Start by listening this Podcast with David Rich, Senior Vice President of Strategic Marketing & Worldwide at George P. Johnson. David offers healthy insights and practical advice for event professionals that are wondering where to start and how to think about integrating digital technology into their events.

Play | Download

10 Insights From The Interview:

1. What is it about experiences that transform people in a powerful way? It takes more than performers.  It’s People, environments, props, etc.
2. Digital Technology gives us more tactics than we have ever had before – to move people to action. More ways to interact, deepen connections, etc.
3. Don’t get mesmerized by the technology and implement technology for technology’s sake.
4. Start with your Goals and Objectives, then understand your audience, then look at what interactions are required to move people to action.
5. Look at where people are interacting online and meet them there. Don’t try to force them to meet in a new place.
6. In digital, it is easier to gather measurable data than face-to-face. That measurement can be translated into customer insights.
7. GPJ’s Digital Blueprint is a toolkit to help people organize their thoughts, develop a plan and not panic. You don’t need to panic.
8. Digital is a new medium with new requirements. In a face-to-face event, normally the scale of an event helps us blot out distraction. In Virtual Events, the opposite is true. You are looking at a 2 X 2 screen and there are distractions everywhere.
9. The difference between face-to-face and digital is comparable to the difference between Broadway and Film. In film, you want to be as subtle as possible because the camera can pick up each movement. In Broadway, you are trying to broadcast to the last row.
10. Meetings and Events are the original form of social media.

Bottom Line

Going Digital is not about using the latest shiny objects. It is about building experiences in this new medium that move people to action. Start with objectives and strategy, look at your audience’s behaviors AND THEN look for the tools and tactics.

The post GPJ’s David Rich on Bringing Digital To Events appeared first on Interactive Meeting Technology.

Here’s a quick example.

While I was searching for a new house, I would drive through different neighborhoods to see if I liked the area. Then, I used a mobile app to help me find homes that were available nearby.

The app displayed homes that were for sale on a Google map interface that included a “you are here dot”. This location based feature allowed me to quickly see what was for sale nearby AND do a quick check for “curb appeal.”

If the home passed this first test, I would tap on the screen and the app showed me 10 photos of the inside. If I liked the home, I would forward the MLS number to my real estate agent and ask him to arrange an appointment. I could do all of that sitting in my car with a few taps.

This single app brought together my location, a map, a searchable database of the homes for sale on the market AND the photos of those homes. The information was available at my fingertips, when I needed it and where I needed it AND it was easy to use.

What Could this Mean for Events?

Think about the possibilities in the context of a large meeting, conference or festival.

What kind of information would be useful to have in the palm of your hand at an event? Think about standing on a tradeshow floor looking for other attendees, or booths. Think about sitting in the conference room with 800 people listening to someone rattle off out of date statistics – that you know are wrong. Think about being at a festival and figuring out how you get to the next venue. Or think about being at the State Fair — where is that Deep-Fried-Snickers-bar-on-a-stick vendor?

The possibilities for attendees, exhibitors, sponsors and organizers at events are numerous.

What is Your Favorite Event App?

Mike McAllen and I are collecting a list of event apps for the next episode of our Going Digital podcast. If you have any meetings or event based mobile applications that you would like to share with others – please send us an email at meetingspodcast at gmail.com or leave a comment below.

We would be happy to talk about your favorite apps on our show AND give you all of the credit!!

The post Mobile: What is Your Favorite Event App? appeared first on Interactive Meeting Technology.

Mike McAllen and I are taking this challenge to heart. Today, we are launching a new show focused on technology strategy, social media and the latest trends and tools in event technology. Our goal is to create another platform for discussing event technology.

We are calling this new show “Going Digital with Samuel J. Smith.” You can listen to the first installment here.

Meetings Podcast – Going Digital with Samuel J. Smith

Using a 20 minute podcast format, we will cover a couple of topics during each show, answer at least one listener question and give you ONE tip that you can take back to your office today and try.

The podcast will be available on Meetings Podcast, iTunes and here – on interactivemeetingtechnology.com.

By making the show available on these three platforms, we hope that we can create opportunities for you to listen to our show while gardening, commuting to work or waiting in the departure lounge. Of course, we would be happy if you listened to the show in any other location that you thought was appropriate as well.

Initially, the show will be sponsored by Audible.com. If you would like to sponsor the show, please contact me at blog (at) samueljsmith.com or Mike at meetingspodcast at gmail.com. We would be happy to talk to you about a customized program.

Finally, if you have any topics, people, products or news that we should be discussing – please be sure to let us know. We would be happy to include it in our next show.

The post New Meetings Podcast Series – Going Digital with Samuel J. Smith appeared first on Interactive Meeting Technology.