Tech is changing events and I love it. Every week we get pitched by some crazy cool ideas to make events better.
Some of them will become blockbusters, some won’t. One thing for sure is that it’s all gain for you dear #eventprofs.
I’ll keep it very short, my friend, as I know you want to #drench into some new tech. Just let me get some housekeeping done:
– You won’t find any event mobile apps or registration services in our startup roundups. Mostly because you can use this and this.
– We try to include as many as possible. Whenever there are too many in a given month offering the same type of tech, we skip it to the next month.
– This is probably the only shot most of these guys have to be published on this blog. We have a strict editorial policy when it gets to tech and we don’t like PR circuits. Therefore give them some love and support them.
In no particular order…
Here Are The Startups
LineApp
When I first checked LineApp, I thought: ‘That’s clever!’. Which is usually a good start. There is nothing much to explain here, turn your smartphone into a walkie-talkie and communicate with your team without calling them without relying on cell reception.
What you need is a wifi connection. Bear in mind, not an in internet connection. Just a wifi network and voila. Free for up to 3 users!
Events.com
Other than having the most desirable domain in the industry, events.com managed to come with an interesting concept. They recognised that there are two audiences in the event exchange that do not necessarily talk to each other, the planner and the attendee. They created a platform for both. Advanced event management and event discovery in one platform.
This is the opportunity players such as Eventbrite have but do not fully take advantage of or invest in. Interesting to see if events.com will manage to capture both audiences.
KAYO
I love the take of Kayo on the lead generation space. They offer their own tablet and kiosk solution to exhibitors wishing to showcase products and collect leads.
Why should you try a similar solution instead of say, doing everything with an iPad? The good thing about Kayo is that the tablet and kiosks have iPad inspired design but are fully brand able. They also offer software specifically targeted at displaying documents and media and collecting and analyzing data.
The user experience is more in brand as there will be no Apple intrusion.
Crowdsigns
Crowd signs, cool name, cool product. The idea is simple: customised photo props to spice up your guest photo booth experience. Everybody is loving photo booths at events yet it is still very awkward to be photographed by a total stranger. These props are great ice breakers and help bridging the gap between the photographer and photographee.
Instagram, Youtube, Facebook themed props, they’ve got them all!
Play2Lead
Play2Lead is the latest introduction to the growing family of live interaction apps. It offers most of the features you would expect in a live interaction tool, with a interesting lead generation focus.
One of the features I enjoyed is the gamification of polls and quizzes where audience can win branded rewards. Smart indeed.
FoxyTasks (sorry, site no longer exists)
Just having an idea is not enough. Creatives are those who can put ideas into practice. This is why I am particularly happy with the perspective FoxyTasks is coming from. They are a project collaboration, team management and budgeting tool for events.
It looks amazingly neat and has some neat features such as budget control at very deep levels. C’mon drop that Excel, it is doing you no good!
B2Match
As you know, we live in a Confibition world, where the importance of having the right meetings is unprecedented. Scheduling one to one appointments it’s not just a numbers game, it is about being the business Cupid of your event.
B2Match helps to make that connection in the most accurate way.
EventLion (sorry, this site no longer exists)
EventLion offers no product. They are focused on offering guidance over the use of social and event technology. They help with your content and social strategy and implementation. This is not only a consultancy service, it also offers photo and video presence to make sure the event is properly happening online, as well as offline.
E-180
Probably outside of the ‘meeting industry’ radars but oh so cool for all those who love events, enter E-180. This is a matchmaking portal for those willing to learn and those who want to share knowledge. You create a meeting and learning happens.
One-to-one events are a great way to cut the middleman and go straight to the core of the big reasons driving us to attend events, in this case learning.
Eventstag
Eventstag is hyper focused in offering what is becoming social media hygiene for most events: a (social) media wall. Super easy to set up and made for big a** screens, it is a no brainer if you are looking at an easy way to display all that social goodness!
In Conclusion
I am very excited about this startup roundup, some really cool ideas. As always, I ask you to go out and share this post with your friends, peers and colleagues.
It would mean the world to these young peeps creating tech and venturing in the very exciting but frightening event industry waters.
