In Case You Missed It
BizBash editor Sarah Kloepple recently highlighted 10 event tech experts who are changing the way we plan events. This new class of Industry Innovators: Event Tech is creating products and processes to help event profs do things like streamline the planning process, aid event attendees in better navigating trade shows and destinations, and create wow-worthy event moments with drones. Click here to check out the list!
Event Technology We're Excited About This Month
To map attendees' behavior—without violating their privacy
Freeman has partnered with facial analysis tech company Zenus to launch what the companies call "ethical AI-based behavioral mapping" for trade shows, conferences, and other events. Zenus’ AI smart cameras are mounted to capture data (though no video is ever recorded or saved) and impressions and facial expressions are aggregated and anonymized with no attendee interaction. The metadata being captured is strictly dwell time, sentiment, demographic, and position, without violating privacy concerns. The metadata can be translated into actionable insights for exhibitor and sponsor ROI and future event planning.
“Show organizers are under more pressure than ever to provide clear ROI to their exhibitors and sponsors. With Zenus’ behavior-mapping tools, Freeman clients can measure their live events the same way they measure their digital marketing channels—total impressions, dwell time, and how show floors convert to key activities," explained Paul Fletcher, Freeman’s executive vice president, audiovisual and event technology operations.
To gather high-quality leads from your next webinar
Last month, virtual and hybrid event management company Hubilo launched its new Webinar+ product, which uses the power of the comprehensive Hubilo platform to build an engaging and easy-to-use webinar experience. The new service aims to create a scalable and continuous lead-generation program, with options like built-in promotional tools to help drive attendance, engagement features to reduce drop-off rates, customizable branding, a built-in studio offering high-quality video production, detailed analytics reporting, and more.
“Marketers’ biggest challenges are creating and nurturing quality leads. Now, Hubilo has their back with Webinar+, a product that provides all the data and analytics marketers have been demanding for webinars, one of the most popular and effective forms of virtual events,” said Vaibhav Jain, co-founder and CEO of Hubilo. “Now, revenue marketers can harness that power to attract, engage, and foster the right audiences, and it proves their success and ROI through insightful analytics to drive pipeline in partnership with their sales teams.”
To simplify travel booking
Another company leaning into AI is travel-booking platform Expedia, which is currently beta-testing its own ChatGPT plug-in. Expedia members can now start an open-ended conversation in the Expedia app and get recommendations on places to go, where to stay, how to get around, and what to see and do based on the chat. Expedia automatically saves hotels discussed in the conversation, helping users stay organized.
"By integrating ChatGPT into the Expedia app and combining it with our other AI-based shopping capabilities—like hotel comparison, price tracking for flights, and trip collaboration tools—we can now offer travelers an even more intuitive way to build their perfect trip," explained Peter Kern, Expedia Group's vice chairman and CEO, in a press release.
To offer real-time translation services—on a budget
Multilingual meeting technology and services provider Interprefy recently unveiled Interprefy Aivia, which the company bills as the world’s first advanced automated speech translation service for online and live events. Able to pick up and translate speech in real time, the AI-based translation solution brings accurate, AI-translated audio and captions to global audiences at the touch of a button. The solution is available in 24 languages and regional accents initially, with more to come in the near future. It's immediately available for in-person audiences as well as for major platforms like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and ON24.
Interprefy is quick to note that AI isn't always an appropriate substitute for live, professional interpreters. “Especially in diplomatic conversations or regulatory sessions, a skilled linguist will continue to outperform AI, as they are able to read the audience and provide nuanced localization to accommodate sarcasm, humor, or idioms," notes CEO Oddmund Braaten. But, he adds, “Aivia can provide language access where the support from professional interpreters is considered impractical or unaffordable. Simultaneous interpretation is still a premium service today, and AI can help make language access available for a wide range of organizations and events with smaller budgets."
To cut down on lines at check-in
Virtual event platform vFairs has launched its own badge-printing app, offering an easy and convenient way to check in attendees on-site. The app offers a complete list of attendees at the check-in counter, with each registrant shown as small tiles on the screen with names, pictures, and email IDs. The badge-printing app assigns a unique QR code to each attendee when they register for the event. When the guest arrives, they simply need to scan the QR code through an on-site scanner, and the printer will immediately print their badge. Event admins also have the option to quickly add new fields and change the order of fields before printing.
To easily book a large dinner party
Tripleseat—a web-based sales and event management solution for restaurants, hotels, and other venues—has launched TripleseatDirect Reservations. The new restaurant-focused offering aims to provide a frictionless event booking process, allowing consumers or event hosts to quickly and easily view menus and availability in real time and book large dinner parties directly with the restaurant, rather than relying on third-party websites or phone calls. TripleseatDirect also benefits restaurant owners and operators by streamlining the reservation process, allowing them to manage their event and off-premise catering bookings and reservations more efficiently, as well as their availability, pricing, and menus to have more control over their event business.
The Latest Updates, Funding, and Merger News
Bristol, England-based virtual meeting and events platform Jugo has expanded to the United States. The company aims to "humanize digital behavior" by forgoing avatars, instead placing videos of each participant inside an immersive virtual space (no AR or VR headset required). The company, which now has an office in New York, anticipates a 2023 growth rate of 5,000%.
Sales executive (and former BizBash-er!) John D'Adamo has been named senior account executive at Grip, where he'll be tasked with growing Grip's North American client base. D'Adamo most recently worked at event tech company VenuIQ, after spending almost six years as a regional vice president at BizBash. “With in-person returning in such a big way, event organizers are seeking new ways to satisfy sponsors’ desire for increased data and meeting opportunities," said D'Adamo. "Especially with AI becoming more prevalent in society, I believe Grip’s AI-powered matchmaking and networking event technology positions it for further growth in the North American events industry."
Swiss Post—a spinoff from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology—has acquired a majority stake in the virtual and hybrid event app SpotMe. Both Switzerland-based companies will continue to operate globally as stand-alone companies; the new partnership, though, will allow SpotMe to benefit from Swiss Post's resources and global reach. According to a press release, SpotMe will tap into Swiss Post’s technology portfolio and network to continue to expand in its key markets.
