EventMobi Live Display Brings Engagement to Events [Review]

If you have ever researched mobile event apps, you would have stumbled upon EventMobi. The first time I met it’s founder Bob Vaez, it was 2012. Back then EventMobi was a tad more than a startup. I’ve always been impressed by how they’ve been able to grow a client base that is almost a fan base.

They’ve been able to grow the company from a startup into a full fledged event tech provider with offices around the world, in a very, very competitive market. A few years back I learnt that based on customer feedback, they decided to launch a registration service together with their core offering of an event mobile app. Several competitors followed the same direction.

Today I am reviewing their latest introduction, which once again was originated by customer feedback, the EventMobi Live Display.

Time and time again I’ve called 2015 the year of engagement. We debunked the concept in our special report and published research that stated it crystal clear: 94% of event professionals see engagement as a priority and technology is the most in demand way to achieve it.

In the latest Event App Bible, we also mentioned how event mobile apps are moving into becoming more comprehensive tools, with engagement being at the core of their rejuvenation.

The launch of EventMobi Live Display is in line with all these trends and very grounded into the market it is serving. So let’s have a closer look.

Main Features

Twitter. Live Display offers a stream of tweets about the event. It offers a visual representation of what is being said about the event.

Event Info + Sponsors. The product offers the ability to display event vitals such as the Agenda and upcoming sessions as well as a customisable ‘News Ticker’ where information such as WiFi details or weather can be displayed.

Gamification. The Live Display taps into the EventMobi gamification module to display it live across screens during the event and get attendees excited about competitions.

Review

The universal value of an established app provider bringing a new feature to the market is that you can add a new element to your event that integrates with the existing platform, without disrupting your processes and saving a lot of time. This is true for EventMobi Live Display.

If you are an EventMobi customer, you will be able to purchase an extra module that works seamlessly with your registration and app. That is a great thing for busy event professionals and also the main reason you would prefer a system like this to stand alone apps.

While in fact a dedicated digital signage product can surely do more than what Live Display does, you will need to learn a new platform and make sure it integrates with what you already have. Remember, everything integrates with everything on paper. Reality is different. I also appreciated EventMobi recognises that being different in this crowded market is about offering a personalized service. With Live Display you fill in a module with your event vitals and an account manager takes care of setting everything up for you. That is quite something if you don’t have the time to breathe. On the other hand, if you are an event geek who wants to control everything in your tech, you will have to wait as a control panel is coming in the next few months.

The features on this product are quite standard to what is expected from digital signage at events. Everything is presented in a very nice design, simple and clean. The last thing you want in a display is crammed content nobody can read. The information has to be presented quickly and to the point to stimulate the desired behaviour. EventMobi Live Display ticks all the boxes in this sense.

One of the features I loved the most is the News Ticker. For those unfamiliar with the concept, it is that text that scrolls in the lower third of the screen when you watch news channels on TV. This is a customisable space you can use to display vitals such as the WiFi information to connect, the weather or breaking news.

The agenda section offers all the basics of knowing what is next at the event. There is a simple view of the upcoming sessions and a general schedule of the following hours. This is one of the screens that Live Display shows dynamically. You can decide the timing of the transition from one screen to the other. This is all integrated with the app module and fetched automatically, no sweat.

The second part I’ve looked at is Gamification. Live Display includes a leaderboard of the most engaged users in the competition or game you created within the app. The functionality is straightforward and the design is neat. The real value here is the fact you just use what you’ve set up in the app. No need to register attendees again, no need to have different systems.

Social media is also part of Live Display. Showing live updates is becoming a requirement of socially engaged events. Live Display is at its inception in this feature. You can display Tweets only. Social networks such as Instagram are currently left out and that can be a turn down in some markets. While I can anticipate this will come next, it is not currently present. Tweets displayed are only moderated which is good. I was not particularly fond of the process of moderation. In fact only tweets retweeted from the official account will be displayed in the social part of the app. Yet again this is my personal taste and does not result in particular issues.

Quite a lot of attention (rightly so) is given to sponsors and partners with a dedicated tab you can use to display your sponsor message or logo. This adds a further layer of revenue opportunity within your web and app collaterals that you can offer to sponsors. A no brainer and well implemented.

You can quickly display alerts should you have emergencies and they overlap to the current screen capturing immediate attention when needed.

Features

Social Screen. Integrated with Twitter, the social screen features attendees photos and live (post moderated) comments on the big screen.

Agenda Screen. Displays upcoming session information like the location, speakers, track and time.

Game Screen. Showcases the gamification leaderboard, rules of play and featured challenges.

Partner Screen. The Partner screen cycles through five logos, images or advertisements.

Alerts. Event app alerts. Augmenting event app push notifications, briefly overlap the display, broadcasting updates and announcements to the whole event.

Live News Ticker. Live news ticker (Reuters default) includes local news, weather and has open text space for static event information such as the WiFi password.

Event App Integration. Agenda, alerts and event game information is pulled directly from the event app making the planner’s life easier and engaging attendees in the event experience.

Four Branded Screens. Extend your event’s onsite branding to your event app and to the big screen with custom color schemes and consistent logo placement on all four screens.

Who is it for?

If you run small, single track events with limited audience, EventMobi Live Display is probably not for you. This is a product that fits perfectly if you run multiple conferences or trade shows per year and if your events require a mobile infrastructure. The integration with the app and registration is the strongest selling point here.

If you don’t have time to experiment and be bothered with silos that do not talk to each other, then you should seriously consider EventMobi Live Display and the wider EventMobi offering. These guys evidently know what tech is beneficial to events and understand your frustrations.

If you work with highly tech oriented audiences the platform may not be enough and a dedicated product could be better. This product is a great compromise between features and ease of use.

Pros

• It is perfectly integrated within EventMobi’s offering. Peace of mind.
• It features a slick design and it is very catchy – especially the News Ticker
• You can rely on someone setting it up for you. Set it and forget it.

Cons

• Twitter features are somewhat limited. Some events may require more features and control.
• Instagram is missing. Some events may feel the pain.
• There is no touchscreen support yet.

Prices and Plans

EventMobi decided not to disclose the price as this differs based on different currencies. You can get in touch with them directly to learn more.

In Conclusion

Live displays are a new certainty of events. Even the least socially oriented type of audience would benefit from knowing what session is coming next or comfortably access the WiFi details to get some work done.

EventMobi Live Display has clearly nailed all the basics you would expect from this type of technology. While still being in its inception stage it looks very promising and having looked at their plan of releases, it seems like a safe bet.

If you don’t want to be bothered with geeking out the world of live displays and you want a quick win to show to your boss, this is a no brainer.

Disclosure: Reviews are paid for placements. While Event Manager Blog receives a fee to extensively look at the tool and review it in detail, the content of the review is independent and by no means influenced by the company. If you have any question please use the contact us section.