Event Tech
Facial RAI-cognition
Stuart Wood reports from Amsterdam
and a venue with the smarts
facial expressions, they’re difficult
to fake. That’s why marketers
analyze microexpressions to better
understand customers.
When using any type of facial
recognition, be keenly aware of
privacy issues and GDPR compliance.
Everything you do needs participants’
consent.
TIP: Pair this technology with
gamification to ensure participation
is voluntary. When you combine
facial recognition with an easy opt-in
and fun experience, everyone wins.
Attendees who choose to can enjoy
an engaging activity. And organisers
get real-time, data-driven feedback to
help gauge the mood at their event.
Once again, facial recognition
holds great promise for our
industry. Consider these tactics and
trends. You’ll deliver a cutting-edge
experience; increase engagement…
and give attendee satisfaction a boost.
Brecht Fourneau is responsible for
rolling out Aventri’s marketing strategy
and finding new ways to drive leads
through in-person and digital marketing
efforts. As a tech entrepreneur, Brecht
co-founded mobile
app company
TapCrowd, which
Aventri acquired
in the summer
of 2015.
w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk
“Service-oriented
products, not
technology-led
products. But
technology can be
used to facilitate
service, and this is
the goal with facial
recognition”.
The RAI Amsterdam completed its
initial construction in the 1960s,
but the venue has since expanded
to become a cluster of several
interconnected conference and
exhibition spaces in the Dutch capital.
It recently partnered with event
technology company fielddrive
to pilot a new way for delegates
to check in to events at the RAI.
Facial recognition is able to scan the
likeness of delegates as they enter
the building, offering them a fast and
secure entrance.
The key at the RAI, however, is not
technology for the sake of technology,
says Pim Schoonderwoerd, the
venue’s IT Product Specialist. Instead,
it is about using technology to provide
a smoother user experience.
“The more advanced the tech
becomes, the more invisible it should
become,” he says. “Here at the RAI,
we offer service-oriented products,
not technology-led products. But
technology can be used to facilitate
service, and this is our goal with facial
recognition.”
The facial recognition tech went
into pilot status in January of this
year, and is currently in the process of
being rolled out across RAI titles, and
as a service for external organisers.
Schoonderwoerd says it will
allow staff working at check-in
to personally greet attendees as
they arrive, while having all their
necessary information easily to hand.
“If there are 24 registration desks at
the RAI, facial recognition can reduce
the number of people needed to stand
there, while still providing strong
customer service,” he says.
Schoonderwoerd highlights the
importance of practicality when
it comes to technology in events:
“Technology is not the goal, the goal
is what we do with it. For example,
virtual reality – it is an answer, but I
think many in the industry do not yet
know to what question. IT is just the
carrier. Content is key.”
Issue 3 2019
41