TEDx Amsterdam and Mobile Event Apps of the Future
EVENT INDUSTRY, LIVE EVENTS, TIPS & TRICKS
Although first appearing on the scene only recently, event apps are quickly becoming a staple of large event management today. Given how cavernous some conference centers can seem, or the immense scale that industry events can take on, having a helping hand on a smartphone can help attendees integrate with the event and interact with each other in a more meaningful (and creative!) way.
Recent and super awesome example of this? The TEDx Amsterdam application designed by Frog Digital (kudos!). If you re planning on having an application developed for your event, we ve got a few ideas for you:
Keep it Simple!
All good apps are clean easy-to-use and don t overdo the features. Figure out the five most useful features your attendees may need, then hone that list down to three and build that.
Choose the Right Developer
You ve got an event to plan, and not a lot of extra time to devote to app production oversight and debugging. Getting an experienced application developer will set you on the right track from the get-go. (No idea where to start? Check out theymakeapps.com or call us.)
Provide Instructions
If you re going to make a mobile event application available, be sure to provide instructions on how it s intended to be used. You might do this via seminar or info packet.
Ideas: Personal Touches
Especially at larger events, the goals and agendas of each attendee will be vastly different. You might consider adding a scheduling function to your event app design to allow customized itineraries.
GPS Function
If your event is multi-locational or big, consider make your app GPS compatible as an alternative to you are here paper mapping. People will get lost in a closet, if you let them. So don t let them. GPS will only work in a big space, though as of today s technology, it s accurate to about 500 feet, so if you re working within a small space it won t do you much good. In that case, a get directions function could substitute.
Daily Alerts
Dedicated apps may be a nice alternative to SMS updates for attendees. Personally, we think SMS can get a bit annoying, as it s hard for the receiver to filter incoming messages by relevance. Business and political executives are already bombarded by texts and emails, they don t need an additional communications backlog. But if you build a messaging system into your app, event data can be accessed and processed in context, turning an annoying interruption into a relevant reminder.
Holding Press Conferences: 5 Ways to Impress the Press
EVENT INDUSTRY, TIPS & TRICKS
Press conferences are a dime a dozen these days, and any client can put a banner up, call a couple of local rags and plug an event. But this is a critical moment of the event management process, when the people with the power to come into contact with your big plans, and yet even long-time pros overlook or fumble the details. Check out these tips from Decibel to create a press conference that helps the press help you:
Lose the attitude You ve been working hard and for the last few months, this event has become your whole world. But just because you care doesn t mean the press will you ll still have to sell your idea. Be humble, and let your genuine excitement about your upcoming event shine through.
Background matters Great. Another photo of five suits sitting at an IKEA table in front of a white wall, or worse yet, a wrinkled vinyl backdrop. You don t have to go all glitzy, but eye-catching visuals are more interesting to look at (and subsequently, to photograph), so they can do half your legwork for you before the press asks the first question.
Yawn! The Beijing 2008 Olympics Wushu (Martial Arts) announcement
Nice stage set-up by the Daily Mirror
Pick your pinch hitter The person behind your new product launch or initiative may not be the best person to present it. Better to brief an engaging speaker, expert, or insider (ideally someone with a touch of charisma and a sense of humor) on something they may not be familiar with than watch an executive send journalists to the land of nod.
Patience, patience The media doesn t owe you any favors, they will probe, they will pry, they will find the angle you don t want. Meet negativity with positivity and keep control of the discussion. This is especially true in political event management where controlling the story is paramount.
Make it easy early Sending out a press release too late, like a day before the event, is a nail in your coffin as it catches journalists off-guard. Get the key info out there several days in advance, follow up with phone calls to the main outlets and dangle the opportunity of exclusive access to get them on board. The press are busy people, so make sure the materials you provide include quotes, a high-res photo or two, and a bullet-pointed list of the key points for a quick and easy read.
NFC Integration for Mobile Tours and Event Environments
EVENT INDUSTRY, EVERYTHING ELSE, LIVE EVENTS, TIPS & TRICKS
One of the best parts of the event production and management world is getting to see cutting edge and new, emerging technologies. This is especially true when companies get together and produce a field ready unit that can be rolled into our current event mix.
As it happens, we had a great afternoon with the team from GEMATouch and Telepathic Graphics show us what they are working on in the NFC world. GEMATouch has developed a NFC circuit enclosed in a fully brandable and printable card.
This has great potential for our mobile tour clients and brands as they are looking to find new ways of engaging their audience. It also has multiple applications for meetings, conferences and events. The programming and usage also tracks real time analytics.
Function:
Once we determine what we want the end product to be, the system is programmed, and the card printed. This can be a coupon strategy, content delivery, gaming, or any other mobile activation that the client requires. The card is branded with multiple touch points and placed in the activation area. From here, the attendee activation is simple,
1. A guest places their NFC enabled phone near the interactive print
2. Then they touch the desired areas of the print
3. Content is delivered instantly to the phone (no apps, cameras, QR readers or texting needed)
Example:
One of the great and simple examples of execution is deploying these readers for a cocktail function or gala setting. In these types of events, we usually see long lines at the bar throughout the evening. We can reduce and potentially eliminate these lines by utilizing this solution.
To begin, we program the chip to select up to 5 different beverages (e.g. White Wine, Red Wine, 2 Beer selections and the specialty cocktail). At each cocktail table or low round, we place a NFC enabled phone and printed reader. As guests finish their drinks, they can use the system to order additional beverages. An iPad or other computer is set up to receive the order and the server assembles the drink order and takes it directly to their table.
There are a host of other uses, but this one easily demonstrates the idea. For a quick look at the interaction, check out the video below.
2013 The Special Event Chicago, IL
BACKSTAGE, COMPANY NEWS, EVENT INDUSTRY, LIVE EVENTS, TIPS & TRICKS, TRADE SHOW
Do you remember that feeling when you were a kid and your parents let you walk through the toy section of a store? The pure joy and excitment of the latest and greatest thing? That is exactly how it felt to walk through The Special Event in Chicago a few weeks ago.
The Special Event is one of the largest trade shows and conferences for event professionals. Vendors bring their A-Game to show the industry what they are capable of. Thousands from around the country and world come together to see the best of the best in our industry.
The trade show floor had a little bit of everything. Different types of lighting to cater to any event, linens of every fabric, software for anything from layouts to registration, and much more in between.
We found quite a few potential vendors within the trade show and look forward to working with them in the future. Here are a few pictures from the tradeshow floor.
The conference portion was both interesting and informative. We learned a lot about the trends and issues in the event industry and are excited to bring the knowledge back to our clients.
We were also able to attend one of the extra events during the show. The ballroom was setup by some of the best vendors in the industry to resemble an upscale reception. Some of the best aspects included the ice DJ Booth by Nadeau s Ice Sculptures, the live music from the Becca Kaufman Orchestra, and modern furniture from Cort Event Furnishings and AFR Event Furnishings.
The Special Event was a great experience that every event professional should have at some point in their career. We learned a ton and met a lot of great people. Cannot wait until 2014 when the conference will be held in Nashville, TN at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel & Convention Center.
Nomadic Display Instand Pop Up
COMPANY NEWS, EVENT INDUSTRY, TIPS & TRICKS, TRADE SHOW
We just heard some great news from Nomadic Display and wanted to pass it along. They are reducing the price of some of their most popular Instand Pop up display units for Q1.If you are in the market for a new Instand, Pop up, or table top display, this is a great time to pick one up.
It looks like the prices will hold until April 30, 2013. We love the 8 Fabrimurals, and many of our clients use them for small events, press conferences and fund raisers. There are actually three of these fabric ones included- the 8 , 5 and a table top version. Take a look at the models and pricing below and drop us a line if you are interested.
Freebie: Scaled Advance Diagram Icon Set and Powerpoint Template Pack
TIPS & TRICKS
We designed, assembled and released this pack in the hopes that it will help others in the event production industry (and particularly the political event production industry) by making the tedious task of creating political advance flowcharts a little easier.
The idea was to create a ready-made Powerpoint and icon set that allows anyone to quickly construct professional, correctly scaled advance diagram Powerpoints without spending ages tracking down icons and trying to relatively size each piece.
(5MB download)
We hope to expand and improve this set over time. If you have any requests for new icons to add, questions about the set or how to use it, or suggestions for improving the next version, please drop us a note in the comments below.
Click for full preview
The Set Includes:
1 Powerpoint file: Scaled_Advance_Diagram_Template.pptx, the main working document in this set. This includes car icons for creating motorcades / car plans, indicators for calling out important locations, such as the press room or green room, seating chart graphics, lighting, sound and electrical icons, and a stage builder (more on that below). All icons in the template are provided in both black and white color schemes for dark and light backgrounds.
1 folder of images: Contains all the source jpg and png icons that can be imported into the powerpoint or into other document formats.
1 Photoshop document: Contains the original, editable icon design files in vector smart object layers you can use this if you are familiar with the Adobe creative suite (Photoshop / Illustrator) and you want to change icon colors, shapes, or base grid sizes.
Preview jpg: Shows each of the icons with descriptive names
Readme: This here how-to guide.
Quick Start Guide
- Copy the Powerpoint document entitled Scaled_Advance_Diagram_Template.pptx, renaming it whatever you like.
- Open your newly created document, and delete any icons you don t need or won t use.
- Select all your icons at once, and re-size them to the right scale
- Arrange your advance diagram
- Use powerpoint default arrows and shapes to mark out walking paths between the diagram objects
- Enjoy!
Scale and Grid
The icons were created on a scale of 8 pixels = 1 foot. We ve done our best to preserve and re-create this scale using Powerpoint guides, which are hidden by default. To turn on the scaled guides, open the Powerpoint, go to the View tab, and click the checkbox next to Guides in the top panel. By default, each box created by the guides represents 1 square foot.
You can also use the 24 scale graphic to help proportionally size diagram elements.
Any time you resize an icon in the Powerpoint, it s a very good idea to select all the icons on the page and re-size them all together at the same time, so all your page elements stay the same size in relation to each other.
Stage Builder
There are two main stage building block icons included with the powerpoint and icon set. The smaller block represents an industry-standard 4-foot by 8-foot riser, the larger block an industry-standard 6-foot by 8-foot riser. Duplicate these blocks as many times as necessary to make an appropriately-sized stage.
You can stack multiple elements on top of the stage risers. For example, use the light background microphone icon on top of the dark background stage risers icons to indicate a podium.
Other Notes & Tips
- The pipe and drape icons will tile horizontally if you align them next to each other.
- Use the indicators and markers to create a pathway of events start and end of a motorcade or walking path, stopping point for a press bus or security locations.
The Photoshop Document
If you re familiar with the Adobe design suite, you can use the included Photoshop document to modify the original icons in the set, re-export the icons in different formats, change icon colors, or add other effects.
The Photoshop file includes each of the icons saved as vector smart objects. If you have Adobe Illustrator installed, you can double-click any icon layer in the layers panel to open that icon in Illustrator for vector-level editing.
The License
The Scaled Advance Diagrams are released under the Creative Commons license, Attribution, Non-Commercial, No-Derivs. You can read the full text of the license by visiting the link below, but in non-legalese, that essentially means that:
- You re welcome to freely share this set with others, as long as you credit Decibel Management as the source of the file. You do not need to put Decibel Management s name on actual advance diagrams that you produce for your own clients using this set, but if you give the icon pack to someone else, you must include a credit to Decibel.
- You may not re-sell this icon set either on its own, or as part of another program or document for sale.
- You may not modify the set and re-distribute the modified version.
- In other words, we love sharing! But we also put a lot of work into this, so please don t be a jerk.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/
Go nuts! And again, do let us know in the comments if you d like to see any improvements in the future we d love to hear your input.
More Facade Projection and Mapping
BACKSTAGE, COMPANY NEWS, EVENT INDUSTRY, LIVE EVENTS, TIPS & TRICKS
Another Lyon Festival of Lights (F te des lumi res) has concluded. I am a big fan of the festival as well as the fa ade projection and fa ade mapping that has become ubiquitous with the celebration. Each December, I look forward to seeing the displays and designs that are produced for the 4 day event.
This year, it was an experience, rather than breakthrough content that we were most excited about. The installation and design was from a French company called CT Light Concept. In the 2nd arrondissement of Lyon a square called Place des C lestins is home to the theater in the video below. (Quick aside, the square is located on lands once owned by the Knights Templar). Instead of simply having festivalgoers watch a presentation, CT Light Concept took fa ade projection and fa ade mapping to an interactive level, a pinball game that users can control. The only piece that would have been great to see added was a high-score list on the fa ade, but I am sure that folks had a blast nonetheless.
I thought this was a very unique and interesting installation. You can view the video by following the link here.
Flash Mob
EVENT INDUSTRY, LIVE EVENTS, TIPS & TRICKS
I love to highlight events that just work. A simple, yet focused idea that is met with seamless execution can have great results. These don t have to be expensive, or overly planned. I also like to give recognition to my hometown when I can.
The Winston-Salem Symphony pulled off a great promotional event a few days ago by performing a piece in the Belk s Department store. While this was not your traditional flash mob, it still holds as a great example. I am sure they worked with the mall and Belk s prior to the flash-mobbing as it would be quite hard to sneak in a piano AND a timpani. Even though they tipped their hand to the location, it was on message for their group (to promote their upcoming performance of Handel s Messiah) and brought attention into the store itself. This is a great example of using a flash-mob event to reinforce your brands message.
Decibel Online Event Registration
COMPANY NEWS, EVENT INDUSTRY, EVERYTHING ELSE, LIVE EVENTS, TIPS & TRICKS
Over the past few months, we have been hard at work on our new custom online registration system, and wanted to share a quick behind the scenes photo of our IA process flow. For the past few years, we have been using our current online registration system for a number of clients and it has absolutely served us well on some very unique and intense registration scenarios. As we began to build a new site for one of our clients, we decided it was time to also build a more functional and user friendly system. We decided for the new version it was time to start from the ground up. This involved intensive planning with our design and development team, as well as heavy IA work and prototyping.
IA (Information Architecture) has been a major focus for the new registration system. Our goal is to make a very intricate and complex system as user friendly and simple as possible. The more time we spend planning and developing the IA, the easier it will be to navigate an intensely complex registration function. We have also included a very unique and inventive process for buying a companion ticket to the process. This may just be the best feature that we are including.
Once we complete the development and testing and it is ready for launch, we will post additional information with more in-depth details. We are looking forward to using this for our upcoming events in 2012. Stay tuned for more info!
National Book Festival Team
COMPANY NEWS, EVENT INDUSTRY, LIVE EVENTS, TIPS & TRICKS
We just want to share a few photos of the great team we had onsite for the National Book Festival. We couldn t pull off an event of this size without a stellar team.
