Most of us think about technology on a mostly two-dimensional plane as we flick our fingers across a touch screen. But today’s tech includes applications that are far from flat.
What if you could control all primary aspects of major events-like trade shows, big weddings and awards ceremonies-through your iPad or smartphone; imagine shutting everything down at the end of a long and exhausting night by pushing one button on your phone.
These are just some of the functions that are possible today.
Lights, climate control, projectors and monitors, curtains, fountains and much more can be controlled with an app, and the data that you take away from trade shows can be used to quickly follow up on sales leads.
Here are my three favorite new technologies:
Pre-show: Event Management Software
This one-stop source for managing every detail about your event- from FedEx tracking numbers to vendor contact information to photos from the show- allows you to manage multiple events from any location. In the past, we carried all the details for each show in one huge binder. If you were at a show in Texas and someone called with a question about the show in Orlando, you wouldn’t have that information handy. Event management software relies on cloud storage, so members of your team can access it from their smartphone or iPad no matter where they are. Another benefit: You’ve got just one place to input all that data.
During the Show: Remote Sensors
Sensors built into the walls of an exhibit allow you to control all of the electronics from your smartphone or iPad. Not only does it save time, it’s an easy way to add valuable theatrics during a demonstration. This can also be used at events: Say you’re standing at the back of the room and you realize the speaker can’t be heard; you just turn up the volume on his mic, right from your iPad. Or, if you want to create special effects using lighting and room temperature, you can dim the lighting and drop the temperature. My favorite feature? At the end of a long day, rather than walking from one device to the next, shutting off each, you press just one button and turn everything off while walking out the door.
Post-show: Sales Leads Follow-Up
Seventy percent of exhibitors who capture sales leads at trade shows don’t collect qualifying information, according to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR). Scanners collect only the most basic data from visitors to each booth-there’s no way of knowing whether they were a hot lead ready to buy or someone who stopped by for a free T-shirt. Now, however, event management software allows exhibitors to include qualifying information every time a visitor’s badge is scanned. At the end of the event, you can quickly see who your hottest leads were and send them an email or postcard before you’ve even left the event.
For planners who’ve been hamstrung by personnel cutbacks in recent years, these new tools are lifesavers. The days of The Jetsons have arrived.
Ann Windham
Ann Windham is the president and CEO of Imagine Xhibits, a McKinney, Texas-based full-service trade show marketing company that offers custom designed exhibits using modular components.
