Let Them Have Phones
In our newsletter, we have touched on how connected millennials are, and how they are always on their smartphones. But these days, many people have smartphones and they are glued to them. When you’re putting on a major conference or event, you fantasize that your entire audience will be completely rapt when listening to the speakers and presentations and that mobile phones will only be a distraction. But the reality is that people have smartphones and they are going to use them, so don’t fight it. Instead, pursue ways to incorporate their mobile addiction into your event.
We’ve talked in past blogs about how to use Facebook and Twitter before and during your event to keep your audience engaged, but there are also a lot of fabulous new tools and technologies available for smartphones to make the conference experience better for everyone.
This summer, I presented to a class at Kendall College and made sure to take full advantage of the available technology. To accommodate the millennials constantly using their smartphones, I included links to blogs and other websites to enhance the deliverance of the message. Students were encouraged to use their phones to learn more about the topic being presented.
Another thing you can do is develop an app just for your event. That way all of the information regarding the conference would be available to attendees at the touch of a button. Hotel info, personalized schedules, surveys and polls, agendas, exhibitors, you name it. Everything can be right there in one tidy app for your attendees. An Australian company called Crowdcomms has an app available for your conference that can do all these things, but there are many companies that have entered this arena. Think how beneficial it would be for delegates to have all necessary and often changing information in one place specifically designed for the mobile platform.
Yasmo Live offers a tool that they consider to be a cross between Foursquare and LinkedIn, that helps conference attendees connect with each other, taking some of the awkwardness away from connecting in a cavernous and crowded meeting space. You sign to Yasmo Live by using your Facebook or LinkedIn account, and then you will be able to see a list of fellow attendees with photos, making them easier to identify. It takes all the anxiety away from trying to locate people and read nametags.
One important tip for speakers at events is to make your PowerPoint presentation available to the audience before the meeting. What an advantage it would be to have the presentation to view on your phone or tablet during the meeting. No struggling to see the screen and no wasted paper.
