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Feb 23 2010

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised: How #Untech10 Was Launched and What it Means to a Changing Industry

Almost two weeks after Social Fish Maddie Grant and Lindy Dreyer with a host of technology providers launched what they dubbed #Untech10 in defiance of the major snowstorm that forced the cancellation of ASAE’s 2010 Technology Conference and Expo, the potential long-term impact of their efforts has become clear.

There are a couple of great posts on other blogs about how things came together. Essentially, according to Grant, the unconference was launched with a Twitter hashtag, some nimble volunteers (willing to go without much sleep) and $6,000 (all donated by sponsors) and ASAE’s unofficial blessing.

The original ASAE conference was scheduled to open on Wednesday, February 10. The day before, there were rumors about a possible cancellation as “Snowpocalypse” was preparing to engulf Washington, DC. Rather than waiting, Grant, Dreyer and Aaron Biddar of The Port, hatched a Plan B and asked the Twitterati to stand by.

By mid-afternoon on the Tuesday the 9^th, ASAE formally announced the cancellation and plans for the unconference were put fully into motion with help from exhibitors already on site when the cancellation hit. The list included:

The Port’s Biddar handled hotel negotiations, sponsorship and installed cameras and broadcasting equipment at the Renaissance Hotel.

Omnipress set up the #Untech10 web site to serve at the online home for the event and organize the schedule, speakers, participants and content. The site was up and running by 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

Eventbrite offered registration for the live participants.

Peach New Media provided the live streaming of content alongside a Twitter feed.

NFI Studios sponsored the happy hour and reimbursed travel expenses for association executives.

Avectra offered their Webex account as a back-up system for the presentations and provided food, signage and miscellaneous support on site.

Speakers who had been on the schedule for the original conference were given the opportunity to present their sessions on Thursday before a hybrid (live and virtual) audience or Friday before a virtual only audience. Grant’s crew took special pains to be inclusive of all presenter volunteers while providing a broad range of topics. Some presenters with similar topics were grouped together in panels. The traditional town hall meeting scheduled for Wednesday evening at the original conference was replicated at #Untech10 using a fishbowl concept recently introduced by social media and event industry authority Samuel J. Smith.

While the logistics were unfolding, Tweeters who followed the #Untech10 hashtag were given an unprecedented glimpse of the behind the scenes action as @maddiegrant, @Lindydreyer and others tweeted a play by play. #Untech10 opened at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, February 11 to 75 live attendees and 425 virtual participants.

In the end Grant was amazed with the results. “All of the vendors, some of whom were competitors, came together. It was almost like they were showing off by doing instead of just selling. The stuff that always goes wrong didn’t. Even the food never ran out,” she says.

Grant and Dreyer’s success with #Untech10 has much larger implications for the meetings industry. #Untech10 is the real-life story of what happened when the patients took over the asylum, especially patients who never entertained the notion of failure.

Associations must change. So many associations (and event organizations) take conservative approaches, focus on details that turn out to be less important and find the risk of failure too great to try anything new or spontaneous for fear of ruffling some board members’ feathers. ASAE made a bold move when they allowed (although unable to endorse or assist) the members to run with #Untech10 without seeing it as competition but as a way to meet the needs of their community.

Generation X works differently. Grant, Dreyer and others saw the cancellation of the conference as an incredible opportunity to serve their community, shape the future of hybrid meetings and showcase the technology that will one day be the norm rather than the exception. In true Generation X style, the door opened and rather than wait for group consensus, feasibility studies or permission, they ran through it with little more than their smartphones and chutzpah.

Exhibitors will sell differently in the future. The vendor companies that stepped up for #Untech10 with people, platforms and money are the other heroes of the story. In true social media style, they allowed themselves to be exposed, to risk failure, to be transparent and to sell by example.

Now that we’ve learned to live without, we may do without. In the future, it may not be necessary to have large gatherings of people in order to serve and build the community. We all love face-to-face but the success of #Untech10 revealed that meeting stakeholders are just as responsive to virtual meetings as live ones given the right conditions. The focus on “butts in seats” or “heads in beds” is quickly turning to butts and heads.

Spontaneity is the new black. Maddie Grant and I discussed the fact that #Untech10 was sort of like the conference version of a “rave” or the mobile catering trucks that drive around Los Angeles tweeting their locations and daily specials to followers who line up for the goods. Meetings in the future will have more spontaneity brought to them by the audience who will participate more and in greater numbers than before because it adds dimension and excitement to the event FOR THEM.

Meeting, conference and exhibition planners’ skill sets will change. Had Maddie Grant and Lindy Dreyer not known how to utilize Twitter and about the technology platforms for networking, broadcasting and capturing content, they could not have done what they did so quickly. This is a lesson to all planners to learn what’s going on in the new world of event technology and for hell’s sake, get on Twitter.

Being nimble pays dividends. The #Untech10 experience was a thrill ride for Maddie Grant. “I would totally do it again. I think doing things fast, collaboratively and openly takes away the stress of doing things perfectly. We just had to get it done. The reason we could do it with so many players was that we only had 24 hours to get it done. In the future organizations will need to be nimble enough to pull these types of things off,” she says.

There is no such thing as control. If anything, #Untech10 demonstrated that control over the content, the message and the brand is elusive. If the meeting organization does not provide compelling content, establish the message (by listening and acting) and reinforce the brand (by example setting not advertising), the attendees will do it for them.

Live and virtual audiences are part of an event continuum. There was incredible electricity in the room of live bodies gathered at the Renaissance Hotel according to Grant. Likewise, the virtual attendees were lively, active and a major component of the meeting. When done correctly (i.e. allowing the audience to be as much a part of the meeting as the presenters), the live experience and the virtual experience can function in complementary ways.

The Takeaway: The revolution will not be televised. It will be streamed live and on demand to a computer or smartphone near you.

Feb 02 2010

3D Virtual Events: Child’s Play or Über Innovation?

Between the Avatar in 3D movie craze and the 3D televisions rolled out during the Consumer Electronic Show, “3D” may be the acronym of the year for 2010. Since virtual events are a hot ticket in the event industry this year, it makes sense to take a closer look at 3D virtual events to see where they fall on the event continuum.

Let’s first get the virtual vs. face-to-face discussion out of the way. There is a widely held belief (especially in the live event industry) that in general, a face-to-face event is superior to a virtual event. However, there are legitimate reasons why online trade shows, conferences and hybrid events will continue to grow in popularity. Several major trade show organizers including the Graphic Arts Show Company and Hanley-Wood are launching complementary virtual events to drive traffic to their live events and the revenue streams from virtual events are still untapped (read…lots of potential).

Let’s suppose, however, that you’re beyond the “should I launch a virtual event” decision and you’re deciding among the various virtual solutions, options and vendors. 3D event platforms should be in the running. Most of the platforms currently in use for virtual events are two-dimensional. In other words, they look more like a web site than an “environment.” In a 3D space, users interact with each other as avatars with features and behaviors that emulate the real world.

Scientific research has long ago confirmed the enhanced learning and e-commerce potential of immersive 3D environments. This is good news for event producers hoping to use 3D virtual events to drive traffic to their live events. Simply put, researchers say, by creating an online world in which humans can operate and socialize in the same way as they do in “real life,” they are more likely to behave as they do in the physical world, i.e. learning and purchasing.

James Parker, President of Digitell, a multi-media company with a 3D virtual event platform called VirtualU, explains the advantages of 3D in an event context. “3D events are more engaging. The interaction is more stimulating for the attendee. You can demonstrate equipment [the avatar can actually work the levers of the machinery], have private conversations or group breakouts and there are endless opportunities for sponsorships and promotion. Plus, the cost of 3D events is generally lower than similar events using 2D environments.”

At first glance, a 3D environment may seem more complex than it really is and the rationale for choosing a 3D platform might not be immediately clear. Some brief training, a user-friendly interface and available tech support can diminish the learning curve. However, “It isn’t until you enter the event space as an avatar and engage other avatars in conversation or view presenters and product demonstrations that you begin to understand the potential of 3D for enhancing the online event experience and promoting engagement,” Parker says.

Although there are plenty of case studies from the corporate, academic and medical fields describing success using 3D environments, The Virtual Edge Summit 2010 is a live conference on everything virtual for the events industry including 3D immersive technology. Summit organizers also offer a resource book for live event producers to help them parse through the various considerations surrounding virtual events.

3D virtual events are not new, according to Digitell’s Parker. However, they have recently come back into focus by overcoming some previous negatives of bandwidth, low user adoption and poor timing (the industry was still reeling from the introduction of the Internet a decade ago). It’s important, he says, to revisit the 3D option again for a couple of reasons:

After this year, the honeymoon on “standard” virtual events may be over. As with live events, online attendees will be looking for new features, new benefits and more engagement when they return next year. Organizers unsure of whether their audiences are ready for 3D, may offer attendees either a 2D or 3D attendance option before migrating the audience entirely to the 3D world in subsequent years.
The digital generations (X, Y, millennial and naught) are already accustomed to online gaming platforms and other immersive experiences and will expect the same level of stimulation from online events.
3D environments are the perfect “Petri Dish” for low cost experimentation—a plus in these tough economic times. For example, pushing the envelope on show features, customer service tactics and promotional programs that may be useful for live events, is much easier and lower in cost in a controlled three-dimensional world.

The Takeaway: The movie, consumer electronics and online gaming industries are driving the renewed interest in 3D visuals. Continued growth in social media and the integration of virtual events, live events, MUVE (Multi-User Virtual Environments) and rich media have set the stage for sustained interest in immersive experiences. If the value of 3D events to drive attendance at live events and/or become stand-alone sources of revenue is proven, and the only obstacle to wider adoption is ease-of-use (easily solved), they have the potential to re-emerge as the event industry’s next über innovation.

Jan 11 2010

What’s on the Menu and in the Pot: 2010 Technology Plans for Three Leading Event Organizations

Leading event organizations are utilizing technology in a variety of ways to keep up with the demands of the “new normal.” Whether it’s online or offline, new media or traditional media, SPE, Hanley Wood and Graph Expo are cooking up some tasty tech tidbits for 2010.

Enhancing the Exhibitor Experience

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) is focusing on the exhibitor experience in 2010. “We are looking for better exhibitor visibility and better matchmaking tools,” says Andrea Bahr, special projects manager at the association. SPE plans to add A2Z, Inc.’s matchmaking application to their existing suite of tools. “As an A2Z enterprise client we can easily add an additional module without having to change the user interface,” Bahr explains.

Part of Bahr’s responsibilities at SPE include researching new technologies for use at the association’s events. She admits to being impressed by the digital signage and content strategies offered by Prism Technologies. Their touch screen kiosks that Bahr describes as looking like “a really large iPhone,” work with A2Z applications and the Map Your Show App, for example. Prism can also develop a content strategy that includes exhibitor and sponsor advertising. The SPE Board is due to make a decision on the Prism purchase sometime soon.

Boosting Lead Generation

Hanley Wood will approach lead generation from two fronts this coming year. Shawn Pierce, executive vice president, is planning a major data infrastructure update. The Master Data Management upgrade will pull in data from all over Hanley Wood’s organization including the trade shows and publications. “We are trying to become a source of leads for our customers and to do that we need to have all of the leads in one place, Pierce says.

As the infrastructure upgrade is completed, Hanley Wood will launch nine virtual events, all but one of which will run before the corresponding live event in each vertical. The World of Concrete show will be the exception, as its virtual counterpart will run alongside the face-to-face show. In addition, they will boost the subscriber base for newsletters in each market segment using the newly enlarged database and feed specific show information dynamically into specially designed sections on each newsletter.

Making the Virtual Connection

In October of 2009, Chris Price, vice president of the Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC), Inc. attended a ConnexLive event. “ConnexLive uses a hosted-buyer model to facilitate targeted 30-minute face-to-face meetings in private settings between pre-screened guests and hosts,” according the web site. Price had an opportunity to learn more about matchmaking, hosted buyer events, white label social networking platforms and RFID (radio frequency identification). “We wanted to know what we don’t know,” he says. During the event, he was able to hear presentations from four virtual event companies and participated in a focus group organized by Freeman.

The focus group introduced Price to a partnership between Freeman and Maritz, the meetings, travel and incentive company. MaritzLive is their suite of virtual event solutions (offered through partnerships with other companies such as InXpo and VELOCITY Broadcasting). GASC will produce its first virtual trade show using MaritzLive’s strategic support and the InXpo platform sometime in August 2010., approximately two months before the live Graph Expo 2010 show.

The virtual show has two principal goals according to Price; to inform virtual attendees about the face-to-face show and help exhibitors introduce new products. Each of the eleven market segments that make up the Graph Expo community will provide content in the theatre at the virtual event. The hope is that the high level content will drive virtual attendees to the physical event. “The virtual event opens the door for us to share information with people. Our strategy is to use it as a marketing tool,” says Price.

In 2010 Graph Expo will also launch a social media platform designed exclusively for the eleven vertical market segments it represents. The platform will enlist the support of at least one media outlet and one trade association from each vertical. “We are creating a platform that allows each of the segments to interact with each other and have appointed thought leaders to start the conversations,” says Price.

Price sees the obvious advantages of the new platform. “It helps us as much as it helps the participants. We will be able to see all of the conversations in one place and we can learn things that will help us mold and shape the show,” he says.

The Takeaway: Although the approaches are different, some common themes are emerging among exhibition and conference organizers:

Renewed focus on the customer. Organizers realize that a passive approach toward attracting and servicing exhibitors and attendees is particularly ineffective in these recessionary times. Matchmaking, enhanced lead generation as well as hosted buyer programs and small focused one-on-one buyer/seller meetings are coming on strong in 2010.
Cultivation of the community. Organizers are stepping up efforts to understand who the community is, where they interact and how to enhance the conversation in an effort to drive attendance and participation in their live events.
Virtual events as lead generators. Virtual trade shows and conferences are being used as lead generators. We may not know until the end of the year whether that use yielded measurable results on a significant scale. Stay tuned.

Dec 27 2009

Could Hosted Buyer Programs Work for Virtual Trade Shows?

A virtual trade show with a hosted buyer program might be the perfect combination for the senior level executive that hasn’t been seen at the face-to-face event in years (with or without a recession, corporate travel ban or AIG Effect). However, without the face-to-face contact and experiential elements that enhance sales conversions at live events, event organizers, exhibitors and platform providers will have to work overtime to create a unique and memorable experience tailored to the VIP attendee. Here is a breakdown of what such a program might look like.

Pre-qualification

Hosted buyer programs begin with the pre-qualification process. It’s likely that a senior executive is less likely to “apply” to be hosted at a virtual event. Instead, organizers will need to work with their internal sales teams or partner with trade publications to identify high quality prospects before inviting them to participate. It’s also worth a look in Twitter, LinkedIn, online forums, the blogosphere or other social media platforms to look for qualifying information on specific individuals. Plus, if they’re on Twitter and LinkedIn, they may be more receptive to a virtual event invitation.

Invitation

Once the buyers are identified, they should be formally invited. A (snail) mailed invitation could be interesting, followed up by a telephone call and an email reminder. Non-traditional invitations and reminders are especially important for those prospects new to the virtual event world (there are still some out there). Of course the benefits for attending should be emphasized at this stage such as high level, customized, exclusive content, peer-to-peer networking, incentives for attending, customized agenda, reminders, senior level exhibitor interaction and tremendous time savings.

Content

In addition to the trade show component, the ideal virtual event should contain a live-streamed keynote presentation from an exclusive speaker, followed by a live Q & A session where attendees can address specific questions to the presenter. The presentation would be limited to the hosted (VIP) attendees. Keeping the number of attendees low will guarantee that their questions are addressed.

Event organizers would contact the hosted buyers in advance to solicit ideas and information for the type of content that they would like to receive at the virtual event. Information in the form of research, white papers, financial analyses, keynote “cliff notes,” benchmarking data, etc. can be prepared in advance to meet their specific needs. Such content should be exclusive to hosted buyers, although summaries and abbreviated versions of the VIP content could be made available to non-hosted buyers.

Buyer Incentives

Standard features of hosted buyer programs for live events include airfare, hotel accommodations, meals and entertainment paid for by event sponsors. Incentives for attendance at a virtual event could include cash honorariums (paid via PayPal), transferable free registration at the annual face-to-face trade show, subscriptions to executive-level online information services or copies of exclusive research reports.

VIP Exclusives

Successful hosted buyer programs do a good job of providing premium content and experiences to a select group of attendees. Virtual trade shows are no different. Some exclusive features could include:

VIP chat rooms or virtual round tables that could only be accessed by hosted buyers to provide attendees with an opportunity for peer-to-peer networking and prevent virtual suitcasing (non-paying exhibitors poaching VIP attendees).
Personalized agenda to direct hosted buyers to exhibitor appointments and keynotes. Attendees can be automatically pinged on screen or via email when one meeting is about to end and another is scheduled to begin.
One-on-one virtual appointments with senior-level exhibitors. Discussion and offerings would be geared specifically toward the needs and interests of senior level buyers.
Ease of use. Attendees should not have to remember passwords to gain access to VIP areas. The virtual platform should recognize their names, restrict access to hosted buyers only and display the attendee’s name, company and title to enhance peer-to-peer networking.
On call tech support. Hosted buyers should be able to press a single button to access live chat tech support and customer service.
Other VIP attendees. Paying recognizable thought leaders, other high-profile executives, authors and recognizable industry buzz generators to engage in conversations with hosted buyers could be an attractive feature of the virtual event.

Attendee Requirements

Hosted buyers at live events are required to attend certain meetings and social events. Tracking the attendance can be cumbersome for event organizers. In a virtual environment, however, attendance tracking is easier as long as there are mechanisms in place to make sure that the virtual attendee is actually the person he/she purports to be. In addition to exhibitor meetings, hosted buyers could be required to enter chat rooms, attend keynotes and download white papers. Having a variety of tasks to perform would make it more difficult for busy executives to leave the computer on “auto-pilot” for extended periods of time. A post event survey/test sent to the hosted buyer’s email, could also help to verify completion of the various virtual tasks.

The Takeaway: There is no replacement for a face-to-face exhibition, however, a virtual trade show can be a valuable tool for engaging key buyers that would not normally attend the physical show. A hosted buyer scenario, like that employed in live events, could provide the appropriate level of incentives to key buyers, not the least of which is being able to attend in the comfort of their home or office. Add cash, research, exclusive content (not available to anyone or anywhere else) and an easy to navigate platform and, “on paper,” the idea has merit. Due diligence is required on the part of the organizer to identify key buyers. Exhibitors would be required to tailor offerings to a VIP audience and platform providers would need to make adjustments for recognizing, segregating and servicing high value attendees from the rest of the non-hosted audience.

I would love to hear from live event organizers, exhibitors, VIP attendees and virtual event platform providers. Could this work?

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