millennials believe that living a meaningful and happy life isn’t about possessions and rather about creating memories through experiences. Their spending on live experiences and events relative to total U.S. consumer spending increased 70 percent comparing to the previous generation.

Why millennials trump things over experiences-

Creating a meaningful life through experiences

The concept of meaningful life, started markedly with the need of millennials to become more conscious regarding their emotional wellbeing and health. The need of experiences rather than things can be associated to a higher level of awareness brought by both self and social responsibility.

  • Eating habits changed (trying to eat more healthy and giving up meat);
  • Being aware of Carbon footprint- many people adopted eco friendly ways of transportation (bicycles or public transport)
  • Living a healthy life – serves as a “cultural semaphore for discipline and success”- Farrah Starr Evening Standard

Awareness of both positive and negative factors influencing our life is possible through the power of media, that grew exponentially in the past years. Most of the millennials are well informed with strong beliefs and eager to support different causes.

1% of Millennials are influenced by advertising

Only 1 percent of Millennials say they are influenced in any way by advertising (Elite Day). Millennials don’t trust what the brand has to say about itself. They need to believe in it in order to adopt it, and the best way of doing this is through memorable experiences. These experiences will allow them to identify themselves and their values with the brand’s.

The experience offered by an event is unique because it gives not one but 3 stages: the anticipation, the event itself and the memories after. “Not only does that final stage last forever, but you can also share it”(Jack Huang, Bloomberg).

Millennials expect their whole life to be an experience full of excitement. An experience that can generate a familiar bouquet of beliefs that matches their core values. Consequently most of millennials are anxious about challenges that not only correspond to their values but as well will help promote their personal identity through social media. The use of brands has an important role in creating a higher impact and credibility for their social media content.

Experience is the ultimate status symbol

Millennials are more prone to adopt and become loyal to a brand with whom they shared a memorable experience. Succeeding in doing this will end up being beneficial for both parties. The brand will win new adopters and the adopters will start to develop a shared identity with the brand’s core values. This may be considered the key milestone in the process of acquiring new adopters and especially millennials.

Millennials love brands who bring experiences

  • 82% say they noticed a brand sponsoring at an event
  • 1 in 3 have a more positive opinion of that brand after the even  (Pandora Advertising 2016)

Boomers spent 12% less on experiences

Comparing Millennials with the Boomers Generation, their spending on experiences grew with 12% and they are considered “digital natives” with 43.5 percent of them who say they use social media to spread the word about products or services.

67% Millennials prefer investing in experiences

With the desire of creating as many memorable experiences as possible, 67 percentage of Millennials would rather spend their money on ‘experiences’ than ‘things’’; from which 75 percentage of women prefer experiences over things than 58.5 percentage man. (Pandora Advertising, 2016)

Brands or organisations that create experiences for their audience need to truly “get”  Millennials in order to engage with them appropriately and create an opportunity to differentiate themselves in the marketplace and forge long-term relationship with their customers.

What does it mean to truly “get” Millennials?

Being true and following your mission at all times. Having the vision to aspire high and always greed of offering your consumer the best quality, price and services.

And nevertheless immerse your consumers in memorable experiences because today experiences are like a merry-go-round – you can never get off.

Further reading:

https://www.bcg.com/documents/file103894.pdf

https://s1.q4cdn.com/959385532/files/doc_downloads/research/2016-Millennials-and-Money-Research-Report.pdf

https://pandoraadvertising.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/experiences_are_unforgettable2.pdf

April 26, 2017 Events 2 comments

Embrace technology for a great event

You have crafted a plan for the perfect event. A well-known influencer/artist is the keynote speaker/leading star, you have a long long list of sponsors, great venue, excellent catering and a perfect weather forecast (ok, this in fact is a myth, but you get the picture). So, as a friend of mine likes to say, you are “jacked up and good to go”.

But the work is only half done (to say the least) and here are a few things that can go terribly wrong of surprisingly well (luckily today’s event management technology can help you).

Delivering tickets

Tickets. Maybe you have the perfect marketing plan and everyone hears about your event but, if your attendees need to go the extra mile to buy them, then you have a problem. If you use social media for marketing make sure that the ticket is only a few clicks away from your fb/twitter/instagram account (better said a few screen touches away). Every extra step that the customer has to take to buy your ticket decreases the chances that he will actually finish the process. Here’s a hint: use an event registration software that allows you to sell tickets on your personal site/blog.

Check-in and registration

One of the most annoying things in the world is waiting in the line with a paid ticket in your phone (3 years ago i would’ve said pocket). Today you can use a simple application (downloaded on your personal phone) to check-in your guests and have real time access to relevant data about who arrived when. Don’t disrespect your customers by making them wait while you verify printed check-lists.

Do more with a ticket

Help attendees do more with just one ticket. For example,at a concert, the VIP tickets can include a free t-shirt, a backstage pass and 2 bottles of water, all in the same QR code. The same e-ticket (stored on your client’s phone) will be used at the front gate, at the bar, at the souvenir shop and at backstage entrance.

Embrace technology, offer a memorable experience to your clients and the word will spread like wildfire.

April 21, 2017 Events No comments yet