All of the team here at Etherlive are excited about the challenges and opportunities 2013 will bring. As always, budgeting and planning are afoot in event organiser and production offices.
We’ve put together our list of technologies which we think will make a difference in 2013.
- The personal portal – Maximising the value of the smart devices carried by event attendees (60% of the UK population now own a smartphone) to deliver content will be critical. Events can use QR codes to link real world information to digital content.
- The smaller screen – Technology research company Gartner predict that more people will visit websites using a smart device rather than PCs for the first time in 2013. Is your site optimised for smaller screens? Is your ticket buying process as quick as it can be when using a smart device?
- Cashless paying technology – This has been talked about for many years, but now that real large sale deployments have become commonplace, it’s only a matter of time before event customers start looking for bars and concessions accepting either cashless cards or RFID wristbands; this is simply because the purchase will be quicker and the risks associated with carrying a lot of cash around will be negated. Those who leverage cashless will reap the rewards of attendees’ increased spends.
- The personal cloud – Services like Dropbox and iCloud allow photos and other content from smart devices to be instantly uploaded to secure online storage. With more and more data being uploaded to online storage services, cellular networks will be put under even more pressure during live shows to keep up with demand.
- Content re-use – More and more events will begin to re-use the content generated from speaker presentations or on stage shows (rights pending!) either for those who can’t attend and would like to buy a virtual ticket, or those interested in simply purchasing the content afterwards. If it can’t be sold directly, the content can be shared via social media throughout the year to keep the event in people’s minds.
2013 – A mountain to climb