WHAT’S HOT?
OCTOBER | TECH
A monthly look at the newest products and
services for the live events industry
The force is strong Searching solutions
A new company
specialising in the provision
of production and technical
freelancers to the film and
TV industry has launched
today.Studioforce will see the
experience of ITV Studio’s
former head of scenic and
lighting, Dave Stevens
(pictured left), combined with
the expertise and backing of
global event support company
entertainment shows.
showforce.com/services/
studioforce/ Westbury Street Holdings
(WSH), parent company
of brands including
BaxterStorey, Benugo,
Clerkenwell Green, Portico
and Mere, has launched
a venue finding agency,
The Collection Events. The
agency held a launch event,
4 September, at Stephen St
Kitchen, London, showcasing
its portfolio to 200 business
and industry colleagues,
including ASOS and Visa.
wshlimited.com
Sitting
comfortably?
GL events has
launched a new
seating product
for use at major
sporting events. The
new product builds
on the comfort and
design developed by the brand, but now includes
roofing and an overhang that protects spectators
from the elements. The new product was deployed
for the first time this summer, during the Glasgow
2018 European Championship, and received
outstanding spectator feedback. The new design
also underlines the increasing consumer trend
within sporting events, with consumers looking for
more premium quality and comfort.
glevents.co.uk
52
Collective Intelligence
By James Morgan
French philosopher Pierre Levy coined the term
‘Collective Intelligence’ in 1994. His book focused
on the cultural phenomena of digital technologies
and how technology can be used to create a
‘Cosmopedia’ - a cyber-knowledge space as a
collection of thoughts and ideas by individuals that
contribute to that space. Social media channels are
a big part of this overarching theory and Facebook
is the main space where this is happening. To
illustrate, let’s look at the power of these knowledge-
based groups within the events industry.
A couple of weeks ago I attended an event at
Proud in Camden. The host was Neil Thompson
founder of the Facebook group – The Delegate
Wranglers. The group were celebrating the sign up
of their 10 000th group member. Over 200 people
turned up to celebrate. The group was founded
in 2016 to help event professionals with advice on
venues and other aspects of conferences. The group
has members from around the world.
Event Productions group is my favourite
Facebook group. Again, a powerful tool for event
production and all the strange and varied elements
that event organisers need help with. The success
of these groups is due to founders giving a voice to
individuals who want to share their knowledge and
experience to help others. This altruistic knowledge
based approach is what is called ‘Collective
Intelligence’.
The power is the continual feed of ideas all
collected in one space. The bite-sized tips can be
used as a reference tool for the the future, and using
hashtags in posts and adding to the feeds adds to
the body of collective knowledge. Eventprofs should
also look at UK Touring Crew, Event Technology
Help, EventProfs Masterminds to add to their
personal Cosmopedia of events knowledge.