23 Feature place , it ’ s not going to work . I think there ’ s so much we can do in the moment by getting the right data to the right people at the right time .”
For Lidgey , the next steps are about delving into sentiment and having tech in lockstep with business objectives : “ The biggest area we ’ re seeing is aligning the measurements to make sure that the live industry punches above its weight against the other marketing channels .
“ The other big area is the unquantifiable , which is often the emotional connection between a brand and its audience , or a business and its audience . So , we ’ re finding we do a lot of work trying to quantify and qualify the emotional connection between an attendee and the event and their outcome as well .”
Fagan looked towards more outlay for new technologies and a wider adoption from the events industry : “ It ’ s the output technologies that I think are really the most exciting next stage , like fresh air analysis and footfall tracking . Part of it is that we ’ re going to do it more , we ’ re going have more data available , it will become cheaper and people will become more aware of it .”
Event organisers have been responding to audience sentiment on the fly for decades , what is critical now is that we define those success parameters , implement technology as a measurement tool where possible and utilise those insights for a better event experience for the communities we serve . CN
How to evolve your data maturity
“ If you ’ re starting out , I would say the first thing to do is to really map out your event and think about what are the data points ? Typically , you ’ ve got registration , an expo area , sessions on stage and you might have networking or socials . In those key areas you need to think about what you can do within those areas to start to collect data from your audience .
“ In terms of stepping it up , you must provide your team with a dashboard that always has the relevant information for them . That way , they can start to make those adjustments in event that are going to alter the outcomes .
“ When it comes to the pro side of things , it comes back to this idea that I often talk about , which is ‘ what can I do today that I couldn ’ t do yesterday ?’ So we ’ ve got all this great technology , how can we use it in a really different way ? When we run events , I always think it ’ s those little moments that make the difference between a good event and a great event . So , it ’ s thinking how can I use the data I ’ ve got and the technology that I ’ ve got to bring those little moments of joy that are going to are those moments that will make somebody post something on social media to go ‘ wow , this was amazing ’.”
- Rob Prevett www . conference-news . co . uk