ANALYSIS / TECHNOLOGY
JR Sherman TECH TALK with JR Sherman and Anthony Miller, The Active Network Inc
How to maximise the attendee journey Active Networks Events general manager JR Sher- man and director of strategy Anthony Miller talk about technology trends in the events industry
What new technology trends are impacting the events and meetings industry right now? Most recently there is a far greater use of social media and community engagement in the events industry. This extends the global dialogue around an event/topic among interested participants well before, during and after the event itself. With this trend in mind, we are in discus-
sions with several major customers to create persistent online user communities with a goal of creating brand engagement not just pre-, at-, and post-events but throughout the year. These user communities would provide rich opportunities for discussion, content sharing, networking, an intelligent recommendations engine, social media integration with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other important features for infl uencer marketing.
How can technology benefi t the industry? We believe that our technology helps create an ‘Attendee Journey’ in which pertinent information and interaction is captured from the registra- tion process to the event itself to the post-event communication and networking that follows afterwards. Having access to and a record of this important customer journey can help maximise lead generation and build strong relationships with customers who are 100 percent dialed into every aspect of your business. We have trademarked the term ‘Attendee
Journey’ because it’s the way we describe what we deliver to our clients, particularly in terms of
Continued from previous page ACTIVE NETWORK INC
KEY CLIENTS: Active Network serves more than 47,000 customers across a wide range of markets.
Its business customers are organisers of events and acti -vities and its consumer customers are participants in those events and activities.
Active Network Events works with global leadership summits and large technology companies to manage their worldwide user conferences – as well as the small-to-medium business (SMB) market of businesses, associations, meeting planners and tradeshow/expo planners.
KEY MARKETS: The products ActiveEvents and RegOnline are sold worldwide. Key markets include the US, Canada, Western Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
ACTIVE NETWORKS AND THE MIDDLE EAST: Active says it recognises the Middle East as an important emerging market and is curr ently in discussions with key customers in the region to help them elevate their events through strategic use of technology and media services. Active recognises that Dubai is a central hub for events in the Middle East and where there is great investment in innovation and technology.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: visit
www.ActiveNetwork.com or
www.Active.com
Follow Active Network on Twitter @ActiveNetwork, @Active and on Facebook.
tracking every aspect of the ‘journey’ and there- fore, the success of the technology employed. The question we always ask clients is what is
the next communication you will make with your audience after an event? Based on the informa- tion you glean at the event, you can fi nd out their interests and then tap into these as part of the ongoing conversation. You are then adding value to your audience all of the time by listening to your audience, understating them and having a two-way conversation.
At this year’s Confex in London you said new technology for live events will bring about “the biggest evolution our industry has seen”. How? We used to joke that to give clients a completely different experience, we would have to take them to the moon – all the themes had been exhausted and so had the exotic locations, but technology has allowed us to further innovate the individual experience. Technology started as a tool to make manag-
ing the event more effi cient, then as a strategic tool, to look at areas where organisers could drive the most value, and now it’s all about engage- ment technologies; gaining intelligence and using that knowledge of individuals to personal- ise the ongoing conversation. Today we are at the stage where thanks to technology such as online content, social media and mobile technology, an event is just one aspect of a conversation that takes place 24/7, 365 days a year. In the past, event attendees were passengers
– they were passive. Through conversation with event organisers and other event participants, they are now part of the design or the architect of the experience.
Anthony Miller
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