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When it comes to the question of how you take your business to the next level, the right marketing and branding steps can play a major role. One that can help to grab the spotlight, elevate your platform, and give your brand a look of prestige is a well-managed live event or conference. Be it for an award night, a new product announcement, or otherwise, your live event is the opportunity to show the world the good that you are doing and the passion of the team behind the business. The right tech can make it all the more impactful, so here are some that you should think about preparing ahead of time.
A website for your virtual event
Nowadays, a lot of the big live events of the year are no longer entirely constrained by the location they’re being held in. Hosting them virtually means that you can invite people from all around the world to come and attend it. While you can simply host live feeds of the event on your existing website, or on YouTube, having your own virtual event website creates something of a special feeling around it. They can act as the online home of the event, with live feeds, information on any exhibitions or speakers, and, of course, all of the information that people might need if they want to attend it in person.
Keeping the team connected
Of course, aside from thinking about how you get people to attend or otherwise engage with your event, you want to make sure that you have the right tech tools so that the team who is managing things behind the scenes can do it right, as well. To that end, you should make sure that you have the right communication software so that people can stay in touch across a range of devices, be organized into groups who are each preparing different things, and be able to receive and react to new information on the fly. The bigger the event or conference, the more hands on deck you’re going to need and the more important this kind of software.
Get your social media firing on all cylinders
In the lead-up to the event, you’re going to want to build anticipation for the event as much as possible. One of the best ways to do that is through the organic reach that is provided by social media tools. To that end, you can use social media automation tools that can make it a lot easier to plan out a whole campaign’s worth of posts and to set them to post at different times. You can even plan posts in coordination with the event itself so that you’re always keeping your feed up-to-date with the latest.
Planning the space right
You might have an interior design team helping you ensure that the space looks right to meet your needs, but if you’re taking charge yourself, then you want to make sure that you’re able to get the measurements of the site right so that you know where to put everything from your tables to your tech. To that end, you might want to look at the right range of camera measuring apps that, with the right phone camera, can give you an accurate measurement of the distance from where you are standing to the object, wall, or point that you’re looking at. Very helpful for creating a layout of the space.
Make checking in all the easier
Managing the check-in of an event is important. If you have invited only specific people and handed out a limited number of passes, then you don’t want people who aren’t supposed to be there crowding up the space and getting in the way of the event. The traditional paper ticket or printable card method works well enough, but it can also create long lines that can make it difficult for people to get into the spirit of the event. As such, you might want to look at the contactless sign-in technology that many are starting to use to streamline the process of getting admission to the event.
Create the right branded look
When people arrive at the event, you want them to make no mistakes about the purpose of where they are, or who is hosting it. A great branded aesthetic for your event can really make it feel like a prestige moment. There are a lot of ways you can create it, including traditional banners and physical signage for your tables, booths, walls, and the like. But with digital branding technology, such as video walls, you can create a much more exciting and immersive look for the event, really giving it a professional shine. Of course, this means that you also need to prepare branded videos for the event, but it can be worth it if you’re expecting to draw big crowds and really want to wow them.
Charging stations for your attendees
You want people on their phones, tablets, and cameras during your event. You want them live streaming, sharing their impressions, and otherwise helping you spread the impact of your event as best as possible. To that end, you want to make sure that they are able to keep their devices live. To that end, you may want to set up some charging stations in advance, so that people can their devices a little bit of juice. A safe, secure charging station that is watched by someone who is part of running the event can offer attendees some great peace of mind.
The right live video setup
If you plan on transmitting any of the events live in video format, then you need to make sure that you have the right setup for it. Not only do you have access to a fast connection, preferably with ethernet connecting your streaming tech, but you are also going to want a 4K camera capturing the event in detail. If you want to stream the event live, rather than posting videos after the fact, then you may need a high-quality fibre camera adapter, as well. You want to be able to connect the camera directly to your tech setup so that you’re able to capture and transmit high-quality footage in one go.
Make sure your sound is good to go
If you’re presenting to a big room full of people, then you need to make sure that they are able to hear you a-okay. As such, you’re going to need a complete sound setup that will consist of two things: first of all, high-quality speakers that are positioned well around the space so that attendees can hear, but aren’t going to be deafened by proximity or volume as much as can be helped. Secondly, you’re going to need tools like high-quality Lavalier microphones for all presents to avoid the problems that can often come with handled microphones. If you do have to use handheld mics or podium mics, then make sure every speaker has some practice using them at roughly six inches of distance to avoid any feedback issues.
Does virtual reality have a space in your event?
It’s admittedly not a good fit for every event, but there are very few technologies that are making the rounds in such an exciting way, right now, as virtual reality technology. A lot of companies have found a lot of reasons, good and otherwise, to incorporate VR into their events. For lifestyle brands, the tools make a lot of sense, allowing people to visit locations and retail evnrionemtns that give them a good idea of how certain products might look. However, with a little bit of imagination, it’s not difficult to envision creative and fun ways you might be able to tie VR experiences to the brand. Not only can you have the headsets available at the event, but you can allow those spectating the event from home to participate if they have their own headsets, too.
Getting some valuable data
Aside from the opportunity to have your brand before the world, and to build connections and leads in places that you have never managed to before, one of the big benefits of hosting an event is that it also gives you the opportunity to learn more about your audience, as well. Not only can you learn about them in a personal sense, but you can start collecting the data that helps you get a better idea of who your market is, why they chose you, and what their needs and wants are, which can help you make much better data-driven decisions. To that end, interactive polling, survey, and data-collecting tools can help you get much more connected to your audience during your event, giving you a valuable source of the data your business can use.
A live event or conference can be a huge help in spreading the brand of your business and establishing yourself as a serious contender in the market. Use the tech above to make sure that you do it right.
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