Tech
connections’. He thinks
creating a personalised
experience for visitors is
crucial in achieving this goal,
and that using the Happy
Map can assist in this.
Moutafis said: “Existing
technologies limit the
organiser’s ability to make
every attendee feel special.
The tools we use do not offer
continuous and accurate
identification. Segmenting
the audience is often a
painful experience. And
analysing engagement or
sentiment is cumbersome at
best.
A personal touch
“The use of Artificial
Intelligence will address
these challenges. Events will
become as personalised as
streaming services which
recommend us movies, but
better. AI will empower
event organisers and help
them understand their
audience at a deeper level. It
will let them design dynamic
experiences to greatly
enhance the value attendees
receive. It is an exciting time
to work at events.”
64 — January
“AI will empower event organisers and
help them understand their audience”
Praise notwithstanding,
Moufatis does recognise that
there are certain limitations
to AI, including execution.
He compares it to learning
how to ride a bike for the
first time – something that
takes a few tries to get right.
However, the events industry
is an environment where first
impressions really count, so
it is realistically something
that needs to go right first
time. So, how do event
organisers do this?
Manos thinks about it
allegorically: “One way to
think about it: a loved one
has to perform an operation
and you can choose between
a surgeon with one operation
under their belt versus
someone with one hundred.
Which one do you choose?
The more experienced one.
The same thing applies with
AI - it is best working with
experts to avoid paying for
gimmicks or having things
not work.”
Despite fearmongering
that robots and AI will be
taking over and that people
will be replaced by machines,
Manos remains unphased.
He remarks that: “When
people find ways to produce
the same output with less
resources, they tend to do
this one extra thing they
could not do before. It
empowers them to dream
bigger and go after more
ambitious goals.
“The use of AI will have
the exact same effect.
Event organisers will have
more resources and time to
express their creativity and
talents leading to even better
events and more growth for
the industry. As I said earlier,
it is an exciting time to work
in the events sector.” EN