This post is by Julius Solaris, your Editor in Chief. He is @tojulius on twitter .
If you can’t, you should think about it. It’s free after all…
Photo by Carlo Nicora via Flickr
Mobiles are not like Desktops or Notebooks. Of course it’s all technology. What differs is the degree of emotional involvement we have with them, as well as the extreme mobility.
Perception
Mobiles are indeed more personal. We store our family, friends and important business contacts there. It’s the people we want to talk to, it’s our real contacts. It’s not the hundred people we follow on twitter or the junior high classmate on Facebook.
The personal connotation we have with mobile phones sets apart every activity we do with them. Your family is more important than your acquaintances. Think of your mobile as a member of your family and of your Notebook/Desktop as a random acquaintance or a colleague. Who would you trust more?
The Rush to Mobile Applications
We are experiencing an unprecedented rush to mobile technology. The 1 Billion iPhone Apps downloads in 9 months mark and the move from Nokia and Vodafone to open their own application stores are the most prominent examples.
What’s for sure is that there is an increasing hype about mobile technology and the way we consume information.
Events and Mobility
If you work with entertainment, you would agree that a substantial percentage of your attendees are occasional consumers. They found out about your event shortly before the event date. They either passed by the venue or checked their local newspaper.
Occasional consumers increasingly look at mobiles when they have no plans or are looking on what’s on they’re area. On the supplier side, an increasing number of applications target exactly that need: to suggest what’s on in your area.
The ‘in your area’ part of the above is astonishingly relevant. GPS functionalities allow geolocalization of events. Therefore no more excuses such as ‘the venue is too far away’.
What are your options?
The ideal scenario is that you develop your own application and become very personal, such as Coachella did.
Although the real opportunity for budgetless organizers lies in promotion and marketing. Applications such as Eventful, Where!, iMingle or Buzzd (very cool the multi-platform availability) above all are a great way to bring your event to attendees’ mobiles at little or no cost.
By publishing the the event on Eventful, Meetup or buzzd you will have all of the above automatically fed to mobile phones.
How cool is that!
Thanks @carmenhere for the tip on iMingle
