The 5 Most Terrifying Experiential Marketing Vehicles of All Time
LOL, MOBILE MEDIA
No, man. Promotional vehicles are not whimsical client engagement tools. They re harbingers of fiery doom. They re existential crises imbued with motive force. Behold:
The Wienermobile
Look, hot dogs are delicious, OK? No one around here s saying otherwise. But there s a certain amount of willful ignorance involved. Every time you wrap your lips around an over-processed sausage, your brain is making a subconscious command decision to suppress questions like, Are there horses in this? and Why is it the color of tonsils? But one eyeful of the Wienermobile and your cerebral cortex is flooded with images of SOMETHING. It s a giant, glossy, plastic intestine stuffed with glossy, plastic flesh and driven by a crack team of wiener cultists that reportedly have ties to US congress:
The hotdogger position of driving the Wienermobile is open to U.S. citizens, and the job lasts from the first of June until the following first of June. Only college seniors who are about to graduate are eligible. Both current hotdoggers and Oscar Mayer recruiters visit college campuses across the country in search of the next round of hotdoggers. Candidates are screened from an average of 2000 applicants. Every March, a pool of thirty final-round candidates are brought to Kraft Foods and Oscar Mayer headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin, for interviews. Each vehicle can hold two hotdoggers, and twelve people are chosen. Currently there are about 300 hotdogger alumni. U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan was not a hotdogger, but reportedly drove the Wienermobile one time as a guest during a summer job as a Kraft sales representative.
Woah.
Photo via Eventxchange.biz
Meow Mix Mobile
So, we want it to look a little like an acid-induced hallucination from the Disney adaptation of a popular Victorian children s novel, but we also want its eyes to fix passersby with an accusing, manic stare that bathes the darkest reaches of the soul in the floodlights of judgement, slavering gleefully in anticipation of their fall from grace. Like a real cat. Cool?
Planters NUTmobile
So, basically:
Avoid spending your summer fighting ants in the backyard by following the NUTmobile on Twitter.
City Bus Snake Wrap Copenhagen Zoo
You know what I don t have enough of in my life? Violent reminders of my mortality. What I want what I think most people want, really is a hint that civilization s dominion over nature is little more than a comforting delusion, and that we re all really one meteor strike away from returning to the boiling jungles from which we once emerged.
Butagaz Mobile Gas Tank
This shiny mound of fiery death on wheels was built in 1962 as a promotional vehicle for the butane distribution company Butagaz, and made its first appearance at the Tour de France. I can t even look at this thing without bracing for the inevitable explosion. Maybe, like, pre-Bruce Willis, when we all still believed that gas tanks on trucks could remain inert during transport, maybe in those golden days, you could get away with marketing via an oversized explosive device at a major sporting event, but this is a no-no in a post-Die Hard world.
It Isn t Easy Being Green: How to Make Your Conference More Sustainable
EVENT INDUSTRY
The sustainability movement has gotten seriously trendy over the past few years so much so that we sometimes forget there s more to it than buying bamboo shoes or Uber-ing a hybrid. Properly applied, sustainability strategies can have a big impact, both in terms of reducing your event s carbon footprint and raising awareness among attendees. Read on for four great ways to help make your conference a little or a lot greener. https://unsplash.com/photos/5tpf6dSY6WU
Do Away with Disposables
Among the biggest sources of waste at large-scale conferences is the sheer volume of paper that gets used, from invitations to nametags, signs, printed programs, and more. Luckily, we live in an age when technology offers an easy solution for paper-free events. For example, you can replace invitations with e-vites, employ reusable nametags, and use an app for the meeting s agenda rather than printing it on handouts or you can simply email the info out ahead of time. Sometimes, of course, handouts are unavoidable. In that case, you can take a few measures to reduce your paper waste. For example, use recycled paper for your handouts, print information on both sides, and don t pre-stuff bags allow attendees to choose which print-outs they need. Best case scenario, though, you re able to cut out 99{04d9822e7d95da125d508d8e1efbcf2edc79acd8aec1f0bbdcbd6a6f684f9bb3} of your paper use. After all, everyone has smart phones these days why not put them to use?
Location, Location, Location
Another great way to reduce the carbon footprint of your event is minimizing the amount of travel required for your attendees. We know, we know you d love to book your next conference in Hawaii, but Mother Nature will thank you for making a more practical choice. Aim to hold your event in a city that is relatively central for the majority of your attendees and served by direct flights. And don t forget local travel arrange for hotels nearby the event space so that attendees have the option to either walk there back every day or take public transportation. For longer commutes, consider providing hybrid cars or other low-/non-polluting vehicles to shuttles your guests to and fro.
Educate Your Attendees
If any of this is going to work in the first place, you ll need to lay the groundwork by raising awareness among your attendees that this is a specifically green conference. This isn t just good PR it ll help you accomplish your sustainability goals by getting everyone on the same page as to what you re doing and how they can help. In your communications with attendees, make sure to emphasize a few specific measures that you re taking and enlist their help. For instance, set up an electronic registration and check-in system to avoid paper waste; get people to download agendas ahead of time to reduce the need for printouts; draw guests attention to recycling bins, and encourage them to opt for reusable drinking containers rather than water bottles; offer rewards for carpooling or taking public transportation rather than driving. You get the idea.
Reduce Food Waste From Beginning to End
We re all guilty of it: overloading our plates just because, taking two bites of something and then leaving it to languish. While you can t always control how much food people pile on their plates, you can make them aware of food waste as an issue by mentioning it as a focus in your sustainability goals and providing composting bins alongside the trash and recycling. Beforehand, take a look at the data from past events to try and gauge how much food you should order, and have a list of local charities or food banks where you can donate leftovers. And don t forget the logistics! Further reduce your carbon footprint by ordering from caterers who provide seasonal, locally produced menus and using reusable plates and silverware rather than disposable.
Get it in gear, event people: the 2016 SEGD Design Awards submission deadline is Jan 31
EVENT INDUSTRY
It s that time, brothers and sisters. There are two weeks left to submit your best experiential project for consideration at the SEGD awards.
If you ve never heard of SEGD, allow us to enlighten you: the Society for Experiential Graphic Design describes themselves as the global, multidisciplinary community of professionals who plan, design, and build experiences that connect people to place. We describe them as the cool kids end of the playground. And true to that form, the SEGD awards recognize badassery in, dare we say it, the coolest and often most-overlooked end of the event industry: immersive experiences, wayfinding and signage, experiential graphics, exhibitions, public installations, that kind of stuff. If you do any kind of spatial design yourself, scrape together a presentation and make an entry. If you don t, break out the popcorn and brace for awesome when the prizes are handed out.
Check out some of these madcap winners from last year s pool:
Wayfinding: Mount Stirling Alpine Resort Interpretive Trail
Man, I don t know what an interpretive trail is. Sounds like something they only have in cold places with high winter suicide rates where everyone s really good at making their own fun . Places whose major exports are herring and thinking too hard. But these wayfinding posts are pretty:
With a limited budget, timeframe, and limited access to the trail, a simple, cost-effective, and easy-to-install solution was required. HeineJones created a suite of interpretive elements that highlight local history and resources and presented the information on trail markers that provide visual clarity while blending into the natural environment. Sturdy cypress pine posts are laser-etched with the name of the resort and at eye level, partially encased in three-sided aluminum panels with digital prints applied. The interpretive panels provide simple trail wayfinding as well as walking distances between points of interest and information about animals and plants, helping to enrich walkers enjoyment of the trail.
Exhibits: Eldheimar Volcano Museum Interactive Exhibits
Ooh, another one filed under excellence in existential dread :
Launched in May 2014, the Eldheimar Volcano Museum is dedicated to one of Iceland s biggest natural disasters: the Heimaey eruption in 1973. In the middle of the night on January 23, a volcanic fissure opened up on the outskirts of the town and continuously ejected lava and ash for five months. The island s inhabitants were immediately evacuated to the mainland and many never saw their homes or belongings again. The event shocked the nation and for those involved, the emotions are still as intense and raw as ever.
There was a concerted effort by the exhibition designer to use as little text as possible. There are no panels with swathes of explanatory text that require visitors to read. Rather, visitors walk through the exhibition and learn about how the events unfolded by listening to an audio-guide. The exhibition is partitioned into zones and the audio system senses the location of the visitor and automatically reads out the relevant descriptions.
Experiential: #Trashtag
For Elevate 2014, an annual pop-up festival sponsored by the city of Atlanta, the Goat Farm Arts Center, a creative industrial complex that produces vanguard arts programming, conceived the D_MPSTERS program. They acquired 10 large roll-a-way trash containers, parked them on underused downtown streets, and curated a weeklong exhibition within them. Second Story, part of SapientNitro, was responsible for activating one of the dumpsters based on Elevate s central theme: Social City.
Bring your A Game
Competition is stiff for this one, folks, and entry fees are $50 for students and $450 for firms, so if you suck, you re just kinda throwing money down the drain. But if you got it going on and we think you do jump in. We d love to see you on the roster next year.
Milan Expo 2015 Wrap-up: Five Exhibitions That Totally Rocked It
TRADE SHOW
The most recent Universal Exposition (better known to us Americans as the World Fair) was held this year in beautiful Milan, Italy the city s second time hosting the international event, which is staged every five years or so. The theme of the 2015 expo was Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life, which urged the 140 countries participating to build pavilions that explored how new technologies and old gastronomic traditions combine to create new ways of nourishing people, both physically and spiritually.
As expected, the participants came through with some seriously impressive pavilions, the best of which were recently recognized by Exhibitor Magazine. We picked five of our favorites for a bit of design porn (or simple inspiration for you next exhibition), courtesy of some of the world s best creative minds.
Best Use of Technology: Inside the Supermarket of the Future
No exhibit better captured the complex ideas behind this year s theme than the Future Food District, designed by innovation and design firm Carlo Ratti Associati. At the interactive exhibit, attendees were able to wander through a modern-looking supermarket and learn about how food will be produced and consumed in the future. Also, there were cool two-armed robots;
Best Exhibit United Kingdom Pavilion s The Hive
The UK took home Best Exhibit for their pavilion dedicated to the beleaguered-but-environmentally-essentially bee, which has made headlines in recent years for its dwindling population. The structure, which was designed by Wolfgang Buttress, is intricate and incredible; watch its construction over a period of months below:
Best Pavilion German Pavilion
Not to be outdone, Germany won recognition this year for its airy, strangely Ikea-like pavilion,
conceptualized and designed by SCHMIDHUBER and Milla & Partner. The pavilion s air exterior was designed to convey flowing natural landscapes, while its interior offered educational exhibits about food production on a more granular level. See their explanation of the pavilion here:
Best Exterior Design United Arab Emirates
No surprises here with its flowing, curvilinear walls that mimic the windblown ripples of the Middle East s vast deserts, the UAE s pavilion was arguably the most visually striking of them all. Inside, the pavilion explored themes of sustainability with a focus on the low-carbon ccity of Masdar. Designers Foster + Partners explain the concept s evolution below:
SuperBowl 50 like a boss: Decibel s still got last-minute premium packages
EVENT INDUSTRY
We know how it is. You were busy. End of the hear holiday hustle and all. Happens to the best of us. Sometime back in October you heard someone mumbling about sporting events, but you were knee-deep in candy corn all, SuperBowl? Ain t nobody got time for that. How quickly the seasons roll on. Now it s January, friend. We re three weeks shy of S-B-5-oh, it s a bit late to come up with a brand activation, and if you go through the standard channels, all that s left are the bitch seats. You know who sits in bitch seats? That s right. Bitches.
Why, no. No you do not.
It s cool, we got you
Through the grace of serendipity (and our wonderful partner vendors) we got our grubby mitts on some premium package deals for this most momentous of SuperBowls, including sweet game tickets and high-roller party access. These packages are not for the wilting lillies among you. They are for true Spartans of sport. They are for great leaders of men. They are for people who have effective strategies for getting the most out of an open bar.
While supplies last, we can land you seats in gold, red and blue (though Category K is currently sold out), plus white G and H:
We can also put you in the hottest Friday and Saturday night party locations rubbing shoulders with sports and entertainment A-listers. Namely:
Playboy Super Friday Night at AT&T Park
If hiding an indefatigable boner behind the flower arrangements sounds like the perfect way to spend an evening, this is the shindig for you. Playboy brings the sex and candy to AT&T park for a debaucherous evening of wine, women and wonder.
Rolling Stone Super Bowl Saturday Night at the San Francisco Design Center
Four hours of premium top shelf bar, hors d oeuvres, live shows by actual musicians that you ve actually heard of, red carpet, DJ sets and surprise appearances by important people that are guaranteed to make you look important by proxy.
DirecTV HDNet SuperBowl Party
This one s near the top of the list for celebrity watching and pop performances, with previous entertainment provided by Kady Perry, Justin Timberlake, and other smooth-skinned luminaries. You know who played this party last year? Rihanna. The Queen Ri herself. And if it s Ri-ri approved, it s you-approved.
ESPN Next Party, Friday at Crissy Field
This invite-only throw-down caters particularly to athletes and sports-industry stars. If you re in town for the love of the game, this is the place to be. Past guests have included Eli Manning, Tim Tebow, Keyshawn Johnson, Ray Lewis, Spike Lee, Josh Duhamel, Alex Rodriguez, Tony Romo and other immortals.
Bleacher Ball, Friday at Mezzanine
This hot ticket will be headlined by the Zac Brown Band and packed with yet more of humanity s most fabulous specimens.
The Full Monty: All Inclusive Packages
If you re just looking for individual tickets, no problem. But we can also hook you up with a complete off-the-rack offers, which include:
- 4 nights hotel accommodations at the Marriott Marquis in downtown San Francisco
- Upper Level Super Bowl game ticket in Sections 401-408, 415-422 (upgrades available)
- Deluxe luxury motor coach transportation to and from the Super Bowl on game day
- Your own dedicated event planner to assist with all of your pre-planning needs
- All taxes, gratuities, and our service fees are included with all of our package prices
Give us a ring at 703.953.4493, or write david@decibelmanagement.com for more details.
Don t Be a Turkey: Four Tips for Throwing an Unforgettable Thanksgiving Party
TIPS & TRICKS
There s no better holiday for collecting a little feel-good karma than Thanksgiving. No matter what your background or beliefs about Starbucks new holiday cup, Thanksgiving offers something we can all get behind: stuffing our faces until we can t move. Capitalize on all that good will with a Thanksgiving event that is sure to rock people s worlds while reminding them that there are still new innovations that can be brought to Turkey Day.
Go Au Naturel with Your Decor
As a holiday designed to mark the bounty of harvest (in addition to probably apocryphal celebrations between the Pilgrims and the early Native Americans), Thanksgiving is the perfect opportunity to make the most of your natural surroundings. Bring the great outdoors in with DIY table settings and decorations based around warm colors and seasonal flourishes. From mini-pumpkin bowls to wheat stalk bouquets, from autumn-leaf candle holders to pinecone place card holders, natural adornments offer a classic and classy way to celebrate the changing seasons.
Present New Spins on Classic Bites
While everyone has their own quirky traditions on Thanksgiving roasted turducken, that weird sweet-potato-marshmallow thing, Jones Soda s monstrous Green Bean Casserole soda most people are satisfied to stick to the tried-and-true turkey/stuffing/sides formula. This means two things for your event: 1) You should stick loosely to the classics without 2) trying to compete with homespun favorites (catered stuffing will never taste like mom s). So what s the answer? Go for innovative canap s that present a new twist on old Thanksgiving favorites. For example, what about these spiced turkey tartlets, courtesy of The Tiffin Box, or butternut squash croquettes from Chicago caterers George Jewell? Small bites like this are sure to pique people s interest, without filling them up ahead of the big day.
Make Thankfulness Interactive
No one likes Forced Sharing Time, but what people do like is remembering their blessings. Give people the option to do just that with luminary bags. Simply place paper bags by every place setting and allow people to write down what they re thankful for. The bags are then incorporated into a luminaria display, for a simple but lovely expression of Thanksgiving s meaning.
Go Green with Doggy Bags
There was a time when it was considered gauche to bring home extra food in doggy bags but no more. Show that you value an eco-friendly lifestyle (not to mention people s desire for late-night munchies) by setting up a leftovers station for unfinished food at the end of the night. Turn this into part of the event s curation by having your staff pack up well-balanced leftovers into specially labeled containers, giving people a beautiful package to take home.
Cooooool: Panasonic Unveils World s First High-Speed Projection Mapping System at CES 2016
FACADE MAPPING
CES, king of consumer electronics trade shows, wrapped up this weekend in Vegas, naturally breaking all kinds of attendance records. Running for nearly half a century, the CES 2016 edition drew 170,000 attendees, with 3,800 exhibitors covering almost 2.5 million square feet of floor space. Hot diggety.
Obviously, there was was some sweet gadgetry on display: your basic self-driving cars, a machine that re-grows hair, and an alarm clock that wakes you up by stimulating your sense of smell. But what really caught our eye was the world s first high-speed projection mapping system, a prototype unveiled by Panasonic and demonstrated via pop n lock:
Projection what-ting?
Right. Break it down, Wikipedia:
Projection mapping, also known as video mapping and spatial augmented reality, is a projection technology used to turn objects, often irregularly shaped, into a display surface for video projection. These objects may be complex industrial landscapes, such as buildings, small indoor objects or theatrical stages. By using specialized software, a two- or three-dimensional object is spatially mapped on the virtual program which mimics the real environment it is to be projected on. The software can interact with a projector to fit any desired image onto the surface of that object.[1] This technique is used by artists and advertisers alike who can add extra dimensions, optical illusions, and notions of movement onto previously static objects.
The thing with current projection mapping systems is that they have to be programmed in advance. A human being has to tell them where objects , which is naturally time consuming and restrictive. If any of your background components move out of alignment with the project mapping, the effect can be lost:
After the object which will be projected on is chosen or created, software is used to map the corners of the video to the surfaces. First, one must choose the images or video to project. Then, place each video on to its designated surface . In 3d Mapping, coordinates need to be defined for where the object is placed in relation to the projector, the xyz orientation, position and lens specification of the projector must be determined virtual scene.
This is where Panasonic s new prototype comes in: it responds to objects in motion that are not marked, like people, rather than depending on rigid, pre-set programming. For event producers, that opens up a whole new realm of possibility for dynamic experiences. Cool? We think so.
Six Ways to Make Your Event Hashtag a #Success
EVENT PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
Hey man, you can t just get all willy-nilly with the hashtags, a right? If you want your event hashtag to take off, you gotta follow the rules.
1. Don t Procrastinate
With all the major stuff that comes with organizing an event, you might be tempted to prioritize stuff like venue and speakers over your lowly little hashtag. But don t leave it as an afterthought your event s hashtag should be one of the first things you choose, not only for the sake of advance buzz, but because it s going to be a central part of your event s design. Merchandise, decor, visuals, staff uniforms it s all a potential billboard for your event.
2. KISS
You know what they say: Keep It Simple Stupid. When brainstorming a hashtag, strive to keep it short and sweet. There are two reasons to avoid long, complicated hashtags: first, they re more likely to be forgotten or misspelled; and second, on a platform like Twitter, where you have a 140-character limit, you don t want to waste space with a hashtag!
3. Do Your Homework
This is where things get tricky if you ve followed the rule above, you ve come up with a catchy, compact hashtag that folks are sure to remember. Unfortunately, a lot of great minds think alike, which means the shorter and more memorable your hashtag is, the more likely it s already in use by someone else. After coming up with a few ideas, take to Twitter and do a bit of research about which hashtags are already taken and conversely, which ones have an established community that you can plug into. Ideally, your hashtag should be unique enough that users won t confuse it with another event.
4. Go All Out
This is no time to be modest. Crowds are used to glazing over advertising, which means if you want your hashtag to be noticed, you ll have to put it everywhere. The usual suspects are a good place to start incorporated into the decor, plastered on the walls, printed on banners and signs but you can also get more creative with it. Put it on your brochure, on table cars, heck you can even put it on your staff s tee shirts. Anything to make sure that if and when a guest is ready to post, the hashtag is right under their noses.
5. Offer Hashtag-Related Rewards
You can lead a horse to water, but you can t make it drink. Even if your hashtag is plastered all you re your event, that doesn t mean that attendees will be tweeting it en masse. Add an extra incentive by coming up with rewards for people who send out tweets incorporating the hashtag. That can mean anything from a lucky draw for participants to a Twitter wall, where people can view their own tweets, to hashtag-operated consoles, where in exchange for a post incorporating the hashtag attendees are rewarded with mementos.
6. Turn It Into a Photo Opp
One of the best ways to ensure that guests post your hashtag is to turn it into a photo opp. Have an idea for a larger-than-life display? Do you plan to incorporate an interactive wall or technical display with a lot of wow factor? Are you providing a photo booth or pictures with a mascot that people will want to post? Then build them around your hashtag. Even if you fail to engage attendees with the hashtag itself through one of the above strategies, no one can resist posting a quality selfie and if you do it right, you hashtag will be along for the ride.
15 Must-Follow Pinterest Boards for Event Producers
EVENT PRODUCTION INSPIRATION
It s time for your Social Media winter refresh, and that means checking out some new feed this year. So which Pinterest accounts are on the event professionals must-see list (besides ours, that is)?
Experiential Inspiration
Branded Environments by @tapelgren
A board that explores installations walking the line between marketing and art.
LUMIN by @munkowitz
Super-futuristic spacial creation with lighting design.
Market Place by @lulualma
A collection of clever brand activations and guerrilla marketing campaigns from Chicago s Lulu Almazan.
Exhibition Design by @supremelan
Meticulously curated board of great exhibit photography, both branded and artistic.
Pop-Up Stores by @agencyofplace
Pop-up stores!
Food & Drink
Catering Food Stations by @Makemischief
The ultimate board of tiny, stylin edibles: sushi arrays, trendy things on sticks, miniaturized donuts, and other good things.
Food Styling by @pausegourmande
Not sure how to style your spread? This inspiring board s got oodles of pretty plates oozing with atmosphere.
Eat Appetizers by @foodiecrush
Recipe after calorie-dense comfort food recipe? Don t mind if we do.
Drink by @buzzfeed
Believe it or not, the go-to digital stop for pictures of 90s hairstyles and adorable piglet GIFs serves up a pretty excellent collection of novel party drink ideas on Pinterest.
Foods n Kitchen by @virvelflicka
More excellent food shots, many of which are event-adaptable.
Interior & Design
Event Design by @epievents
Banquet design: flowers, drapery and chandeliers.
Event by @AllenLeong
Stages, backdrops and catwalks.
Signage by @mishkadobek
In-store displays, clever signs, beautiful exhibitions and all things wayfinding.
Entertain by @eyeswoon
Nordic-inspired table design and party place-settings.
Event Design by @rosesarsenal
And finally, this popular board by Rose Arsenal, all things eventful and pretty.
Four Apps to Help Event Producers Get Organized
EVENT PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
Among the most challenging parts of being an event planner is keeping yourself organized. From arranging the venue to proofing contracts, there are a million things to do in the run-up to a big event, and if you re not careful you ll quickly find yourself drowning in a sea of to-do lists.
Luckily, these days it s easier than ever to electronically compile and share information with your team the question is, how should you do it? Though technology offers a lot of options for constant communication, it can also make for complications when you find your to-do list spread across a half-dozen different devices and platforms. Read on for several options that will streamline your process, putting all of your information in one place and making for easier sharing and delegation. You re just a few apps away from
Evernote
This little gem is perfect for compiling all of your research into one place, no matter what the original format. You can take photos, record voice memos, capture handwritten notes, clip web articles and more, and then arrange it all according to tags. Another great feature is Evernote s ability to transform your notes into a to-do list complete with reminders. Evernote can be synced across multiple devices. The basic version is free, the plus version offers more monthly uploads and options for $24.99 a year, and the premium version features more detailed search and recording functions for $49.99.
Boomset
Having trouble keeping tabs on your guest registration? Get a handle on it with Boomset, an app designed to streamline registration and check-in. The app helps organizers print badges or create wristbands, and also allows guests can check in using their QR scanner. You can also import and sync multiple guest lists.
Zapier
The world of app use has gone meta which is to say, we now need apps to connect our apps. Enter Zapier, a webapp-automation service that helps create connections between more than 300 applications, including Evernote, Mailchimp, Twitter, Gmail, Google Calendar, Asana, Trello, Todoist, and more. Here s how it works you create a Zap, or an action that occurs in response to a defined trigger, allowing your apps to communicate automatically. For example every time you star an email in Gmail, it creates a task in another one of your apps easy peasy! Zapier is also great for keeping members of your team who are using different apps on the same page.
Slack
Forget email the new way to keep up with your team is Slack, a group chat app that can be used across different devices and boasts automatic archiving as well as a good search engine. Like so many other valuable apps, the key to Slack is integration, communication and simplification. Slack allows you to create chat rooms for different topics and teams, allowing for easier sharing of information and communication across teams. It also integrates with other tools to provide handy reminders, offers private channels, and a star function to designate tasks.