1. Sign into eEvent. If you set it up under an organization, the members can sign in under their own account. If not, you will have to sign into your personal eEvent account on all machines. There’s no problem with being logged into multiple machines.
2. Go to the “Manage Event” screen of your event and look for the new entry in the menu, called “Check-In Kiosk”. If you’d like to see it and practice before the event, just go to your public event page and add “/checkin” to the end of the url. You will be able to check people in for practice. Don’t worry – you can check them back out again. More on that in a bit.
3. Make sure that the cursor is on the field in the middle of the kiosk screen. The cursor automatically places itself in the field when the page loads and after each check-in, but sometimes the check-in person clicks off the screen for some reason. In our experience, this is the most common reason for check-in errors.
4. Go ahead and enter in a registered guest or scan someone for practice. Since we store everything in the Cloud, the information automatically syncs to all logged machines. This prevents someone from copying tickets and trying to check-in multiple times.
5. Troubleshooting: Go to the “Manage Attendees” screen. Above the list there is a search field. As you type, it will automatically sort the list- you don’t even have to press enter. When you find the entry you’re looking for, use the drop-menu on the far right to select the action you want to take. If you go back to the check-in kiosk after using the manage attendees screen, remember to click on the data field in the middle of the page!

Yesterday was a wonderful validation for eEvent’s online marketing tools and all of the hard work we’ve put into our streamlined checkin process.

For the last 14 years, The New Albany Classic has been raising money for the Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence with their combination carnival, concert and equestrian show. It takes place on the beautiful Wexner estate in New Albany, Ohio, and is definitely a step above any other event of this type we’ve been to. They have top-notch bands, like Big Time Rush and New Hollow, and Olympian-level equestrians, to sweeten the deal.

All in all, this event has every ingredient to create a super-engaged community around it, and they showed up in droves after having sold out of tickets four days before. We stood by with a legion of volunteers, ready to help the check-in crew… and it was never needed. At peak times, when 1900 people scanned their tickets in under 30 minutes, there was not even the beginning of a line forming.

A beautiful day, a wonderful cause, a sold out event and a fantastic validation for eEvent!

You’ve got the list of names, and maybe some email addresses too. Perhaps a company name and title, too. But do you really know your guests? Do they really feel connected enough with you to show up? Buying a ticket doesn’t mean that they’ll actually share and attend events!

Do what's appropriate for the occasion.

Guest Post by: Bill Post of 123 Print

Peeking out from among junk mailers and bills, a pastel linen package catches your eye. Your name appears elegantly swirled across the front. An embossed foil seal beckons you to open the envelope. It’s an invitation. A wedding, perhaps, or party? A christening? Or a fundraiser? Maybe a shower for an engagement or an expected birth? No matter the occasion, that invitation provides your first impression for an impending event, and it’s evident the host took great care to ensure you feel welcome.

We’ve all felt that surge of excitement over discovering an invitation, so when planning an event, we want guests to experience the same special thrill over receiving a beautifully crafted invite; we also want them to show up. So what makes an invitation irresistible? From the materials to the message, here are 10 tips for designing invitations that will have friends and family replying “yes.”

1. Take the best route. Determine the ideal method for sending your request: print or electronic. If the event falls into the casual category, an email will probably suffice, but if it’s classier in nature, a more formal invitation may be called for. Don’t feel like you’re cheating guests with the former – opening a creatively crafted email can be just as satisfying as tearing into an envelope.
2. Be fashionably on time. Allow plenty of time to select a design, place the order, review any needed proofs (leaving wiggle room to make changes saves time and money), and get invitations out. You’ll want to give guests appropriate notice, typically six to eight weeks prior to a proper affair and two to three before a relaxed get-together. Experts also suggest mailing “Save the Date” cards a few weeks in advance for events on holidays or other in-demand days.
3. Have the correct address. The way you address invites should correspond to the event and your familiarity with the recipient. For dressier occasions, dress up your addresses with proper titles and surnames; for laid-back festivities among a comfortable crowd, feel free to be more conversational.
4. Arrive in style. Whether it arrives in the mail or email box, your invitation has just a few seconds to grab guests’ attention. Be concise yet clear with an email subject line so the recipient can quickly garner its contents. And with printed pieces, don’t limit yourself to the plain white jacket. The market offers an endless array of eye-catching envelopes to match your event’s character.
5. Get the look. In today’s visual society, high-quality graphic design is a must. But don’t go overboard – simple layouts often get the best responses. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t play around with unique shapes, interesting folds, various paper stocks, and creative finishes such as embossing, foil stamping, or varnish. Or think outside the cardstock box and develop an invitation from a 3-D object. If your invitation includes several components, such as a map, hotel information, menu, or response cards, the components should all coordinate.
6. Keep it short and sweet. An invitation’s primary duty is to get guests to show up, so don’t make them work too hard to get there. Be concise and serve up just the important details: date, time, location, and any other necessary information, like availability of food/beverages and specific dress code. Also remember that too many words on one line can look cluttered, so break up text across multiple lines with smartly placed spaces.
7. Be careful how you say it. Adopt a voice appropriate to the situation as well as the guest. Invitations that use an overly casual tone may be ignored, while those that are too grandiose and elaborate could be hard to follow.
8. Find your personality type. Fonts provide a simple way to play up the character of your event, whether it’s elegant, relaxed, or themed. Just keep in mind that guests should be able to easily read the type. It does no good to announce your good news if invitees can’t make out the time or place of the celebration. Experts suggest limiting yourself to two typefaces for any one invitation; in fact, one typeface, when displaying in varying weights, may be quite enough.
9. Get a positive response. Do you want a reliable head count or just a ballpark? If you need to know exact numbers, steer clear of “Regrets Only” and ask guests to RSVP by a particular date. (Phone any holdouts a few days before the event.) If you’re willing to wing it, the “Regrets” route could save you from fielding an overwhelming number of yay and nay calls. No matter what, be sure to include clear contact information.
10. Add the finishing touch. To make sure your invitation creation has look and finish you desire, from colors to materials, partner with an experienced printer who has demonstrated quality work. Be sure to seek out store samples and trusted recommendations so that you know what to expect.

Bill Post, Small Business Research Analyst, provides research on issues of concern to small businesses for 123Print.com Custom Business Cards. Prior to his involvement with 123Print, Bill was a small business owner himself, providing marketing and branding services to other small businesses in the Washington, DC metro area. Before working with 123Print on Business Cards, Bill also spent several years after receiving his degree in the fast-paced corporate world. It was there that Bill not only honed the skills he uses to help small businesses get ahead, but where he realized that he’d rather help the little guy prosper than make huge corporations money.

The Meeting Professional’s List for Promoting Yourself or Your Company on Social Media Channels by Michelle Bruno of A Fork in the Road

Event Industry leader Michelle Bruno gives some great event planning advice about saving time, prioritizing and making sure your bases are covered using social media for event planning and promotion. Use this post like a checklist if you’re not sure you have made the most of your social media presence.

Eight Ways to Stop Trashing Food at Events, by Shawna McKinley of Sustainable Destinations

Sustainable event advocate Shawna McKinley describes eight ways to be waste-conscious with catered events. Everyone benefits!

Guest posts by Emily Breder of the eEvent blog

Emily was asked to be the blogger for eEvent in part because of her knowledge of social media and passion for learning about new technology. Check out some of her event planning advice: Eight Ways to Use QR Codes to Create More Engaging Events on McCurry’s Corner and Tips for getting More Engagement on your Event or Business Facebook Page on Engage 365.

Attendees hate Your Event – Here’s Why by Keith Johnston of PlannerWire

You may know what, but you may not know why. Chicago-based event planner Keith Johnston lays it all out and gives it to you straight.

Get event planning advice here

There is some really fantastic event planning advice from some stellar event planners on the web. eEvent will continue to collect and curate it for you here on the eEvent blog. You can also subscribe to the eEvent newsletter (on the right) and feed, plus check out the Event Professionals’ Master Feed that Emily created.

eEvent was one of the first 100,000 sites to implement the Facebook Send button. Using this, your guests can help get the word out about your events even easier by tagging people and sending them a message on Facebook instead of having to post events directly to their walls. This lets them be more targeted in their efforts to help you promote. Your guests will appreciate this easy method of sharing on Facebook.

Facebook app slideshow

We have a new slideshow that shows exactly how to post your event on Facebook so all your registrations are centralized. Check it out:

The first #Bizbash Twitter chat, moderated by Icon Presentation‘s Jenise Fryatt and Lindsay Fultz of Middle Child New Media, had the topic event marketing strategies using social media. I made a point of making the time to attend this one. I was not disappointed.

Q-1 - How do you use social media to market your events? #bizbash

June 14, 2011 3:40 pm via TweetChatReplyRetweetFavorite

@JeniseFryatt

Jenise Fryatt

This provoked a wide variety of answers from the group:

• Build social sharing into the registration process
• Network before event with your social media accounts
• Ask bloggers to participate and help promote
• Use Twitter lists to announce speakers and attendees
• Create buzz to encourage attendance
• Use a hashtag for the city and state to reach larger audience
• Host interviews and contests on YouTube
• Provide a sample tweet to encourage participation
• Monitor hashtags and contact the people who use it individually
• Ask for opinions and answers to questions of potential attendees

In short, social media is a solid item in most event marketing strategies. It depends on the needs of the event and the event planners. These suggestions all revolve around making the content of the event available beforehand, from guest and speaker lists to topical links and media. Best of all, you can make real connections beforehand so that you aren’t strangers when you meet at the event.

Q-2 How do you know when your efforts to engage attendees on social media are successful? #bizbash

June 14, 2011 3:55 pm via TweetChatReplyRetweetFavorite

@JeniseFryatt

Jenise Fryatt

The most popular method mentioned was to use specific registration codes for each social platform, but this and other systems seem prone to error. People use a lot more social media than the most popular ones, from topical forums to private messages, and may not use a special registration code at all or could get the code from friends. Other suggestions, such as looking at account follows and knowing that conversation is happening, just don’t offer enough data. These anomalies skew results and make social media use hard to measure.

Then there are the known quantities- hours spent checking back on links, keeping spreadsheets and tallying data to compare once the event is over. Even at successful events, knowing that the conversation is continuing is not enough to warrant so much time and effort when it’s time to tally up the time and money spent on these event marketing strategies.

It all sounds like a headache to me. If you tweet, post it on Facebook, put it in LinkedIn and email it, you may know that sales increase but which effort actually worked? Who was it that actually shared the link to get “butts in seats”? One person shares it to ten people, and only one person signs up. But that person puts it in their newsletter and gets twenty more people to sign up, all with the code created just to measure Facebook users.

You want to know who that person is, not just the code they used.  Admittedly, I’m biased, but I prefer eEvent’s no-nonsense method, which counts the number of registrations a single guest has promoted with their unique url on a leaderboard. You know who your event ambassadors are by looking at the event page.

Want a registration tool that gives you the power of word-of-mouth?

I know we r tweeting but what social media channel is best fb or twitter #bizbash

June 14, 2011 3:59 pm via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite

@ErinGraceEvents

Erin Grace

This is a popular question in all fields, not just event planning. I don’t even know how many social profiles I have, because I like to try out new apps. It would be total insanity to try and maintain a presence on all of them. As Liz King of Liz King Events put it:

Not every tool works for every organization. That's why I'm a fan for quality over quantity. No one needs 2 b on 25 social networks #bizbash

June 14, 2011 4:05 pm via TweetChatReplyRetweetFavorite

@lizkingevents

Liz King

Twitter is ideally suited to events because it is *live* conversation, so you can actively communicate with people around, outside, before and after an event. Facebook is ideal for long-term relationships. LinkedIn is great for business networking, but can be a harder nut to crack. The opinions here were widespread:

A3) both. Twitter and FB. Reaching diff audiences. #bizbash. Find ones that are connected on twitter I connect later on FB and visaversa.

June 14, 2011 4:07 pm via Twitter for BlackBerry®ReplyRetweetFavorite

@LindsayFultz

Lindsay Fultz

@ErinGraceEvents I treat them both completely separate. I use fb 4 visual elements and twitter for short and sweet phrases! #bizbash

June 14, 2011 4:08 pm via TweetChatReplyRetweetFavorite

@TheYoungGoGettr

Liz Newman

The platform changes with the network. Even on Twitter, for example, there is a complex system of filtering out who to follow and who-knows-how-many networks inside of networks in that one platform. Facebook is no different, but the networks tend to be more specific to the person, and not the industry or topic. I use both, but for events I find that Twitter is far more active.

Leave your answers to the questions posed in the comments below!

Got more to say? Check out our Follow-Up Questionnaire!

Related article: When #Byzhub Hit Trending Topics on Twitter

Mike McCurry

Mike McCurry, the author of the popular blog McCurry’s Corner and a long-time event planning industry professional and technology advocate, gives us some insight on the value of building professional relationships online.

Don’t believe social media can forge strong professional relationships?

Experienced event industry pro Mike McCurry began experimenting with Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook just before the recession and quickly realized the remarkable kinds of connections that social technology can make possible when used in a genuine way. With no background in web development and after some initial experimentation with tools and platforms to see which was best for his needs, he built a blog of his own and began managing and growing more professional relationships online. The engagement on his blog and hashtag conversations on Twitter quickly turned into phone conversations, and the community grew offline.

He met Liz Strauss on Twitter, who is a founder of the Successful Online Business Conference (SOBCon). “After we were introduced online, I called her and attended SOBCon. The celebrities I met there, and the technology and events at SOBCon made it an amazing experience.”

There he met Steve Farber, an outstanding author and public speaker on leadership, JJ French, a manager and guitarist for Twisted Sister, Hank Wasiake of Asset-Based Thinking and a host of others, all initiated through Twitter and culminating in face-to-face engagement.

Mike has since hired Hank and Steve to speak at events with Experient and PCMA, invited Liz Strauss to speak at  Eventcamp and Hank to appear on Kiki L’Italien’s Social Media Sweet Spot web show on Friday. Kiki and Mike are now close friends and she’s attended Eventcamps too, a event series which Mike co-founded.

“We might have met at a conference or something, but online engagement has created more opportunities,” Mike says, “which also reach offline. It’s an incredibly fertile place to get new ideas and build amazing relationships. Many friends I’ve met online are friends for life, relationships that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.”

Mike’s story is special because of how much he’s done with the same technology we all have available to us. While it’s true that there are many weak connections online, that’s because there are so many more connections than there were before, and we can only give care and attention to so many. To cement the connections that are mutually beneficial, it’s important to eventually meet offline and conduct business. These acts require trust and an open mind, which people are often afraid to display online. Mike McCurry knew that to break into new territory, you have to not just see the potential of the path, but to follow it into the jungle.

You can find out more by checking out Mike’s blog and Twitter account, and by following the #eventprofs hashtag on Twitter!

Trade show booth marketing is big business

The real reach of events is over three times more than the actual attendance. How is this possible? Word of Mouth. – Event Marketing Institute

Word of mouth is by far the most potent form of marketing, reports say- and this is easy to see from our own experience too. When someone recommends a product or experience, we are 70% more likely to follow through. The most valuable information is, who is the person spreading the word the most, and what’s the best way to get them to keep sharing for you?

Aurora Exhibits recently approached us to ask for help finding their top influencers by posting smaller events within the trade show, and to help their clients with trade show booth marketing ideas. There are many strategies for maximizing your booth setup, but you can also set up events beforehand to help with trade show booth marketing and invite people they’d like to connect with at the event. They can then offer their giveaways to the Top Ambassador using the Social Rewards program. By creating events before the trade show and connecting with people before they ever get there, they can make the most of the time, money and effort put into their booths and tables.

Some offers are for the usual prizes offered for trade show booth marketing such as iPads or other devices and goodies, but some creative booths are using the events as a coupon to encourage people to redeem them. This not only collects the information they want about their potential clients, but also gives an additional, filtered list of people that are more motivated – the people who actually redeemed them. It’s important to use the check-in process for this additional list to be accurate.

Does this strategy work?

Case Study: Columbus Asian Festival 2011

The Asian Festival also decided to try this by offering a $1 off coupon for ice cream. Not only did this have a clear incentive for the guest that is relevant to the event, but the business received the information they needed – email addresses of motivated consumers and brand awareness.

Although this was posted less than 48 hours before the event, the festival planners were able to get 32 people to sign up for the coupon and present it at the booth mainly using Twitter. It’s possible to track efforts like this somewhat through apps like Twitter, but there is a lot of dependence on people remembering hashtags and account names, plus the additional word of tracking the information manually. Small business owners and event planners just don’t have the time.

When you’re planning an event and trying to get the word out, remember: you can’t market without the goodwill of your guests, and knowledge is power. Use eEvent to give you the power of word of mouth.

Check out the Learning Center for more information on making a viral event!

I’ve worked in the trade show business for about 15 years exhibiting, consulting for and coaching exhibitors on their trade show management strategy and even coaching show producers on their sponsorship packages. In 2008 my consulting business took a nosedive when the PhRMA Code changes were anticipated, then the economy tanked in 2009.

I had the wild idea that the best way to ensure I had a job was to produce my own event, a new consumer health and fitness fair.  I partnered with a local meeting planner Debbie Anmuth-Hunt of Eventive Productions and we formed Live Well Expos.  After all my experience working with trade shows, how hard could it be, right?

Here is what I learned over the next ten months:

1. Get insurance advice from a professional you trust.

Insurance policies are not written in a language that’s easy to understand. I had the luxury of having Paul Cook of Clarity Event Insurance in the UK as a friend.  He spent hours on the phone with me going over every line in my policy to make certain I knew what was covered and what was not.  (Paul, can you please open an office in the US?)

2. Build money for technology into your budget.

We managed all our registrations and exhibit sales on spreadsheets.  I was working at least 18-hour days to keep up with everything and some things still ended up slipping through the cracks.  There are great registration and planning tools out there that are not that expensive in the scheme of things.  Budget for them right away.  They should not be an optional item.

3. Exhibit sales are unpredictable.

As an experienced exhibitor, I knew what exhibitors wanted and needed, but things had changed with the economy.  Exhibitors were not reserving space a year in advance.  Six months out, we had no exhibitors and our target was 50.  Three months out, we had four.  Two weeks out we had 20 and just five days before we had 45 exhibitors.

Don’t hinge your emotional stability on your exhibitor sales. Keep the drama level as low as possible so you can focus on providing the best value possible.

4. Develop exhibit packages based on demand.

We put together several different exhibit packages with excellent marketing opportunities to fit every budget.  No one cared.  What we found out too late was everyone was just too busy to take advantage of our very complicated packages.  We will be spending a lot more time this year finding out what would truly be helpful to our sponsors and exhibitors by asking them directly.

5. You have to adapt on the fly.

Our very first year, we changed locations of our main stage in the middle of the event because we saw it was not getting enough traffic.  This year we changed the layout of our show floor four times the day of set-up.  We were hauling tables and pipe and drapes all over the place.  The only thing that was important was that we got it right, and it worked because we were able to adapt in the moment.

Be not afraid!

Creating your own trade shows and expos is challenging and exciting, but also a lot of fun.   You’ll never know everything, but as long as you surround yourself with people with more experience as well as people with skills you don’t have, the expertise you need will always be available to you.

Don’t get too hung up on the details.  As long as you stay true to your goals and objectives the details will have a way of working themselves out.  When your day finally arrives, make sure you take the time to enjoy it.  The people who came are the ones who were meant to be there and you must put on your best show for them.

Thanks to Traci Browne for contributing this post! If you have a story to contribute, please contact me on Twitter. – Emily

I first saw Pixal Paint at the Spotlight Awards at Event Solutions earlier this year and immediately started playing with it. The huge screen was an eye-catching feature that dominated the outdoor space and attracted people to give it a try.

The most interesting part of this digital painting application is the way people react to coworkers they didn’t know had creativity, like businessmen and CEOs, who were able to create interesting artwork on the spot. “Pixal Paint makes it possible for the guests to become the creators of the artwork,” Beth said.

They’ve projected the paintings on surfaces including walls and people, starting with the Miss USA tent at Event Solutions 2010. Pixal Paint uses different tools like pens, guns and others to draw on the projector screen. Paintball guns can be adapted with a splatter effect and they’re always looking at more creative uses of the app.

At one event, models were dancing with the laser and drawing on each other, the paintings showed up on the models’ white dresses. Another event sponsored by Boomerang Television was decorated as an urban environment, with break dancing instruction and a DJ. Beth and TJ modified spray cans to get kids to make urban art on the digital screen and provided coloring page templates for the younger children. People instinctively shook the spray can, even though it wasn’t necessary, so Beth and TJ added a shaker to the can for a more realistic effect.

Pixal Paint runs on a laptop, uses two drawing tools (cans, pens, guns, etc.) and two cameras to project the image. They usually also have a printer so that guests can bring home a souvenir. If you’re interested in using Pixal Paint at one of your events, visit www.PixalPaint.com or contact Beth Watson at beth@creativebackstage.com/ Phone 480.329.6756. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter!

Read more event technology articles!

That’s right, we finally have the option to create an online event without a physical location! Learn more about creating online event!

Improved Invitations

When you send an invitation now, you can set it up and save the invite before sending, so that you can go back and send the same one again later if you get a few more names.

Rupiah formatting

The more moneys we accept, the more places you can sell tickets!

Improved donations interface

Now you can enter donations in a few different ways. You can accept donations to your event if you are selling paid tickets.

Printable Badges Sorting

Now you can sort by first name, last name and registration date.

Bugs fixed: Email invites, mass emails, Excel downloads

“Mediacoach is my media training and social media consultancy.  I speak about media and social media. I’m a big cheese,” he quips. “I use Twitter constantly, Facebook occasionally and LinkedIn for business contacts. I’m never without my MacBook Pro and my Android phone.”

There is still a learning curve for social media, one of the reasons this type of coaching is needed. Live broadcast of conversation is ideal for events, so he says Twitter is a key tool for engagement. “It’s a useful backchannel for speakers like me too; I ask my audience to tweet while I am speaking, run surveys in real time and tweet my presentation ‘live’ to people outside the hall.”

A Case Study at the NSA Annual Convention

The same thing will happen in Los Angeles this August at the NSA Annual Convention. “In previous years, with no outside organization, people simply created their own channels on Twitter. The communication is not exactly spontaneous, but a bit unplanned.”

Several impromptu tweetups were held at the NSA Annual Convention after comments made in workshops, or just over a coffee. Since many of the delegates were connected on Twitter, it was possible to pull together a group in just a couple of hours to discuss an issue or solve a problem.

“I’m always impressed by events organized by the National Speakers Association (NSA) in the US – around 1,500 people communicating constantly via mobile and web, as well as watching colleagues on stage in Orlando, Florida last year,” he adds. “A lot of the event could be followed simply by having a mobile phone. Smartphones are especially useful within large events,” he explains, “ for networking and navigating [and] for alerting delegates to special happenings.” The NSA Annual Convention 2010 seemed to be no exception with it’s great use of technology.

The Right Elements

Technology and apps can also work to keep a team connected if the right elements are there. “My film crews tend to use standard broadcast technology. We’re moving more into ‘hybrid’ systems incorporating social media. Though,” Alan adds, “the old telephone still works best.”

Adrian Segar

Adrian Segar, Director of Eventcamps and author of Conferences That Work, focuses on making connections at business events.

“Connections turn into more business value than just learning a piece of information to apply,” Adrian says. “They can always watch someone talk on video. Why would they want to just watch someone talk if they can’t engage with other people while they’re there?”

It’s a sign of the times that events are turning away from places to get people to know about your website, and back towards places to connect with them in person. “You can’t replicate face-to-face contact on the internet.” Adrian says. “Events can facilitate conversations with people. Offering seven or eight major forms of participant engagement at large events, or having each person at a small event answer three questions briefly to the entire group, helps build the relationships, and from the relationships comes value.”

Unconference prompts a successful career change

His method of conference is called an ‘unconference’, because the activities are decided by the participants at the event. For Jenise Fryatt, it was especially helpful. The unconference-style event “pushed me out of my comfort zone,” Jenise said, “and now I’m focused on doing the thing I love the most.”

Jenise Fryatt

It was at EventCamp East Coast 2010 in Philadelphia and a small group did a ’round table’, each person answering three questions about themselves. Jenise Fryatt, who then ran an A/V company, said at the round table she does Improv. After the Round Table, they asked participants to write down workshops they’d like participants to give based on what they had said.

“One man said, ‘If I write down Improv, will you do a session?’,” Jenise said. “In Improv, you always say ‘Yes, and…’, so I agreed. The session the next day was a big hit and everyone had a lot of fun.”

On the final day of Eventcamps, everyone got together for one final roundtable session to discuss what they got out of the event. “I stated my intention to pursue teaching Improv at events, something I’ve always thought would be a great idea. Afterward, a lady I admire offered to be my mentor, and a man who was on the board of directors for another event asked me to do an Improv session at his event.”

“No program committee would have thought of Improv for an event planning conference,” Adrian says of this incident. “It started a whole new career line for her.”

Thanks to Adrian and Jenise for taking the time to talk with me!

Find out more about the people in this article:
Adrian Segar: Twitter ~ Consulting ~ Conferences That Work
Jenise Fryatt: Twitter ~ Sound ‘n Sight ~ Engage 365

One of Kamikaze’s clients is Byzhub, a client that holds a monthly meetup and annual anniversary meetup in Vancouver. At this particular event, the venue was The Charles Bar, which had big screen TV’s and smaller TV’s all over the bar. They hooked up the Byzhub to the screen and watched the event unfold.

Live conversation combined with live conversation broadcasting is a magical combination at events. It spelled up to instant press at the Byzhub event. At least nine bloggers wrote posts about the event, and the massive engagement at the event put #Byzhub on the trending topics on Twitter. You can see their blog post about this year’s Byzhub event here.

Read: 3 Steps to Twitter Engagement at Events

Moving the engagement offline

But Raj was cautionary about forgetting to convert the engagement offline. “If you’re promoting something online, you should supplement it with offline. The lifecycle of a tweet is so low [and] noise is so high online.” Bringing it back offline and into face-to-face interactions is key, especially with something as fleeting as trending topics on Twitter.

“Build an offline business based on building online community,” Raj adds. “Its’s a different audience, but when you do it right and keep the community feeling between the two, you can bring people together at events.” Which is, of course, the point of it all.

Traditional news media

Raj says it’s also important to provide an online media kit and a press release to the media outlets, too. “With online interaction you can link to a blog and refer back to other media and reporters are using your online popularity as a measure to enhance articles, ” she adds. “So give them the resources they need to support your promotions.”

You can find out more and contact Raj at Kamikaze PR at their website and blog.

Read more event technology articles!

Everyone is using online registration these days, from Facebook to Posterous, and that’s not even mentioning the scads of event management software out there. Because of this event software embarrassment of riches, one of the worst parts of event planning online is getting the event description on each one- cut and paste, link and repeat, over and over. But we feel like we have to to reach people on their own social networks individually.

The worst part is that there are always stragglers, people that RSVP on Meetup or another site and never get on the main guest list, which is on another site or your main website. It is a HUGE pain to sell more tickets in this environment.

When you create an event here, you can automatically generate events on most major platforms, including a plugin for WordPress-based websites. When you use the Facebook and WordPress plugins, guests can register and share your event without ever knowing you’re using a different site to sell more tickets. Pretty handy, huh?

When you use eEvent, your guests can share your events on their social media sites, so you don’t have to keep up with trends or maintain a lot of accounts while you sell tickets. It tracks their sharing on the event leaderboard, making it fun for the guests to participate and easy for you to see who is your top influencer.  You can reward that person at the event with something special- priority access, a sponsored prize or another future benefit. It’s up to you!

Here are some of our most recent updates to the system. We hope you like them!

• Automatic Facebook events
• Automatic Meetup events
• New Top Ambassador badges (So cute- see picture above) Custom badges available!
• Options to collect more information from guests
• Mass coupon code generator, a time saver!
• WordPress widgets- Calendar and RSVP widgets, plus more on request
• Organization can be created with just name and email
• We now support the Canadian dollar! Fees are the same.
• Invite decline option for invitees
• Custom domains (In case you missed it…)
• Fixed various bugs

Stay tuned for more updates!

“We’ve been all over the country at concerts promoting Trojan Condoms’ newest campaign and which received enthusiastic responses from the audience. It’s difficult for people to see just how impressive this level of engagement is without actually getting them inside a dome.”

Trojan created a video with Full Dome technology that featured elements of space, rollercoasters and some humorous ‘pigs’ (guys who didn’t use condoms) to be projected at concerts that really got the kids motivated. The information splashed on asteroids and other objects were retained well after the experience and created a huge buzz for the brand. “Kids were throwing up their hands during the rollercoaster and talking animatedly about the message on their way out. You could tell that they were really engaged and wouldn’t forget about it any time soon.”

Event planners, venues and other products are getting on board, setting up live tours of facilities and exciting adventures that the guests will never forget. Panoramic views are seen in true perspective with Full Dome technology, in 360 degrees as you sit or stand in the dome, which can be customized for size and location. It brings virtual reality to a whole new level.

Below is a video created with Fulle Dome technology called Astronomer 2.0, used in planetariums. Imagine this circular video being projected on a dome that completely surrounds you and you’ll get the idea of just how immersive this technology is- like actually being there.

“The dome has amazing street appeal- people flock to see what’s inside the dome, and are really amazed by the experience of being inside it,” Craig says. “It’s like a mini IMAX and comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes- igloo, like in the Trojan campaign, but also truncated as much as is necessary for the space and situation.”

Interested in a Full Dome technology or your event? You can see the VR-Max DEMO here and contact them on their website.

Their meeting could have been a near-miss, as so often happens. But Anurag doesn’t like missed opportunities. ”I wanted to move online relationships offline easily,” Anurag says. “Coloci lets you find people offline who will be near you so you can meet face to face.”

You add your future plans, big or small, and share them on your social network where your friends can see you, which is how it got the nickname ‘Foursquare of the future‘ by BostInnovation, who says that Coloci could be the key to making location-based apps go mainstream. It’s also been featured in The Next Web, Killer Startups, VisionWeb and many others also singing its praise.

He came up with the idea because wanted to catch up with friends while he went around town for work and family activities. Fringe benefits are that you can discover destinations you didn’t know about and find people offline at networking opportunities at larger events.  You can set alerts that tell you when your friends are close by, publish on multiple social networks and select your preferred privacy level.

You could be passing by people you are Twitter or Facebook friends with at any time- people who may be fun to meet face to face or have a business opportunity you’d never know about without meeting them in person. On the Coloci interface, you are always in the center of the radar. The interface shows a  20 mile radius around your planned locations with a feed view. If you see someone you’d like to meet, you can even connect with them through the app.

“It’s already catching on,” Anurag says. “I’ve spontaneously met up with multiple friends for coffee on the spot.” They’re always making improvements, too, recently adding a feature where you can tweet @ColociMe to update your plans, and there is a Coloci Facebook App in the works. You can get lots of good info by going to the Coloci Friends Twitter and Facebook Pages!

Thanks to Anurag for the interview! We hope your app to find people offline will get bigger than Facebook.

Read more event technology articles!

Event Solutions introduced me to MEET when they used the space for their Spotlight Awards (eEvent was a finalist) and Catie Awards (for caterers) in Las Vegas, a splashy event that brought event planners flocking from all over the world (see slideshow below). They transformed the first two floors for the venue with spectacular draperies and lighting. The Catie Awards were held upstairs and were broadcast to the lower floor, keeping the two crowds linked but allowing the guests to be seated according to their similar fields of interest.

After that amazing event, I just had to get an interview so I could share their meeting technology solutions with you. Fortunately, the kind people running this amazing and technologically advanced venue were more than willing to take me behind the scenes.  I met with Jim Owen, Senior Director of Administration at MEET, to explore the goodies that make MEET so special.

Plug and Play Events

“We’ve made it so that events are plug-and-play”, says Jim. “You can bring in as much equipment as you want to, but we have pretty much everything here already.” And that’s not even the half of it.

Normal meeting technology solutions require that when you set up an event in a hotel or convention center, equipment is brought in for A/V, sound and any tech and cabling needs. An empty square space can be transformed into anything, it’s true, but it also means that you’re starting from scratch every time. Technological developments with staying power come out of a real need for solutions- and MEET Las Vegas fits that bill.

Customizable meeting technology solutions

They have ‘classrooms’ set up so that high-tech (or low tech) presentations and interactions can happen with little setup. Monitors are installed in hallways and near entryways to keep floors clear of signage. The neutral background can be customized all over the building with the advanced lighting system. The ‘brain’ of MEET is in a secure, behind-the-scenes location while all cables, wires and tech ports are accessible at regular intervals in the walls and floors. Each floor can be secured with access codes, are monitored for security and have access for everything an event might need, from catering and performers to amazing live effects.

The result is a clean, customizable event location that provides incredibly high-speed internet access and is looking to the future to provide even greater technological and aesthetic benefits. They’ve set everything up so that they can easily incorporate new meeting technology solutions and more advanced equipment.

“When a client needs a really high-tech option, we’re ready to meet any need they can imagine,” says Jim.

Check below for two slideshows featuring MEET Las Vegas.

Be sure to check out our other Events & Technology articles!

eEvent made enough of a splash in the Pit to be selected as one of six startups (out of 100) to present to the LAUNCH judges last night. It was broadcast live, but you can see the eEvent demo here at about 28:30. eEvent was promptly covered by VentureBeat and the article was run by the New York Times, catapulting eEvent into the spotlight- just in time for us to fly to Vegas as a Finalist for an Event Solutions Spotlight Award next week.

Wish us luck!

See How to Sell Out an Event in Three Days and our Events & Technology category!