Technology

When social media first came on the scene, many event marketers jumped in with both feet to leverage its ability to make connections and keep in touch with consumers and clients they only saw a few times a year at events. Since then, social media websites like Facebook and Twitter have evolved from basic community-building platforms into powerful measurement tools that not only generate customer data, but track more qualitative variables like consumer sentiment and interest.

IT professionals and decision-makers go to a lot of developer conferences and the offerings are often the same from show to show. They spend a few days on the show floor enduring demos that are very heavy on specs and frequently far too light on interactivity or engagement, and go home with a lot more information than inspiration. Important for their businesses? For sure. Thrilling and cool? Not so much.

In our Then and Now series, EM revisits previous event marketing trends to find out where they’ve gone since we first reported on them. Are they old hats and has-beens? Or is that past up-and-comer a future best practice that’s now an industry standard? In this double-stuffed installment, we re-examine event registration systems, which we reported on in February 2007.

For years, the conventional strategy for photo activations was to use them to create a draw to the footprint at a trade-show booth or consumer event, and then invite attendees to take a branded photo, either with a kiosk interaction or with the help of a brand ambassador-photographer. Now, with ever more sophisticated cameras and ubiquitous Wi-Fi and cellular service, some brands are escaping the footprint and seeking out consumers on the go.

If you are ready to turn over the keys to that fleet of gas guzzling shuttle buses at your next event, you’re not alone. For the third year in a row, asset management company Janus Capital Group has used pedicabs to transport athletes and their families during the annual New York City Triathlon held the third week in July. The company sets up transportation stations where families can hop on after the athletes start the race and get dropped off at the finish line. Then the athletes get a lift after the final stage of the race instead of having to walk an extra mile and a half back.