Kenneth Briodagh

To inspire Windy City residents who may not already be Cubs fans to take an interest in one of their hometown teams, the Chicago Cubs this summer rolled out a new mobile vehicle with an old school touch. A fully branded, pinstriped shuttle designed to resemble a turn-of-the-century trolley is making the rounds around town shuttling fans to games, visiting local festivals and street fairs and serving as a venue for special events. The trolley even hit the road to take a group of Cubs VIPs, clients and partners up to Milwaukee for a Cubs versus Brewers game.

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Virtual events rose to prominence out of need, and now they are as ubiquitous as branded swag at a tradeshow. These days, most brands look at how they can pair a virtual component with an existing live one, in what has become known as the ”hybrid” event, creating a one-off virtual experience tied to that specific event. In the last year, however, there has been a rising tide of “always-on” virtual environments, owned by a brand and through which all of that brand’s virtual experiences flow, like owning its own conference center.

Whether training new staffers, motivating a sales force or updating executives on business objectives, meetings are a fact of life for marketers and often consume a huge portion of their day-to-day work. And budget. For far-flung and global meetings, sometimes the best way to get all the stakeholders and needed attendees in the seats, so to speak, is to let them sit in those seats at the home office instead of flying everyone to the corporate headquarters. Enter the satellite meeting.

Thanks to the evolution of modern technology, event and trade-show marketers no longer have to stand idly by as consumers peruse their exhibits, waiting for the right moment to engage and wondering what they’re interested in and where they are in the purchase funnel. Widely available tech tools like GPS, RFID, QR codes and smart phones now enable you to track prospects and customers at multiple points along the journey while making the live experience fun and engaging for them. Here’s a look at four ways to track—and attract—consumers.